Basement layout - name to be decided

[Bomp]

Today I finished the baseboard and laid 90' of underlay. Now I realise I don't have 90' of track. Fortunately it's my birthday later this month so I'll be getting some then I hope.

 

No pictures, I can't work out how to do it on my phone. I'll post some soon though.

[Bomp]

I've managed to get the pictures off my phone onto my laptop, so I'll do a quick update.

 

Since the last time I posted, I've been busy.  The upper circuit is well bedded in and the link from the sidings to the upper circuit works fine.  My large logo blue Vitrains 47 is perfectly happy taking 11 freight vehicles up, and my modification to the coupling between two CargoWaggons works even on the stupidly sharp corner between the sidings and the outside world - so why don't they supply couplings that have the buffers touching?  And while I'm very happy with the strength of my 47s, why won't they go any faster?

 

For my birthday I got a box of track which should see the bulk of the track done, certainly the running lines and links should be done.  Just waiting now for my packs of joiners to come from Hattons.

 

I have most of the lower outer circuit down, but ran out about 3 yards from the end.

 

For now, I'll finish by sticking some pictures up.

 

 

This one is my Christmas present - a coach kit.  Not as fine as some of the more expensive models, but great fun to put together and looks just fine in a train.

 

 

While I was getting over my hip shaving operation, I played with my ViTrains 47.  There's more to do, but for a first ever effort at starting to weather a modern image model, I'm quite pleased.  It's not finished by any means, but it's a start.

 

 

These show the progress on laying down the new underlay and finishing the baseboard for the lower circuit.  Hooray for lots of pieces of board and lengths of timber lying around.

[Bomp]

Today is a Big Day.

 

I now have four tracks all operational.  There are a few things to tweak, but I need to pop into Town and get a couple of the gauges for separation between the two tracks, or measure them.  Also, I've got to make sure everything is lined up and all the curves are smooth and look right, and all the straights are straight. I have a couple of steel rules that will help with that.  These tweaks, though, will mainly be done when I come to ballasting, which I think I may do by painting the underlay with PVA and then putting the track on, lining it all up, then pouring ballast onto the wet PVA.  I'll clearly have to add more to bring it up to the sleeper tops, but I'll deal with that when I get there.

 

So now for some pictures and a video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ybzm1AlM9bE

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2013 by Bomp

[fender]

the problem with ballasting like that is you may find the ballast tends to clump together, especially around the sleepers. why not go with the traditional pva+water+fairy solution? (just wondering)

[Ydna]

Great progress here.. a lot of work has gone into this project already. Looking forward to seeing the ballast complete Good luck,

 

Andy.

[Bomp]

the problem with ballasting like that is you may find the ballast tends to clump together, especially around the sleepers. why not go with the traditional pva+water+fairy solution? (just wondering)

I may well end up doing the ballast with as you suggest, but I want to fix the track down as well, without pins.  I'll have a go on the bits that will be hidden using the different methods to find one that has the right balance of ease, speed and looks.  Obviously looks is going to be most important, but the others will have some bearing.

 

On that note, I'll be listening any suggestions of how to ballast 180 feet of running line from anyone who has any.

[Ydna]

I may well end up doing the ballast with as you suggest, but I want to fix the track down as well, without pins.  I'll have a go on the bits that will be hidden using the different methods to find one that has the right balance of ease, speed and looks.  Obviously looks is going to be most important, but the others will have some bearing.

 

On that note, I'll be listening any suggestions of how to ballast 180 feet of running line from anyone who has any.

 

Hi,

 

The way I personally would go about doing it is not spending all that money on pins as you suggest but also not spending it on too much PVA. I'd glue the track down using the PVA glue sparingly and let it dry fully. That'll save on pins. Then use the "PVA+water+dash of washing up liquid for good flow into all the gaps" to set the ballast in place after you've spent six hours tidying it up around the sleepers. Trust me, that will give you the best looking and most realistic look.

 

It's probably worth spending some time on the ballasting or you'll look back on it later and wish you'd done it differently. Especially as you've invested so much time and money on all that track.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Andy.

[Bomp]

Thanks, I may well try that.  The cost isn't so much of an issue, I have a big pot left from building the house for the layout to go in (see the first photo in this topic!).  In fact, I think I'll start settling the track properly in the morning, after a bit more playing tonight.

[Bomp]

So far I have glued down and ballasted about four yards of track.  I'm combining the techniques, glue and ballast the track after the fashion of Coachmann, then spread some more and flood with PVA/water/detergent/pigment.  So on the way back from the park, I stopped off at the chemist to get a dropper or similar.  The pharmacist over heard me asking if they had anything larger and gave me a pair of 60ml syringes!  That should do me.  Once the children are in bed, I'll pop down and do a bit more, and get some other trains running for another video.  If I'm feeling really brave, I may even try to mount my phone on a wagon...

[Bomp]

Some update pictures.  I have done several feet of ballasting, and I think I'm happy with the techniques I've adopted.  Part of the reason for writing them down here is so I can remember for after any large gap in activity.

 

So.  The ballasting technique.  PVA with a dash of washing up liquid in goes on the underlay (Woodland Scenics black stuff with shoulders).  PVA goes right to the edge of the shoulders, preferably not onto the board.  I tried masking tape, but by the time I got to remove it after the glue had dried it was set solid, so I've taken to scraping the excess off with a chisel.  Track goes on that, with ballast (at the moment, Woodlands Scenics fine buff) poured on and tamped with a 2" paint brush.  Extra tamping on the shoulders.

 

Once that is all dry, a muslin square over the hoover pipe collects most of the excess when it's vaccuumed off.  A thick layer of PVA on the shoulder again, then it all goes back on again, more carefully, brushed into place.  Because it's quite a pale colour, I have taken my 50/50 PVA with a generous dose of Fairy and added a good squirt of black and brown acrylics.  The resulting grey goo is generously applied using a 50ml syringe I got from the local pharmacy and left to dry.  There is some clearing of ballast to be done from the sleeper tops, but not much.  The result is below, ready for application of mank and grot from my selection of colours.

 

 

To keep myself going and to break up the big ballasting job (I think there is 180' of track so far I need to do) I have been playing with a rail served industry.  I hope it shows in the photos, but the plan is to have access from a trailing turn out off the main line: the mainline loco with reverse the train into the sidings and collect the wagons which are ready to leave.  The brewery loco will fetch the appropriate wagons out of the siding and run round using the loop between the sidings and the main line.  It will then propel the wagons to the right bit of the site.  I was thinking that the brewery loco would be serviced by the boiler house as there will be coal and water there anyway.  Fetching wagons out again would be the reverse of getting them in.  Just wondering whether there would be enough work to justify keeping a loco in steam at the brewery.  Anyway, that's what I was thinking when I planned the layout of the sidings.

 

 

Any suggestions of how it ought to be laid out or the arrangements of the buildings or anything that I ought maybe to do differently most appreciated.  I may not get round to acknowledging individually, but I am always grateful.

[Bomp]

I've got one section of track ready for weathering (later when I have done the rest - I'm looking to weather the scenery etc in one go or at least only a few goes so it ties together well).

 

From this I have learned to paint the track before ballasting.

 

Anyway, a ropey picture on my iPhone because I can't find a macro option:

 

 

So now I continue sticking and painting, then ballasting, then weathering, then the rest of the scenery once I am content the track runs okay.

[Bomp]

It's been a long time since I posted on here.  A quick update.

 

I have got enough points and the like to work out how I'm going to do my low level station.  I still have to work out switching and remote operation, but at least I can set it out and get it right for now.  This evening I found the Railway Modeller with the beginner's guide to switching and wiring points and crossings.  I think I will wire everything now so I can use the circuit while I get some motors.  Lucky for me most of the points are alongside what will be a retaining wall and the others are by a water tower sized space, so I will mount all the motors on the board and hide them, which will be much much easier than trying to hack a hole in the 3/4" MDF baseboard with a chest of drawers as high as the supports just underneath.  Soon I will have three weeks off work and some of that time the children will be in France with their grandparents, so I should have something exciting to show them when they come home.  I have to confess I have been worried (as far as one can worry about something that is pleasurable, and with the information and assistance available in this virtual club) about the wiring and motorising, partly for the expense of getting motors, partly for fitting them, but mainly for the wiring and switching.  My tame electronics wizard is a couple of hundred miles away across the most expensive stretch of sea in the waters around the UK, and is busy saving lives on a daily basis, so I'm trying to be brave and do it for myself.  The other problem is that there is no electronics shop in Guernsey, so I have to buy it all in from the interweb or make it.  Or canniablise broken machinery.

 

The thing I am trying to do now is work out how to signal it.  Once I've failed to find out for myself, I'll post a trackplan or aerial photo and ask for help.

 

And to distract myself, I have built a 1:72 Tornado to patrol the skies. 

[Bomp]

As expected for me, things have stopped for a bit while I pursue something else (on this occasion, it's military modelling while I save up for point motors and associated gear).  I have more or less finalised the lower station junction arrangements using nine points.  As far as I can work out without it actually working, this gives me all the operational flexibility I need.  It really is not practical to fit the motors under the boards where I have decided to have the junction, but most can be hidden and those that cant will go in little sheds.

 

It may be some time before I get it working, and I have had to steal some points from other places so I cannot run any trains at the moment.

 

I will post a plan of the junction soon, in the hope that someone more knowledgeable about such things than I am can offer insight as to whether it's likely to be acceptable or not.  And if it is, perhaps a very kind person could signal it for me using semaphores.

[Steve O.]

Hi Bomp,

Just discovered your thread, lots of hard work and progress over the months (like the sweeping curves and different layers). How's the new cat?

Cheers, Steve.

[StJamesStation]

This is what I've been getting up to in the last couple of days. Ten sidings should do me for now, and since it's all at the back, it should be easy enough to add to the front. Must remember to leave a set of points spare...

I see you have the Faller Mine Head there. I bought mine (no pun intended) a few years ago. I motorized it and put a few lights on it. Once weathered it came up a treat.

 

[Bomp]

Not an awful lot to demonstrate yet.  There has been a lull while I got seduced by Tornadoes (RAF ones) and tanks (Challenger 1).

 

I think I have worked out the low level station, but I'll need to work out the appropriate order for doing things.  I suspect I'd be better off doing the high level first as it's further away, so there's less risk of damage.

 

After a bit of manking and fiddling, I have four functional kit built locos off my dad, but I've still got a 47xx with a motor which won't turn reliably and a Manor with all the pick ups falling off.

 

The 28xx that I sorted over the weekend is happy enough with 38 wagons on, and that is plenty for the layout, so I'm happy with that.  With a big white metal body, it was always going to pull well.

 

I'll try and get a couple of pictures once I've buried down through the stuff that has found itself sitting on the railway.

[danstercivicman]

Like it,nice layout  

[Bomp]

As usual, no progress to report beyond a couple of goes at placing points to work out what my station is going to be like.  I'm more or less happy with what I've worked out so far, but I think I need more sidings and stuff by the running lines as they leave the platforms.  I planning on having access to the Town scene/brewery from one side, and possibly some sidings on the other side, using the redundant gradient pieces that I had to change when the slope was too steep.

 

I keep on lusting after all the pretty models I see in the magazines, but I'm behaving and sticking to getting point motors and cables and switches.  I have to go for motors now, I've chopped the bits you use to change the points by hand off the ones I have got ready so far - by which I mean painting them.

 

I am very confused about wiring the frogs though - do I need to wire them or can I rely on blade contact?  And can i put more than one accessory switch on the motor?  If I need to switch the polarity and have a display for my control panel, I'll need two, won't I?  I'll look for a book or ask someone at the DEMU show.

 

So far I have two motors, a CDU and 20 toggle switches.  But not enough wire.  I'm going to save up and get proper wire rather than using the recycled mains cable I've collected - though I do have enough to wire in the track feeds.

 

Anyway, that's all for now, my bed is calling, which will lead to more planning in my head while I wait for sleep.

[Bomp]

I've found a video (a whole set of videos, really) which shows what I was trying to work out from books and articles and leaflets.  Just got to collect the rest of the bits (wires, accessory switches and courage) and then I'll have a go.  The video is this one:

 

Edited April 3, 2014 by Bomp

[Bomp]

At last!  Something to show.  Having been given the courage by the video in my previous post, I have been busy soldering - including catching the iron by the hot bit when I missed my new stand!

 

A few pics of where I'm at.

 

The first is my power leads - splitting so they feed the toe of the point as well as the switch for changing the polarity.  The colours follow what I've already started, using up bits of mains cable I have lying around.  I have been collecting bits for just such an eventuality as this, and I have enough to feed every other track join with a soldered wire on the connector - the other ones are soldered to the rail, giving me a six foot length with a soldered joint in the middle and a feed at each end.  I hope that makes sense...

 

 

Then, both sides of the motor, again with split feeds to one side, and red/yellow on the other side.  On this occasion, colours are chosen for what I have in terms of reels of fresh wire.  The wire comes from my very generous friend who happened to have enough for me to wire all my points in spare for me to take away.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I have run out of heat shrink sleeving now.  I can't afford to keep buying it from B&Q with their variety packs with several sizes I don't need now.  

 

Before I can fit them, however, I need to save up and get some twin accessory switches for the polarity and my indicator board.  And some more blue LEDs.  I like blue LEDs.  Especially the really bright ones on the cars at work.  But they would be too bright.

[Bomp]

I've hit a snag.  

 

I've got two turnouts wired up with motors and switches to cross from up to down.  The loco is fine on both running lines until it straddles both sets of points, then it shorts.  What have I done wrong?  The motors are driven by centre off toggle switches, and I've got twin accessory switches which drive the frog polarity and indicator lights on my panel.  It all works apart from the problem above.  

 

While I'm working this out, I think I'll move the points from where they are to somewhere else that I need them and wire those ones up later.  Or leave them and just put in the platform roads in the station.

 

And I keep on burning out my LEDs.  I have no idea how to work out how much power they need or can take, nor how to choose a resistor, nor where in the circuit to put them.  So I'm using a track controller to vary the power.  But they seem to have a very narrow power window, and I keep opening it too far.  It'll be a multicoloured control panel at this rate.  I reckon this will be my practice panel and I'll do another one with a proper diagram later when I know how the track is going to look.

 

That's all for now.  So very close to being very exciting, but not quite there.

[Bomp]

After an intensive day of soldering and other electrical tasks, I have mixed news to report.

 

The good news is that I have six points all with motors and switching fitted.  All the motors change the points at the flick of a switch.

 

The bad news is that I have shorts that I don't understand so can't solve - because I don't get electrics, I don't know where I'm going wrong.  Fortunately, I have friends who know lots about that sort of thing, so I shall draft them in to help.

Other bad news follows from the first bit, in that I have switches and wiring in to have LEDs showing which way the points are set.  However, I have no resistors, nor any clue how to work out which ones I need, so I tried using a controller to feed just enough, but having blown three of my lovely blue LEDs, I'm waiting to find out how to do it properly.

 

Last night, I had a complete circuit in again for the first time in months, and six feet of platform/storage loop in (I can't find my underlay...).  So I played, with three locos on the track and a rake of "modern image" freight vehicles.  I keep trying to get up and change the points by hand, though.

 

Some pictures follow:

 

 

An overview of one end of the high level station.

 

 

A closer view. 

 

 

 

Two views of some of the jungle I'm creating under the baseboard.  I'm very glad to have space to do it all above the board rather than having to get underneath - though that will follow for the low lever circuit.

 

 

 

My temporary control panel and some more wiring.  

 

A long long way yet to go, but coming on nicely, I think.  And I've been careful to label things so I know what goes where - did I mention that I don't understand wiring and electrics?  I'm glad it (mostly/sometimes) works, but I really don't know why it works.

 

[Bomp]

I have solved the problem with the crossover.  I've wired the outer circuit the opposite way round from the inner one.  I really don't get why I have to keep on reversing the feeds.  It makes no sense to me.  Then again, where I'm at now made no sense until I got brave and started.  Once I've got some LEDs and resistors at the end of the month I should be able to get my actual control panel done.

[Bomp]

A bit more done - both platform loops laid and powered.  Some slightly ropy joints to be sorted out, but it mainly works.  Each loop is long enough to hold the longest train I'm likely to run without the front/back showing by the exposed platforms.

 

I've close coupled my Airfix MkIIs - by gluing a coupling on every other bogie quite far back.  It turns out the Mainline type coupling with the hook and mount cut off glued onto the peg where the Airfix coupling clips to is just the right length to make the corridor connectors almost touch - about 2mm gap under tension.  And they don't catch each other on my four foot radius curves, and i can propel them at speed through a crossover made from a pair of long radius Code 75 points.  Just got to work out how to fill the gap so you can't see between the coaches.

 

Pictures follow to show the general idea of this end of the layout - a town built over the station, the intention being that the station appears to go straight on.  There will be a station roof going straight on, or at least something that doesn't look like an unprototypical town built straight above the railway.  The finished article will be lower down, at least at the front.  But I couldn't resist having a play when I had the chance.

 

 

 

[Bomp]

After several days of working out what and how to do, I have got another pair of points motorised.

 

 

The motors are mounted on 6mm MDF strips with gaps where the rods transfer the movement to the points.  The points are stuck onto double sided tape.  The rod that transfers the movement from the solenoid is bent and ground Code 75 rail, super glued into the plastic bush that operates the microswitches.   I rather embarrassingly dropped superglue into the switchy bit, but it seems to have survived being wiped and kept in motion until the glue set.  I think.  However...

 

I tried to test it, because there are normally shorts because of some unknown, but doubtless simple and obvious, law that says every so often you need to wire things backwards.  But my controller/command station has developed a permanent short when I switch it on.  Even with nothing connected.

 

Very nearly exciting, but disappointing instead.  I may have to use the overtime I thought I was spending at DEMU Showcase on toys to buy a new DCC Controller.  But I'll email Hornby first.