Tillton Station - Modern Era N Gauge

[devondynosoar118]

Glue will do fine. I would advise a good new hand saw, a set square, a workmate type bench, a couple of good screwdrivers, hammer and drill as a minimum to make your baseboards.

Avoid DIY stores for timber, look for a good timber merchant instead, often they are cheaper and have better quality timber. The advantages of a DIY store are the timber cutting service, which some timber merchants do too, and everything is under one roof. I would get the main tops cut for you as they will be square and more accurate, plus they fit in the car better. Look at yell.com for timber merchants.

 

[Guest]

Glue will do fine. I would advise a good new hand saw, a set square, a workmate type bench, a couple of good screwdrivers, hammer and drill as a minimum to make your baseboards.

Avoid DIY stores for timber, look for a good timber merchant instead, often they are cheaper and have better quality timber. The advantages of a DIY store are the timber cutting service, which some timber merchants do too, and everything is under one roof. I would get the main tops cut for you as they will be square and more accurate, plus they fit in the car better. Look at yell.com for timber merchants.

 

Thanks for the tip but I've already got my board now (got it today)

 

Will measure out then glue the battens on and take a few pics and post them tomorrow sometime hopefully...

 

And regarding the tools, my dad has got loads so I should be all right, although I do fancy a saw lol......

 

 

Thanks, MNG

[Black Sheep]

are you planning on fitting point motors or any other type of under board level point control?

 

if so you need to figure out where they will be going, how they'll be routed to get there etc before putting battons in place.

[Guest]

are you planning on fitting point motors or any other type of under board level point control?

 

if so you need to figure out where they will be going, how they'll be routed to get there etc before putting battons in place.

 

 

Ummm, not to sure, probably not with this layout, as it is only 85cm wide I can reach all the way across. May do it the future though, thanks for mentioning.

 

Don't think I will be able to glue them on today as I am going out for Sunday Lunch (my Grandad is down for the weekend plus I have loads of homework) Maybe one night after school or next weekend....

 

My main concern at the minute is a new controller, Morley or Gaugemaster? Oh, and track and wheel cleaning, is IPA and some kitchen towel ok... or either this stuff: http://www.ehattons.com/56239/Deluxe_Materials_AC_13_Track_Magic/StockDetail.aspx

 

 

 

Thanks, MNG

[devondynosoar118]

I have this one, it works really well and is solvent free, so much less nasty to use:

http://www.dccsupplies.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=39_78_413&products_id=1406

Can be used for wheel cleaning, I saw a good way to do wheels in a magazine recently of 2 peco wheel cleaners like this with a spacing block between to make a wheel cleaner for both sides.

http://www.kato-unitrack.co.uk/peco-pl-40-scraper-wheel-cleaning-brush-18639-0.html

There is also this which you can use with the DCC supplies cleaner.

http://www.osbornsmodels.com/woodland-scenics-tidy-track-tt4560-roto-wheel-cleaner---n-scale-19163-p.asp

 

Link fixed!

[Guest]

I have this one, it works really well and is solvent free, so much less nasty to use:

http://www.dccsuppli...roducts_id=1406

Can be used for wheel cleaning, I saw a good way to do wheels in a magazine recently of 2 peco wheel cleaners like this with a spacing block between to make a wheel cleaner for both sides.

http://www.modelrail...per-(New-Design)/

There is also this which you can use with the DCC supplies cleaner.

http://www.osbornsmo...ale-19163-p.asp

 

 

Wow thanks mate, think I may get that top one! You get 5x as much compared to that hattons stuff for only 56p more! Is the company good though.. e.g Postage rates, despatch time, customer communications, returns/refund etc. ?

And would you apply that stuff with kitchen towel? Like you would with IPA?

 

Regarding the second link, sounds good but unfortunately the link doesn't work....

 

 

Thanks very much, MNG

[devondynosoar118]

Fixed the link.

DCC supplies excellent in my experience, ship fast for reasonable money. Kitchen towel tends to put fibres onto the track but you can use it. You can also use any of the cleaning pads available from lots of places, this one looked interesting,

http://www.osbornsmodels.com/woodland-scenics-tidy-track-tt4550-rail-tracker-cleaning-kit-19114-p.asp

Pricey though. I am sure someone as a good DIY method.

[Black Sheep]

When you say IPA I always think of IPA beer.

[Guest]

When you say IPA I always think of IPA beer.

 

Lol a few people have said that to me, I've never heard of it - well I would't to be honest, be 15 lol.

 

Is this what you mean?: http://www.ipabeer.com/

 

 

MNG

[Guest]

Fixed the link.

DCC supplies excellent in my experience, ship fast for reasonable money. Kitchen towel tends to put fibres onto the track but you can use it. You can also use any of the cleaning pads available from lots of places, this one looked interesting,

http://www.osbornsmo...kit-19114-p.asp

Pricey though. I am sure someone as a good DIY method.

 

Thanks for fixing the link, looks good.

 

Oh fibres hey..... hmmmm.... could you use lint free cloth - or is that just the same thing?

 

Yes that kit looks pretty neat, although like you say - a little pricy!

[bridgiesimon]

If I may make a suggestion, would the radius of the curve of the ourter mainline allow you to change the right hand point for a normal left one, or a curved point, further back onto the curve? This would give you much longer loops, more storgae. Sorry, I am looking at option 2.

 

Interesting layout ideas, looking forward to reading/seeing it develop.

 

Best wishes

Simon

[Guest]

Thanks for the idea bridgiesimon, sounds good. Will try it out when I get a chance.

 

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Sorry for the lack of progress everyone, am waiting to fit the battens onto my chipboard so I can start gettting some track permantley down.....

 

I went to Kettering Model Railway Exhibition today, was a nice little display with the clubs layouts and some members layout. Everyone was very friendly and I was invited to come along on a Wednesday night to the club meetings and if I liked it, join the club!

 

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Just so there is something to talk about in the absence of actual layout progress, here is my new Class 66 714 "Cromer Lifeboat" that arrived the other day:

 

 

 

 

 

Now surprisingly it runs very well at low speeds - any of you that have read my running problems thread will understand what I mean. Because basically for those of you that haven't: I have an old, poor Hornby OO gauge controller, my track is fairly dirty at the moment and none of my trains are running very well - only at high speeds (no surprise there) But weirdly this loco (used from eBay) runs incredibly well at very low speeds with the same controller and track! I am thinking maybe it has a new Dapol "super creep" motor in it? Is there any way of telling this....?

 

 

 

 

 

Bye for now, MNG

[Guest]

I was given these today:

 

 

 

 

 

They belonged to my Nan's Brother-In-Law, or to say it in another way, my Dad's Uncle..... I believe he had quite a big N gauge model railway, I never saw it though......

 

I think they are all Hornby Minitrix judging by the boxes they were in. The 2 47160's don't work at all, they are unresponsive but the 2-6-2 does work - it runs very well actually.

 

Unfortunately though the 2-6-2 has some parts broken on it, I don't know what these are called or how to fix them, any advice please? Thanks. (see picture below)

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, MNG

[ian b]

I was given these today:

 

 

 

 

 

They belonged to my Nan's Brother-In-Law, or to say it in another way, my Dad's Uncle..... I believe he had quite a big N gauge model railway, I never saw it though......

 

I think they are all Hornby Minitrix judging by the boxes they were in. The 2 47160's don't work at all, they are unresponsive but the 2-6-2 does work - it runs very well actually.

 

Unfortunately though the 2-6-2 has some parts broken on it, I don't know what these are called or how to fix them, any advice please? Thanks. (see picture below)

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, MNG

 

They are indeed Minitrix items! The little engines with red wheels are the 'Dock tank' and generally are not the best of runners- i've had one for years and its nice and smooth one way but the other way its awful! The other engine is a 2MT 2-6-2 and they can be nice little runners although couldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding! They are both old models but Minitrix stuff is pretty sturdy and long-living!

 

I'll let someone else advise on fixing these- i've never had the best of luck repairing them myself...

[Rheneas]

you have some very nice locos there the larger one of the steam engines was one of my first n gauge locos too

[Guest]

They are indeed Minitrix items! The little engines with red wheels are the 'Dock tank' and generally are not the best of runners- i've had one for years and its nice and smooth one way but the other way its awful! The other engine is a 2MT 2-6-2 and they can be nice little runners although couldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding! They are both old models but Minitrix stuff is pretty sturdy and long-living!

 

I'll let someone else advise on fixing these- i've never had the best of luck repairing them myself...

 

Thanks very much for the reply Ian.

 

Hmmmm interesting to know about the Dock Tank's. I can't get them to even move at all at the minute!

 

 

 

Thanks very much, MNG

 

you have some very nice locos there the larger one of the steam engines was one of my first n gauge locos too

 

Oh really? Wow, that's weird lol.

 

Thanks for your kind comment, hope your elasticated thread goes well...!

 

 

MNG

[Dr Al]

I think they are all Hornby Minitrix judging by the boxes they were in. The 2 47160's don't work at all, they are unresponsive but the 2-6-2 does work - it runs very well actually.

 

Unfortunately though the 2-6-2 has some parts broken on it, I don't know what these are called or how to fix them, any advice please? Thanks. (see picture below)

 

The 2 0-6-0s will likely need a good strip down and overhaul. Bear in mind they are at least 20 years old, and could be as old as 30-35! So some TLC will help.

 

The Dock tank chassis can wear very badly in time - this is why some waddle along. There isn't much you can do about this other than ensure lubrication and run them reasonably gently. I think a few of the late ones had brass bearings to overcome this, but the vast majority don't.

 

The 2MT looks to have suffered a common Minitrix failure - broken plastic crank pin on the middle axle. I've changed these out on several locos before for intact ones from scrap locos, so it can be repaired. It's worth noting this in future - be extra careful as the crossheads and middle crank pins are both plastic and therefore prone to this - rough picking up by the valve gear or pressure on it can damage these in this way. I've not seen any source of new spares to date, other than complete valve gear replacements which are hugely expensive when you only need one very small component.

 

The comment that they are poor haulers is inaccurrate - more applicable to the tender version 2-6-0 loco. The tank loco you have is heavier as there is more space within the body for weight, so as you've already found it can be a good runner. Mind you the tender loco gets an unfairly bad reputation also - often a new set of traction tyres on them and an overhaul will get them towing 9 coaches no problem (the clear rubber traction tyres Minitrix used on the majority of the 2-6-0 tender locos harden up with time and loose all grip, which is why some find these locos can't tow much. Again this is just age - some are 35 odd years old now!).

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Guest]

Thanks for the detailed reply Dr Al.

 

That's interesting to know that what has happened to my (well my dad's uncle's) 2MT is a common Minitrix fault.

 

Also interesting to know that they are decent haulers, there are weights in the 2 dock tanks already....

 

Will hopefully be able to get these sorted out and repaired - they may look a little out of place on my modern layout but hey, that's the fun of having your own layout I suppose...!

 

 

Thanks very much, MNG

[Guest]

Hello everyone, I do apologise for the lack of updates, there has been a few family problems recently.

 

As the more eagled eyed viewers amongst you may have noticed I have changed this thread's description to: "The Planning Stages..." So from now on, this thread will be used for everything to do with the layout planning and design (I have requested a topic move to the mods) and I am just about to create another thread which will be about the actual layout itself and contain progress updates, (in the layout's section).

 

___________________________________________________________

 

 

Since I am on the topic of planning I might as well tell you what I have been doing - I have made a new plan for the layout:

 

Front

 

Fiddle Yard (back)

 

 

As you can see, quite a drastic change compared to the last plan.

 

I have taken on-board what people said about not using set-track points on the front and trying to push me out of my 'comfort zone' to improve my modelling skills.... I have also been looking at other layouts and I think having a "slight curve" on the front of the layout rather than it just being dead straight looks better and more realistic.

 

.... Although, I am quite anxious about laying all the flexi-track, like what tools to use and how to do it. Plus I have heard people saying it's easy to get kinks and ruin the layout. Any tips or advice? Oh and also, how to fix it. Because I have some decent double sided sticky tape made by 'Sellotape' the company. But I also have some cheap (but incredibly sticky) double sided foam tape. Which would be best, and would I need to use glue as well - or should I just use glue and no tape....?

 

Sorry to be asking so many questions, it's just that I have never used flexi-track before in my life lol!

 

 

Thanks, MNG

[Heinz57]

Nice looking track plan, although just one thing; do you see how some of the curves are highlighted in red? That means they are too tight, try making them a little wider if you can. On AnyRail there is actualy a tool for setting curves with flexi track. Go right click over the peice of track and its under something like set radius. You set the radius size and the curve angle.

 

You do have to be carful of hidden kinks, they can cause problems. I don't know if they are avalible in 'N' gauge but in '00' there are 'track setta' tools by Peco, used for creating curves and straights. Alternativley on straights you could get away with using a steel rule. I like to use track pins to lay flexi track, people do use double sided tape and glue, but on curves you will probably still need pins to hold it in place until it is ballested.

 

Flexi track is a little challenging to use at first, but just take your time and ensure curves arn't too tight and you'll be fine!

 

Good luck!

[Guest]

Nice looking track plan, although just one thing; do you see how some of the curves are highlighted in red? That means they are too tight, try making them a little wider if you can. On AnyRail there is actualy a tool for setting curves with flexi track. Go right click over the peice of track and its under something like set radius. You set the radius size and the curve angle.

 

You do have to be carful of hidden kinks, they can cause problems. I don't know if they are avalible in 'N' gauge but in '00' there are 'track setta' tools by Peco, used for creating curves and straights. Alternativley on straights you could get away with using a steel rule. I like to use track pins to lay flexi track, people do use double sided tape and glue, but on curves you will probably still need pins to hold it in place until it is ballested.

 

Flexi track is a little challenging to use at first, but just take your time and ensure curves arn't too tight and you'll be fine!

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice. I know these curves are too tight but I had to use them because if I used setrack curves the gap between points would be too big and I would have to fill it in using tiny pieces of flexi-track

[devondynosoar118]

I used flexi track on kb when I started and all you need to lay it is a pair of Xuron cutters, a few good small files and a modelling knife for the sleepers. You can get track setta gauges for n track but I didn't use them, being careful and looking down the line of each piece before sticking the track down you can avoid kinks. I have a DVD from railway modeller over Christmas that shows how to lay flexi track which was quite good, it's a Peco produced series. You can have it if it helps. Filling gaps between points is actually easier than still using set track curves and will give much better looks and reliability. It is exactly the same as laying straight track, you just need to trim the ends of the sleepers and take your time. Once you have used flexi track you will wonder why you worried about it. You can always try making a temporary shunting plank first, using a few points and 1 length of flexi track to try out your techniques first. Stick the track itch double sided tape, then you can re use it. Also don't use foam underlay, it is a waste of money IMO.

[Mike J]

Better plan MNG. Once you've got those red tracks sorted, I would maybe consider putting the fiddle yard on the outer track the other way round so that trains can run straight from the fiddle yard onto the main line without having to reverse. They can always reverse back into the fiddle yard and the locomotive is then already facing in the right direction for it's next outing. Good luck with your project.

 

Edit; also, if you plan to shunt wagons in the goods sidings, the head shunt will need to be longer. I would suggest making the head shunt and the sidings the same length by moving the first set of points in the yard closer to the running lines.

 

After reading some of the earlier posts I note that Blacksheep has already suggested reversal of the fiddle yard on an earlier plan, so my apologies Blacksheep, I didn't mean to try and steal your thunder. Better two posts than none though.

[Guest]

I used flexi track on kb when I started and all you need to lay it is a pair of Xuron cutters, a few good small files and a modelling knife for the sleepers. You can get track setta gauges for n track but I didn't use them, being careful and looking down the line of each piece before sticking the track down you can avoid kinks. I have a DVD from railway modeller over Christmas that shows how to lay flexi track which was quite good, it's a Peco produced series. You can have it if it helps. Filling gaps between points is actually easier than still using set track curves and will give much better looks and reliability. It is exactly the same as laying straight track, you just need to trim the ends of the sleepers and take your time. Once you have used flexi track you will wonder why you worried about it. You can always try making a temporary shunting plank first, using a few points and 1 length of flexi track to try out your techniques first. Stick the track itch double sided tape, then you can re use it. Also don't use foam underlay, it is a waste of money IMO.

 

Yes, I have heard lots of people recommend Xuron - I phoned my local model shop earlier to see if they sell them. He said they do but they were out of stock but should be back in by Thursday or Friday... :-)

 

When you say small files, how small? Because I have looked in B&Q and Homebase at little files that are about £10-£15, but these are just normal DIY files, are you talking about specialist modelling files?

 

Thanks very much for saying I could have the DVD, very kind of you. Was it this Christmas (2011). Because if so I think I may have the magazine.... although I don't remember a DVD.....

 

" Filling gaps between points is actually easier than still using set track curves " - not quite sure what you mean. My two options are either use flexi for the front curves and then not do anything to the points or use setrack curves but then have a wider gap between the tracks - so I would need extra track between the points to join them up.

 

" You can always try making a temporary shunting plank first " - I was thinking the exact same thing a couple of days ago.... just so I can practise everything before I do it. So not just laying track but also applying grass, laying ballast, adding other bits of scenery etc. and then find what works best and apply it to the proper layout.

 

Thanks for the opinion on sticking down track, the foam ballast was only £1 for a decent roll - and is very sticky but just not sure if it raises the track too much... (the thickness of the tape is about 2mm - too much?)

 

 

Thanks very much, MNG

 

Better plan MNG. Once you've got those red tracks sorted, I would maybe consider putting the fiddle yard on the outer track the other way round so that trains can run straight from the fiddle yard onto the main line without having to reverse. They can always reverse back into the fiddle yard and the locomotive is then already facing in the right direction for it's next outing. Good luck with your project.

 

Edit; also, if you plan to shunt wagons in the goods sidings, the head shunt will need to be longer. I would suggest making the head shunt and the sidings the same length by moving the first set of points in the yard closer to the running lines.

 

After reading some of the earlier posts I note that Blacksheep has already suggested reversal of the fiddle yard on an earlier plan, so my apologies Blacksheep, I didn't mean to try and steal your thunder. Better two posts than none though.

 

Thanks very much Mike. Thought the flexi would look better - even if it is more work...

 

Yes black sheep did mention it I think, this is it changed for the new layout though:

 

 

Hmmmm, don't think I will be shunting wagons, just a storage and maintenance area for my loco's (will mainly be 66's as these are my favourites!)

 

 

Thanks again Mike, MNG

[Guest]

Hello guys, regarding the "red curves" that are too tight. Well I just placed some setrack curves over the top of them and actually the flexi-track is near enough the same apart from being ever so slightly tighter on the inner loop.....

 

 

So surely I would be ok to go ahead with this...? Because they are the same as 2nd and 3rd radius (ST-15 and ST-17) setrack curves that is used on the rest of the layout.

 

 

MNG