jennarivo Posted July 15, 2013 Author Share Posted July 15, 2013 (edited) Finally got the junction box painted.............. except that the green I mixed is dreadful and I have used completely the wrong shade of red. I'm sure that these things aside you will still get the jist (gist, not really sure) of what I'm trying to achieve Stonework will be attended to later on after I've tackled the station building This is the progress to date. Won't be anything happening for the next wee while as my girlfriend and I are going wild camping. No idea where we're heading for, just somewhere on the West of Scotland. cheers Shaun Edited July 15, 2013 by jennarivo 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Ok, it’s been a few months since the last update and in that time we have moved flat and as luck would have it there is enough space to actually start building this layout. As I wanted the baseboards to be as light as possible I decided to use the Styrofoam/ply technique. So far 3 boards have been constructed using a 1200x500x60mm Styrofoam board, faced with 12mm ply at each adjoining end and 4mm ply along the sides. The ply was fixed to the foam using solvent free gripfill and 90mm coarse woodscrews every 150mm or so. I’m quite happy the way they have turned out, they seem to be very rigid and only weigh about 2.5kg each. These 3 boards will form most of the scenic section of the layout, a fourth scenic board will be required to accommodate the Thurso branch line but I haven’t quite decided what dimensions this board will be at the moment. Trackwork is Peco code 55 with large radius points and here are some pics showing it very roughly in position. This first one is taken from the Inverness end looking towards wick, roughly from where the timber snow deflectors are located. The lone structure is the Junction Box, the larger of the two signal boxes that once stood at the station. Just past the signal box you can just about see the points for the Thurso branch and its loop. This next pic is taken from the Wick end looking towards Inverness/Thurso. The structure closest is the stations other signal box (albeit more a hut) the North Box Cheers Shaun 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Great start Shaun! Looking forward to seeing more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 Unfortunately progress has been rather slow as of late, mainly due to a constant flow of family visits and general ‘couldn’t be botheredness’ Yesterday I did finally managed some progress and got all the track cut and roughly placed for the main part of the layout. The 4th scenic board which will accommodate the Thurso branch has not been constructed yet, as at the moment there is nowhere to store it when not in use. This project is being completely funded from the disposal of all my OO Gauge stock and accessories and slowly but surely the stockpile is being reduced. I only have about 4 (very large) boxes of items left to sell and once this has gone storage space will be available and I can construct the missing boards. One area where progress has not been so slow is the rapid expansion of my N Gauge collection, in particular Class 26 and 37 locos and MK1 coaches – maybe one day they will actually run on this layout Anyhow some progress pics, this is track very roughly laid, 5mm foam is yet to be laid beneath the track and station areas – this is next weeks task. Looking towards Wick Looking towards Inverness/Thurso Some of the afore mentioned MK1s making an appearance That's all for now, Shaun 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Looking good keep it up David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Evening all, A bit more progress has been made, slowly though as I started a new job earlier this month. This month has seen 5mm thick foam cut and copydex’d to baseboards to form the trackbed. Wire droppers have been soldered to track (a least 1 pair per section of track), bus wires have been connected to droppers and all track has been tested for continuity – successfully I carried out some test runs today with 26040 at the helm pulling a very mixed rake of MK1’s, Dutch 37035 can be seen lurking around in the pics also. These are the only 2 of my locos that so far have DCC decoders fitted. 26040 arriving at Georgemas from Wick. I intend to slightly exaggerate the curves and contours on each approach to the station to provide visually acceptable scenic breaks, as trees were few and far between (pretty much non-existent) in this part of the country for the period being modelled – c1960-1980 The same train from Wick awaiting arrival of the Thurso portion from the (not quite there yet) branch line A couple of other general shots Next tasks are to glue down track and test some more. Then a start on the surrounding contours. Cheers Shaun Edited December 1, 2013 by jennarivo 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Looking great Shaun, your cat looks like he doesnt know what to do!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 Looking great Shaun, your cat looks like he doesnt know what to do!!! It's quite funny as up until now she hasn't been in the least bit interested in what I've been doing. But now that trains are actually moving the layout has captured her full attention. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Robert Shrives Posted November 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 30, 2013 Hi This looks really good - I did a much smaller model in the late 80s with minitrix stock! You will need to watch cats and signals - eaten off tops - I guess cats floss with the ladders! Robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Coming along well David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkie Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Loving the look of this layout, always nice too see N gauge in this much detail. Look forward to your next update. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 Thanks for all the encouragement. Tonight has seen the trackwork glued down on the centre board, and a couple more locos ( a 26 & 27) purchased from Ebay. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium steverabone Posted December 6, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 6, 2013 What a fantastic concept to do this in N Scale. A friend of mine is attempting Georgemas Junction in 4mm but in the Highland Railway period. He would like a photo of the rear of the main station building. that's the side away from the track which nobody seems to have photographed. I've managed to get a rather poor shot using Google Streetview - taken from the A9 but I wondered if anybody has a proper photo they could let me have? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) What a fantastic concept to do this in N Scale. A friend of mine is attempting Georgemas Junction in 4mm but in the Highland Railway period. He would like a photo of the rear of the main station building. that's the side away from the track which nobody seems to have photographed. I've managed to get a rather poor shot using Google Streetview - taken from the A9 but I wondered if anybody has a proper photo they could let me have? What an interesting period to model the station that will be. I have plenty of pictures of the station building from summer 2011, I also have lots of other pics that may be of interest, including a few from HR times. pm me an email address and I will send them. I also have some measurements of the station building if they would be of any use cheers Shaun Edited December 6, 2013 by jennarivo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 Very quick update - no photos All trackwork has been stuck down to the 3 existing boards and tested - so far so good,a couple of little snags but nothing that can't be ironed out. Any sleepers missing from track joint areas have been replaced and tonight I'll trialled my intended method of point control. Not sure if I have mentioned it previously or not, but as the intention is to keep wiring to an absolute minimum I have decided to go back to basics and use the 'wire in tube' method. A few weeks ago I purchased some GEM components and tonight I finally got to try them out. It turns out that it's quite a satisfying method of switching points. At some point over the weekend I'll get some pictures up. cheers Shaun 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 The pictures - a bit later than promised - and another small update. Work has been pretty slow this week - mainly as I've been on a course all week and haven't been getting home to after 1900 - however Board 1 (Wick side) & Board 2 (middle) has both had their point control wires & tubes fitted and tested. Board 1 has also had some basic terraforming carried out. As mentioned previously in order to provide a easier scenic break and to take away the (almost unrealistic on a model) flatness I intend to (un-prototypically) create a gentle incline of the land surrounding the trackwork towards wick. The last picture probably gives a better explanation. Also I have finally made a decision on the radius of the Thurso branch and a start has now been made laying the trackwork for this too, the books you can see in one of the pics are weighing down the foam underlay for this trackwork Time for the pics A few more locos making an appearance too - 27032 crosses from the branch to the up line with the Thurso portion of an Inverness service, 26026 is already waiting on the up line with the Wick portion. 26040 is at the head of a very short mixed freight sitting in the loading dock line. 27032 reversing the Thurso portion onto the Wick portion. Both portions now joined, 27032 has unattached and sits idle as 26026 heads south towards Inverness. A bit later in the day 27032 heading away from Georgemas towards Wick with a short rake of mk1s. As you can see this the start of how I intend to 'force' some shape into the landscape on this side of the station. That's all for now cheers Shaun 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Looking good keep it up David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) Hi all, it's update time Didn't get nearly as much done over the holidays as I would have liked, family, food and wine seemed to take up most of my time. I did however finally decide how I was going to tackle the Thurso branch. Originally I had thought that I would need a fourth scenic board, however after loosely laying some track I decided that a small extension to one of the boards was all that would be required - and hey presto as can be seen from the progress pics below the board has been extended and the branch track work laid/wired/tested/glued. Another milestone that was completed over the holidays was the installation of the point control bit and bobs - point control is via GEM wire in tube method. This week has seen some more basic terraforming taking place, the A9 road bed and embankments are in place and to the west of this a (hopefully) familiar shape is starting to emerge. The embankment foam has been stuck to the baseboard foam using a hot glue gun. I've found this method to be quite handy as the glue sets within minutes and the joints are absolutely rock solid. Shaping was with a mixture of coarse hacksaw blade and scalpel. I must apologise for the poor quality of the photos, the lighting in this room is very poor, I keep telling myself to take the pictures during the daylight hours but unfortunately once again I have chosen not to listen............ That's all for now. Cheers Shaun Edited January 18, 2014 by jennarivo 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Slow progress this week, I have spent the last 4 nights painting the rail sides, I'd forgotten how painfully never ending this can seem. 2 Boards down, 1 to go................... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Finally the rail painting is complete, no pictures yet but rest assured some will follow............ In the past I have mixed my own rust colour but this time I chose to use precision paints "rusty rails" I'm quite happy with the way they have turned out so far, but until the sleepers are painted (which is next weeks task) and ballasting has been completed and weathered it really is difficult to form an opinion one way or the other Edited January 18, 2014 by jennarivo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hi Shaun, Haven't looked in for a while but the progress looks great! My cat is intrigued too by the moving trains, however he occasionally pounces on the last wagon/coach in a rake! Nice collection of rolling stock too. Best regards, Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel8910 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) I find that a brilliant place to get N gauge bargains is Harburn Hobbies on Leith Walk, they also have a large stock of new BR blue rolling stock too! Layout is coming on well, nice to see some more highland railways. Daniel8910 Edited January 23, 2014 by daniel8910 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 Thanks for the all encouragement. As it happens I live on the same block as Harburn Hobbies and tend to pop in every Friday on my way home from work cheers Shaun 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennarivo Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi all I've been quite busy over the weekend, landscaping is coming along nicely got a layer of plaster cloth down which seems to have brought the Inverness/Thurso side of the station to life. Need to do another layer or so yet to smooth things out a bit and the Wick side hasn't even been started - It seems that I might have misjudged how many rolls I needed. I've also installed the stone face of the loading dock, platforms are next, I spent this evening trimming down and base coating the standard Peco stone platform sides to make them a more passible Highland Railway height. More to follow soon Cheers Shaun 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhighlandline Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Hey Shaun Happy to see that you're modelling one of the most interesting railway spots in Scotland. Hope you've been able to continue work on your layout within the past few months. Would be happy to see some pictures of your progress! Cheers, Kosta Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now