Big jim's (now dismantled) 12 x 6 shed layout

[big jim]

The crossing is from the pile of unused bits and i quite like the impractically of the set up to be honest!!

[The Stationmaster]

The crossing is from the pile of unused bits and i quite like the impractically of the set up to be honest!!

I am very taken with it Jim - looks great (and remarkably prototypical, albeit not for engine shed sidings)

[big jim]

this is it with the shed moved futher back and fuel plant in front, looks much better

 

 

[Pete Harvey]

Jim

 

I think you should replace the frosted glazing on the front windows on the shed as George Dent has, it will look nicer.

 

The re-arrange looks great.

 

Pete

[pitbull1845]

I agree it looks better with the shed at the back. I haven't seen Georges modification Pete; has he put clear glazing in or covered it in cladding?? I have one of those depots and all the frosted glazing is naf, I was going to clad the whole thing.

[Pete Harvey]

http://georgedentmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/Bachmann-scenecraft-shed.html

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

That looks fantastic Jim!

[class"66"]

More good stuff Jim..

[big jim]

Spent an afternoon in the shed playing about with different set ups in the station area and not coming up with anything ive been 100% happy with

 

A couple of ideas were interesting including moving both lines to the rear of the board and having platform roads coming off them but it meant adding a couple of extra points and diamond crossovers which isnt a problem but the existing points set up (ie ones i dont want to disturb) meant that only trains in one direction benefited from the set up

 

So this is what i ended up with at the end of the session

 

 

Absolutely nothing!

 

Ive even removed the track from the middle level shed area and took the legs off so its now back to ground level, im Having a dilemma as to whether to make that area 'railway' or turn it into a low scenic street section/station frontage/whatever to give the illusion of the railway being on a bridge/embankment, im thinking if i do that then the layout is not just track track track, i can still include the Bachmann shed at the rear (if i revert to the set up at the top of the page)but id have to ditch the shed i built, the oil terminal could still go at the front but accessed direct from the 'down' mainline by backing in, id just have to add a small baseboard fillet to the station area to be able to do that

 

Another option is to move the low board up to the same height as the station so the station is behind the buildings as it were, one of those 'glimpse of a train' looking set ups

 

Decisions decisions

[lmsforever]

If you put in a low level street you can have a station entrance plus associated shops this will add to the overall effect with subway entrances on the platforms ,the shops will of course be named after family members! Also a small bus station and taxi rank with cobbled road sections and a few car park places will provide a plausible reason for the station you can go to town on the detaling with extra details in the shops,hope this helps.

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Have you considered using two Y points to start off at each end of the board in the photo above?

 

Then you can have two lines running through the station area which then link back into one line after the station area at either end. You could then add platforms at either side of the two lines running through the station. Although you probably wouldn't be able to have a platform in the middle of the two lines unless you brought the track out further and wider after each Y point. You could have the middle area between the two lines in the station as overgrown/vegetation which is something we see a lot of nowadays which would add realism to the layout.

 

Unless you have two main lines running through the station and platforms at either side and then a small line to the rear of the board that could be used as a dead end siding to park 150/153 passenger trains if you have any or something small. You could maybe even park a couple of 66s or 70s there like what you see at Crewe when locos are shunted and manoeuvred over to and from Gresty Bridge. I suppose it gives more of a sense of something extra happening. Hopefully you would have enough room for this option. So that's two main lines running straight through with platforms either side then a small siding to the rear of the board to store passenger trains or 66s/70s or whatever.

 

The board in the photo that's lowered could you bring this up to the level of the one where the station is going to be? This would then give you extra space to use for lines/sidings extra in the station and you could also add some buildings so that it isn't all just track. Maybe like a small retail park if you have the room or just a couple of takeaways like McDonalds and KFC? After all near quite a lot of main stations you see either a retail park or takeaways.

 

Hope this is of some help and use Jim.  

[big jim]

the only problem with Y points is it restricts the length of the platform as i would need to install them 'on the straight' as it were, i tried that option earlier as i have a few Y points to hand

 

looking back at the pics i posted last week i do like the set up i did with the Bachmann shed and the track set up looks quite good so i may go back to that with a few enhancements, the bay would have to be longer possibly even a through platform so i could back the tanks in, or go back to plan A and put the Bachmann shed back at the front and the tank farm at the rear

 

as you say raising the front board would give me a bit more flexability with the track and the retail park secnario sounds good, but then so does lms' subway into the station idea, i'm leaning towards having the board the same level at the mo

 

the thing that is crossing my mind is i originally i fancied adding a higher street level above the track in the corner of the layout with the station frontage there and escalators down to the platform so i could do the old trick of making the platforms look longer than they actually are, im still keen on that but i think it would look odd having so many 'street' levels on one side of the layout if i kept it low, then of course i already have a bridge dropping down from yet another level on the other side of the layout to what was going to be be a taxi rank, bus stop area, so making the front board level would tie in nicely with that as the road could continue round along the front of the station

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Yes I understand what you're saying Jim about the points restricting the length of platforms. Unless you added some of the small Peco straight sections of track to the Y points to bring the lines out further so that the platforms could be made longer at both ends?

 

Yes the Bachmann shed with the station platforms did look really good. Yes so maybe you could consider how many tanks you have so that if you were to create a bay platform you would know the length that it would need to be in order to shunt and accommodate the tanks to back them in.

 

I think the front board been the same level as the one where the station is going to be would be very beneficial. You can add extra track and lines for your station if you require more space and yes you could then use the rest of it for a subway and/or retail park. What were you going to use the board which is lower for?

 

I agree I think it might look a bit odd if there were several levels of road scenes on one layout so I would go with the second option of linking up what you already have.

[big jim]

I was going to still have the scratchbuilt depot there but with access from a single point in the hidden section but i quickly ditched that idea as the lead in would be 1/2 way along the section so it would have been quite restricted space wise

 

When i get some time i'll set up the board at the same height and see what i can do with it

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

I'm just thinking if you bring the lowered board up to the same level as the other board this will open up a massive amount of opportunities such as the subway, a retail park and takeaways like McDonalds and KFC. That way you can avoid having a load of track altogether and it provides a good place for you to detail. Your also doubling the space you have to play with and therefore you will be able to make more beneficial use of it.

[big jim]

moving the outer bit up certainly makes things easier, i've just put it in position temporarily to get the idea

 

 

i then went back to the set up i tried last week, just need one more set of points

 

doing that means i can use existing point motors in a few places, in the old yard area ive turned the 3 way point round to give me access to the bay/turnback into the oil termainal

 

the extra space means i can move the whole lot to the right a touch which means i can fit a platform on the back wall as well as the island

 

looking at the other end of the board ive got in idea for the station entrance area, basically i think the foreground should just be a car park, NR office area, oil depot road entrance etc rather than building it up into a street, using a few bits and bobs as a guide this is what ive come up with

 

the box in the corner could be the station entrance, out front a taxi rank, bus stops etc accessed from the bridge i made the other week, again just using some Bachmann low relief offices as a guide i think it should look good

 

above there could be a street area or shopping centre with a high level pedestrian entrance to the station, the retaining wall i have built on the opposite side of the layout could actually continue right round the back wall of the shed and join to this side

 

another view from the end, the area over the tracks can be used to make the platforms look longer than they are

 

even just cobbled together i think it looks quite good

 

i think i'm going to settle on this set up, not much more flexibility than before other than the bay, trains on the 'down' can only use the one platform next to the bay where as 'up' trains can use all 3 platforms because of the crossovers i'd already added previously

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Fantastic work Jim! I completely agree I would leave it just like the photos above. I don't think you can do much better than that! Spot on.

 

Like you say even in the photos above just roughly put together it looks really good so by the time you have got the track and points laid, buildings added and the car park, taxi rank etc it will look fantastic! I really like the idea of the additional third line into the station that runs between both platforms. I have always liked this idea as the train/loco is very close to the platforms at both sides and makes for interesting views and photos. I also really like the point work which runs into the station and gives you access to the depot and oil sidings. It would be good for shunting with the Colas oil trains

 

Don't think you could have done any better! Keep up the good work!

[class"66"]

Realy coming along well Jim...

[big jim]

home for a few hours so spent the time in the shed

 

first job was to remove the cork i'd laid for the original set up through the station, then i drilled the extra point motor holes i needed and secured them in place, then secured the front part of the layout with some new legs (still got a few more to add) and finally secured what track i could 

 

basically the track on the left hand side board is pretty much in place where there is existing cork underlay and all other track is in its final place but ready to be lifted to lay the cork

 

the bay is long enough for 8 wagons and a loco to set back into the oil sidings, you may notice i've moved the industrial unit from the shed area and placed it in front of the bay, at the end of what will become a car park, that frees up a bit more space in the depot and fills a nice bit of the front board, i will probably turn it into a network rail p-way depot

 

 

as i say moving that makes a bit more room in the depot, i could place my diesel tanks there maybe?

 

looking from above the tracks in the station i think it should look quite good once i start the scenics.

 

i picked up a red star parcels building from c+m models last week which i'm going to use as the office for the oil terminal however i've got the idea of making it look like it should be where it located by when i do the scenics putting an old barrow type crossing alongside the building going towards to a now removed ramp, as if brutes used to be pulled from there to the platforms in red star days

 

looking at the shed i did as pete harvey mentioned and removed the frosted glazing, not sure about it yet but it certainly makes the shed airier, the only problem is i'll now have to detail it inside

 

thats as much as i can do until i get some cork underlay then i'll crack on with it, more importantly i need to do some serious house keeping in the shed as its a disgrace, i can sneak the dyson out there while my wife is away though!!

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

More fantastic work as always Jim!

 

I really like the track plan! The dead end line where the Colas 66 and oil tankers are looks really good and adds a lot of interesting shunts and manoeuvres to the layout. Then the idea of the 66 running back to and from the depot which is at the other side of the main running lines is also great! The depot area you have is it just going to be for Colas traction or other FOCs too?

 

Are you thinking to put a car park on the raised board in the corner just after where the Colas 66 is parked or is this going to be next to where the 66 is parked?

[big jim]

the raised bit will probably end up as a street scene, high level entrance the the station etc, not decided yet

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

All sounds good Jim!

 

That would look very good above the station and lines

[fishytrains]

Like the look of the station.

 

Mike

[big jim]

been working nights and a night off has left me wide awake so off to the shed at 23:30 for a tinker

 

i was going to lay the cork in the station but realised id run out of spray mount glue so i had to give that a miss so i revisited the shed area..

 

i bought a new small radius point from trident trains over the weekend to add an extra road

 

i then added an extra set of points...

 

but it just didnt look right

 

so i reverted back to the single road

 

however i then found a small radius Y point which i gave a try

 

which i think looks so much better, gives a nice bit of space between the roads

 

so i think i'll go with that but im going to be lazy, as they are in the depot and the board is fixed im not going to add point motors to them

 

so then i moved over to the area above the station, this is obviously no where near its final set up, the foamboard will be replaced with ply when i do it

 

i picked up some buildings from C+M models earlier in the week, low relief book shop and drive through as well as using items i had in stock (Bachmann bank and office fronts)

 

the drive through will go at the bottom of the bridge by the low level entrance to the station but thats under junk at the mo so i can't show you!

 

however the low relief buildings are for the high level bit, i was planning on getting a few more low relief buildings to fill the rear wall then some proper buildings to build up the 'other side of the street'

 

however i recon i'll use the low relief office fronts as the station entrances, one at street level the other at ground level as can be seen here, that way i'll only need a couple more low relief buildings for the rear wall

 

so then moving on to the foreground i thought a cheaper way of doing it would be to have a 'public space' and a bus stand area, i had a big pack of wet and dry to hand that i ripped in half and placed down to represent what would be the road

 

obviously the road will sweep round at the front corner but that part will be the bus stand and the area between the roads will be the public space, i may well add a bit to the top of the low level building entrance to represent a pedestrian entrance from the bus stops, to be honest ive just thought of that while i was posting this!

 

finally, moving over to the other side of the layout briefly i wasn't sure what to do with the area above the retaining wall where the sky of the backscene ends abruptly

 

 

last night i downloaded some modern terraced house fronts from modelrailwayscenery.com that are just plain no relief print outs

 

cut them out and tried them in place, they look ok as they sit flat on the wall behind the wall which has a bit of relief, ive not stuck them in place propery though

 

i will print out another couple when i get some more photopaper later to make the whole row longer towards the point where the bridge drops down, from normal angles they certainly do the job hiding the end of the backscene

 

i also downloaded an ultra low profile 'office backs' kit which i may have a go at printing over the weekend and see how that looks in the same place but the houses look ok in my eyes, do have somewhere else to use the offices though

[class"66"]

Some more nice work Jim!!