Midnight-Freight Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 (edited) Hi, I have started a thread on another forum but thought I would add it here as well for extra hints, tips, and general comments on my progress. This is my first proper layout and so I am learning as I go so apologies for any lack of craftmanship and un-prototypical design :-) Firstly the name of the layout comes from the area I grew up in which was close to Chesterton sidings where the old St Ives-Cambridge branch line met the mainline. It was around here that my love of trains (particularly freight) started. I have previously owned the Midnight Freight Hornby set (hence the name) which I loved. The layout will be an end to end affair, approximately 12"x120" (32cmx300cm) including a main through road, a TMD with 2 roads and a re-fuelling road, a run around loop and several freight sidings with an area for loading of aggregate wagons. The era will be a bit sketchy as I like modern image and currently own a few EWS wagons but will hopefully have a few older loco's such as classes 37,56,58. The base board has been constructed using 12mm mdf which I found at work, treated with Rustins mdf sealer and fixed to a softwood frame. It needs to be portable so is in 3 main sections which can be joined together relatively quickly. I should add it is in 00 gauge and wired for DCC I will shortly post up a track plan and a few progress pics. I hope this is of interest to a few people and would welcome any feedback. Joe Edited May 13, 2015 by Midnight-Freight Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ok so here is my trackplan...: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 And a few pics. Apologies for the quality, they were taken on my phone in poor light. I will endeavour to take better pics from now on :-) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Currently I am waiting for a small delivery of ballast and paint so i can have a practise at soldering the droppers to track, weathering and finally ballasting. I have also downloaded a bridge scene from Scalescenes which I am having to chop about a bit to fit my small backscene. Mor pics to follow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37038 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Look forward to seeing more pictures - looks like you've got a chance to practice some interesting shunting puzzles! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkie Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Love the track plan. Being a keen TMD follower, will be following this thread Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Progress will be pretty slow for a while due to moving house and lack of funds. I downloaded the low relief arches from scalescenes to make up one of the scenic ends. I've had to chop it about to make something that will fit but it's looking quite promising. Pic to follow... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Looks realy good Joe Wil follow this now... cheers neil.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Just got back from the toy fair at Woodgreen Animal Shelter just down the road from me.Got there a bit late and a lot of people were already starting to pack up. I could have spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds on loco's and rolling stock but limited myself to this piece of classic traction. Needs a bit of work I think to improve the overall look but had to have it on the layout somewhere. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Looks rather nice... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 Ok guys I could do with a little input here... I've been playing around on Anyrail again and come up with a completely different plan, which I love. I think it's a much better use of the space I have with good operational possibilities. Essentially it's the same principal with the 3 sidings at the top right for wagon loading/storage. The three smaller sidings at the bottom left would incorporate a 2-3 road TMD with maybe a fuelling point. The two diagonal tracks being the main through roads with a loop to run round trains. My only concern is as it is a temporary layout which will need to be put away when not in use is the joining of the three sections. I've attached a track plan with the boards divided into 3 sections and think lining up the mix of straight and diagonal track sections might be a bit tricky. What do you guys think? I'm sure I can make it work even if I have to tweak it a little... :-) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37038 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Looks good to me! Maybe if you shorten the top 3 sidings slightly then you could move the points away from the board joint? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Plan looks good to me. Good buy at the toy fair. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) There's no reason why you should pay any attention to me (as I've got nothing more than a wardrobe door with some pencil lines on right now), but I would suggest less track. Both your plans have pretty much every square inch having track in it, which leaves no space for scenery. Less siding space will also give you more to think about when operating it. I'd recommend losing one of the top sidings on your second plan, and using the space for whatever loading/unloading you might imagine would be going on at that facility. Edited May 10, 2015 by Zomboid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 Looks good to me! Maybe if you shorten the top 3 sidings slightly then you could move the points away from the board joint? That might be a good idea. I wanted maximum length sidings but realistically it will probably be sometime before I have enough rolling stock to fill all three up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 There's no reason why you should pay any attention to me (as I've got nothing more than a wardrobe door with some pencil lines on right now), but I would suggest less track. Both your plans have pretty much every square inch having track in it, which leaves no space for scenery. Less siding space will also give you more to think about when operating it. I'd recommend losing one of the top sidings on your second plan, and using the space for whatever loading/unloading you might imagine would be going on at that facility. That has crossed my mind on a few occasions but I do want something that's quite busy without looking too cramped. I think the second design works better in that respect. I guess plans are one thing but until I start playing around with real track it's hard to know if it will work as I hope. Appreciate the comments though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wherry Lines Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Apologies if I have misinterpreted your plan, but both sets of sidings are facing the main line, which is generally frowned upon on the prototype. I think these should be trailing arrangements, accessed either by a headshunt or a reversal off the main line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Apologies if I have misinterpreted your plan, but both sets of sidings are facing the main line, which is generally frowned upon on the prototype. I think these should be trailing arrangements, accessed either by a headshunt or a reversal off the main line. I see what you mean. I have a feeling there may be a lot more frowning to come from the powers that be as things progress. In my mind the 2 through roads are not a mainline as such but possibly branch off from one. (I don't know if that makes it any better) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 If you mirror the whole thing they become trailing connections. Or you could just have right hand running... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Wil be good to see some "scenic" areas on this too........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 I thought I would add a few quick pics to show that this isn't all just a pipedream. I seem to be doing things the wrong way round and have amassed a nice little collection of rolling stock with nothing to put them on. I will endeavour to concentrate my efforts on ordering some track in the very near future so things can progress a little. So the 3 pics basically show my collection of Bachmann MFA (and one MEA) and 2 Horby MHA 'coalfish' wagons along with my sole loco. The third pic shows the detail i've added to the 58 in an effort to make it look a little less bland than the original. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Well in a moment of complete madness I have not only managed to stop bidding on rolling stock long enough to order some track but have started laying it as well. This is the area that will make up the TMD (if I don't change my mind about this) Unsurprisingly the design has changed slightly again. It may not be much and it's only temporarily held down with drawing pins for now but i'm pleased with it and can't wait to get on with the rest. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Just a quick update as track laying progresses nicely. Need to order some more straight lengths so can't do any more at the moment. I like how it's looking though and doesn't look anywhere near as cramped as I had feared. Once all down and i've checked it all flows how I wanted I then have the bit which i'm probably least looking forward to; drilling all the holes in the baseboard for the droppers, removing the track piece by piece, soldering the droppers to the underside of the track and then replacing. At least I can then test all the hard work with an actual train! :-) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCML100 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 track layout is looking good Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 I would just like to share with everyone how much I am not enjoying the process of soldering the droppers to the bottom of the track. I'm sure with a bit more practise the whole process will become quicker and less of a pain in the backside but by then I will have either finished or set fire to it all :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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