Leaderboard

By way of completion of an old blog entry: Before my house move I started constructing an interior from scratch for a Bachmann maroon BSK that I'd bought at Expo EM as a 'spare' without an interior (well, not quite true, it had a TSO interior!!). I described how I'd built the interior but I didn't post photos of the completed job. so here are some external views of the almost complete coach, re-wheeled in existing bogies to P4 (to see how that runs). The complete coach from the corridor side, with a hint of the transparency that putting mesh into the brake end corridor partition gives Shown a bit better in this close up of the brake end This is the compartment side, showing the effect of the less white toilet window (more realistic for earlier Mk1 builds) and the damaged lining which I've still to repair, and to give it an LM region number too .... The brake end showing daylight through the brake compartment and the effect of less white on the guard's compartment window allowing the back of the guard's desk to be seen (prominent in most BSK photos) Thats it for now on the BSK until it appears in a complete rake, (and I've another to do with original Bachmann interior!!)

A major milestone has been the starting of buildings for my layout. The first major structure is obviously the platform which has the station building and the signalbox sitting on (or more accurately in) it. The prototype platform has had a lot of work on it since closure and there is quite a lot of subsidence along the length now. Over the length of the platform the brickwork is no longer consistent in terms of the construction, I'm working on what I think is a logical design - hopefully it is close to what was originally there. So, the main platform wall is clearly Flemish English bond, above that is a course of headers which is slightly proud of the lower courses, then a row of stretchers directly below the final large bricks which form the platform edge. To represent this I've cut the base layer and the rows immediately below the top surface separately, by inserting a slip of card behind the top courses I get the ~.5mm of relief I wanted. From left to right we have:- The slip of card which provides the relief. The top rows of bricks which will be slightly proud of the base. The structural base for the wall. The base bottom layer of Flemish bond brickwork. Sticking them together and we get the front face of a platform. The top surface of the platform was also cut in 1mm MDF and included the brickwork for the edge and holes for the buildings. Once put together the finished platform looks quite satisfying. (Currently the side and top aren't stuck together) Just to get some idea of how things will look I put in place my previously model of a GER 1865 'small' station building (based on Takeley but painted in the style of Clare) and also my shortened GER style signalbox (which is the wrong orientation for Clare). Yes, I know this is a pointless exercise but it was fun! You'll notice the hole in the platform wall in front of the signalbox which allows the point rodding and signal wires out of the box. The platform surface has the hole cut for the size of the new signalbox including a hole for the stairs down from platform level to the locking room. I never properly completed the single storey part of the station building and the roof needs a bit of a dust but even so the effect isn't too bad. All of this is rather good for the motivation as it gives a sense of progress. David

The sun has come out and the garden beckons. With the sunshine we can also see which of our double glazed units have failed. Upstairs the sudden warmth is likely to be responsible for the spontaneous failure of the glazing in one of my Bachmann Mark One coaches: This need not be a major problem. Many of us will be familiar with the 'stress test' applied to items sent by post and will have received coaches with displaced glazing. I must have been inside over half a dozen Bachmann coaches, the first being a Restaurant Car Unclassified where some of the tables had been glued at a jaunty angle and were shouting out to be repositioned. First you need a soft cloth to protect the roof of the coach. With the coach on its roof the two screws holding the bogies are removed. After lifting off the two bogies the Bachmann coupling compensation units can be lifted out, coupling end first. This way the retaining spring at the opposite end can be gently eased off its plastic spigot using a fine screw driver. The secret is to not stretch the spring. This way you are in control and the spring should stay attached to the plastic compensation device. Finally the three screws in the underframe are removed. These release the underframe from the seating unit allowing the coach body to be dismantled. However before proceeding to the final stage it is necessary to disconnect the water tank filler wires at the coach ends: This is where you need to be on good terms with your wife and why you may need to undertake time in the garden. You need a pair of eyebrow tweezers to gently pull out the filler wires from the coach ends. I wrapped the metal ends of the tweezers with masking tape to 'soften' the tweezers and prevent damaging metal to metal contact, and hence preserve the blackened finish on the filler wires. With the wires disconnected the coach underframe can be removed from the rest of the body. You might be lucky sliding the seat unit out and only removing the filler wires at one end of the coach. You will need to look out for the internal metal weight which may not be glued and which has the potential to damage the external paint finish of the model, so be careful and put the weight to one side. If possible the filler wires should be removed at both ends allowing the coach to be completely dismantled This way the failed glazing can be easily repositioned. At the same time it is sensible to check the rest of the glazing and to see which other units need reattaching. I don't know what adhesive Bachmann use but I have successfully repaired a number coaches using Butanone. In the past I had access to Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) but this supply has dried up (literally). I am not a chemist but I suspect from the literature that Butanone is just another name for MEK. I apply the Butanone sparingly with a fine paint brush around the edge of the glazing unit while at the same time making sure that the glazing is pressed firmly into its final position. With the coach dismantled it is an easy matter to see how far the Butanone penetrates the joint. Too much Butanone and you will get coloured liquid plastic oozing out round the front of the glazing - so be sparing. When the glue has hardened, which can take around 30 minutes, the coach can be reassembled which is the reverse of disassembly. With this particular coach it might have been sensible at this stage to glue the metal weight to the inside of the underframe as done on most Bachmann coaches. However I chose not to glue the weight and underframe together and final reassembly required the coach to be held correct way round with the screws pushed in from underneath - not clever. Sometimes there can be difficulties reattaching the filler wires and on occasions the existing holes in the coach ends can benefit from opening out with a 0.5mm twist drill rotated by hand in the existing hole. With the body reassembled and wires reattached it only remains to reattach the coupling assemblies and the bogies. It is important to check that the coupling assembly is properly seated and is lying flat with the two prongs resting up against their respective stops. Past experience shows that where this has not been carried out correctly the compensation unit will not function and the coach will unexpectedly derail on curved track - so be warned. If all goes well the labour time for the job should be less than 30 minutes and the coach should be back good as new:

I haven't posted in an age and, in fact, haven't even visited RMWeb for quite a while. What a great new format and I'm really interested in becoming a Gold Member - currently in negotiations with the financial controller about the monthly fee! The new layout, High Trees Junction, is nearly complete so here is a few initial test pics. This layout forms part of a roundy roundy scheme in my loft. My previous layout, Perry Barr Station, is on the opposite side. I just wanted to get my trains running for a change so have turned away from micro layout building for a while. After a previous country type layout some years ago, Cheslyn, I vowed never to go down the country route again. However, the thought of building a huge suburban theme really put me off after many hours of drawing up several schemes. It would just take too long to construct the required amount of buildings to populate it. To my surprise I enjoyed building this one. High Trees Junction is a simple enough scheme and soon became an essay in forced perspective. Having grown up in Birmingham, like most city folk, I fell in love with the English countryside. Whilst I am surrounded by natural beauty here in Ireland I do miss those English Church Spires. It always seemed to me that you could always spot two, even three, Spires from high vantage points in Britain so it seemed essential to include two in this layout. The signal box is Scalescenes and the signals are from Ratio. I really enjoyed making up these. I wanted to have a lead in curve although it is not based on a prototypical radius. I think the radius is generous enough to make it look convincing. The brambles are all made from rubberised horse hair and flock. There's always a Church Spire to be spotted somewhere in English countryside views. The small church is probably around 1/200 scale is merely a downloaded photograph that has been made up into a 3D model from card. The fabulous Lima 101 waits on signal from an imagined Branch connection to the main. The entire layout. All of the trees were handmade from seafoam and flock. It was a large task, but once a production line was set up it didn't take too long. I bought the seafoam from a Spanish modelling supplies company for a reasonable price and the flock from the UK. All the trees came in for around £150. The village scene. This hides the entrance point to the left. The church (approx N scale) is freelance from mounting card. The pub is Scalescenes and the house from Superquick. These two shots are from the same viewpoint at different angles. The illusion of distant hills is busted once viewed from above. That's it for now. More pictures at a later date.

Welcome to the latest instalment of the SSLR! Last time I explained the construction of the baseboards, and talked about presentation; today it's all about trackwork and wiring. And be prepared, it's a long entry! Before we get started, I think it'll help to remind you all of the track plan. As you may remember, the lack of space for a run around led to an interesting track layout. As the headshunt for the locomotive shed crosses the throat for the sidings. a crossing would be needed: It's fair to say there isn't much choice out there for ready-made crossings, which meant I had to have a go at scratch-building my first piece of track. Usually you'd expect someone to try a simple of bit of straight track for their first scratch-build, but naturally I was keen to press on; and armed with a very useful guide (only viewable by NGRM-online members I'm afraid) by Ted Polet, this was achievable. Above: Firstly, the rest of the track should at least be temporarily held in place to stop it moving (if only I'd done this, as the loco headshunt does have a slight kink now!). You can then place a bit of copper clad board and mark on the centre lines for the two tracks that will cross over. Above: The copper clad board can then be cut along the lines. As you can see, it doesn't need to be exact, but it does need to be close enough. Above: Next up, some sleepers were removed from one of the tracks, and the first rail was spot-soldered into position. Using the least amount of solder as possible, and only a quick touch with the soldering iron means that the rail is easier to move if placed in the wrong location. Above: A line can then be drawn onto the board to mark the location of the first rail from the other line that crosses over. This rail can then be notched over the other rails' web, mitred to the right angle, and then cut to length and spot soldered, keeping it as parallel to the existing track as possible. Once I was happy with the location of both rails, they can be soldered down their entire length to ensure maximum strength. Above: This rail can then be continued over in much the same fashion; always spot soldering before final full-length soldering, then followed by the rail closest to the camera. With this one, I've relied on the sleepers to hold it at the right gauge on one end, meaning I only had to check that the far end was the correct gauge. I'd advise investing in some proper gauges, but all I had available was a spare wheelset and a metal ruler which seems to have done the trick. Above: And so the same process is repeated for every single rail; firstly notching and mitring, then cutting the rails to length before spot soldering and then final soldering. An important thing to bear in mind is that the soldering iron should only make contact with the rail for as short a time as possible; otherwise you risk: a) heating up the plastic sleepers and thus losing the correct gauge on that end b) melting the solder elsewhere causing a rail to move out of place! The first one could be solved by using a copper clad sleeper in place of the plastic one, the second is harder to solve; hence the initial spot soldering. Above: Now it was time to place the trickiest of all the rails! The key here is to be quick with the iron, and to use something that you fit between the track to temporarily hold the rail with on one side. I chose a piece of styrene, which may seem odd given the fact it is likely to melt with too much heat, but as I said, the key with the iron was to be quick, and not to hold it on the rail for too long! Above: With the final rail soldered where it should be, I could then try and produce some form of checkrails. For some reason, I just used whatever bits of rail were left over, resulting in a mess of random length checkrails! You could do a much neater job than me (and let's not talk about my lack of soldering ability, please!) Anyway, these were simply bent at the ends using a small pair of pliers, and then notched and mitred much in the same way as the rest of the rails. It's at this point that you may have noticed that my lack of neat soldering has meant some of the check rails are too high. Whilst I eventually used the Dremel to grind them down, a better bet would be to try and clear some of the excess solder of the copper clad board, or if you're really lazy, just notch the web out of the bottom of the rail! Above: The end result is a lot of messy soldering, but it works, and that's the main thing! Bear in mind I didn't have any way of cleaning the soldering iron tip, so that might be the reason for some of the messiness! Above: With the rails all in place, it was time to cut the gaps and form the flangeways. To do this, a combination of a fine-toothed track saw, and a Dremel with a sanding disc was used; being extremely careful both to not cut the flangeways too deep, nor too wide! If either of those two things happens, any rolling stock will fall into the gap and likely cause a derailment. These gaps were cut as little at a time as possible, and each cut was preceded by a checking of how a short wheelbase wagon performed over the crossing. Once the wiring is done, this will obviously need to be re-checked with locomotives, and the gaps fettled accordingly. The rest of the trackwork Thankfully, the rest of the trackwork was straight forward - standard Peco 009 flexible "crazy track" and points were used, which meant very quick progress. I have never used cork or any other form of underlay; primarily because any sound deadening would be negated by the time the time you've ballasted and created infilled track! Ultimately, just go with the techniques you prefer, and if you're unsure of something, ask someone! Whatever you do, make sure that: The track bed is solid, and made of something unlikely to warp or react to moisture - I use 6mm ply that is supported on softwood blocks wherever needed. If curves are particularly sharp, consider making/buying a rail bender and pre-bending the rails for a smooth curve. You solder every single rail join (that isn't an insulated one, of course!) When forming curved sections of track (particularly just after pointwork, or after a rail join), that you keep at least the first couple of centimetres to be straight before beginning the curve. This will allow you to form a naturally smooth transition, and will reduce the chance of kinks on the rail join. (This is another reason for soldering rail joins). You keep glue away from point blades, and especially point motors (both when laying the track, and when ballasting). Being able to lay the track on a separate ply trackbed for as long as possible before permanent fixation will mean you can work on the trackwork and wiring away from the layout (no more leaning over and no dodgy neck/back!). Any joins between boards, or turntables/sector plates etc. should have the last 2 sleepers on each side replaced with copper clad board. The rail can then be soldered (with the track as straight as possible) over the join and onto the copper clad boards before being cut with a Dremel disc or similar. This should of course be done when the 2 boards are fixed together in their final positions. This results in a perfect track join every time. You use a suitable glue (not track fixing pins!) to fix the track down. I suggest PVA as holds strong when left overnight to cure, yet is easy to get a thin knife underneath to remove should it be necessary. You weigh down the track with weights whilst the glue cures, preferably for 24 hours. If a section of track is under high stress (i.e. sharp curves), you can use push-pins to hold the track whilst it cures. Wiring So, now that the track has been carefully laid and has been tested with some rolling stock (you have done that, right?!), it's time to begin the wiring. I hope you haven't stuck that trackbed down yet, as the first step is to fix the point motors in place (assuming you're having some). The choice of what point motor you use is up to you, personally I prefer the Gaugemaster SEEP motors as they're nice and compact. Above: With apologies for the festive table cloth! All the point motors were fitted with the trackbed upside down; this meant I could wire them up with ease. Note how I've actually made a ply base for every point motor, which is stepped slightly so that the connector blocks can be directly attached (at the right height) to the point motors. This means any wire or point motor can easily be replaced should one fail for whatever reason! It's also worth noting the red markings that denote the holes in the baseboard, as well as the labelling of each point motor so that fault finding and wiring is quicker and less confusing. Hard to spot, but I've also drilled small holes in the trackbed for 3 feeds per point (frog, and two approach rails). Above: Here's the control panel for Sandy Shores, with appropriate legend. Note how the labelled points correspond to the labelling under the trackbed in the previous photo! The control panel may seem very busy for a layout with only 4 points, but it is designed so that multiple locomotives can be on the layout at the same time without fear of one of them rocketing off the end of a headshunt and onto the floor! We can see that the layout is split into colour coded sections that can be turned on or off; green is the fiddle yard and platform road, and red is the water tower line and siding headshunt, blue is the locomotive shed road. There is also a separate rotary switch controlling the tracks that cross-over; purple for the shed headshunt, and orange for the sidings. We'll see why later. Finally, there are isolation switches on both headshunts to give further scope for interesting operation, and 3 push-to-make buttons in the fiddle yard to prevent accidental locomotive runaways! But how on earth do you wire this up? Above: So, firstly, don't be alarmed - it may look monstrous, but when you break it down, it becomes easier to understand. All black lines are common; in other words, power will always be provided to one rail (one side) of each bit of track The colours denote "sections" of track that can be turned on or off to provide power to the locomotive in that section Top right shows the point motor wiring - very simple, only 3 wires; black is common to all and runs via the CDU, and green and yellow determine which way the point is set. The crossing does complicate matters slightly, but it has been wired to a 3 pole rotary switch to allow switching between an "off" state, the locomotive shed headshunt (blue with a purple outline in the diagram below), and the sidings (red with a purple outline in the diagram below). These two diagrams and the brief explanation below are courtesy of Michael Campbell - for which I am most grateful! Above: And now we've got the wiring figured out, we can turn it into reality by wiring up the control panel; which is fixed to a piece of hardboard via bolts and nuts so that the back can be accessed for wiring! As it's obviously reversed, we have the 3 fiddle yard push-to-make switches on the left, the power supply connector bottom middle, followed by the CDU (for the points). On the far bottom right is the rotary switch for the crossing, with the controller connector above it. Anything labelled P are point switches, anything labelled ISO are the isolating sections (on the headshunts), which leaves us with GS (green section), BS (blue section), and RS (red section) for the different track sections. As the caption says, the trackplan is drawn on for convenience! Above: The caption shows what's going on, but it's worth noting that the common feeds for the point switches and sections are in red wire, not black as would be expected from my earlier comment. Where possible I have kept the wiring to the same colour code as the diagram - sometimes there just aren't enough colours! As you can see, common wiring runs from the centre pole of the point switches to the CDU, and from the lower pole of the section switches to the controller (which itself gets its power from the power supply via the blue and yellow wiring). Above: A little while later and the rest of the wiring is in place. Note how the section switches (GS, BS and RS) have appropriately coloured wiring! If in doubt, consult the wiring diagram! Above: With the wiring complete, it was time to run final tests. Note one of the crossing feeds on the far middle left, as well as all the soldered rain joins. So there we have it, one wired layout! I appreciate the wiring aspect was probably very difficult to follow, but I hope that if nothing else this entry has proven that even with very limited skill and experience, as long as you are methodical you will get there eventually. And that if you ever needed help, there's usually someone on a forum that is more than willing to help! If you have any questions, comments, or need further clarification, please feel free to comment below. My thanks to Ted Polet and Michael Campbell for their help and guidance for the wiring and trackwork on Sandy Shores, oh and to JohnDMJ for the practical demonstration when he showed me the ropes with Calshot all those years ago (and for the Trix track tester)!

Evening all, Aside from the BV kit posted earlier this week, I mentioned I was hoping to do further works on the layout having taken the 4 days off work. Am happy to report some good progress has been made. First up was acquiring a Digikeijs DR500 which James at DCC Automation had suggested to me last year as I was worried about continually plugging and unplugging the wires on the Uhlenbrock Daisy between layouts. One of the great things about this bit of kit is that it has a socket which the Daisy handset can be plugged into. It also has 3 Amps so am told has more oomph for 7mm. Having mounted it in position and connected the track outputs and programme track, I plugged in the Daisy handset and off I went - It can also be connected to a laptop and also allows running stuff off your phone / tablet Next up was spraying the track as despite most of it is inset, I wanted to ensure no silver bits can be seen between the gaps. This was done using Phoenix Precision track colour (weathered sleepers) and I do like the colour it gives as a base. The main road along the front will be ballasted so am looking at using black ash based on some colour photos I have of the line in use. Am still in two minds how to do the inset track as it’s been a disaster for me a few times on my 2mm layouts. I think after talking with Gordon and Maggie I will try card as they have done on Arun Quay - that looks fab Then, the backscene was also filled and a first coat of off white put on to lighten it up. This was done using Wilco match pot testers. Most of it will be taken out by the dries buildings so it is more the sky for this model...and I try to avoid pure blue as it never seems to work for me Some more filling and sanding required to finish this. Another development was to add a mirror as per Marc Smith’s suggestion at the start of this project. Rather than get one cut, I first tested the idea using some mirror sheet we had in our studio. It’s only 1mm thick so fairly easy to score and cut with a scalpel. I must say I am very happy with the result even though it’s just been dropped in temporarily - it needs bringing flush with the rail heads but first impressions is that it will give the dries added length...and double the amount of hoods as I only have 4 I also finished the lighting installation. Both boards/shelves are lit by a Screwfix type LED light, 911mm in length more usually used under kitchen cabinets giving a cool white light. As I wanted to have continuous lighting and no gaps, it occurred to me I could mount the 911mm fittings each end and then add a 300mm fitting to bridge the gap. This means the 911mm fittings are permanently mounted and secured with a glue gun. Once the layout is assembled, the 300mm fitting is then slid into position to link them. The beauty of this being, if I want to only work on one board/shelf at a time, I can still plug in a cable and light the 911mm strip whilst I am doing scenics In the style of the Karate Kid Master... Lights off... Lights on... Finally I gave a couple of coats of my usual grey paint to the front fascias. One end will have the mirror, the other will have a clear perspex sheet. Am thinking of cutting two openings in that should I decide to add on a small cassette at a later date - this will be explored through sketches...watch this space The layout name was also added in my usual font by self adhesive letters. The end of the week saw me having a little running session with the 08, hoods and BV kit. Much pleasure was derived from that sound chipped 08 shuffling a few wagons around. I have attached a few pics already so size restrictions prevent more. If I can upload a couple of vids I might do this as a separate follow up post. Overall, am happy with the way things are moving on this project. As always, comments welcomed... Pete

Progress at last (for me): I have stuck on the top of each of the Hornby sides a strip of 40 thou (1mm) black plasticard to imitate the slotted strip that is on the top of the Hachette SK sides into which the roof clips. And indeed it does and the coach holds itself together, like the original -amazing! Needs a little bit of trimming to make sure everything lines up and sits tight. Now I need to cut holes in the Hornby interior to give clearance to the bogie pivots and the close coupler cams before screwing that down. Then its filling, painting, lining, glazing ..... A 4mm wide strip of 40 though black plasticard with slots cut to match the Hachette roof, (note not symmetrical and handed). This was welded to the top of the Hornby sides This cruel blow up shows one attached to the compartment side in place. I stuck a strip (10 thou) on top of the Hornby side as it seemed fractionally too low This shows the roof 'pugged in' to the side and proves the concept works ( for me at least this time!) The assembled coach, externally not too different to the head picture of the previous blog entry on the build, but now it is all clipped together and holds just ... This is the corridor side of the clipped together coach. Much work left to do. The hollowed out under frame is just visible ...

I've had an itch for a long time. An itch to model a canal interchange shed; I'd initially looked at the still intact Chillington Wharf on the west side of the Stour Valley route from Wolverhampton High level. Photo by D.J.Norton I came across this picture in the steel terminal's office whilst I was given a tour of Chillington Wharf by staff showing pre-nationalisation activity with bolsters and opens with the sort of loads which would come from a rolling mill. This would have required a board depth greater than the space I wish to now place the scene in. Moving onwards; not a million miles away from the spot though was a similar interchange shed, built by the Midland Railway off the Wolverhampton to Walsall line tucked away behind the British Steel site which sits beneath the level of the junction just SE of Wolverhampton High level station. The shed disappeared in the 1950s when the land was acquired by the steelworks but it's not a ridiculous premise to see that shed last a few decades more in the shadow of an expanding works. The shed and basin are long gone now but the site can still be seen from the access road to the works here. Details are scant as it wasn't of conventional photographer's interest really, a couple of line drawings on a local history site including side elevations plus an end photo from Bob Yate's book shown in the introductory blog entry. The scene will not be a true recreation due to some compression needed, realignment to fit a workable space and the wish to give something with a little more operational interest.

Quite a long journey back from Cumbria last night so the blog posting had to wait until today. Some photos from our trip to Maryport - a general model show spread across two decent sized sports halls and with some very good layout content. It definitely deserved to be better attended than it was but we still had some very knowledgable punters come and talk to us. Our train set Whithorn - apparently Maryport (across the Solway Firth) is the backscene for this. Calderwood - nice pre-group modelling but a tricky one to photograph Maidenhaiste - made quite big too! This class 37 on Crimson Road has seen better days 'Bobbin Mill Halt' 'Bobbin Mill' has a nice D800 - a bit big for our needs though.

Dear friends - those of you who keep track of my blog may have noticed a few (un)subtle difference recently. The most obvious of these is a change of username and the second is the way I have started to sign my comments. The reason for this is a personal one but briefly I have suffered for most of my life with severe depression caused by gender dysphoria. After many years of suffering in silence I have (finally) decided to take action. As a small step I am changing all my online accounts to my new name. I would really appreciate it if you use it. With thanks, Samantha

Welcome back to the SSLR! Last blog entry, we looked at the fictional history of the SSLR, and how it came into being. This time, we'll be taking a more factual look at the layouts design and construction. We've already touched upon the fact that I wanted the layout to take up only as much space as was necessary in order to include the features I wanted to. As a result of this, and given that I seem to love curved boards, the shape of the layout is somewhat... unconventional. That said, regardless of layout shape, there are still principals that I personally think everyone should try and adhere to when designing the boards and associated woodwork. Whilst I appreciate others may have differing opinions and techniques (and that's fine!), the following lists explain some of the methods and restrictions that I plan around during the design and construction phase of layouts. Many of these have been found out the hard way! The Design Stage: Any points and complex trackwork should NOT be placed over board joins Any cross-members or bracing on the baseboard should be kept clear of points (especially beneath tiebars and frogs) so that point motors and wiring can easily be placed/accessed Bracing should always include diagonal cross-bracing, where possible, to reduce any twisting of boards Board size should, where possible, be kept under 4' x 2'. (Sandy Shores comes in just slightly over that, but as it's a weird shape and a single-board layout, it's not much of a problem.) In an ideal world, any layout legs would tuck away under the layout on hinges for transportation and ease of set-up. However, some people prefer other methods such as trestles; particularly if they're exhibiting alone. (Oh, and I'm not going into the whole layout height debate - I refuse to!) Consider how you will store and transport the layout; do you have room at home to set up the layout for long periods of time to work on it? That should be a major factor in deciding the layout size. Particulars For Exhibition Layouts: Good presentation is important (you're representing the hobby at a public event, after all). And it's not difficult to achieve! I like to paint any exposed timber/surfaces a muted and neutral colour; and fit a matching "curtain" with Velcro on the layout edge to hide the legs. Usually I go for either a grey, pale blue, sage or black. Black looks smart, but can be overpowering; so a light to medium grey is probably better. Whatever you end up choosing, make sure it's consistent across everything. Any lighting pelmet(s) should extend a little beyond the edge of the scenery to prevent shadows being cast on foreground buildings/trees Speaking of lighting, good lighting is essential. I now use flexible LED strip that is marketed as "Natural White 4000k". The 5m strip I was recommended was found on Amazon (including a transformer) for under £20. Anyway, very few exhibition venues have good lighting. And even if they do, what's to say you won't be located in front of a window in the blazing sun... The Construction Stage: The track should ideally be built on a piece of ply as a firm track bed, so that it can be wired up and point motors installed away from the layout. This makes life much easier than crawling underneath the layout to wire it up! There are too many different construction techniques to suggest a particular one; and what might suit one person may not suit another. I hear foamboard is particularly strong given its low weight; but as a man who prefers to build his baseboard from wood, I often use a sandwich technique of 6mm ply and 30mm softwood battens. How you construct your baseboards may also depend on your layout idea; especially if it features gradients and large height differences in the scenery. Scenery should ideally be formed from polystyrene or another lightweight material; preferably with lightweight plaster on top. Don't however do what I did and cover the entire layout with a layer of clay; it's too heavy! If a lighting pelmet is not to be permanently attached/integrated into the layout, its construction should be lightweight, preferably collapsible, and strong enough to support its own weight and the weight of its lights (obviously!). Ideally, a backscene should be included, and should be slightly taller than the tallest structure or tree on the layout. If you operate from behind, obviously a careful balance will need to be struck so that you can reach over if necessary. Ideally, any timber framework should be glued and screwed, and preferably (if the material is thick enough) a countersunk drill bit can be used so that screw heads do not poke out. (It also looks much neater!) So, with these principles in mind, we can look at Sandy Shores specifically. Before any wood was cut, the first step was to draw a scale plan. For initial plans, I like to use A3 Layout Paper as it's translucent. When I think I'm nearer to a solid plan I tend to copy it across (here's where the translucent paper comes in handy) onto a thick bit of polystyrene or a piece of 6mm ply. There, I begin the next stage; mock ups. The important thing at this stage is to test, using actual track or templates, whether you can fit everything in; paying particular attention to headshunt lengths and clearances. It's also a good idea to mock-up some buildings/trees/structures to make sure the layout has the right "feel", and that sight lines are satisfactory. This is one of the aspects I find crucial in layout design, and it's also great fun shuffling bits around until you find the perfect design. Those of you that love 3D modelling will also find that a useful tool at this stage. The photo below shows the final plan, with mock ups in place, and clearances being checked. Note the blue line marking out the location of the backscene. So, happy with the mock-up, it was time to consider how to construct the baseboard. I knew I wanted to use softwood battens, 6mm ply, and polystyrene; primarily because that's what I had at my disposal, but also because they are materials I'm comfortable using. What I wasn't sure on were the finer details of the construction, however, I did eventually have an idea; and this is where I chose to go down the road of 3D modelling to test it. Now, the idea... For once, I began by thinking how I could store the layout conveniently. I also knew I wanted the layout to be exhibitable, so it had to have an integrated lighting pelmet and backscene. Where this becomes tricky is the notion of making it all dismantle into a few main components. After much doodling and head scratching I came up with something plausible: It may look complex to begin with, but in actual fact, the only difficult part from a construction standpoint is cutting the softwood battens at the right angle! There are a few things that may not be apparent from the image above. Firstly, the backscene is actually held in place in two ways. The first way is a trench between the scenic and non-scenic section by which 5 softwood blocks (split into 3 on the inner face (see layer 5) and 2 on the outer face) hold it in place and help form the curve. The second way is the lighting pelmet; the backscene is sandwiched against each leg of the pelmet. The pelmet itself has its central leg slotted right down through to layer 1; you'll note the large amount of battens towards the rear that hold it in place. The leftmost leg is actually kept in place by positioning it over a metal bracket; this also holds the backscene in place. Finally, the right leg rests on layer 2, and is held in place via a slot in the fiddle yard trackbed. This means no screws or any fixings are needed to keep anything attached; so the whole thing can be assembled by little me in a couple minutes at most. Below, you'll see a close up of my lighting pelmet design, and the rear of the layout. The three legs of the pelmet support are hinged as you can see. The longer central leg of the lighting pelmet is also visible, with the shorter legs resting on the ply top. The method of attaching the pelmet itself is also dead simple; a "bracket" (just two bits of thin ply) located on each end of the pelmet supports and in corresponding places on the pelmet line up, and can simply be slotted into place. Obviously the middle one is located first, then the outer ones to get the curve (or reverse when disassembling). So to summarise; Backscene put in place > Central leg on lighting support slotted through > Left leg slotted on metal bracket > Right leg located in fiddle yard slot > Middle locator on pelmet attached > End locators on pelmet attached Now that I had sussed the board design, since I had already used the polystyrene as a mock-up, my first step was actually to cut the polystyrene to the shape I wanted the board. I could then use that as a template to cut the 6mm ply out with a jigsaw. Using Layout Paper, I also took the opportunity to copy the centre lines of the trackwork onto an offcut of ply to form the trackbed. It was important at this stage to allow sufficient space around the centre lines for point motors to be installed underneath it. With the jigsaw already out, the trackbed was cut to shape, and then used as a template so that I could begin carving out the polystyrene; both for the landforms, and a 6mm trench so that I could test fit the new 6mm ply trackbed on top. Now that I knew exactly where the points would lie, I could mark out large access holes in the polystyrene for point motors; making sure that the access holes were not wider than the plywood (I'd be left with a big hole otherwise!). These were carved out of the polystyrene, and then marked onto the ply where they were cut out with the jigsaw. This is the end result: Again, it's crucial that I remind you that the trackbed was not glued down until the track had been laid, wired, and point motors fitted! Anyway, now that the access holes were cut, and I knew where points would lie, I could begin planning the sub-frame, and whereabouts the cross-members could sit. The photo below shows some rather neat mitred cuts by my dad (he happens to be a carpenter!), but after this I was on my own! Note two things: Firstly, the sub-frame is sat temporarily on top of the ply base, and secondly the wedge shaped piece sticking up; this will be where the central pelmet support slots into - this piece was inserted temporarily to ensure minimal movement whilst screwing and gluing! With a few extra softwood blocks screwed on to support the 3mm ply fascias, it was then time to construct the lighting pelmet. Due to the lightweight softwood, metal brackets and a few screws were all that was needed to support the pelmet arms and legs. Once again, note how I've countersunk every screw! It's also worth mentioning that all screws had pilot holes to minimise the risk of wood splitting. The second photo shows the basic construction of the pelmet locators; simple, but very effective! For completeness, I've also included an overview (minus backscene), as well as a detailed shot of the metal bracket that holds the left hand pelmet leg in place, and also sandwiches the backscene against the baseboard: And that about concludes this blog entry. As always, I hope you've found it interesting, and as this is a condensed version, you can always check out my personal blog which documents everything in more detail! You'll find board construction details on the right hand-side in the blog archive; look under December 2015. Anyway, next time we'll be looking at the trackwork and wiring; including my first bit of hand-built track! P.S. Apologies if there are any typos or errors; these will be fixed tomorrow when I'm more awake!

Well 2018 was a very quiet year for Junction Dock - I did precisely nothing! No, sorry, I take that back - I fitted one piece of ~A4 card to complete the curved back scene in, I think, April... Club commitments, and 12-inch-foot commitments, mean I've not done much 'home modelling' this year. I have had fun with a few wagon kits, so I thought I'd round out the year by posing them in front of the half-finished 'goods shed' on Junction dock. From left to right, an LNER Fruit; mostly done, awaiting more weathering, a GWR V16 Mink; awaiting a second go at decals, and weathering; an LNER 5 plank open, awaiting details, decals and weathering, an LMS 3 plank awaiting a general going over and tarting up. All are parkside(-dundas) kits. The buildings behind need detailing and the roofs sticking on! Pushing the wagons about was useful - the trackwork is simply not good enough. I have serious gauge narrowing at the tips of the point blades (all hand filed, probably not finely enough, and with not enough set), the steps between sections are very noticeable, and the turnout mechanisms aren't positive enough. This is the real reason I've not done anything on the layout for a while - the fear that the fundamentals are not quite good enough... That and the terror at trying to cover the entire lot in scribed DAS setts! My initial idea - misguided I now realised - was that I could mask my first attempt at trackwork in setts. The ugly soldering, lack of chairs, mis-shapen sleepers etc would all be hidden. Of course the opposite is true - if you're going to encase your trackwork in clay, you'd better be damned sure it is up to snuff first! So I think Junction Dock needs some serious rework on the fundamentals. A shift of EM is appealing, given I feel I'm unlikely ever to have/want a big empire populated by a stable of RTR stock. Perhaps after a year dormant the project should be marked 'DNR' and I should consider something more classical? The good news from 10 minutes of pushing wagons is that I do still like the concept of the layout, and can see what I want. So perhaps it is not DNR but WIFLI - When I Feel Like It ! After all, the rest of life is stressful enough there really is no point getting worried about a lack of progress with little trains :-\