The Rotten Row - Dual Gauge OO/OO9 on the Quay

[Corbs]

A new year and a new (to me) layout.

 

This was built by the talented Pat James and was kind of his 'pet' project, undergoing several rebuilds. When he tragically passed away last year it was in the midst of a rejig and a rethink. Since handing off 'West Yard' to my friend Rich, working from home, and rejigging my room, it felt like I didn't have room for a layout. However, when I was offered the chance of taking on 'The Rotten Row' I was allowed to relocate the decal printer(s) to the living room (not like anyone is coming round any time soon anyway) and use the free shelf space.

 

The layout is in two main halves with bolt-on fiddle yards, so for play time I hope to be able to put them up in the big room, but can work on them individually in my room.

 

Originally it was intended to be DCC and fully 009. However, I am going with deadrail RC as I can't stand track wiring. In order to justify a 'big' layout with all my OO stock, it'll be adapted to maintain the spirit of the original but incorporating some OO too.

 

Pat had constructed several buildings and some scenic modules for it which I hope to integrate. He'd also made lots of foamboard mockup buildings which will form the basis of my construction.

 

Here is the left hand side as it was when we collected it a few weeks ago. The scenic module is not fixed down and the track is glued to a card layer.

 

 

The pub - I want to have this as a removable building to disguise the baseboard join.

 

I want to incorporate this set of buildings as a NG/SG served shed.

 

My RC 'Skarloey' was the first loco to grace the layout.

 

 

Pat hand-painted the backscene but it had gotten damp and started to crinkle. Previously affixed with double sided tape, I carefully took it off and flattened it under books, whilst I removed the leftover glue.

 

I took the drill and jigsaw to the back board to cut a hole for the OO line to run through.

Once the backscene was reaffixed with spray mount adhesive, I cut the hole out with a scalpel.

This will be covered by buildings, with the SG continuing off to the left.

 

The track was removed and the scenic module stuck down with copydex and weighed down with exercise weights. The backscene hole is on the right.

 

 

 

The track was salvaged from the warped card and required a lot of washing to get all the bits of card and glue off!

 

The new track will be laid on cork sheet cut to shape and stuck down with copydex.

You can see where I have been repainting the front fascia, and the plaster rocks (which did not want to take paint!) - think they look ok with some weeds.

 

 

Rough track plan for this end. Red is NG, blue is SG and it shows the mixed gauge sections. It's done this way so that NG trains can shunt quayside without interfering with the 'main' line, or having to shunt all the way into the shed. SG wagons can also be shunted onto the quay.

 

 

Pat scratchbuilt the superstructure of this fantastic coaster on the hull of a Revell trawler. I'm currently painting and re-rigging it.

 

One thing I did change was to modify the original fore deck to this one, based on photos.

 

 

The plan is to use Tillig track for the mixed gauge. The sleepers will mostly be buried so the spacing is not too much of an issue. What's great is that all the components are flexible so that it should be easier to achieve the track layout I am after.

 

 

 

To lay the track I need to get the other half out of storage, put them together, and lay it all at the same time ideally. The plan for the baseboard join is to solder the track to PCB and cut through it all, more for alignment than electrical conductivity.

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Corbs