NGaugeTom

A couple more pics.... 33030 sits in the rear siding between workings. This is a Dapol model, which creeps along and is excellent for shunting with the kadee couplings. The overall view of the layout A class 47 is about to leave the yard and head towards the stabling point further up the line whilst the driver of 33030 has a well-earned cuppa in the yard office. That's it for now. I've also got a few class 66's that will appear at some point in the future

A few more pics from the layout - with some traction! A few Railfreight and BR workings today I still need to set the buildings in and finish off the static grass before adding vegetation. Getting there! None of the structures, including the pipework are fixed in position yet. I'm still painting and tweaking so that's why the a-frame supports look a bit off in this picture. 08834 sat in the rear siding between workings. Now it's chipped I've begun the weathering. The Class 37 Grainflow was the first loco I've installed sound on and it works fantastically well, seen here slowly pulling trucks through the hopper. Jumping to BR Blue (my other favourite period) 33030 enters the facility with a rake of empties. More to follow.....

Thanks all for the kind comments I've been busy painting and weathering the buildings this month. I've added some signage (which needs weathering) and once the buildings are complete then they'll be set in place and blended in with the road or static grass added around the bases. I also need to finish off the static grass on the right-hand side of the layout around the road. Apologies for the poor quality of pictures - using my phone again but hopefully after a lighting tweek the colours are looking a bit more realistic - I've borrowed a DSLR so will be taking some better pictures soon. I think I may keep the hopper but may move its location to the rear shorter siding, this will allow trains arriving at the facility to use the longer middle siding. The second baseboard is coming along well too, and the beginnings of a small loco servicing facility are taking shape. This 3-foot board is predominately a fiddle yard but I wanted to avoid just having a fiddle yard board. The thought here is that I can run my 2 coach DMU along the front track whilst loco's not required in the facility can be moved to the shed. Having spent an evening playing trains this makes the layout much more interesting to operate. The board has two 3-track sector plates on it, one hidden on the right-hand side to feed the shed and branch line and one longer sector plate hidden behind the whole scene. As for the signals, I had them in my box and thought why not - with the working ones, having a few more switches to operate to control movements makes the whole layout more enjoyable to operate. I realise I need to take some pictures with some trains on the layout!! Tom

I'm still slowly painting up the buildings but have been distracted by building the fiddle yard board. I decided that rather than have a plain old fiddle yard board, that I would try and hide the storage sidings behind another modeled section. The board is from Model Railway Solutions and measures 3x1, making the overall length of the layout 6x1. I'm thinking the front tracks on the board (the concrete and wooden sleeper track in the picture) would be the modeled section, whilst the rear sector plate would be hidden. The front sector plate would also be hidden and is just long enough to house a two-car DMU or short freight working, I'm thinking the wooden sleeper front siding will be used as a stabling/fueling point to store the growing loco collection and add operating interest. Although there will be a scenic break between the facility/quarry end and this board, it'll be nice to model two different sections of line on the same layout. Another job that's been sat on the workbench for a while was converting a 08 for the layout. There was just enough room to squeeze a Lenz Silver mini decoder in and a stay-alive chip from YouChoos and it crawls along very happily. The sun was coming through the window this evening and I couldn't resist a couple of pics... Just needs a good weathering now!

Thanks for the kind comments! I've always been inspired by Chris's layouts - it was seeing what he could achieve in such a small space that finally made me decide to dust off the storage boxes. I've always liked the 'facility' layout as it seems far more interesting to operate in a smaller space than a minimum space station would be. I've also added the hopper back in, I found the right shade of green and after one coat it's beginning to sit better for me. Just a lot of weathering to go and it'll look the part

Thanks I'm not entirely sure where the vehicles came from, I've had them for years stored away.

Almost a month has passed since the last post, no idea where the time goes! Been busy this month so the modeling has slowed down a pace, but I've managed to get some paint on to one of the main buildings on the layout and I've also added some foliage to parts of the layout (I think this is one of the most frustrating things to get right!). I've also removed the hopper from the second siding for the time being as I think it overcrowded the scene, after operating it for an evening without it on I think I prefer seeing the trains more than hiding them in a hopper. Thoughts are the wagons will be loaded via digger instead.

So the last couple of weeks haven't seen much change on the layout in terms of buildings, I'm researching and finding the right colours for the buildings...but...in the meantime, I have fitted a Zimo sound decoder to a Class 37 and I'm super impressed - it's my first sound install and it's working very well. Really enjoying the layer it adds to the hobby - I think the next few years birthday presents may include some more sound decoders! After completing that install I was looking at some of my old DC loco's that I've yet to chip. I'm always up for a challenge so I've also converted an old Dapol 0-6-0 Terrier, which, after initial testing really wasn't that great, it has such a small wheelbase and as it passed over any frog or very very slightly uneven section of track it would grind to a halt - not ideal when all I want to do is some slow shunting in the facility. So after getting frustrated with it constantly stalling I decided to try and squeeze a stay alive circuit into the cab - along with the original motor resistors, the Lenz Silver Mini chip, a stay alive circuit chip and a 330uf capacitor. I had to sacrifice the small metal weight which sat in the back of the cab to fit the capacitor but it all fits, tightly but it fits. It now works in a very similar way to the real loco due to not having much weight to it. It seems very happy pulling 3 or 4 wagons or 1 coach, which is absolutely ideal for my needs. The engine driver figure is hiding all the gubbins but I will probably replace him with someone that's not waving. Super happy with this loco now, I can crawl her along at more realistic speeds, she doesn't stall at all on frogs or dirty track, there's just enough juice in the 330uf capacitor to keep her rolling if there's a momentary loss of power. Although I'm basing the layout in the early 80's, I'm sure Stepney will now make a daily appearance

Just had a browse through your Cavalex site, some really lovely models there! I like the look of the Class 91 Will you be offering the Standard Wagon PGA's in N gauge as well as 2mm? Guessing it's easy to switch the wheelsets? I was also planning a trip to TINGS so look forward to saying hello. All the best, Tom

Hi Cav, I found your layout thread this morning and I've spent a large portion of my Sunday reading through the development of this layout and Outen Road. Both are absolutely fantastic, inspiring to see how they came together. Keep up the good work and hopefully see them at an exhibition soon! Best wishes, Tom

Buildings have been primed ready for painting and weathering but that can wait for now - actually ran some trains today! Pic of the Farish Class 37 'Tre Pol and Pen' about to run around the hoppers.

I've had a couple of evenings free to finish off some of the buildings. The pipe has now been added to the drainage pipe in the centre of the layout and the buildings are nearly ready for a coat of primer - hoping the rain stops soon! I've also fitted the fiddle yard covering bridge and added the plaster road over it at that end of the layout.

Hi Duncan, Thanks! I was a bit unsure at first whether I'd have any issues as some of my stock is around 15 years old so I didn't know whether I'd have any issues with flanges, especially through the points. So far I have had one issue, which was on a Class 47, but that was due to the back-to-back gauge not being quite right on one of the wheelsets, but with a quick adjustment, it works flawlessly. I've run wires to every individual rail on the layout, including the point blades and this has meant I can crawl any loco slowly through the points without it juddering to a halt. From my experiences so far I'd say it is better than the Peco track, the gaps between the frog and blades is smaller so less chance of a stall and the overall appearance of the track is so much more realistic. I'd highly highly recommend it, and I've also seen Waynes now making concrete sleeper flexi track and single slips so now I just need another layout to try those out! Cheers Tom

Yes I noticed Waynes released a single slip version, looks very good! Just need to build another layout now.... I managed to make more progress over the weekend on the buildings for the layout, structures are pretty much there now, just need to fill in some plastic joins, add some piping and a few details and I recon I'll be able to prime them all. I've also built a trussing out of some spare code 40 rail, which will hold a pipe from one of the facility buildings to the wharf. Thought here being this pipe handles the excess water that is removed from the china clay. I was set on basing the layout around a china clay facility but having looked at my research pictures, I need to shade quite a bit of it white and I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it at this stage..... so it might be a hybrid mineral/clay layout for now.

Hi Rich, Thanks! I've used a few shades of short grass mixed together and applied using one of the yellow plastic bottles from Noch. I find just puffing the bottle makes the grass static enough to stand up, fire them into slightly watered down PVA and leave them to dry before hoovering off the excess. The finetrax trackwork is good, slightly fiddly building it but works perfectly well with all of my RTR stock. I'm surprised it's not used more in N gauge! Tom

Hi Nick, I've always found backing the loco up just a millimetre or so helps with the uncoupling. Great to know the neodynium magnets work too! I have a few short wheelbase wagons and decided I'd opt for the newcoup in between wagons so run them in two's or three's and this works quite well. I was finding that when I shunted anything very slowly over magnets they'd detach, so changing the in-between couplings over to these has stopped unnecessary uncoupling . Tom

Hi Nick, Thanks! It's getting there. The Dapol magnets are good but are rather large, I wish they were about half the size! I cut each of them in half before measuring and cutting away roughly a 3 sleeper space for them, the tracks laid on a layer of 1/16th cork which I also removed so the magnets would sit a little lower. They ended up sitting just above the height of the sleeper which was no bother at all during testing. After testing I laid some spare code 40 rail around each side of the magnet to make up the crossings and filled the gap at the top with a plaster/glue/water mix to hide the magnets before painting. The one issue I had is with the Farish Class 47's - they have a low hanging plastic cover over the running gears on both bogies, which would beach the locomotive on the crossings. Not so bad at speed as the momentum is there to push the loco over, but would stop the loco from moving at slow creep speeds, which is exactly what I want to achieve on this layout. I've got around that by cutting away the plastic gear coverings on both of the bogies and they now work fine without beaching. I've not come across that with any of my other stock but something to watch out for. I've almost finished converting all my stock to Dapol's kadee couplings and I'm super pleased with the hand's free shunting, well worth installing in my opinion. As another option - as I've found I want to add one more magnet in another position I've bought some small super strong Neodymium magnets, so planning to fit those to the front wharf track at some point and see whether they work just as well. Cheers, Tom

Thought it was about time I posted an update on Wheal End - I've managed to fit in a few modelling days and evenings since my last update and the layout is really beginning to take shape. Lots of changes since the middle of March; tracks been ballasted, painted and the roads and rocks have been added. I was relieved when the magnets hidden in the track crossings still worked with the kadee couplings despite being covered in plaster. I've also begun adding vegetation in parts but there's still lots to do with this. I'm now at the point where I've started scratch-building the buildings and begun making the frames which will support the conveyers between the various buildings. I've used some of the Plastruct corrugated sheeting for the buildings but I'm not convinced it is thin enough to be used in N gauge so I may re-visit this - I'm planning to spray-prime the buildings which should show up anything that looks out of place, I find it hard to tell when I've just thrown some odds and ends together. Still lots to do! Also apologies for the naff photos - taken on my phone!

Hi Duncan, The buffers are the standard Peco N Gauge ones, I've chopped quite a bit off the base's so they sit on the code 40 rail and painted them up using acrylics. Thanks - I'm really pleased with how the tracks turned out and it works really well with RTR locos and stock. Turnouts are operated by Cobolt Digital motors for the slow-throw, they work a treat. First time I've used them on a layout and they seem solid, really liking that they've got two switches built in, so I'm using one for the point frog. Cheers, Tom

Managed to get quite a bit done on the layout over the weekend so thought I'd share the progress. I used DAS clay to build the foundations of the yard area, I'm not too happy with the way its dried, its very hard to get a flat surface with it. I'm thinking I may plaster over the top for a better finish, (small test section can be seen at the front of the layout) and then I can hopefully put in some lorry/plant tracks around the buildings. I've begun building the rock faces on the rear of the layout, I used plaster mixed with water and PVA and then manically scribed and manipulated it whilst it was drying. I think it still needs some work once fully dry but I like how this is coming along, I saw this technique on a youtube video for an american layout and thought I'd give it a go, results look good so far. I also managed to build a couple of mock-up buildings and make a start on the bridge that hides the fiddle yard exit and give the harbour area at the front a bit of paint.

Thanks LBRJ! Very helpful!

Thanks for the kind comments Marc. I haven't really started looking at buildings seriously yet but I have a few ideas rattling around in my head. I was thinking of having a storage warehouse in the centre with a kiln/warehouse and chimney to the right near to the bridge/fiddle yard exit. I've found it quite hard finding pictures of clay facilities from the 80's/90's so would appreciate any pointers in the right direction for research if you know of any. I'm planning on scratchbuilding them as they will then fit exactly as I want them too within the layout but I'll probably utilise old bits and pieces of other kits I've got lying around in boxes. Bridge wise I'm looking at a stone bridge with steel girders supporting the road, based on one I found earlier this year whilst out on a walk on a disused railway in the Peak district, although not sticktly right of course for Cornwall but I think it will fit the layout :)

Hello all! Thought I'd share some pictures of my China Clay inspired N gauge layout. This is my first layout for almost 5 years due to lack of time and space but progress is being made! I started the layout just before the christmas holidays and due to a quiet start to this year workwise I've had plenty of time to crack on with the many layout building jobs. I've chosen to model a china clay / quarry facility somewhere in Cornwall, all inspired by a Class 37 that I've had boxed up for around 16 years and never run. It's not based on any specific location but the idea is I can run some of the Peco ECC hoppers with the 37 and also some china clay trucks with some BR Blue Diesels, so easily transitioning across time periods. I've been slowly converting all of my old DC loco's to DCC and considering adding sound to some of them at some point. The baseboard is from Model Railway Solutions and is 3 x 1 in size, the layout footprint is slightly smaller than that as I've enclosed it in a fishtank like structure for the LED lighting. The backscene was inspired by Chris Nevards curved backscene which I saw on one of his layouts at an exhibition and so have gone for the same, I really like not having corners as it makes the layout feel bigger. Trackwork is from British Finescale and thanks goes to Wayne for making such a nice track system. I've found that N gauge locos and rolling stock are becoming more and more detailed but yet the Peco track looks so unrealistic in comparison, which in my opinion lets the gauge down, so when I found Waynes track it was a perfect option. It comes in kit form and it does require assembly but the results are incredible. It looks so much more realistic and so far I've only had one piece of rolling stock bump when it rolls over the frog - this is the old Peco plastic wheels on a guards van so they can easily be replaced. Track is DCC and points are powered by Cobolt Digital point motors which is operated by a small control panel at the rear. There are a few crossing points on the layout which are mainly to hide magnets fitted in the track for the Dapol cadee couplings, the idea being it's more of an inglenook style layout for lots of shunting, so having a good uncoupling system was needed without my hand knocking everything off the track everytime. There's also a 2ft fiddle yard board which attaches allowing stock to come and go via cassettes. Lots to do but glad I've started. Excuse the terrible pictures, taken on the phone!