DomDulley

I nicked the idea from Everard Junction - 29:16 or thereabouts:

Thanks, I was surprised how good it looks. It's just matchsticks with a couple of strips of plasticard of increasing height at either end to lead gradually into it.

Spent a very pleasant and unseasonably warm afternoon in the garage, and got the last of the main loop laid and wired into the bus. Inspired as always by Richard's marvellous Everard Junction, I used matchsticks to super elevate the curves. It was a bit hit and miss, but when I first ran a DMU over it, it looked brilliant (it's going to the little known village of Doncaster, near Plymouth). Unfortunately, as this phase of track laying is now complete, I will have to bite the bullet tomorrow and just play trains all day to make sure there are no problems. I'll post some pics.

Have some more track to lay today, so I will give this a go. The pins have a tendency to bend when being hammered so this makes much more sense

Sigh

Even better! Thanks

After all the track laying I've been doing recently, I realised something yesterday that made me feel pretty stoopid. I've been drilling holes in my sleepers for Peco track pins using a pin vice, but the smallest bit it would hold was slightly larger than the diameter of the pin, so there was a little give unless I hammered them home very firmly. Yesterday, as I plucked yet another of the little blighters out of my fingertip, I realised they were so sharp I probably didn't even need to drill a hole, and that I'd only been doing it because that's what I used to do with the Hornby pins. Sure enough, a few gentle taps gets the pin through the sleeper and holds it very firmly, and track laying becomes so much quicker

Thanks Lez A brick works sounds interesting - I will look into what it would involve!

The lower line emerges from under the town here (nearest the wall), where trains can either join the up line (moving in the wrong direction for the line), or continue up the new branch line. This is the new lift-up section for the two main lines and the branch line (rising behind them). The main lines continue round, past a cross-over which allows traffic coming from the lower yard to move onto the down line (phew!) and under what will be a tunnel, with the branch line passing above. The area beyond the tunnel will be hidden. The main lines come back out here (where you can see I'd started on some scenery before putting it on hold for the extension) and curve round into the station again. So that's it. What I could really do with is some ideas for what to do with the branch line, which you can see just ends in mid-air at the moment! I suppose a little halt would do, but i was thinking perhaps something more ambitious, like a china clay works for example. The line has to terminate at the far wall though. Any thoughts would be appreciated

On to the main loop. The line up from the lower yard rises here, which will be hidden by scenery. You can see the turntable in the foreground, a hangover from when the diesel depot was an MPD in the days of steam. I will probably cover a couple of the lines with roundhouse sections based on St Blazey. The lower line climbs behind the station and under the raised town scene. I can't wait to start detailing the diesel depot. Here you can see what will be the town scene in the corner.

Here's a couple of views of the lower yard. From here the track exits the yard into a gentle, continuous incline. This has been rebuilt as part of the extension. You can see the up and down lines of the main loop above it. This is the new lift-up section. I've used brass screws to bridge the gaps for the first time and I'm very happy with the result (despite my dodgy soldering). It continues along the front of the L-girders I've used for the main lines, still climbing, then snakes round the corner.

Hi all, I've resurrected this topic after almost 3 years to post some updates The layout has had a name change (from Fernlea to Coombe Ferrers) to reflect my decision to set it in an imaginary bit of Devon. I grew up in Plymouth in the 1980s, which is when the layout is set, so this setting appealed to me. Since my last post back in November 2015 I've made some changes to the plan and completed the track laying and some bits of the station. I'd just started on some scenery this summer when I had a brainwave (!) and embarked on an extension -- which is progressing well. Anyway, let's start with the latest iteration of the track plan. The layout is on three levels, the lowest being a fiddle yard which leads up to the main loop, with a branch line recently added rising up to something which is as yet undecided. This is the fiddle yard, which is more of a storage yard really as it's a bit limited in height to do much fiddling! This was the first thing I built and I used a load of old Hornby points I had lying around, which was a bad decision as I'm getting a lot of derailments. A job I am keen to get to is to relay the yard using larger Peco electrofrog points, but this is how it looks at the moment. This is the main loop. The recent extension is at the bottom, outlined in red. I'll post some pictures next.

My layout uses DCC Concepts IP Digital point motors which I've been controlling using an NCE Powercab. I've now started work on a control panel, and after some research I've settled on DCC Concepts Alpha D switches. These are working fine on single points, and on crossovers using Y-connectors. However I have a couple of 3-way points and I can't for the life of me figure out how to connect up the switches to make each set of two motors work (at the moment I use NCE macros to control them). Does anyone know how to do this? Many thanks, Dom

Track laying is progressing well. I'll put up some pics soon. Now my mind is turning to signalling. I've spent a lot of time researching, and have come up with the following (see track plan below). Does it look okay? I'm just using ground signals for the two sets of crossover points (at the end of the platforms and on the right of the plan to allow wrong direction running when coming out of the depot and up to the platforms). Similarly there is a single ground signal at the depot entrance. Other than than it's just three-aspect starter signals for platforms 1 and 3, and a repeater on 2. Is this enough? Any advice will be eagerly leapt upon!

I've had a productive few days. The layout was not quite level at one end due to this board, which supports the fiddle yard's reverse loop and the end of the storage roads. I'd made the legs a couple of centimetres too long and it was throwing everything out. I had to move my modelling table out of the way, disconnect the track, slide the board out, take the legs off, detach the adjustable feet, cut a bit off each leg then put it all back together again. Pain in the bum, but now everything is nice and level. While the table was out of the way I decided to add an extension board. First, I removed the existing MDF. Then I knocked up a 4' by 1' board. Because the lower track needs to run under it and there isn't any clearance I extended the 9mm ply top out from the frame by 3". Hinges were used to connect it to the wall, with lower braces for support. The hinges will also allow easier access for wiring etc. Let the track laying commence!

Very exciting

Cheers Chris. Me too

Thanks David I discovered exactly that with those big choc blocks, so have bought a load of smaller Screwfix 6A ones.

Thanks. Feels like I'm actually getting somewhere at last

This is the latest iteration of my track plan. I'm concerned the diesel depot is a bit busy. Should thin out the trackwork a bit? I'd also like some signalling advice. I'm planning on using two- or three-aspect light signals (although it would be nice to have at least one semaphore in there somewhere). I was thinking about connecting these to the main control panel to be set manually. I've marked the positions of what I think are all the signals required for the main line, but I need to add the ground signals for the depot. I assume these should be positioned according to the same rules, i.e. a set for each turnout. Is this right? I'm guessing there's no need for starter signals in a depot?

So, in the past few weeks I've completed the following jobs on the lower level fiddle yard, necessary before fitting the top boards. Fitted a 12v dc/16v ac PSU for a lighting circuit and point motors (the latter through a Gaugemaster CDU). Fitted 8 Seep point motors, wired to the control panel. Installed decoupling magnets and marker flags. Fitted a wall-mounted monitor and mini camera for occupancy detection. Added self-adhesive LED strips to illuminate the yard. Wired up a reverse loop module. Added droppers to each of the yard roads, to avoid relying on the points. After doing all this I could finally fit the top boards. I decided to make them hinged to retain access to the lower yard, and to make fitting point motors and wiring easier (or indeed, possible at all.) I opted for 9mm ply and had it cut into three sections. Each is attached with two hinges, which I rebated into the benchwork at the rear for a flush fit. I had to chop away a bit of the MDF shelf behind it (which supports the incline from the yard to the top boards) as the hinges were binding on it. This means I will have to lose a storage siding but it's not a big deal. (I won't use MDF again. It's too hard to cut and produces piles of nasty powdery dust.) The right hand board posed the most problems, and I had to move a shelf up by a couple of centimetres for clearance, which was mildly annoying. I spent some time on this inclined curve too, building it up with plasticard and canting it with inch-long strips of 1.5mm card. Fiddly but it seems to work. I fitted catches to keep the boards in place. So now I just need to fit another few strips of LEDs and connect up some droppers, and all the lower level work is complete. That means I should be laying track this week. Finally!

I bought a cheap miniature video camera and wired it up to an old monitor for occupancy detection. Unfortunately it can't see all 7 storage roads at once but I can just peep in the side to check road 8, which is nearest the operating area.

Next job was to fit uncoupling magnets for the kadees at strategic points in the lower fiddle yard, before fitting the top boards. I dug out the Sundeala (which I've decided I don't like) with a snap-off knife and a chisel. I used cut up kitchen skewers with printed labels to indicate which road they're on to mark the position of each uncoupling point, as I will be viewing them from the side.

The yard control panel is finished and working well. I replaced the thin ply I was using with an A5 sheet of glossy white acetate purchased for a fiver. I used 3mm whiteboard gridding tape on the front and bought a cheap label printer. It's very useful for labelling the under board wiring too. I used a 37 pin connector so that I can easily disconnect it from the layout for repairs. It made for a bit of a tangle.

I've also been playing with Kadee couplers. I made a simple base for the height gauge. I should have taken a photo of a loco or wagon on it. Some N52 magnets arrived today so I can test the uncoupling. If it works as expected I will need to order more and dot them around the fiddle yard before fixing the track down. I'll put some images of some of my stock up later, but for now here are a couple of the fiddle yard now that part of my temporary upper level board has been removed for access.