Brian D

Hi William, As you can see from the numerous "Likes, etc" I've just caught up with your fine thread. Lovely work and great attention to detail - exhibition standard. Keep up the good work. Regards, Brian.

Before reconfiguring the shed, I thought that I would attend to a very important little job that Andy Peters kindly reminded me to do in an earlier post - namely, to fit some kind of train arrestor system to each end of all the cassettes. So I considered the materials to hand (some 12 mm long pan head 3 mm diam bolts and some sheets of 10 thou thick Evergreen sheet styrene) and came up with the following prototype design. When in the upright position, trains can safely pass through. Once I had fitted it into position, I couldn't help thinking that it reminded me of an LU cable bridge typically seen outside LU end of the line train depots. I worked for LU for the last 6 years or so prior to retirement and being a life long rail fan it was for me a great thrill to work for a railway company, albeit in a non-operational role. Anyway, I digress.... This prototype seemed to work reasonably well when tested on one end of one cassette. Easy enough to flip up and down and no clearance issues detected. So, mass production of the other 9 arrestors commenced. They have proved to be a bit fiddly to fit. Basically the pan head bolts are self tapped into 2.5 mm holes in the inner faces of the mdf sides of the cassette. Screwing the bolts into the holes is restricted by the width of the cassette - I couldn't insert a screw driver into this space, merely a driver bit (just visible in the last pic) so I only managed to install these arrestors on three cassettes this afternoon - finger tips feeling a bit numb now. I'll complete the other two tomorrow. With these in place, I can carry loaded cassettes back to the house to be out of the way while I move heavy stuff around in the shed. If these were not installed I would have to pack away all the stock on the cassettes - a time consuming process. Regards, Brian.

Thanks Les - a steel straight edge is a must and plenty of sharp blades. I use an Expo Model Makers Scale Rule for the former and Draper snap off Stanley knives (ex Asda - less than £2 for 2 knives with multiple blades) for the latter. Regards, Brian.

Whilst building the loco shed, I have been reconsidering how I might go about building the new layout while still keeping trains going. Although it is possible to extend the existing terminus as I have described in earlier posts, I couldn't get my head around how I would correspondingly extend the control and signalling systems. So, I have decided to move the existing layout complete with cassette fiddle yard to the other side of the shed and erect those baseboards I already have on the opposite wall thus... The red boards are those retrieved from the loft and the green infill board was recently constructed. On these boards I can get on and lay track, power and signalling, erect buildings and add landscape while still having a fully operational layout on the other side of the shed. This I feel is more likely to motivate me when it comes to dismantling the existing layout to complete the U shape. Hopefully by that time, the new terminus will be completely operational, if only for a bit of shunting. I am hoping to rearrange the shed over the weekend and erect the new boards. This is a view from the shed door today - all to change over the next few days. Regards, Brian.

The loco shed is almost complete. Here are some of the build photos. Firstly with the walls made and leaning up against each other. Secondly, having decided to cut off the parapet walls on the gable ends, the walls were glued together - the clamps are holding the roof supports to the gable end while the glue dries. Finally, almost complete - only doors and a few bits and pieces to be added. Regards, Brian

Well done, Les. Not long now before you get "published" as well. Regards, Brian.

Andy - the J72 looks wonderfully grotty - great work.

I've recently rebuilt the station building on my existing layout using Scalescenes textures and bits and pieces. It's not anywhere near as good as the foregoing examples on this thread but a vast improvement on the building it replaced. Regards, Brian.

Following a little research..... ...I've convinced myself that the Scalescenes' kit, suitably bashed, will look North Eastern ish Progress so far. Basically, these are the component parts of one side wall comprising an outer and an inner skin. The windows, printed on OHP film, are sandwiched between the two skins. Regards, Brian.

I thought I'd give layout planning a rest for a while and, because I still harbour doubts about the right way of laying out the area around the turntable and loco depot, I've decided to build a locoshed which I can plant on the corner board to see how it looks in different locations. I an attacking another Scalescenes down load - see below. The shed will be a two road version and one and a half bays long, giving an internal length of about 10 inches or so - the 2 bay version described in the instructions would be too long and I think inappropriately large. This shed will just about accommodate any of my 2-8-0 tender locos (O1, O4 & WD) which in my imaginary world would be shedded there to handle the coal or other industrial traffic. I'll post more pictures of the build as it progresses. Regards, Brian.

Thanks again Ray for your very pertinent observations. As I was typing my previous scenario about the J94 I was thinking that there was more than one way, other than the one I described, of carrying out such a train movement. You have rightly identified and beautifully described another, possibly better, way of carrying out this movement. All the best, Brian.

Thanks for your kind comments, Andy - I'm also a big fan of Borchester so perhaps there has been a bit of sub-conscience influence. Regards, Brian.

Hi Ray, Thanks very much for your interest. In answer to your question, I have labelled up the curves and identified the platform roads more clearly. Yes, everything coming in or out of the 3 platforms runs on the outside curve. I had hoped to include a colliery or some sort of interchangeable industry on the layout in line with the proposed dual personality (NER and ER) of the project but now accept that this industry will have to be off stage. But I envisage say a colliery J94 arriving with a train of full coal hoppers, halting on the inner curve, running round and collecting the brake van before departing back to the off stage colliery. In the mean time, the station pilot shunts a brake van in to the goods road (platform 4 if you like) and pushes the coal train into that road to couple up with the brake van. A K1 or a WD then arrives from shed and couples up ready for departure and moves into the goods curve awaiting a passenger arrival, say a local from the smaller station. It is these sorts of considerations that are giving me much food for thought at present. I want as much operational interest as possible so as not to get bored with the layout. Perhaps this may lead to a not very prototypical plan but that's life and a compromise I'm prepared to take. Thanks again for your thoughts. Regards, Brian.

Not much happening in the shed at present but an awful lot of layout planning on the laptop is going on using AnyRail. This is the latest incarnation which owes quite a lot to the Berrow Branch of fond memory. I've settled on a U shape rather than an oval and opted for a single track branch line (with knobs on!). Still some work to do on it though. Regards, Brian.

Hi Ray, This is looking very good but is there still no way you can make the offending door open outwards and not inwards thus minimising some of the base board issues? Regards, Brian.

A quick update. A 4ft x 2 ft sheet of half inch thick exterior grade ply and some bracing par timbers acquired on "old G*t's" day at the usual big DIY shed this week. I am trying to finalise the track plans using AnyRail for all three phases. Having had the equivalent of "writer's block" I am now making progress again remembering to think about the back scene, buildings, etc before finalising track positions. To assist with (2) above, all services to Hawthorn Town are suspended. Basically, what that means is that all stock on the layout and fiddleyard has been removed pending further carpentry! Getting there, hopefully. In the meantime, I am aware that a promise I made a couple of months ago has not been fulfilled! I am of course referring to the pics of Brit "Oliver Cromwell" I took at the GCR just after Christmas. I have now downloaded the images to the pc but, as I suspected earlier, snow on the ground and the train coming out of the sun were not conducive to great pics but I offer this image to give you a feel of the atmosphere when this train approached Quorn & Woodhouse, raising the hairs on the back of my neck I must confess. Regards, Brian.

Thanks, Andy - all done with AnyRail which suits my purposes very well. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for your thoughts Ray. Unfortunately, when it comes to baseboard carpentry I tend to be a bit belt and braces. Everything is screwed and glued so the baseboard top would probably be destroyed in the process of taking it apart. Also, the existing layout comprises code 100 track with dead frog points laid on 6mm mdf and is only about 14 inches wide. There are some unwanted slight gradients where the thin mdf has sagged or warped between the bracing. My current thinking is to replace those boards with 12mm exterior ply topped boards (as the loft boards) and code 75 track with live frog points and widen the station area to approximately 24 inches wide which will mate with the corner board. Once I've worked out a satisfactory layout plan for all three phases you will understand what I am now planning to achieve. Thanks again for looking in. Regards, Brian.

Having retrieved the baseboards from the loft, my thoughts have turned as to how I can utilise these boards to extend the existing layout while still keeping the trains running. Firstly, this is what I've potentially got with the new cassette fiddle yard shunted round the shed to the opposite corner. The plan is to carry out a phased extension and then reconstruction of the existing layout thus: Phase 1 - extend the existing layout to an L shape, retaining the new cassette fiddle yard. I have a Peco turntable kit which I bought about 10 years ago that I want to incorporate so I plan a loco shed/mpd in the new "corner" of Phase 1. Phase 2 - extend the thus converted L to a U shape, again retaining the new cassette fiddle yard but with slightly longer cassettes. Phase 3 - completely rebuild and replace the existing layout and connect to the new L and U boards. So I've been doing a bit of work on Phase 1 utilising the board with the splay retrieved from the loft. This board will need to be both extended to meet the existing layout and cut away to accommodate the fiddle yard. See below. This afternoon, having printed full size plans on A4 and pasted them together, I have had a play, positioning locos, trains and infrastructure to see how it looks. See below. I am heartened by how this looks but now must press on and design Phases 2 & 3 track plans before committing to Phase 1 construction - still a lot to think about and design. Regards, Brian.

About 10 years ago my eldest daughter moved out and I built some baseboards to fit her thus vacated bedroom but didn't get round to erecting them before going on holiday. When we got back from our holiday, my daughter had split with her boyfriend and moved back in. Whilst we were pleased to see her, this put paid to my spare bedroom railway plans and the boards were first shunted out in to the garage and then the loft. The current layout was built instead being demountable/fold up being stored in our bedroom. Today, as the sun was shining, I got the boards out of the loft and set them up on the decking to see what condition they were in - see below. They looked reasonably flat and hadn't warped so I intend to use them in the shed. One or two surface defects in the half inch ply tops were evident so I have therefore spent an hour or two this afternoon sanding them down and given them a coat of PVA while the sun was shining. These additional boards aren't enough to go right round the shed so I will have to build some more but this is a very positive step forward and a huge time saver. They comprise two boards about 2 foot by 3 foot six inches and a similar size board with an angled off corner as you can see in the photo. Now to design a layout to fit the boards! Regards, Brian.

Yesterday I built another cassette for the fiddle yard taking the total up to 5. See below pics. This enables me to start a session with an extra passenger train and makes the operating sequence longer and more interesting and complicated. The sturdy construction also enables me to safely stack cassettes as shown in the second pic - makes it easier to move trains around off stage. The cassette fiddle yard is growing on me despite the cumbersome method of turning trains round off stage but so far no accidents, touch wood. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for that explanation, Andy. So simple but entirely effective. Regards, Brian.

Andy - This looks really impressive. But can you please explain how the lift out section is located or gripped if you like by the adjoining abutment baseboards ensuring that the rails are aligned precisely? Ulterior motive - this might be something I may want to adopt on my new layout. A pic of the underside of the lift out section and its corresponding supports might shed some light for me and save you a lot of words . Regards, Brian.

Hi Jock - see my reply to Andy. Regards, Brian.

Thanks Andy but I can't claim any credit for the idea. The usual method though is to use A4 self adhesive labels and print the window on to that before sticking to the acetate. Regards, Brian.