Anthony Ashley

Dear All, I have been working on fitting the Penmaenmawr track accurately with cutting the track required between the point work. It is shaping up very nicely. Ross and I have also done considerable work on the mountain end of the layout. Sarah has been doing some excellent work on the scenic dividers which looks great. I have used small blocks of wood on the dividers to provide a ledge for the wire to hang off. I also provides good definition for where the mountain will go. Only 3 more days till my return to Sydney for the final 10 and a half months!! I shall post some more photos tomorrow. Regards, Anthony

Dear All, I have been focusing on the Penmaemawr goods yard and main lines. The cork has been laid and most rails cut to fit, but a few still to be inserted. The photos are below. Conwy in the back ground and the station building for Penmaenmawr will be in about the middle of the photo. View from the Conwy end of Penmaenmawr. The van has been positioned to try to show the height of the mountain with the supports for the mountain in the back ground. Sea level will be at the bottom of the green beam. The coach against the tallest pat of the mountain. I need to paint the cork, secure those rails and work on the mountain as my next project. All comments are welcome. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, Further work on the Penmaenmawr area. Photos are below. Part of the goods yard sto the east of Penmaenmawr. I have added the goods loop on hte far right to increase storage arera. Apart form that the track layout is prototypical for most of Penmaenmawr. The transition to the hidden area is at the top of the photo. Some complicated track work in hte OPenmaenmawr arera. Ii shall continue the track work over the next week. I had to make some height adjustments for the main lines, as I have started their height increase from closer to the station, having looked at more pictures of the lines. Regards, Anthony

Dear All, Second effort on the new scenic divider is below. Some excellent artistry from Sarah, but more touching up to go. Regards, Anthony

Dear All, Work on the Penmaenmawr interchange with the hidden area has been progressing. I have finished trying to ensure all of the tracks going over the lift up section are fool proof and that has taken a few days. Cork has been laid and some track weathered. Some photos are below. First pair of tracks going over the lift up section. Second pair of tracks going over the lift up section. Third pair of tracks going over the lift up section. Curved trak after Conwy station. The station is the plan in the back ground Looking back to Conwy and the first part of the interchange Start of the Panmaenmawr goods area. Looking from the Conwy side of the tunnel to Penmaenmawr Tunnel mouth near Conwy station. More work on hte Penmaenmaer area over the next few days. Regards, Anthony

John, The height of the top of this board above the floor level is 2.3 meters. The highest point of the mountain at the bottom end of the layout is about 2.4 meters and this will be in the middle of the end section. I have left a 150 ml strip between the mountain slope and the back board on the Penbmaenmawr side to paint in a strip of sky. I will not have a back board behind this section due to the height and ease of access. Regards, Anthony

Dear All, A photo of the first effort of the last scenic divider showing the Bangor side. The divider is high enough to incorporate the mountain next to Penmaenmawr. There will be further work on hte Bangor side but it is coming along. The mountain showing above the scenic mountain will only be about 100 mls in height, so a relatively thin strip in the background. Regards, Anthony

Simon, Cars can be a real money eater if you do not have a reliable one. Ours has done about 250,000 km and has had only minor issues, it is a Toyota.Good news as I have had my camera repaired this morning as it was a minor issue which could be fixed on the spot. I have finished 2/3 of the Penmaenmawr track support. Photos are below. The is the goods yard area furthest from Conwy, with a further 4 feet of goods yard left to complete of supporting boards. A lower shot in hte same direction showing the hills and valleys I have to model on the right View from the other direction.The hole in the vertical board to the right is start of the hidden the run around loop. This loop will move to the inside edge of the layout and link into the other transition area between Conwy and Bangor. Regards, Anthony

Dear All, I realised my SLR camera is still taking photos but I have no LED monitor working on it. This means I can still take and down load photos until i decide to put it in for repair. Latest photos of the Penmaenmawr scenic area with supports in place. The Penmaenmawr section is about 38 feet long and the picture below shows about 22 feet of this area. The elevation changes will be interesting to create. I bought some 20 metres of chicken wire with 1.3 cm hex shapes. This should provide the support to create the valleys and elevation changes. Some experimentation will be required. The big hill on the third support is the hotel since knocked down. Next is the track support boards. Regards, Anthony

Simon, Thanks for the generous wishes. Hope Christmas was good for you with lots of train presents. I am now ready for more photos but my camera appears to have broken! Off to the repair shop on Mon to see how much fixing it will cost. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, A long time between posts with a frantically busy end to the work year, the first part of my holidays in Brisbane but then return to Sydney for New Years Eve. Good developments in that time including finishing all of the wiring for the hidden track on the right side of the layout (Bangor). The hidden track on the other side has already been completed. I am waiting for my daughter to post a video of a 17 coach train running on the new section. Once having completed this section I have completed the vertical supports for the Penmaenmawr section. Photos of this work are enclosed. First photos shows the supports cut but not installed. The shape of the board matches the landscape. This board features a hill on which the Penmaenmawr Grand Hotel still stood in the 60s. Since been knocked down and 5 or 6 houses now stand in the area. View of the same board from the other side. The track support area for half of Penmaenmawr looking back to Conwy. I shall do photos of all of the supports installed. After that I shall cut the rest of the Penmaenmawr track support and cut the last scenic divider for Bangor/Penmaenmawr. This will incorporate part of the mountain next to Penmaenmawr so will be very tall. I think I shall make the mountain using posts and small gauge chicken wire to sculpt the contours. The part of the mountain being modelled is about 1.2 high. Any ideas for its construction technique. All thoughts are appreciated. Regards, Anthony

LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS Dear All, Another long week end at home meant that I was able to successfully wire up about 2/3 of the hidden track on the right side of the layout. I have run a loco over all of the right side hidden track on up to the wiring ceasing and it all runs well with no issues. I think with another week end at home I should be able to finish. I have 2 I/2 week ends coming up over the next month and then Christmas leave. By Christmas I should be back onto doing scenic areas for the first time in over 12 months!! I am looking forward to doing at least some scenery. Unfortunately the foundation of the layout must be correct and run or there is no point in doing the more interesting bits. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, Home again this week end from Thu to Tue so 4 days to model. Hopefully enough time to complete all of the wiring for the track laid a couple of weeks ago with terminal strips and outputs to the power bus lines. I think I shall divide the 4 levels of dog bone loops into 2 areas controlled by the the double pole switches. The higher area will have the return loop and a pair of passing or storage loops for each track. The lower area is only paired flexi track with no points. I just have to make sure the sections are all named correctly, continuing the upper level naming already completed. I have started building the Bangor goods shed using the scale scenes engine shed with the triangular roof line. The model shown is 2 or 4 bays in size but the one in Bangor is 15. It means a lot of repetitive cutting folding and gluing. Not difficult but very slow. The scale building is an exact replica of the prototype so should produce a very accurate effect. Photos to follow. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, I think the exchange rate for the Australian versus the GBP is such the I should buy the remaining 50 or so points as I am concerned that prices will rise with the devaluation of the GBP. Probably will buy tomorrow night. It is always hard to judge the best time though with all of the competing issues. Regards, Anthony Ashley

David, I am in no rush so when you have time would be great. I am looking at the castle in 1960 so the most recent changes to the entrance will not be relevant. I think the path to the castle wound its way up a hill from the Conwy side of the castle. Any photos will be great so thanks again. Regards, Anthony Ashley

LATEST PURCHASES Dear All, I invested in some model train electronic equipment a few days ago. Got my last 4 Amp power booster. That makes 7 boosters with the ECoS 2 train controller providing the eight power zone. I hove one power zone for Conwy, one for Penmaenmawr, 2 for Bangor (mainline and goods yard), 1 for each of the hidden tracks on either side on the layout and the final 2 for the 2 storage yards. That should do the trick. I also bought 2 Lenz LK 200 reverse loop modules for the 2 reverse loops on the top level of each hidden track. The last was 10 ESU switch Pilot servos decoders for another 40 points. I still need to but a lot more but steady purchases will conserve the budget. Regards, Anthony Ashley

LAYOUT UPDATE Dear All, Nothing by way of photos but good progress over the 5 days leave. I managed to stick all of the remaining cork for the hidden track on the right side of the layout paint it, and then lay all of the track with droppers. This amounts to about 50 feet of paired tracks. I still need to wire this track to bus lines. I think I shall use 4 pairs of bus lines for the area to assist with fault finding ie 2 to the top of the layout and 2 down the layout for the dog bone loops. This means that I have completed all of the hidden track on the layout except for the 2X 8 foot 34 track fiddle yards. These will obviously take a fair amount of time but something I can leave till after the scenic track. I shall be at home again at the end of Oct for more leave so hope to complete the wiring for the area just laid. David did you manage to get any shots of Conwy castle? Regards, Anthony Ashley

Simon, I am really looking forward to completing the hidden track rail laying because then I can commence the scenic area, which should be a lot more interesting. I quite like gadgets so a tiny camera is a must. The BFI is annoying but I have got advice that should facilitate my access!! David thanks for the offer as it is very generous. Look forward to whatever you are able to shoot. Thankyou again for the offer. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Simon, I looked at the link to the mini cam and thought it looked amazing. Agree a wi fi link would be the best. Need more research on this topic, but thanks for the guidance it was really useful. I contacted the BFI and asked if something could be done to provide a link to the Conwy clip, given I am in Australia. They were unhelpful which is disappointing. David I appreciate your offer for photos. I have asked a few RM Web members to take photos and they have been very helpful. There are parts of the castle which I may need more photos, particularly the entrance area which is not very well photographed from my research. It is useful to have a few offers given my distance from Wales. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Rodney, Each of the power zones has its own booster with each individual booster shutting down if there is a short. They are ESU boosters. which will shut down on an individual basis if a short arises in that booster area. The switches further subdivide the booster power zone to make fault finding easier. For instance no more that perhaps 6 points off each switch. For instance I have 34 points in each of the 2 fiddle yards with 5 switches to cover that power zone. Given the very large size of the layout this should make fault finding relatively easy. The question is how many switches to put in. The more added the more wiring but the simpler to fault find. Regards, Anthony Ashley

TRIP HOMEAND AND WIRING I am looking to have a 5 day week end at home during the start of Oct. During this time I should stick down all of the cork and get the track and droppers laid during this period. I have not decided if I need to run separate bus lines for each level of the dog bone or just power them up with one. The advantage of separate bus lines from the same power zone is in being able to switch off each line using a double throw switch and then turn on one at a time within the power zone to fault find. The dog bone loop is basically FIVE levels of mainly just a pair of track with a reversing loop and 2 passing loops on the top level of the dog bone. The loops are 20 foot long by 6 feet wide. Perhaps having just the top level on one bus line with the next 4 paired into 2 pairs of 2 up to the yard area, given the extra track on the top level. What do you think in terms of the options? No one has come up with options for an N gauge on board camera, any ideas. Regards, Anthony Ashley

37038, Thank you for your post Your post is one I have been considering for some time. I have been looking around for the best camera for an N gauge layout, but not really sure what the best option is. I think I would require a flat wagon being pushed at the front of a loco to maximise the recording. Has anyone done this for an N gauge layout? Certainly I have seen this done for OO or HO scale. Has anyone any recommendations for the best camera?. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Simon, Thank you very much for the link to the footage. I rushed to the site with delight and a growing sense of expectation, and was very excited to see the opening shot, then the reality of my outcast location in Australia became readily apparent , as I am unable to play the footage from my location. Very disappointing. I have become a member of BFI but found I could play none of the material on their site. What is happening to the British Empire and the sanctity of Commonwealth!!!!!. Does Australia not share a common history and the same monarch as Britain as our head of state. We seem to have some of the costs with few of the benefits!!!!!!! My loyalty to the "ye olde" country has taken a severe hit with the inability to access this critical example of historical British archival footage possibly essential to my accurate modelling of the Chester - Holyhead line. Nevertheless I shall battle on with an accurate representation of this line and may contact BFI to see if I can get access to the said footage from a lost colonial outpost of the empire. Thanks again Simon I shall see what I can do. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, Good luck with making sooo many points. I think the scale of the plan is quite daunting with the amount of track construction you need to do. Interested in your layout as it develops. Keep up the steady process. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear Al, Thanks for the post. I agree with your assessment of my technique for weighting the wire. It is similar to an elevator system, although while we were doing it I had not thought about that. It seem good ideas are usually adaptions of existing ones!! Photos of the latest hidden track area I have been working on. The ability to take good photos of ling stretches is difficult is I have experimented with the photos. Loop at the bottom of the layout on the right side looking up the layout. This is the bottom loop with only the yard throat to be underneath this track area. Looking down the layout from the other end Panographic views of the right side hidden track areas. You can make out the 4 levels of track, particularly on the second of the panographic photos. Most of the hidden track has been laid but some more to go. You can make out an end which is just hanging on the left fore ground area. I shall connect the yard throat to this track area. Once I have finished the hidden track area dione so far I can focus on the scenic area for a bit of a break. I have to put in about 80n points for the 2 yards required. Regards, Anthony Ashley