LDM34046

Work has slowed to a halt on the layout at the moment purely because of the temperature in the bedroom! I raise a glass to those with loft layouts! Last thing I want to be doing in 28° heat is laying DAS clay on the layout. Will wait til the temperature drops before I lay the hard standing and street. I still need to weather the track before the clay gets laid. Another new technique I want to try on the test piece. Help bring out some of the details on the bullhead track.

Not heard of that! Might look into it. I think just using a fresh packet might solve a lot of my problems!

Not an ideal result. However, the clay that was used has been opened for about a year and did require quite a lot of water to make it malleable. Google has informed me that over watering can lead to cracking when drying. The DAS clay used for the actual layout is a fresh unopened packet so hopefully there won’t be any cracking. I’m glad I did a test piece!

I’ve picked up a lot of skills from his work. I’ve seen he makes check rails for his crossings before filling them in with clay. If I could fashion my own check rails, it might be another viable solution!

Much to my dismay this evening from the disappointment of the incorrect foam board I was determined to get some confidence in how I was going to tackle the street crossing, especially as it is one of the focal points of the layout. I’ve never worked with DAS modelling clay before so I wanted to get some practice in. A left over length bullhead was glued to a piece of foam board (it does have it’s uses!) to create a sample crossing, I can also use this length to practice ballasting and track weathering. Applying small chunks at a time clay was moulded along the edge of the track and flattened out with wet fingers. Water was then used to smooth out the top of the surface. The clay was worked up to the height of the rails to achieve the seamless road/rail crossing look that I was after. A tooth pick was used to pick away any stray clay on the inside edge that may cause any issues. Once dry to the touch the tops of the rails were lightly sanded with wet and dry paper to remove any remaining clay. The resulting finish is a ‘road’ that sits flush with the track. A quick check to make sure rolling stock flows smoothly over the rails. Although it was just a test piece, on the layout more time will be spent to flatten out the road surface however, as a principle, this method seems to work. For the inside of the rails I plan to lasercut a thin rectangle that’ll sit at rail height in between the rails to complete the crossing without fouling the wheels. A successful and positive end to the evening!

Made a mess this evening! Decided to carry on plotting out the structures. I purchased a few sheets of foam board from hobbycraft a few months ago with the intention of using it as base for the scenics. Not the best material for the job, doesn’t cut well and a bit too thick for my liking. Nonetheless it worked great in visualising more areas. The bridge/tunnel mouth at the western end of the layout mocked up with foam board. A very rough shape to picture what it would look like. I’d like the idea of the footpath being on an incline, makes a difference to the usual flat topped bridges. I’m half tempted to see if I can make one the scalescene kits work to good effect or go for a more hillside approach with a traditional tunnel portal. The original plan was to use foam board to make up the hard standing/street scene however it work out way to thick. The board sits about 1mm higher than the railhead. I think a more natural looking approach might be to greet the hard standing with a rolled out sheet of DAS modelling clay. Will help get a neater finish around the rails and also create some undulations in the road surface such as potholes etc. Absolutely dreadful material but at least it didn’t go to waste. DAS maybe the answer!

A few more structures built this evening so I can start plotting out the scenic bases. Two Wills Station Halt kits were put together to build the small country station. Although the two kits together hold a suburban coach, I think I’m going to add another kit just to add another two inches to the length and make it a bit more substantial. The station garages were also built from Wills. These will sit at the front of the street area and will be a great little spot for cameos. I’ve already got a few products from Modelu lined up to detail the interior as well as potentially fit interior lighting. I think I’ll keep the base of the buildings white with maybe a green roof? Similar to the hut on Lancaster Lane. I think the white will look once it’s been suitable weathered with rust and dirt.

Thank you! Really looking forward to seeing that area develop.

The B2 Peckett sits in the headshunt as it runs around the local passenger service.

A bird’s eye view as 5775 passes the station loop on its journey to Lancaster Lane.

Time to run some trains! The long awaited moment of getting trains on the layout, testing out the lengths of sidings, operational potential etc. Great to report that everything ran smoothly despite being in storage for over a month. Running the layout helps provide visuals and angles of where scenics are going to go. A long brake van sits in the ‘station’ during a quieter period of the day. The W4 Peckett steams over the crossing. Probably my favourite area of the layout. Tempted to fit the buildings with lighting and interiors to add to the details. The B2 passes the signal and heads to the limit of shunt just the otherside of the street as it assembles it’s train for the journey up the line.

Despite the palpable excitement of wanting to run trains more electrics were done over the weekend. Since they were released I was keen to get my hands on the Dapol signals and incorporate them into the layout. The first signal protects the single track branch line that crosses over the street and up the line. The second signal protects the headshunt, or when put together, the line up to Lancaster Lane. Both signals are wired to push-to-make buttons on the control panel. Brilliant models, well detailed and the LED isn’t too bright. My only gripe is they’re rather noisy, but no louder than the point motors, almost indistinguishable at exhibitions.

Looks brilliant! Glad you got it sorted.

We have movement! At 9:26pm, the first train set foot on the yet to be named “Layout 2”. The resident Peckett took the honours of making it’s way around the station loop. The cobalt point motors working well with the realistic sweep of the blades in the video. No electrical faults or shorts which is a relief to report. No noticeable track issues to report either. 🤗 A small track join needs filing down in the head-shunt which is noticeable in the video. Since then, the rest of the fleet has been tested and everything runs smoothly. Limited by operation until the fiddle yard gets wired up tomorrow then correct length trains can be run and “tested” 👀 A productive week of modelling complete, with a notable mention to dad for his electrical competence! Time to play trains! Luke

Point motors all wired up this evening. Nice simple job. Droppers added ready to connect to the fiddle yard. Tomorrow I’ll probably tidy up a few of the wires with some cable ties but for now, the important thing is they work!

Another bullhead layout developing nicely! Looking forward to this, will be following!

That to me sounds more opportunity for injuries! 🤣

Another step in the right direction this evening. Mounting the point motors onto the boards. Yes, they're expensive, however, with the experiences I had on Lancaster Lane, they are very much worth the money. All 5 point motors were set-up and mounted in about 10 minutes and with terminal blocks built in they make the wiring just as easy. My dad knocked up a temporary control panel to house the switches just to aid with working out the wiring. The rest of the evening was spent pondering over wiring schematics and with my dad offering to tackle the bulk of the wiring over the next few days, diagrams were drawn up. I'm all for learning new skills and I do enjoy the puzzle solving side of electrics, however I'm not the most competent with a soldering iron and every time I touch one I seem to end up with some form of injury! Some things are best left to those who know what they're doing! Despite a busy day job, it has been rather rewarding to come home each night and get stuck in for an hour or two. Great progress has been made and I doubt it will be long before those scale wheels are turning once again!

Dad spent Friday sorting out the dropper wires. We've found from past experience that copper tape is the best and neatest way of creating bus wirings to connect all the droppers together.

Lancaster Lane meet 'Layout 2', 'Layout 2' meet Lancaster Lane The final piece of the track laying puzzle was to line up and attach the headshunt which provides the link between the two layouts. Thanks to the joys of laser cutting the two layouts slot together perfectly allowing me to line the track up by hand. All of a sudden Lancaster Lane looks and feels very small! There's a very slight 'S' bend in the headshunt in order for the two layouts to line up but with the locomotive fleet being predominantly short wheel base locos, it won't be too noticeable or cause any issues. The finished track plan laid with the droppers installed. Without scenics and the buildings, track plans always look plain and boring but I've learnt less track plan sometimes looks more effective.

Thanks Graham. I was planning to initially use the medium radius points which were due last year but they’re still not released and by the sounds of things not any time soon. Even still, despite being available for over a year it took me a good month to source the flexi track and more so the large radius points. Peco is struggling massively with supply. Seeing the results in person, I’m glad I waited. Hopefully plan to bring out some the moulded details with some weathering.

Ewe have been busy! Looks smart with the new facia. Bravo!

A busy two nights working on the track. Last night the wires for the droppers were drilled along with holes for the point frogs and the point motors. Today, while I was at work, my dad did the fiddly and tedious job of pre-soldering droppers to the underside of the rails for a clean finish. Tonight I got to work fixing the track down. I found a few thin streaks of UHU glue works a treat. It took a while laying the track making sure that all the curves were gradual and smooth with no dog legs between the flexi-track and the points. There’s still a few bits left to lay (including the siding closest to the camera) which will be done tomorrow once a few more droppers are sorted and lined up. One of my biggest gripes with Lancaster Lane was how uniform the track was. This time I wanted to avoid any track running dead parallel with the baseboard edge. The entire track plan is on a gentle curve from right to left, helped by the staggered scenic breaks. Despite the additional costs and being fiddly to work with the bullhead is already showing it’s worth. The correct sleeper spacing, fine railhead and realistic fishplates already look brilliant, even on the bare baseboards.

Has anyone worked out a definitive fix for the issues with the Uni-frogs shorting out of the back to back measurements aren’t correct? I know there was a comprehensive guide a few pages back but unfortunately all the photos got lost. I’m just about to make a start laying all the trackwork and want to know if there’s any modifications I need to make to the points prior to fixing them down.

An evening of track cutting. Working with the thin bullhead track work and tiny rail joiners was fiddly but the lengths were measured and cut in a few hours. Nothing was far off the original paper plan which was reassuring. I ran a few wagons up and down the line to check for any bumps or kinks and it all seems smooth, more so once it’ll be glued down. I keep looking back to this angle, my favourite on the layout. Although at this point the Austin may struggle over the track! 😂 Plenty of planning went into the computer plans in terms of lengths of locos etc. Most of the stock consists of Peckett’s and 0-6-0’s so size really isn’t an issue but the largest loco in the fleet, the J11, fits in the headshunt comfortably, a few centimetres clear of the point blades. Next job, to drill holes for the droppers and larger diameter holes for the point motors.