stivesnick

Hi Andy The items are called knockdown fittings are available at any DIY/hardware store. They come in packs of 4 or 10 and are around 50p per item. They come with a screw fixing, although the units are a tight fit, so using the screw is not always required. I used thin MDF for the backscene as it is more ridgid that hardboard. You will need to glue a thin piece of wood to the MDF to enable you to screw the male part of the fixing to the backscene (unless you are happy for the screw to poke through the MDF). The female part is screwed to the main baseboard. I used these on the removable backscene entrance to the fiddle yard and as a portable exhibition layout had good access for installation. For fixing these to a backscene where access behind the backscene is difficult I think the squence is as follows: 1. With the two parts joined together, fix the male section to the backscene ensuring that the bottom of the female part is flush with the bottom of the backscene. 2. With the backscene laid flat on the baseboard, mark out where the female part needs to go. Fix the female connector to the baseboard and hopefully it will line up. Photos enclosed - hope this makes sense. Nick

Robert Back to your original question. If you are worried about access to the track at the back of the layout, then make the backscene removable to enable you to clean the track from time to time. I use the plastic two part shelf connectors available from DIY shops. One part is fixed to the baseboard, the other to the backscene it self. Regards Nick

Hi Daniel I think the plan has great potential. A couple of things to keep an eye out for. The reach across the board to and stock at the coal mine or even filling up the coal hopper if you intend to load the wagons. I would also try to extend the passing siding in the town if possible. Ideally the mine would have a spur for deliveries of equipment and other supplies, perhaps off the run round loop. Although the two sets of tracks are seperate, you could use a cassette system to allow coal trains to move from one level to another. Regards Nick

One of the problems with model trees is that they are made as standalone trees. When trees are in a group, they tend to expand to fill out all the available space to get the maximum amount of light. If you look at a group of trees from some distance, the top of the canopy is usually a smooth continious line. On previous layouts, I have used trees from the model tree shop. They make trees that are more box like so when in a group fit more tightly together. I enjoyed seeing thelayout at the Mansfield show recently, I looked great and good luck with the changes. Nick

Yes at the Abingdon Show a few weeks back there were two layouts next to each other of Abingdon Station, one in O and the other in OO. Very intresting to compare the two and how they had slighly different approaches to fitting the layout in the space available. There is also a pair of Swiss Layouts on the circuit by the same builder, with the layouts set in differnt eras. This is more of an issue. If someone starts off with a layout based on a particular place, this is then copied and modified slightly a number of times until the result is something very un-railwaylike without the builder being aware of it. Bascially, model whatever you want but be aware of what you are doing. Regards Nick

A great idea and very tempted to do something similar in N, especially as just found that Kato do a Metra 3 car and loco box set. Also spent some time on google maps following the many railway lines in the area. The bridge you have looks spot on. If anyone does have a 60 x 40 foot space there is a nice bit of 6 track main line and extensive railway yards nearby to this site! Nick

Hi Dawn Great video. The points raised reminds me of the discussion we used to have at work in getting more women interested in engineering. According to the Engineering Council, around 16% of engineering jobs were held by women in 2022 up from 10% in 2010. You can see it is a long process even we we were able to send young engineers into schools to tell them about the industry. If only you could find a member of the England women's football team who was interested in model railways.... Regards Nick

Congratulations on getting the signalling working over the weekend. Perhaps there are some lessons for Network Rail engineers to learn! Were the signals connected back to and controlled by the dispatcher and was there an agreed signal spacing to allow trains of a particular length to operate? Regards Nick

Some further test running this afternoon ( it was raining!) With the quarry spur in place, I have added a new operating rule to the layout on top of the no run-round moves allowed (see previous post). The switch to the quarry spur is the shunt limit from the main yard which allows room for a loco and 4 cars to run beyond the east switch. The consist for the eastbound local freight train was: Loco, 2 refers for the SRTC interchange, 1 box car for the builders yard, 3 other cars + caboose. The switch list included: pick up 2 box cars from the interchange, 1 box car from the builders yard plus 2 hoppers from the quarry dropped off by the west bound freight. In addition there were two off spot cars from the SRTC interchange and 2 outbound empty hoppers from the Fertiliser Plant to the off-spot track ready for the next westbound freight. The train took around 15 minutes to switch and no doubt if I have worried about the speed and allowing time to test brakes and sound horns etc it would have taken much longer. Marked up photos showing what was involved. I must develop a suitable switch list process for future operations. Creating way-bills for evcery car sounds time consuming so a simple hand written list for each session looks more practical. Regards Nick

Interesting stuff. Here is a screenshot of one of their facilities taken from Google maps. In N Gauge, the area between the 4 roads would fit on an 8 x 4 foot sheet. The line heading out the top of the photo serves a scrap metal facility. The overhead wires stop at the road crossing and the site also has a direct connection to CPR so lookslike not directly served by Iowa Traction whihc solves the issue of loading gondola cars under the wires. Link to the comnpany web-site here: https://www.progressiverail.com/rriatr/iatr.html Regards Nick

W and G took over Freightliner a few back and all their locomotives are gradually being painted in their colours. Many locomotives are still in the Freightliner green livery. Due to the cost of paying for the electricity on the railway, they are not used so much in recent times. Regards Nick

Hi I am trying to understand how you intend to operate this layout. The real Bounds Green depot would send empty stock towards Kings Cross during the day and then these trains would operate in service down the main line into your lower fiddle yard. At present there is no fiddle yard or station to represent Kings Cross. At the end of the day the trains would return to the depot by running over the flyover and then reversing in a spur between the tracks at Bowes Park station. When planning a layout, I find it useful to write down what train movements I expect to operate as a way of checking that the track plan will allow me to do that but also that I don't have too much redundant track that would never be used. Hope this helps. Regards Nick

The track to the quarry spur by the river bridge has been installed. A key lesson learnt, is next time build the things in the right order!. I should have laid the track bed for the main line and quarry spur first before I installed the large sections of baseboard seen in the previous two posts. It would have saved a lot of messing around, especially trying to cut the baseboard once it have been glued down. The main line rises slightly out of the main station towards the quarry spur switch. The main routes continues to rise over the bridge, whislt the track to the spur drops down towards the river. The final result is that the switch to the quarry spur is much closer to the main station trackwork than expected so may prove difficult to get some proper visual seperation between the two areas. Operationally, the quarry spur will be switched as a shunting move from the main yard with cars being pushed from the yard. I will obviously need to create some figures to hang onto the leading car handrails whilst this movement is being carried out. Progress photos enclosed. Regards Nick

Hi It is not clear from the track plan if the fiddle yard junction includes crossings or double slips. The later would be required to achieve direct access to the fidlle yard. I would also be tempted to put the east fiddle yard at the front of the board to improve access and it would make it easier to change stock in the fiddle yard whilst trains continued to operate on the main run. Depending on how many locomotive hauled passenger trains you intend to run, the railway company would have wanted to provide some loco holding sidings at the terminus, rather than clogging up the branch line with locos running to and from the depot. Hope this helps. Regards Nick

Hi Andy It is up to you to decide what yout priorities are. There are many fine N Gauge layouts that use code 55 track and if getting something up and running is a priority, then go for code 55 track. Perhaps practice the point building for the next layout. I am using code 55 track on my new layout. The new unifrog points are great if you are using DCC as all routes are powered. If using DC then remember to add extra sections or take out some wires. Regards Nick

All Enclosed a list of freight trains passing through Lancaster taken from the 1987/88 working timetable. In summary: lots of steel, speedlink and freightliner trains each day plus flask, cement, MGR, fertilizer and oil daily or once a week. The Oakleigh to Larbet ICI train is caustic soda tanks. Hope this is of use. Regards Nick Lancaster Freight Services from 1987.docx

With it raining nearly all day today and no incentive to go out. I have spent the day building the river bridge from Modelbahn Union and trying it out on the layout. The sides and the deck are 3 layers of card and the resulting model appears to be quite strong. The support walls, also made from card with interlocking walls can be cut downto the correct height. The kit also includes bearing supports for the steelwork and these are not yet added to the photos below. I did think about reducing the length of the bridge, which would be easy to do in card, but decided against this. As a result, I have needed to remove some of the baseboard to fit the bridge in. The issue is made worse by the fact the bridge crosses the river at an angle and the approach tracks are on a curve and I need the track to avoid the backscene! Work in progress photos enclosed - nothing is fixed yet so further adjustments may occur. I need to dig out some photos of similar bridges to see how they fitted in to the landscape. I may need to use some of the leftover brick wall sections as retaining walls either side of the bridge. Regards Nick

A bit of an update. The latest kit to be built is a Kibri depot kit that I picked up at the Doncaster Show the other week at a bargain price. The original kit included a platform that has been omitted, and had a mix of brickwork and rendered walls. I have covered the rendered walls with plastic sheet brickwork. Not totally convinced it looks right - it looks a bit on the small side when compared with other buildings. What do others think? I have also built a control panel based around a laser cut kit. When marking out the track plan with a felt tip pen, the ink ran so it looks a bit messy. The good news is the wiring all works. In a previous post, I mentioned some vehicles from the dutch firm Artitec. These have now arrived and look rather good. The same parcel also included a laser cut card bridge kit and some other bits from Modelbahn Union. Will be interesting to see how strong the bridge turns out to be. Progress photos below. Nick

Hi Duncan Only just come across this thread. In response to your request for comments, I have no problem with people who just use RTR products on their layouts or want to operate a Japanese bullet train along side a GWR tank engine, if that is what they want to do and feel happy with. There is a different question "would I want to see such a layout at an exhibition?" The answer is generally no, but I do recognise that having such a layout at an exhibition could be a good way to get people started in the hobby by showing what can be achieved using RTR products. With regard to your layout, I am trying to put myself in the mind of the people building the nuclear power plant or British Rail and am struggling to come up with a reason why you would end up with the situation like this. Depending on how long the approach tunnel is, it might have been easier to have the rail terminal on the other side to save the costs of maintaining the tunnel and the viaduct. During the construction of the power station, there could have been materials such as cement and steel delivered by rail, requiring a much longer loop. The same is true of the tunnel to the power station itself, it would be much cheaper to upgrade the local road. Generally you would not build a power station in a very hilly area. Perhaps a nuclear storage facility would be a better back story, although you would need an above ground building complex to service it. Regards Nick

Neil Having seen the video of your depot layout, it does appear more realistic than some I have seen. Not knowing much about Belguim railways I will assume they paint the ballast each night which is why it so clean! Nick

Yes it was - Glad you remember it; Continental Modeller November 1997. I used a 10000 loco body for one of the locos, which was similar to a Zimbabwe Railways DE2. The Geeps were not correct at all, SD40-2s would have been better, but the end curves were rather tight. I still have them, not run for many years. Nick

Interesting thread and as someone who has exhibited, overseas layouts, british steam and diesel layouts in N Gauge, you are certainly aware of people just walking past and muttering. As others have noted, you just ignore. In the 1990s I had an "african based" layout based around the border between two imaginary countries. I came up with the idea after a trip to Zimbabwe and seeing the mix of british and american built diesels in use at that time. Was it accurate - no, but is hopefully provided some interesting operation, it did feature some scratch built wagons and the children enjoyed finding the elephants and the lions. There does appear to be a consensus about not liking depot based layouts. I agree. The often appear to be just locomotives moving around for no obvious reason on a site that no railway company would ever consider suitable for a depot in the first place. These are the only layouts I tend to walk past. To me the best reason for looking at a wide variety of layouts is to get ideas for my own layout! My current bristish layout includes an number of modified american buildings and details for various european suppliers. Items I would have missed, if I had just walked past those layouts. Nick

Hi Rikki As you say the track plan is perhaps a bit too complex for a modern layout. However it is sometimes useful to consider how the track might have been many years ago as a basis for some modernisation. So for example you could remove the through track in the station, but leave the space to show that it once existed or retain it as a bi-directional line for freight trains. The same applies to the branch terminus. Previous posts mentioned a west country theme. If that is the case, then china clay traffic could be included. There are lots of photos of short china clay trains from the 1980s and 1990s with a Class 37 loco a few wagons. The EFE Tiger wagon, the Farish polybulk wagon or Revolution cargo twin wagons would be suitable for this. It is worth thinking about how the layout would actually operate that this stage. For example, what happens to a freight train coming off the branch line? Does it keep going around the layout or will it terminate in the fiddle yard and then reverse direction? Finally I would review the need for an engine shed. I know they are popular on many layouts but in modern times, the number of facilities have been cut back a lot. Unless the station / freight yard has a number of services that start or terminate it is unlikely that there would be a local depot. A look at current railway videos shows many light engine movements as locomotives run to/from depots. Hope this is useful. Nick

Hi Kieth Apologies, should have included the name. It is Artitec. https://www.artitecshop.com/en/ Some of their products can be found on the Langley Models stall at exhibitions. Regards Nick

A bit of an update. I started wiring up the interurban terminus, then started to think again about the best location for the control panel and where to plug in a DC controller. A controller plugged in next to the depot will be difficult to use when shunting cars on the other side of the room. Need to think some more on this one. One option would be to have two controller sockets so I can switcgh between them. Elsewhere I have built the office block for the large factory. I need to sort out some doors where new openings have been created in the modular sections and what detail is needed on the roof. Back in the 1950s there mat not have been too much up there, perhaps a water tank or some ventilation ductwork and fans. I have started to built the next section of layout that goes next to the door. The section is around 1000 x 400mm in size and has a river running down the middle. The main line crosses the river and runs towards the future lift out section across the door. On the other side of the river is the quarry spur which loads river gravel in hopper cars. Although originally drawn out in Anyrail, I drew a full size version to help measure out when the river and the bridge would go. The track work in the photo is just laid on the board to show the overall effect. The Dutch firm Artitec do some nice ready painted construction vehicles in N so I will treat myself to a few. Progress photos enclosed. Nick