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N.E. Thing

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  1. N.E. Thing
    Had a bit of a slow couple of weeks on the layout, however I have had a pleasurable bank holiday hacking up and burning my expensive Peco track, which took bravery at first but soon got into the swing.
     
    Left hand /corner baseboard complete with a new Peco curved point procured from Jane's Trains on Saturday. This is technically my local model shop, but well over an hour's journey away. (I live in East London)

     
    Central baseboard. Future location of the coal drops at the back. I miscut the track in this area, had a right struggle getting it to fit and had to rework the 'top' two goods loops (with the crossover points)

     
    Right baseboard, with very crude mock ups of station buildings. The goods and passenger sidings will have loco isolating sections. The bay platform is designed with a Railcar in mind, although I don't actually own one.

     
    Long view of all the track, cut to size and ready to solder. The plan is to solder together a few sections and then paint it before fixing.

     
    Close up of a baseboard join. I had a right fiddle figuring out how to solder the brass-covered sleepers (C&L Finescale) to the track in the right positions.

     
    This is a tricky little spot. I've given myself a challenge by having points right up to the baseboard joins. Also had some struggles getting the curved sections to fit nicely.

     
    So that's the progress, a bank holiday well spent. Hopefully get a bit more soldering done during the week, it's a lot of trial and error. Probably used too much solder in some cases, and miscut the track a couple of times. I wonder how people normally get round this? I am essentially trying to lay the track by "eyeing it in"
     
    Next thing it to purchase some aerosols online in preparation from spraying the track (outside on the balcony). I think I am going to go for humbrol 29 for the rails and precision paints Sleeper Grime for the, er, sleepers.
     
    I am considering layering the entire baseboard in a charcoal base layer of paint to represent ash ballast which seemed to be commonly used in the North East. I painted a small test area (under the mocked up engine shed on the right hand baseboard), it doesn't look too good over cork board so i will need to seal the cork somehow.
     
    I need to hack out a couple of holes in the baseboard for the loco inspection pits - i am not too sure how long to make these. I have bought one of the Peco inspection pits, but I may put the engine shed on hold until I have done some more research on this area. It may not be long enough for two pits.
     
    Next update next weekend, depending on progress this week. The aim is to finish cutting the track into the fiddle yard and soldering the sleepers where needed, and get the paints ordered.
     
    Cheers!
     
    Colin
  2. N.E. Thing

    Revised track plan

    By N.E. Thing,

    After a bit of messing around with track on a Monday night, listening to 5 live, I have come up with the following revised trackplan:
     
    -Peco 76' turntable abandoned, smaller (50'?) to be sourced at a later time (tips welcome on where to find one!)
    -completion of turntable baseboard put on hold
    -removed a carriage siding from the station as it was a bit cluttered
    -goods shed and station roof moved to the right to allow larger loading dock
    -engine shed moved to the left to allow better operator view into station and loading dock
    -added a bridge to disguise a sharp curve (but all landscape is tbc anyway)
     
    Next step: finish laying the cork underlay which I have started, even though I have recently read that this is largely pointless with modern RTR locos. Still, it will help with forming the landscape around the track.
     
    After that: learn how to paint track and start practicing on some old bits of Hornby... I don't own an airbrush so perhaps spray paints are an option.
     
    Cheers!
  3. N.E. Thing

    Track plan

    By N.E. Thing,

    Hi all,
     
    This is my first attempt at building a layout. I would appreciate any and all tips on designing and building a layout.
     

     
    I've already built the baseboards and there is not much room for expansion - baseboards are J-shaped (joints in red) with a fiddle yard not shown. The main scenic area is 11'6" long and 20" wide. I'm using Peco Code 75, the layout will be DC, points will be motorised, and I'm learning everything as I go....
     
    I've been tinkering with the track plan for some time without committing to fixing any of it down yet. It's not going to be a faithful recreation of a particular location, instead I'm trying to incorporate as many typical NE features as possible into the space I've got. "North Eastern Branchline Termini" (Ken Hoole) has been the main source of inspiration.
     
    I'd be interested to hear what you think of the trackplan. Where should the signals go? What about catch points? I'm still considering a few changes: perhaps just one carriage siding in the station trainshed, and moving the cattle dock to the end of the bay platform. I'm considering shifting the engine shed to the front centre, rather than next to the bay platform where there is not much room and it tends to block the view.
     
    Thanks!
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