Sun VI

Or having got them going, to maintain the impetus to complete them; greetings from a fellow sufferer. Would you post the images - it would be good to see the results of your efforts.

Thank you Martin, you're very kind. John

Hello Mike, thanks for your reference to Cornwall Model Boats. I ordered some ply and other bits and I'm very pleased with what's been delivered. Very useful, thanks again.

More please, your first offerings have whetted my appetite! Looks very good.

In case you aren't aware of A1 for a low cost OO9 Diesel loco etching, have a look here: http://www.a1modelsuk.com/009%20Narrow%20Gauge-1 Check with the company to see about compatibility with Kato chassis.

Is the £100 to include the controller, loco and rolling stock?

Hello Mike, I've just come across your thread. Marvellous work sir. May I ask where you get the corrugated sheeting from? I do hope that your health soon improves, hats off to you for keeping going.

You've made yourself a nice little shunting puzzle there. Regarding learning a lot, yes, you can pick up a lot of information and tips from reading the forums but it's only when you actually come to make something that you really find out what the problems are and how to solve them. It's looking good, hope you have fun.

It's looking good. Can you post a photo of the track work as it's now laid, without the three way point?

Good for you! Have you decided on a track plan yet? I hope you get a lot of pleasure from your efforts. The loco's look impressive.

Good morning Devondynosoar118, Here’s an offering for your consideration, which I think meets most of your requirements. The grid is 2", track is Peco code 55. Points are the 4.84" left and right electrofrog. I've allowed for an overall size of 30" x 12" but it could be reduced to 30" x 9". The idea is that it is a very small urban terminus that is served for passenger traffic by a GWR railcar and / or a 14xx plus autocoach. Neither of these would need the traverser and both would only shuttle between the hidden sidings / sector plate and the platform. For freight traffic, there is a second shunting puzzle which should work along Inglenook principles as long as you keep to shortish rolling stock. A twist here is that to assemble your freight wagons ready for departure, you have additional shunting to get them in front of the platform ready to go. The traverser would be part of the scene as with Moor Street Station, Birmingham (well you did indicate that you’d like something a little different). I’m not too happy with the double slip as it gives very little clearance to the feeder line from SBL. The situation could be improved if the traverser was shortened by a couple of inches, it’s currently 5” long, and the layout moved to the right by that amount to provide a short and slightly curved feed between the double slip and the sector plate. It depends on the maximum length of loco you intend to run. If you’re thinking of larger Diesels, this may not be possible. Or you could drop passenger operations altogether, remove the hidden sidings and sector plate, and replace the double slip with a right hand turnout. This would reduce cost and wiring complexity too. Anyway, I hope this gives you something to mull over.

N gauge - which track are you working with? Peco? If so, code 80 or code 55? Your maximum dimensions of 30" x 12", would this include fiddleyard(s) or feeds? You mention furniture, would this be placed against a wall or free standing, such as a walk around coffee table? (I haven't noticed any coffee tables walking around, but I hope you get my drift.) Have you any preference for setting such as urban or rural? Have you any preference over steam or Diesel? Passenger and / or freight? Any preference over company / region, do you have any great feeling pro or anti GWR and Western Region and the use of Diesel railcars?

A pickle works? Why not add a jam factory and have a preserves, sorry I mean preserved, railway between them?

Well, I feel as though I'm making progress as the back scene is now on. This is a piece of self-adhesive, non-descript, cloudy sky which was something of a challenge to mount. Fortunately, club mate Derek more or less applied the back which went very well, while I did the left side with help. The right side I did later by myself and I would say the it really helps to have an extra pair of hands available. Still, the end result is very much what I was hoping for and infinitely better than anything that I could have achieved with paint and a brush. The white card is the sub base for the 'concrete' edging to the traverser pit, the path from the visitors' centre and the entrance to the stores.

A cracking layout, beautifully done. I particularly like the setting with the bridge and canal.

I'm looking forward to this. There was a very good level of attendance last year, can it be bettered this year? I'm always amazed that Dad-1 can be so relaxed about little ones trying to wreck his excellent Thomas layout!

Some further progress to report. Friends in the Exeter Gauge O Group, ExGOG, kindly allowed me to put Crossways Wagon Works as a work-in-progress on the club's stand at the Exeter Show on the 1st and 2nd July. It seemed like a good idea as the layout demonstrates both O and 7mm narrow gauge in a very compact area. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and gained a lot of positive comments from the audience. I've found that rather than just shunt things about, if I invite people to have a look and explain a little of the fiction while I bring in a wagon for repair and then pick up the tiny shunter on the traverser 'as weight limits prevent the use of the standard gauge loco', I can draw people in, gain their attention and often get a big grin once they see how it all works: very rewarding. I had been trying to think of what to do with the left side of the layout and eventually thought that as the model is of a preservation line, it would be reasonable to assume that in my fantasy world visitors would wish to see the traverser in action but it would be too hazardous to allow them to wander about the site. So, a visitors' centre with a viewing gallery would be ideal beside the stores shed. Given that in my little fantasy world, grants had bee obtained from the Lottery and other sources, the stores shed could now be a little more substantial and become a two storey, brick built structure, with the manager's office on the first floor. On the other side of the layout, beside the wagon works, I still needed a shed for the narrow gauge loco. Rather than scratch build from card and coffee stirrers, I turned to Lcut's website, where all of the components for their kits may be ordered as individual items at very reasonable prices. It was now just a matter of designing the buildings around the various bits and pieces available. The order came through by standard post in less than 24 hours, very well packaged and complete. (NB, I've no connection with Lcut, just a very satisfied customer.) Planning the narrow gauge loco shed. Using V blocks to ensure the shed walls are square and perpendicular The shed in situ, less door and unpainted. The stores with office over and the visitors' centre, also minus the store's door. The painted roof looks a little bright but should be fine after a weak black wash.

Bridport club held an open day on the 30th April and Crossways Wagon Works was down to be shown as a work in progress. A flurry of activity during the preceding two weeks included finishing the traverser and getting it working, laying the track and wiring it. This was achieved at 9:45 pm on the Saturday night. With bated breath I put the shunting loco on for testing - save for one siding, everything work first time, the one error only needed two wires to be reversed but it showed how easy it is to make errors when you’re tired. The layout ran very nicely during the open day although I had to make do with pushing wagons as no couplings have been set up yet. Teething problems were mainly down to differences in height between the traverser and a couple of the sidings. The worst of these was a jump of about 1mm where the shunter could definitely benefit from a step ladder to climb off the traverser. Diagonal cross bracing made the base board far more rigid. The back of the workshop in place, together with the front panel masking the tiny fiddle yard. The underside of the traverser showing the four Peco N gauge 10ft wagon chassis, the current collectors and the frame that fits over the Kato tram chassis. Note the single thickness of card, this made a real improvement to the traverser operation. Not shown are the two strips of self adhesive wheel balance weights that I must have added after. A view across the traverser showing the wasp stripes at the entrance to each bay plus the safety tape around the internal pillars Crossways Wagon Works in operation, as at the Bridport club open day on the 30th April and then at Exeter Gauge O Group's (ExGOG) club evening later in the week. I made a small plinth for the controller that also provides the switching for the isolating sections. Initially these were the 'in' track, top left, and the rest of the layout, but has since been expanded - further details will follow. I received very positive comments at both Bridport and ExGOG which encouraged me no end. Several people commented that they hadn't understood what I was trying to achieve until they could see the layout in operation. So much for the effectiveness of my description!

On to August 2016 and I stretched the layout's depth to 19 inches by adding 4 inches at the front. This required replacing the ends and internal cross bracing. Then the traverser pit had to be reconstructed - by chance I got the depth right first time.

Morning DLT, and I didn't know you were! I've been very remiss in posting progress but apart from cklammer (thanks for your support), there didn't seem to be much interest. Still, I'm going to bore the pants off everyone now as I bring things up-to-date. Cheers John

Progress updates: first the Lcut loco shed being reworked as the main wagon works building. Some of the Lcut components: Ensuring the home made roof supports are vertical: I added a bracing beam along the top of the entrance bays to keep everything in line, and my own beams and pillars as those provided are less than 2mm thick:

Hello bgman, the work-in-progress layout is Crossways Wagon Works and was part of ExGOG's display. Many thanks for your kind comments; should you wish to see a little of the layout's development, have a look at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110496-crossways-wagon-works-an-experiment-in-7mm/ . I've not posted any updates for over a year, but given the positive responses I received I'll have to do so.

I've just found your thread and it's really inspiring - it's inspiring me to take up fishing or astronomy or volunteer at the donkey sanctuary, anything that doesn't reveal my total inability to emulate modelling that's a fraction of the standard that you're producing. Stunning work! Yours in despair, Sun VI

I found this thread and have been reading it, on and off, over the last three days. Absolutely amazing, both for your work Giles and John in Holland, fantastic work. May I ask, are you a trained engineer or are the skills something that you've developed as a hobby? Which ever route you've followed, the results are stunning. PS I saw 'End of the line' at the Uckfield show several years ago (19th October 2013) and was entranced by it, but did not appreciate the full effort and ingenuity that had gone in to its production.

You could cut the handle off the tray to give you a larger, more flexible working area. I'd quite understand that you may not want to, but it is an option.