DJTrains

Stunning work as usual mate, keep it up and you'll be done well uder the 5 month deadline.... not that any layout is ever really 'done' !!

Thanks Grahame, I use a local brickie called Metcalfe he's pretty good and can do any colour brick, as long as its red.

I've finished the glazing and steels on the front of the station and am very pleased with how it's turned out, considering this was a first for me and a design that I've come up with (with the help of Google). This is about as far as I can go until the platforms are down and I can put it in place. Ignore the gaps at the top in the photo - the roof is removeable and is a loose fit for now. I've also finished the steelwork on the footbridge, and have now glued the steps and lift shafts so it's all together as a single unit. Again, this will be finalised once the platforms are down and painted. There will of course be a canopy over the steps which will flow down into the rest of the platform canopy.

Thanks Andy. The main aim was for long flowing curves for the HST's and Pendos. However as the track has progressed there has also been plenty of additional movement options added, including a double branch line and access from just about every part of one track to another. There is also barely a single straight piece of track - all down to Mike's amazing track designing & laying skills.

Thanks Mike, that's quite a compliment coming from you too so cheers

Updates have been a bit slow as has some of the progress, however the four main lines have now been completed, and this just leaves 3 passing loops at the storage end, along with finalising some sidings at the station/depot end and the track laying will be complete. Sounds simple but that will still take a few weeks as there are still 8 points as part of that !! In the meantime we have attacked the lift out bridge and viaduct approaches to cut out for the scenery ; I have also made a start on scratch building one of the two station buildings. This is the smaller of the two which faces the inside of the track (so is the one seen). The opposite main station building will be low relief against the backdrop. The downlights at 1mm were quite a challenge !! The front will be fully glazed as a modern building, so you should still be able to see most of the detail. I have also added lights to the work in progress footbridge ; Generally the track as laid so far is holding up without any issues - despite the lack of any fishplates. The Gaugemaster DCC80 Autofrogs are working just fine and am holding off fitting any more servos for now as the plans have changed a couple of times. I don't want to keep changing the control panels until we are sure that the final track plan works. I have however become quite speedy at fitting the servos (circa 2 mins) using 3M VHB tape to hold them in place. When I fit the next few I'll do a 'how to' ......

Track laying has been continuing... and the Station platforms are coming on well ...... There is a double branch line which goes off from the end opposite the station and will disappear through hidden scenery to reappear on the opposite side. This has now been completed and allows for 3 full circuits of the layout. (One more to go !!) Off to the left ... Around the back ... And back in on the right .... The curves in the corners are a bit tight at 3rd radius, but these will be hidden so won't be a problem. Also, the station platforms have had their tops cut and fitted, along with 1x1mm square edging (10m of the stuff !!). I can't do the final painting and weathering until I have ballasted through the station as I'd like the platforms to be fully attached and together for final filling and painting (they are each in 3 sections right now). This has taken some time as being a large modern station for HST's and Pendolinos the platforms are a scale 1000 feet each. That's 3000 scale feet for the 3 platforms, and if you take into account the 5 track facing sides that makes roughly 1 scale mile of platform edging !!!

Totally agree with Pete's comments above. It's very hard when you are looking to improve on what's already been done, and being over critical of your own work all the way through. We'd all love to buy stuff off the shelf and plonk it down, but it will always either look exactly like that (and like everyone else's), or won't have the finer touches or the right feel for the location. To be honest when I saw your first pics of the putty covering on the bridge I though it looked god-awful and that you'd be binning it eventually. BUT you had the balls to stick with it and the end result is amazing - and I'm really pleased to eat my own words. It's also very easy to have the 'that will do' or 'I'll do it better next time' attitude, especially if you've committed many hours to a project, but it's the strength to take a breath, and to tell yourself "No, I can do this better" and start over, that will set you above the rest and make your work really stand out. Keep it up mate. I'll be proud to stand behind that layout at any show.

Absolutely !! Gave up printing this out long ago - can't keep up !!

Thanks Ben, AM currently working on building a 2 metre long station for a certain Pendolino ..... ..... it's taking a while !!!

Thanks. It's all done by eye and everything is checked, wired and tested as we go.

The four mainline tracks have now been fitted to the Viaduct. This is still temporarily fitted for now so it can be lifted out for cutting back the woodwork to its final position. I've also started test fitting some Catenary poles - the jury is out on whether I will end up with 2 portals on the viaduct itself.

Another mini project between the track laying .... fitting a tail lamp to an IOA wagon. This was done using a cut down version of the Train-Tech rear light flasher unit. This takes a reduced size battery for N gauge and the battery holder needs to be cut down. I would prefer track powered lighting but being such a tiny LED, and with the built in timer and motion sensor, the battery should last for months. 1) Adjust the supplied LED and cut down the battery holder. I also fitted a 0.75mm fibre optic to the LED to feed through the lamp 2) Cut plasticard cover (I had to make a slot as the battery holder was too high and can't be cut down without risk of damaging the PCB) 3) Cut a 1.5mm x 1mm piece of plasticard and drill 0.75mm hole for the lamp. 4) Cover top with filler and coat with ballast

Thanks Will, I think I've sussed it by sending pictures as email via Outlook and then just copying and pasting the resized images .... will give it a go.

Hi, Yes, there will be OHLE added - I'm currently working on either adapting the Dapol masts or will be looking into portals. Thanks,

I've been struggling with working out how best to resize photos - and have managed to get nowhere so far, so will continue with using photobucket for now until I can work it out - but it has slowed down me posting updates..... Anyway, the next part of the build I wanted to address was the viaduct which sits in the lift out bridge section. As there were no 4 track viaduct kits out these, it was suggested I have a go at building Wharncliffe Viaduct. Having never scratch built anything like this before I figured why not give it a go !! Using foamboard, brick card and paper and measurements scaled down from available photos this is what I came up with ..... Obviously I had to use some artistic licence, and amongst other small changes I have added a slight curve (as there is very little straight track in the whole layout). Basic build in foamboard ; And some final touches and weathering ; I still have more weathering to add, along with some vegetation which happily grows on the real version - but for a first attempt I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Picture taken from Google Images ;

So to the track laying ...... and what some might see as a totally unorthodox method. First I've got to give great credit and thanks to Mr Mike Buick who has been my mentor and chief track technician (and keeping me prototypical). We have decided to lay the track (Peco Code 55) direct onto the plywood, and this is all stuck in place with superglue. Each piece of track has its own set of droppers and so we are using NO fishplates and NO track pins at all. The superglue is proving to hold the track solidly and it is still possible to take up any errant pieces without damage to track or baseboard. Once ballasted the track will be as solid as anything. There are a couple advantages in doing this ; 1. Maintenance - should a point or tiebar fail the point can be pulled up without disturbing any of the adjacent track as there are no fishplates to worry about (in the case of an issue in the middle of a double crossover this could be a godsend) 2. Speed of track laying - with no fishplates to worry about there is no need to cut away sleepers, so the track can be cut exactly as required, with the original sleepers having correct spacing and there is no need to follow round with infill sleepers afterwards (as these never look as good as the track fitted ones) First Track laid !! - double crossover after the bridge section Second set of crossovers on the opposite side, looking back towards where the station will be. Again huge credit to Mike for his skills in setting the track with fantastic sweeping curves throughout, and into 3 foot radius curves in the corners, all of which have superelevation. The Fast up/down are the two inner lines and HST's already look fantastic banking round the curves. A pair of HSTs showing the superelevation

Thanks for your comments. The Connector is a standard 'D-Sub Breakout Board' which are readily available via ebay, or multiple electrical websites. They do make wiring a breeze, although you do tend to have to make your own cables as things like Data cables are just too weak to carry a good signal.

Having previously modelled a couple of basic layouts, I had the intention of creating a larger 4 track mainline. Having had the approval from management to take over our log cabin, I hereby present Crofton - a Modern Image layout in N Gauge which is very much a work in progress. The baseboards fill an area of 15 feet by 9 feet and have been built from 9mm ply in a very modular design, so that the whole thing is freestanding and can be dismantled if needed. I hope to add the progress to date in the next couple of days and would welcome any comments. questions or critique. One end of the boards Opposite end. The station will be curved round from the left side of this end, and on the right is a four foot lift out section across the door with a viaduct section to be fitted. This will be a DCC layout (I'm using the NCE Powercab), track is all Peco code 55 electrofrog in concrete sleeper (with points and some track in wooden sleeper). Points will all be operated via Servos using the Megapoints Servo Controllers in 3 separate control panels. Lift out bridge section. I am scratch building a viaduct which is based on the Wharncliffe Viaduct with large eliptical arches. The design and 'valley' is still to be finalised. To allow for the power to the lift out bridge, and the connections for servos, lights and future signals I made my own 25 pin D-Sub cable and have wired this into the main boards on one side, and the D-Sub plugs into a 25 way breakout board beneath the lift out bridge. Overall Track plan - will be subject to multiple changes ;