rouse2037

Thanks chaps. More pics etc are on my blog Cheers Roger

PART 3 - ELECTRICKERY & THE LIKE (keep it simple) Having used DCC for some time now in OO and O (and with a tiny chip in a Dapol N gauge Hymek too) and with the wonders of modern science giving such great sound, slow slow running, lights etc to loco's, Neptune Road had to be DCC too. On the last few layouts I've built, I have used 2 thin strips of sticky backed copper tape which i got on a biggish roll for £9 from Maurice at Osbourns Models ages ago. It's very thin stuff and sticks to wood, cardboard etc easily. I think it's used in dolls houses as a "mains circuit" for lighting etc. Usually I solder dropper wires to the rail sides and the other end is fed down through the base board and soldered onto the copper making sure all the wires from one side of the track are soldered to one copper strip and wires from the other side of the track are soldered to the other copper strip making sure of course that the two copper strips dont touch! I cheated a bit this time, as I had bought some pre-soldered rail joiner/fishplates and as each length of track was cut to the required length per siding, simply slid the rail joiners on the very ends and crimped them tight - they are now hidden by the buffer stops too. As the foam insulation board is a good few inches thick, I simply cut some channels towards the back scene and drilled some holes for the wires to pass through and then soldered the wires to the copper strips. With the points, I simply use an insulated rail joiner on all of the V's of the frogs. All points are electrofrog. Each siding therefore has it's own power feed. Points are controlled by the "wire in tube" method. A good excuse then followed to play trains for a while and all worked fine. Cheers for now Roger

Thanks Hymek2

I thought Hymek2 might like this one..

Marc, Stubby47 & GWRfan - many thanks for the kind words! PART 2 - BUILDINGS, BACK SCENE & GROUND I had built the Metcalfe Brewery Kit some time back for an idea that didn't work out. At the time, I had actually wanted to get the Factory kit but it had been discontinued - now of course it is available again for either full of half relief build! Anyway, I bashed one building by cutting it in half and changed the roof, added gutters, down pipes etc and boarded up a few windows on the rest. I do like the look and "feel" of a run down old building.. www.derelictlondon.com is one of my favorite ways to waste hours on the internet! Several hours later .... Must stop looking at that site! So anyway, a low relief, flat roof building was also knocked together to fill the gap between the Metcalfe buildings. Bit more work needed where the buildings meet the ground. The foam insulation board is a bit pitted in its "as bought" way so I sanded it in places and then painted it with "Yard Filth" textured paint and/or used some ground cover stuff by Treemendus - both were then weathered with powders and weeds planted. The area at front left was cut away at random to give some contours (i hope) and treated to a coating or three of static grass from a puffer bottle followed by some spray glue which, I didnt realise until after, left the grass actually looking a bit wet in places - which i dont mind at all. Weathering powders again brushed gently over the grass in places. The back scene is good quality thin ply, painted off white. Using colour pencils and charcoal some "Welsh mountains in the misty distance" were (I hope!) created. Am I waffling on? Enough then Roger

Thanks for interest, Hymek2. Here goes...! PART 1 - PLANNING AND IDEAS The layout is 47" x 12". I cut it to this size from the original piece of the foam which measured 47" x 20". It's really easy to cut and makes very little mess - although i did cut it outside just in case! I then sprayed the whole thing with "earth brown" acrylic paint. That took a while to dry and gave off a strong smell - beware! Track is Peco code 75 which I had spare as well as 1 left hand, & 1 right hand point. This created the 3 sidings requred but I also added in a Y point as I wanted another siding at the front in which a loco could sit, ticking over while some shunting went on behind it. Model Trains International magazine had a plan for Dyserth and I liked the idea of an old, gated, private siding curving off to somewhere (a quarry in reality) but perhaps now disused & overgrown with a pile of old sleepers as an impromptu "buffer stop".. So track was measured and planned out with the points until I was happy and had made sure each siding could hold the required amount of wagons etc The headshunt on the left had to be 20" long in order to hold a loco and 3 wagons. The headshunt ignores the fact that the Y point is there as the siding coming from it is purely for interest and is not part of the "puzzle" nor can it be used to cheat! Using Mr Wymanns shunting puzzles website as a guide; 8 wagons are used, but only 5 of which need to form the final consist. A Tiddlywink computer or playing card waybill system can be created easily and used to determine the order that the wagons need to be placed in to "win"! To be continued! Roger

I had wanted to build a small Inglenook style layout for some time now and having purchased a piece of loft insulation foam before Christmas - on the recomendation of Marc Smith for it's ease of use and lightness of weight - work has progressed. I wanted to use a Class 24/22/35 for shunting rather than an 08 etc, so careful planning and a change to Kadee's have resulted in this.. Marc kindly took the superb photo's Cheers Roger

Yes, interesting indeed - more pics when you are ready plz! I've thought of a factory/wagon repair shed as if viewing it thru a window type thing. Doubt i'll do it tho! Great stuff Stu Cheers Roger

Looking good Marc! Nice work with the grass swatter - i have a small corner on Inglenooky in need of same... I'll provide the batteries Cheers Roger

Excellent looking buildings and concept! Keep us posted on progress Cheers Roger

Good pics Alistair and Brian - Marc - yeah go on add a few misty growlers - oh and maybe one of that driver of the 73... Driver Smith. B) (There are a couple of pics on my blog spot if anyones interested - link below) Maybe have a kettle boiling away and blow steam at the punters? Handy for a cuppa too Cheers Roger

Hi Marc Looking fabulosa so far pal! oh and thanks for posting the link to the guy on flea bay - hopefully a small to middling size parcel is winging its way to me... hmmm...ideas ideas ideas Cheers Roger oh the mists of Blaenavon..

John - superb! Lovely looking rat running round your garden!! Nice one. How much plasticard would it take to build a real one?! Cheers Roger

Thanks Danny Doh! Do I feel dumb or what!! Excuse my senior moment! Thanks for the help and keep up the good work matey Roger

Good pictures there Danny. (Could you tell me how on earth to start off a new blog on here please?! - cant seem to figure it out!) Cheers Roger