luke the train spotter

Progress is slow and irregular but I got a little bit more work done on the brake van today. The underframes and buffer beams have received a coat of black acrylic paint. Nothing fancy but its cheap and it works. The dummy chain link coupling has been picked out with a fine brush using humbrol acrylic number 11 left over from an airfix kit. Note that the little window in the guards duckets have been picked out with the black paint. I did think about removing the plastic and glazing it but it didnt seem worth the fuss. Anyway, here's a picture of of the work so far. I've got all the stuff for the weathering its just putting it all together and actually doing that. Saying that I will probably get round to weathering it and some other stock in a day or two. Until next time, happy modeling!

Thanks Christian. It was an aim of mine that I was quite vague with the setting of the layout so I can run my sentinel and my Hornby pug. I hadn't noticed that on the last picture! For all the photos i'm just using my phone camera (nothing special as I'm still using a Nokia).

Hi there. I am currently looking into modeling 09 (18/15 inch narrow gauge modelled in o gauge using n gauge track). I have been searching for scale drawings but so far my search has been fruitless. I wondered if any of you had scale drawings/pictures/links to places where I could access them. Thanks for your help and advice.

So in regards to the traverser, my wood work skills are very rough and inaccurate - not the attitude that is right if you are building something that needs to be precise like a traverser. The entire traverser is actually made out of LEGO with the only non LEGO there the track and the power wires. Here are some more pictures of the traverser (an aerial shot first). The frame is built out of long bits of LEGO and the corners are perfect right angles thanks to the design of LEGO - much neater and better than my own creations out of wood. The actual frame consists of studded plates with smooth plates on top. This means that the traverser can smoothly move without much resistance. At each end the Lego is built up higher to stop the traverser from traversing off the baseboard. The actual sliding but of the traverser is made out of Lego but with a groove the middle and end which holds the traverser in place and allows it to move on the smooth plates. The next photo shows the traverser in place with the groove on the smooth plates. At the side closest to the operator there are some higher bits of Lego which the operated can use to manouvre the traverser. Another advantage of Lego is that I can adapt it at any point and the whole traverser took about 30 minutes to build start to finish including design time. The Lego was just lying about not doing anything so it hasn't cost me anything really and the quality of plastic means that there will be very little wear and tear so no maintenance is really needed. And if something does brake I can just find another standard Lego component that can replace it. The traverser is held down with hot glue on the frame but the sliding bit is not attached only by gravity and the power wires. The Lego is just held together stud to stud at the moment but I intend to super glue it all together in the future to add more strength to it. Hope this answers any questions.

Right I've got some more progress to show you on the micro layout. I've gone and done the laborious and boring job of ballasting. For the ballast I used this special ballast that had been made for me by my good friend Jeff. Using sieves he scaled it down to the scale to what oo gauge ballast should be. It is a job that I wouldn't be keen to do but he very kindly gave me a bag of it so I thought that I would put it to good use. Before I ballasted I glued the loading dock down so I could ballast right up to it. Whilst that was drying I made a start on the canopy for the loading dock. I was unsure with how I wanted it to look and what would look right so I spent some time researching and going through lots of prototype photos. In the end I based my design on one I saw in a picture of an American layout set it the 60s so right time period for me. I made a start with a 2mm plasticard base and a 1mm plasti card back. These were held together with super glue and held at right angles as the glue set off. Regular supports were made out of 1mm plasti card and were glued in place. I put these in place so I didn't get any unusual sags in the roof. They also help keep the canopy rigid and robust. The canopy was topped with slaters plasti card corrugated iron. I cut a strip of the correct height then roughly cut a prototypical panel width. I then layed the roof panel by panel from left to right to give and uneven and more rustic appearance. Some of the panels are wonky and tilted to represent the decaying industry. I then gave that a coat of a humbrol enamel grey colour. Whilst that was drying I made a start on the low relief building that uses the loading dock. Slaters brick sheet was backed onto corrugated cardboard, painted and weathered. Doors were made out of off cuts from scales scenes kits and the door runners were thin strips of 10 thou plasticard painted black and glued in place. Here is a picture of all that assembled and ready to go onto the layout. Time for some final assembly. Firstly the low relief building was hot glue gunned in place. Initially I tried pva glue but it wasn't setting fast enough and the factory was pulling away from the back scene so I pulled it off, scrapped the pva off and fired up the hot glue gun. After that had cooled I then hot glue gunned the canopy on. I'm quite pleased how this basic scratch build has gone. It's my first time.scratch building an industrial building as I'm normally one scratch building rural buildings. Next I hope to get a back scene glued on, weather the ballast and finish the factory with a name. That's all for now so happy modeling!

10/10 for attention to detail. Superb job!

They suit the layout very well. Good painting too - not too bright and they really fit into the scene

With all the snow and bad weather I'm getting plenty of time to work the the layout. It's looking like it will be finished in a week or two with the layout scenicly finished and fully operational. I've done some more work on the loading dock. The sides were covered with slaters brick plasticard sheet with super glue. Normal beach sand was then glued on the top. This was to add texture and a sense of bedded in grime to the layout. The first photo shows it before weathering and the second photo shows it after painting and weathering. With that done and glueing in place I could turn my attention to the buffer stops. Commercial ones would be too big and a bit pricy for what they are (30 grams of cheap moulded plastic). So I decided to make my own out of coffee stirrers. I took some rough measurements from a Hornby buffer stop and drew the design onto the wood. This was the cut out with a craft knife and scissors. The bits of wood were then stained in a black acrylic wash as seen in the photo below. A couple drops of super glue and some dots of black to represent the grease marks later I had myself 3 rugged, weather beaten buffer stops. Not to bad as the basically cost me nothing to make just time. The last bit of progress I have for you is the painting of the rails. This was done with a brush before and ballasting takes place. I mixed various shades of humbrol enamel browns and greys. I mixed it to eye with no particular ratio and thinned it down with some white spirit. It was the applied to both sides of the rails with a small paint brush. It takes time and patience and it was very fiddly to do the back rails but it was worth it. That's all the progress so far but I will keep you all posted with any developments. Thanks for looking everyone and happy modeling!

Looks great. A nice and simple track plan with plenty of operational interest.

Got some more progress done. I had been intending to have this online earlier but internet problems intervened. Never mind though. Right so on with the brake van. The brake van has had a semi coat of primer. I used auto grey primer from poundland which is definitely good value for money. Unfortunately my can ran out half way through priming the model so I didn't get a very good coverage but I didn't mind because I would be brush painting with enamels. To keep the brake van looking similar to a midland railway one (which is where I got the inspiration for this project) I went out and bought a light grey colour. I though that humbrol enamel number 64 was a good match. This was then applied with 2 coats on the brake van with a brush. So the basic body has been painted grey but I am still to paint the under frames black before giving the brake van a good weathering. I'm not planning to put any transfers onto the brake van to keep the location and heritage of drum lane purely fictitious. As you might have seen I have started another micro layout on rmweb so my modeling focus has been on that not drum lane. That project will be finished soon though so my full modeling attention can be turned back to drum lane. Thanks for looking everyone and happy modeling!

Wow! That underground train looks amazing and you've really captured it. Neat paint job as well.

Hi Julian nice to meet you. I am currently using the slim style nem couplings on the layout with the idea of converting everything to kadees by the end of the year. About operation I noticed that there are 6 positions for wagons in the scenic section. I have allocated each position with a number from 1 to 6. I then roll a standard 6 sided dice for a particular wagon and have to shunt that wagon to that particular spot. I can see plenty of limitations compared to a larger shunting layout but hopefully with variations in stock I will be able to keep myself entertained for a bit. Thanks for looking.

Really nice. All these small locos really suit the layout.

Hahah. That's brilliant! That is definitely something that i would like to do with this layout. Would enjoy the challenge of building a battery power controller as well.

Thank you everyone for you kind comments. I find them really motivating to do more work on the layout which is what this post is all about. Firstly I have installed a girder bridge that hides the entrance to the fiddle yard. This was scratch built out of 5mm foamboard and 10 thou plasticard. It was painted with a couple coats of humbrol acrylic number 78. Now that its glued in place I wish I had weathered it before glueing it to the back scene but oh well I will have the awkward task of weathering it as it is. Next up I have printed of a very well priced industrial backscene from scale model railway scenery. This is currently just held in place with blue tack but it will be trimmed and fitted there in due course. Work has also commenced on the loading dock that will be flat against the rear back scene. It has been cut out of 17mm scrap wood with a jigsaw and is awaiting some basic scenery on it. Tonight I will probably get the loading dock finished, the track painted and if I'm lucky get some buffer stops made. Thanks for looking and happy modeling!

Got a bit more time to work on the layout last night. The advantage with it being so small is that with a little time you can do a lot of work. So last night I quickly mixed up a kind of sky coloured blue paint. The picture below shows where I painted as I am planning to use a low relief industrial building on the left hand side. The plan is a loading dock on the far siding and a girder bridge hiding the fiddle yard entrance. A small hut will be at the front of the layout. Thanks for looking.

Looks great and a very interesting project. How long is the sector plate in the fiddle yard?

Those lights in city goods are oozing with atmosphere. That American southern tank loco suits both layouts very nicely. Would it be possible to build an in between layout that could join city goods and rural goods because you seem to use the same stock on both layouts apart from the railbus.

Thanks Jerry that is very helpful. I have a friend who has all the railway modellers since 2000 (I think) so I will be able to have a look at that micro layout.

Evening everyone. I've managed to get some work done on my new micro layout (name suggestions are welcome if any of you have any ideas). So I got my least favorite part of the layout out of the way today - the wiring. I know you can buy prewired fish plates and power tracks but firstly my budget wont stretch that far and secondly there are no fish plates at all on this layout. I glued the track down with pva last night so that they would be dry today so the wiring could be done. It is very simply wired up so that all the track is live at any point so I didn't need to bother with isolating sections. All the power wires feed into one terminal screw block which is currently screwed into a cheap Hornby train set controller. Here is a pic of all the loose untied down wires: And here is a pic of the wiring tidied up and taped down (or should I say up?) to the mdf. The great thing about having a layout this small is that I can fit it on my desk with space around it so I can work it in a more comfortable environment than stuck under some massive baseboards that are part of some massive layout. The p way team have also been to the layout to do some work; they have got round to re sleepering certain areas of track which were missing some. Pva glue is just setting in to hold the sleepers in place as I write this. With the track layed and wired I have begun to run trains and give the layout a period of intense testing to identify any faults prior to any scenic application. Currently my DJ models j94 is on shunting duties. My Hornby pug has also had a turn shunting today and is better suited in terms of size than the j94 for the layout. Ideally my sentinel would be trundling up and down the track but it is still away at Hornby having some repairs done to it. Right I think that's all the progress I've got for you so far. Any questions/ feedback/ ideas/ layout names/ comments are more than welcome (even constructive criticism ) . Thanks for looking.

Thanks Jerry. Do you know what issue of railway modeller it featured in? Thanks for looking.

Thanks. I'm hopping to go for an industrial kind of theme.

Looks good. It's coming along very nicely.

So before I show you some pictures here are some of the statistics of the layout. The layout measures 41cm by 21cm including a fiddle yard and the thick backscene boards. The base board frame is made out of thick pallet wood which I find is incredibly strong and free from local diy stores that get their products delivered on them. The baseboard is topped with 10mm mdf which I had lying around. The layout will be anologue control though I plan to wire all the track up for dcc so I dont have to faff around with isolating sections. There are 3 sidings on the scenic section which measure just under 19cm each. The traverser is also 19cm long. I plan to use my sentinel on the layout when I get it back from rails of Sheffield but until then my refurbished pug will take shunting duties. I still have to cut one more bit of mdf for the end and screw and glue it but then will have an even more robust baseboard. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Spot one! If anyone asks I've had this layout all along. Wink. Wink.