Oncomin5torm

I've finally got under the layout and now I have got the layout wired for track power. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C50ugIftipj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== I don't do youtube so I've uploaded a short reel to instagram which can be seen above. Tested on DC for now, I did find one section of the inspection pits was dead but a small bit of solder onto a join and away it went.

I agree it was fantastic to see the layout in the flesh, rmweb doesn't do it justice, it's superb.

A realisation came to me, I never drilled the point actuator rod hole when I installed the point oops. Thankfully I can solve this, I have a plunge router attachment for my Dremel, and an added layer of protection for the underside of the point is the 5mm foamboard. If I set the depth on the router to just over 5mm I should be fine. I will gently drill a pilot hole first so I know where i'm going but at least I have remembered now.

A bit of track laying has been done. The inspection pits took a bit of threading, and swearing, bent 2 sets of rail, and 1 set wouldn't go all the way in, a pain in the backside but not insurmountable. Nothing is wired up at the moment, and the 3rd track is not glued down. I also staged some photos with the shed in place as well.

After consulting someone and giving them the premise for this layout and asking for their opinion on what I could call it, they came up with Subaltern Works It's a synonym of Secondary, which this is a secondary shed to the main TMD.

Thank you, despite breaking them I think it has turned out quite nicely.

Unfortunately for everyone else this was a custom scratch build done about 4 years ago by Paul Chapman of Galgorm Hall for someone else, when that person left the hobby I made him an offer on his remaining stock and bits, and I managed to get hold of this shed.

Someone else mentioned that to me as well, so I think I'm going to look at doing that.

I have also steadily been building the inspection pits and painting them over the last 2 weeks, as well as the basic hardstanding which I have decided to make out of mountboard similar to my old layout (Oakford Lane) I have just this morning finally plucked up the courage to cut the holes in the baseboard for the inspection pits to sit into, I don't think I've done a bad job really. There will be a bit more infill at the front where the tracks go back onto the concrete and not inspection pit. A final thing I've installed the copper clad sleepers at the end of the baseboard, and finally soldered the track to them as well. This little build is starting to come to life, it always does when track gets put down

Long delay in updates i'm afraid, but march is a very busy month for me with 2 birthdays, and going away for a few days. Not a lot has happened in the last 2 weeks since the previous update. That being said I have completed the retaining wall structure for the rear of the layout. Yup its got some curvature issues 🤣 I believe the capping stones forced the sections apart and caused the tops to move out further than the bases which gave it this curve. I solved this by cutting through the rear at every 2 joins so I could force them apart and put them back together. I have now glued them onto some mount board to keep them aligned when in place, which will also make it easier to eventually glue it into place against the rear support. Sadly there was a few casualties of the rebuild of the retaining walls. The walls were at times a little more stubborn so I had to apply a bit more force, this sadly damaged some of the brickwork. I intend on disguising these with paintwork, and some weeds/ivy as best I can.

It has been busy few weeks, with birthdays, trips away and generally being quite busy I've not had loads of time to play trains or work on this layout, and when I have, the projects i've been working on have been time intensive due to drying times. I've been working on the road overbridge for the fiddle yard end of the layout. (exscuse the beholder behind the bridge 🤣) This was made using cut & shut on the wills girder bridge sections, and the wills bridge abutments. The width of the bridge is basically a large van and maybe a small pavement. Being aware the shed takes up a vast amount of the layout I did not want to go for a wide bridge of two full lanes. I have added cut down I-Beam sections to the underside to give it more detail, even if it wont really be seen very often. I know I previously painted the girder sections, but I know how I'm going to have to go over them again, so I can prime the whole structure. My intention is to build the main structure to hold all the road and such away from the layout, as previously I have struggled to make it fit correctly and it never looked right, so I will do this and install it, and blend it in. I have also been working on a massive section of retaining walls. These are the wills brick arch retaining wall kits. I have used 2 full boxes and half of a 3rd for this setup. It will but up almost exactly to the end of the bridge, and give me enough depth at the rear to allow me to install some low relief warehouses onto the backscene. Unfortunately I cannot progress with the painting section of the build until the weather improves, I have nowhere indoors I can use a rattlecan to prime the retaining wall or bridge. The final picture also shows the inspection pits, they need a bit more work but I am happy with them, I am going to illuminate them as well so there will be lights on the outside of the recessed pit, and holes drilled through to make it look like recessed lights, I need to prime this black to stop light bleed, then grey over the top.

Thanks for the reply. The roof comes off entirely, which I am very glad for, imagine a loco stalling inside and not being able to reach in 🤣 I've got a small amount of play with the sheds placement, I want something at the rear, be it fence and low relief buildings or a wall with similar so I dont want the shed butted right up against the other end of the layout. The few extra mm it will give me should allow me to move the track slightly away from the corner of the shed, but your totally right, there will be lots of clearance warning signs on that area. I have tested it with a 158, which is the longest unit/loco I will be having on here, and there is enough space for it to get by without it being outside the realms of possibility. And Keith, constructive criticism and open discussions are always welcome.

The madness of a micro layout builder. New layout, old board, massive shed for 4 locos, or a pair of 2 car units. Still falls within the micro layouts size, at 1200x400 It's a slice of a larger depot, as if this was a secondary shed to the main one. Twin tracks in the shed and a 3rd got stabling, possibly fuel at the front. Anyone who has followed my builds for a while might recognise the shed, its one I was using in 2021-2022 when I was building an 8x2 TMD, im just using it in a smaller setting, but with similar purposes.

Superb, I love the whole scene.

I am literally building a layout in OO within the exact same footprint, its plenty for OO, I am doing a small halt station for 1 car dmu, and the end of a town.