AndyB

For as long as I can remember I ran my layouts without a timetable. And pretty boring it was, too. TBH the attraction was to quickly to start to build "the next" layout. I'm now modelling Bentley station in the 1950s/60s when the branchline to Bordon was still in operation. And to make it hold my attention I'm planning to operate it to a timetable. Yes, I can also sit back and just leave a favourite loco circulating, too. Timetabled trains include a twice hourly branchline working, which arrives on the up platform and then has to move across the down line and in to the bay departure platform. There are also half or hourly services from Alton to Waterloo and vice versa. So far so good. But you can't let your branchline train impede these "mainline" services. I've also identified a daily parcels train (WOK --> AON) abd uccassional triop trains from Aldershot to So'ton. Again this kind of traffic has to fit within the mainline passenger services and the branchline (Bordon) train. And the more of these ad hoc trains I identify the more complexity starts to build up... A particular attraction of this line was that it acted as a diversionary route for mainline traffic heading to and from the south and south west via Basingstoke, e.g. when that part of the line was being electrified. So suddenly there are a lot more services that have to be squeezed in. And I think if I build in the variable speed of different train types and reasonable headway then it could get quite challenging. There's also the challenge of coordinating how these trains move within the Fiddle Yard! Not bad for a country junction station.

Automation...rather you than me. Sounds like hard work! Might be worth reading up on how the Farnham MRC automated their Wickwar layout? From memory it uses MERG technology with occupancy detection via a resistor on the axle of the last wagon/coach in each rake? All driven by iPad. Quite impressive watching trains shuffle forward in the FY. Like the idea of how you're combining hobbies by having the golf course holes on the layout.

@njee20 thanks for taking the time to read my layout thread and adding a comnent. I also found the Code 40 had a mind of its own. I did my best to straighten it using a thin steel rule. But it was a blessed relief to revert to Peco Code 55. For me the epiphany was seeing an N gauge layout at the Basingstoke show that used Peco Code 55 but with great care taken over ballasting. And I felt if my track looked as good as that then I'd be more than happy. I'm also very interested in @woodenhead's approach and would definitely like to hear more about that as I'd like to try it out on a micro layout sonetime. Re the Megapoints those are generally behaving. Although in the FY I could have simply used solenoids. Hey-ho, you live and learn. Andy

Time for an update, methinks. Radio silence over the kast couple of weeks has been whilst I finished testing watching trains go by, fabricating the removable backscenes and weathering track. Testing was very satisfying watching steam locos pull various rakes of coaches, branchline trains and wagons. This took longer than I thought as it was just nice watching them stretch their legs doing lap after lap.... (I really should investigate how to create some YouTube content). Backscenes were a combination of plywood with a frame to keep it straight and double layered mountboard where it needs to curve. Two coats of Gesso were used to prepare them for painting the backscene. Finally I've weathered the track. One coat of grey primer and 24 hours later a coat of sleeper grime. Thanks to everyone who has previously shared their experience of track weathering. As ever RMweb is a mine of expertise. Noting that the aerosols have "cumulative" detrimental effects I purchased a P3 protective mask. This one had a good seal and was really comfortable for the hour I wore it. I think my record is 48 hours in a full respiratory mask, so in comparison it's (literally) no sweat protecting yourself from the kinds of aerosol paints we use. I think a £20 investment to protect your health has to be the best money you can spend! So. What's next? With the Bank Holiday weekend coming up it's a great opportunity to start putting in the terrain profiles. Move over Slartibartfast! And I've not forgotten that the reversing camera needs to be wired up using the same 12V DC supply that'll power the semaphore bracket signal. So there should be plenty to show you on my next update. Thanks for reading. Andy

Thanks Paul. I found your link really helpful. I'll look forward to reading other parts of your blog, too. Cheers. Andy

When weathering Peco Unifrog turnouts do any parts of the turnout need to be protected from the paint? My understanding is that these points are all hard wired so not reliant on contact between the blades and stock rails to pass current....but wanted to double check?! It's a given the top of the rails will be cleaned up after spraying with paint. Thanks in advance for any advice. Andy

FWIW I think the way you've captured the scene is really well composed. In particular the rather subdued colour palette is very effective. Thanks for sharing. Andy

Hi and apologies for being late to comment on backscenes. Hopefully my recent exploits may help others. I've used 3.6 mm plywood on the straight sections of my backscene, which are 7" tall. Because I want to remove them to access the FY and make sure they remain straight I've put framing behind them. @stivesnick suggested a way of securing the backscene using small connector blocks which was really helpful. 🙂 To make sure they don't scuff and break up where they butt up to each other I'm planning to seal the edges with PVA. I'm going to use 2 coats of Gesso to prepare them for acrylic painting. Where the backscenes curve there was too much tension in the plywood so I've used mount board with two layers laminated together using Copydex. This was a lot easier to use than plywood! Again I'll probably seal the edges with PVA to reduce wear and tear. All the best. Andy

Well this is a first. I don't recall building a layout where I've got as far as thinking about a timetable.... As "testing" continues I've started to allocate trains into sidings of the FY to map on to a timetable service I'm hoping to run. So far... 1. Branch line service, aka the Bordon Rocket / Bentley Flyer. M7 + 2 coaches. 2 return trips per hour. 2. UP Hourly electric train service (AON --> WAT), stopping BTY. 4-CEP for now. 3. DOWN Hourly electric train service (WAT --> AON), stopping BTY. 4-CEP for now. 4. DOWN Mid-morning parcels train (WOK -> AON), N class Mogul. 5. Pick-up goods train. 6. DOWNTroop train Aldershot -> Southampton / Diverted express Waterloo -> Weymouth... Service #1, #4 and #6 Service EMU #2, #3 & FREIGHT #5 And already its starting to get complex. For example to save FY space for a more interesting train I'm only using one of my 4-CEPs. But that means for one of the 2 proposed services it'll need to propel a 4-coach train round some fairly tight curves. Hmm. Next, for each train that appears "on scene" there's quite a lot of points in the FY to be switched. On reflection I could have used the memory function on the servo controllers to set up routes for the most freque train movements. I could still do that as a future improvement. Also I could have put green / red LEDs into the mimic board to give a positive indication of point settings. Relying on the position of a toggle switch is not a long term solution. Again I can add these in later. One thing I read recently was a couple of peoples' pet hates of trains arriving at a terminus and instantly reversing with no consideration of what tasks the driver would need to do. I have to say on this layout it's taking me some time to set all the points correctly in between trains. So no danger of instantly reversing a train! FY mimic board - could do with route indicator LEDs. I've also got other locos to include which will fill up the FY still further. So much fun yet to be had!

I've occasionally wondered about animated backscenes and how to go about it. I think your solution is great. Kicking myself that I didn't think of it though. 😆 Like the fireworks display, BTW. All the best. Andy

It's actually quite simple. A mains wire to carry the ~13 V AC from the DCC power supply along the length of the layout and Fiddle Yard. Red and black twisted dropper wires to each piece of track. 3 wires to each servo motor going back to the Megapoints control board. A wire for each servo motor from the Megapoints control board to the mimic panel switch plus a 5V line. There's actuslky two mimic panels and two Megapoints control boards. For each servo motor there's a contact switch and 3 wires (red, black and white) to control the polarity of the frog. Various D connectors and push fit choc block connectors to take power and signals across baseboard joins. Still to do are wires to power and control the (future) Dapol junction signal. And also power and take a signal from the Fiddle Yard CCTV camera. That's the technical answer. The possibly more interesting answer is that it takes me back over 30 years to the lab bench. Happy days and great memories.

I started to write a piece on how I've been attacking the layout's snagging list. Suffice to say whilst running different locos I'm finding track where fishplates have not been fitted (by me) correctly, soldered joints that used too much soldered and cause rough rolling, the occasional short and fine plastic detailing parts snagging on servo wires. But instead here's a pile of wiring that needs a good tidying up! It's certainly a target rich environment with plenty of opportunities to shorten cables and fix them together and secure them in place. The servo control boards are particularly busy areas with cables for both switches and motors. I know this is the boring bit. But I think getting it nice and tidy will help with long-term satisfaction with the layout. Cheers. Andy

What's happening on the layout I hear you all ask. Well I'm glad you did. The last remaining fi escape point failed. And mixing and matching with Code 55 didn't work terribly well in terms of running smoothness. So I took the decision to standardise on Code 55 and ripped up the remaining track. A quick trip to my local model railway emporium I came vack with a replace replacement Unifrog point and 8 lengths of Peco. This was easily fixed and rewired over the last week. Testing was possible on the down line over the last few days and I've had the great pleasure of sering various locos circling the layout. There's a couple of shorts on the up line which I need to run to ground this week. But it's been great being able to run all my rolling stock in without having to press "reverse" every few seconds! Gratuitous shot of my UM B12 that recently came back from Coastal DCC for a Digitrax decoder fitting. And finally both point control mimic boards. Spenthalf an hour this morning chasing a dry joint down...but its that problem solving that makes the hobby keep the old neurons firing? Anyway, that's all I've got to show you at the moment. Cheers for now. Andy

Thanks Johnster. Much to try out there and all good advice. It'll take me a while to work through the list. So radio silence isn't a lack of appreciation. Should say it's a new layout so there are plenty of track-related issues to iron out which affect a number of locos and wagons. Best regards. AndyB

Hi. I've a 2nd hand tender drive Farish 4MT. It works fine apart from the fact that periodically the locomotive's wheels and various conecting rods lock, with the loco gliding along pushed by the tender. Appllying very slight pressure to the top of the boiler frees everything up. So I'm wondering if there's any way of adding additional weight to the loco body, or even fitting traction tyres to increase friction? I appreciate getting to the root cause and curing that would be preferable. But I'd prefer not to tinker with the delicate mechanism! Any thoughts? Andy

I'm thinking back to my DC days. When I needed to isolate a section of track e.g. aoco shed, platform end etc. that meant two wires coming back to a switch on the control panel. With DCC that's two wires and a number of soldering joints not needed. But I think this may be drawing us away from the main thrust of your layout topic. Which is looking really great...just as we all expected it would. 🙂

Just a thought based on my own experience. Where you've got baseboards supported by kitchen units I'd recommend seeking ways to reinforce these. Sadly I discovered how cheap and flaky kitchen unit chipboard actually was. Over a handful of years they deteriorated, either through damp or over loading. Essentially they pulled themselves to pieces. I ripped them all out and built solid benchwork. The contents went into stackable plastic boxes that slide underneath. I'd hate for this very ambitious layout to suffer the same fate mine did! All the best. Andy

Apparently one might also expect to see keyway slots on an original. Andy

I looked at all sorts of solutions for track occupancy and decided that this was the 2nd least complex / expensive. The simplest would have been an angled mirror + cricked neck. I found a reversing camera and monitor kit on ebay for about £15 and a 12 V psu for about £9. I'm hoping that at a glance I'll be able to see if a siding is occupied, how far the train has gone into the siding and isn't fouling points, and any derailment or stalls. I'll post some pictures when I've got it set up.

I'll get a magnet and report back. Andy Fridge magnets slide off.

It certainly has a rough texture on the back. And certainly looks as if its had a coat of grey paint at some point in it's life.

If it was something "Southern" then I'd have to confess / take the 5th. But GWR? ... to the auction house it shall go!

Thanks Jason. I did wonder if it might be that loco but: a) "treasure" in the loft happens to other people. b) I've no idea if its genuine or some kind of reproduction, apart from that swmbo had a talent for squirreling away artefacts and hail's from GWR territory! Best regards. Andy

Hello all We've been clearing out our loft and came across some bits of railway memorabilia. One of which looks like a locomotive number plate of some sort. It weighs 4lbs 12oz. Is 19 1/2" x 6" x 1/2" with raised numbers. Front Back If anyone has a clue what it might be we'd be really interested to know. Thanks in advance. Andy