mwrosebury2000

Thought I would give you an update as to the weekends engineering work. Friday. Well my other half didn't end up going away for the weekend as planned, this meant that I ended up having less time than planned in the cellar (only slightly less though). I got some the majority of track cut to length and checked that it fitted. I then removed the track to install the Power Base, this was going well until I ran out of P B plates about 6ft short. As the track couldn't be fixed down without the P B I couldn't do the point motors. Instead I set about tidying up in the cellar and building some scenery. I built some rocks to go along the edge of the quarry line, and some pylons that might be used to hold wires for the street & building lights. I also noticed that my supplies of plaster were getting low. Saturday. A trip to the model shop to buy some more plaster, another pack of Hornby pylons and another starter pack of Power Base. P B out of stock... so I got another mould for casting plaster rocks. On my return home I started work building the pylons followed by casting more rocks using up the last of my existing plaster. I got fed up with rocks so painted the road surfaces on phase 2&3. I also soldered the wires to the sieve from an electric fly swatter with the other wire attaching to a nail, I'm hoping to try out my home made static grass applicator soon. Online order for P B now going in. I will take some pictures and post them in the next day or so. All in all I feel that although I didn't get everything done that I had planned this weekend it has been quite productive. Mark

The past week I have been trying to get the train detection system code sorted and I'm pleased to say it's done. I've also written the rest of the code for the signalling. The chips to power the signals will cost over £100 so it might have to wait a while yet, but it is coming together. I have a few days off work after today and plan on getting some more people painted and ready for placing on the layout. My other half is going away at weekend with the dog so that gives me 2 days and 1 night free to do some serious modelling. I want to finish off building and painting the rock faces as well as installing the point motors and laying the track & Power Base on the heritage line. Bonus for the weekend will be building the stations on the heritage line and getting some OLE up on the main line. Not to mention having a tidy up in the cellar. Mark

Hi Paragon, Thanks, the layout is in the cellar. This is the lates update. I have been doing some more painting of people and have started to lay the track at the terminus end of the herritage line. I've also got the buffer stops, uncoupling ramps and point motors as well as the platform starter signals. I also have the signals for the aproach to the station but these are kits and I'm not up to it at the moment. Once the track is down I will add the point motors etc before finishing the platforms. Mark

I have a section of FB rail, pandrol clip, and a screw, plus a few lumps of coal. Not railway related but I also have a danger of death sign off a pylon, reflective road stud, public footpath sign, red & green man from some traffic lights. I used to have a keep left bollard but don't know what happend to that. Saw a 4 aspect signal for sale in a junk shop but it was silly money. Mark

Well my time has been limited recently with the odd hour here and there. I have been working on the terminus station on the heritage line, one platform has been placed, this is a piece of wood that will be clad in plasticard. I have also been working on the signalling for the main layout, writing code that will be uploaded to chips to control signals. I am looking at having a system where the signaller will set the route then the system will detect the trains and alter the signals as they pass. Each signal will have its own chip and 'talk' to the previous and next signal along the track. I decided on this rather than just having timed signals as if a train is sat a station the previous signal will not clear. It is also designed such that if the train detection or a signal fails then it will default to danger. Each section can also be blocked by the signaller should it be required. The thinking is when I have a running session the drivers will drive trains and the bobby will control the signals. Mark

Well I went to the York show on Monday and seeing so many quality layouts filled me with enthusiasm to get my head down and get on with modelling. I have finished the rock faces on the cutting either side of the main line and have cast more rocks ready for the quarry. I have added some inspection chambers for the drains on the main line in the cutting, the OLE masts have been bought and I've also got some materials for custom built gantries. I have also been busy doing the thing I like least about modelling – No not ballasting (I quiet like that), painting people and other small items. I have various tools to keep the trains running, I have also built an inspection platform (a kit I bought at last years York show). I have not built a brass kit before so it's not the best but for a first attempt I'm happy. Many people have had at least some paint on them. The railway workers are Dapol and the others are HO from various sauces. The P-way gang will be put to work on the heritage line, they are being painted to resemble some of the members of the gang on the railway where I volunteer. I have added some pictures of what I have done over the past couple of days and a picture of some of the many hundreds of people who will be placed on the layout. Mark

I've started applying some colour to the rock faces, this is the result so far. I used Woodland Scenics Earth Colours watered down 16:1 I will then seal it with PVA / water mix before adding black to highlight the crevices and some grasses and bushes to make it come alive. It's my first attempt but I don't think it looks too bad and I'm sure I will improve as I do more rocks. Please note that some of the plaster is almost 10 years old so wasn't very good and the other is household plaster left from a recent DIY job, which doesn't appear to take colour too well. Mark

This is the latest progress on my layout. I have built the stone bridge and used the wire mesh and plaster cloth method to create the hillsides / rock faces. Brown paint has been added as a base for areas that will be covered with grass, the areas that are still white will have some plaster rocks added to them before painting. Once this has been done a simple bridge will be placed over the mainlines to take the heritage line over it, it will then loop round and continue rising to a terminus station. Once this final bridge is in place I will finish installing Powerbase. I have also bought an electric fly swatter that I hope to turn into a static grass applicator for the rough moorland grass. I have tried to make it look like the main line runs off the layout by having the curve under the bridge and at the last possible place. The hope is it will disguise the fact that the main line loops round. As always comments and suggestions are welcome Mark

DCC Concepts Powerbase has been bought, i've started to install it but it might be a slow process as the layout is in the cellar and it takes an age for glue to dry. I will do a video of my locos before and after I attach the magnets. Mark

Thanks for the advice Matt, guess what i'm buying when I get paid next week? 4 foot is a bit of a reach and yes that will be the problem bit where every train derails, but I can access the far part of phase 1, the back corner of phase 2/3 and curves on phase 4 so i'm hoping that I will be ok. Mark

Well my experiment is complete, the maximum gradient I can use is 1:40. I have now been altering the raised section to reduced the gradient, the only way I can do this is by reducing the height. Mark

Had a bit of an oops moment last night, I went to test the steepest slope on the raised bit and well... it appears to be a little too steep. Tomorrow I'm going to have myself a little experiment. The line is an old branch line but thanks to a certain axe the line was closed and has been reopened as a heritage line, as such it will be used by diesel and steam loco's with 3 coaches (possibly 4 on special occasions). This being the case I have picked the loco with least pulling power (a Bachmann LMS Crab) I have 3 coaches lined up and a length of timber which I have attached some track, its quite simple I will run the train back and forth raising the gradient until I reach the maximum. I will then look at the gradients on the whole raised section, hopefully I will be able to get the track to the height I want whilst ensuring that trains will be able to run. Failing that it might be magnets and some steel rod under the track or double heading etc. I will post the results of my experiment once complete. Mark

All the base boards have been built and much of the track laid, I have created an album with some pics but more pics are on Flickr (just search for me (same name as on here) and they should come right up). I have started work on the level crossing barriers, they will be 4x micro servos with a boom attached, I would like to add red lights to each boom and bars to stop people getting under the barrier. I have also started on the rock face in the cutting on P4 where the preserved line goes up and over the main line. Mark

I thought it was about time I added my layout on here, and I think it should go in the large layouts section. My layout is called Ashfield Valley, it is OO code 100 track, it is a modern image layout with a heritage railway. I am a lone modeller and it has taken about 3 – 4 years to get to the stage its at now. I have added a track plan made in XTrack CAD, the layout was largely designed on paper and by placing track onto the base boards in a trial and error way apart from one of the reversing loops that I needed help with from CAD. The actual track isn't quite as the cad diagram but it does give a sense of the size of the layout. During construction I have split the layout into 4 sections, phase 1 is the 11' x 4' section at the bottom and is the town and station (although compromise was made as I would have liked a larger station). Phase 2 is 4' x 14' and comprises of the fiddle yard (disguised as a TMD) along with the heritage railway yard and station and a council estate between the chimney breasts. It also has a line descending to a hidden storage area housed under phase 4. Phase 3 is 4' x 12' and will be a quarry and the old branch line station (now in preservation). Phase 4 is 12' x 4' and is countryside, with a reversing loop hidden in a hill side. The layout is still very much under construction so the above may change as it develops. I have decided to use flexi track for some of the curves on the main line as I feel that this looks so much better, this is the first time I have used it so it's not 100% but I'm still learning. The layout is based in North West England, although it isn't based on any 1 location. Much of the layout is flat but I have tried to disguise this with the falling line, rising heritage line etc and the fact that the track in the town loops round has been (hopefully) disguised using tunnels and a raised road. Anyway I hope to add pictures of it, and updates on progress as I go along. Mark