George Hudson

Lovely composition, interesting but not crowded, picturesque but not corny! Andrew

So this is my idea; the first 5mm of platforms are in place and I will ballast and paint the track at this stage. The reason for this is that the ballast can be laid right up to the platform edge neatly but the platform, being only 5mm, gives easy access to work on the track. Higher platform levels might stick out from this base which is prototypical. Don't know if anyone else has tried this but seems obvious to me. I will use a fine ballast since that's what, from photos the Liverpool street station trackbed looked like in the 50s/60s compared to the larger size chippings more typical for a rural setting. The final colour will be rusty brown tending towards black in areas where locomotives came to rest.

Don't know but it didn't stay there long

And this is/was a pint of "Bad Kitty" from North York Moors Railway's micro pub in Whitby.

Boring stuff done today. Don't know if it's clear from the photos but I decided to have the raised roadway above the hidden storage yards supported by lengths of aluminium "L" section to ensure it stays straight at the back. Pretty over engineered but hopefully more trouble free in the long run than wooden 2x1.

HI Pete, Have a look at my Aldersgate thread, you might this that the sector plate could be a solution for you? Andrew

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement

couldn't resist this. that's it for today, have a gig in this evening so need to tune up the drums!

Just for fun I thought I would have look at setting out buildings. I need to think about composition, street layout and what needs to be built going forwards. I particularly like the last one (self praise is no recommendation I know)

I was supposed to be doing something useful this morning but got side-tracked !! Terrible photos but it's taking shape at last; some early site assembly to get a feel for the layout of buildings.

Despite teething problems with one loco, DCC is an absolute revelation delivering super smooth slow running!

My trustee old Fleischmann DC controller gave up the ghost so I switched to my new gaugemaster digital job. I followed the instructions brought my only DCC fitted loco on the layout and hurrah we're digital! Took out DCC ready J15 and fitted Hatton's decoder replacing what I took to be a blank in the tender. Reconnected loco with tender, programme track read address and .........horrible buzzing sound. Take out decoder put back "blank" return to track (programme or layout) ..........horrible buzzing sound. Detach loco from tender no buzzing from decoder or blank. Spend 10 mins swearing. Original DCC fitted loco returned to track and working fine, phew. Is this a short? Loco was working perfectly on DC and has only been out of the box a couple of times. Any ideas or links to other discussion threads?

Boring and frustrating morning today. To make life simple I had decided to mount the point motors on the surface of the boards where they are hidden under the street section. I thought this would be easier and more accessible for maintenance. After an hour or so with the Peco adapter plates for surface mounting, I gave up. I just couldn't get them in exactly the right position. In the end I took up the points and mounted the motors underneath, this way they are solidly attached and not subject to the vagueries of screwing small plates into wooden baseboards. This was quite boring since I had laid all the points and siding so had to dig them out again and then had to cut holes in the board for the motors with the tracks in situ and standing on a stool. Thankfully my method of pinning track down with dots of wood glue worked well since you can just pull off the glue without damage to the track. Still, its done now and I can wire up tomorrow (yes I did test them before laying them back down, I've learnt that lesson many points ago). Onwards and upwards

Enjoying the development of the layout. The dimensions are really generous which gives it proper main line flavour. Brilliant stuff, keep it up. Andrew PS This also wins first prize for the most rock and roll thread on RMWeb (although to be fair, the competition's not fierce in that department :-) ).

Marvellous work and something I am trying to create in my own modest way. Are the roof supports 3D prints? (sorry if I missed the answer in the thread). Andrew

Here's the latest state of play. First an overview The sector plate Then the corner which will be hidden under street scenes Lines emerge into station throat Main station section Closer view of exit from sector plate Some shots showing the storage lines. Some are directly off the sector plate, others run parallel to the main station and ar hidden below street scenes behind station The area inside the curve in the corner of the layout will have a turntable to reverse locos. Probably a home made job since it's hidden Well that's it for today, well just a video to finish

Here's a film showing a run along the length of the layout plus some short footage of the high tech traverser in operation! All in DC for now.

Quite good progress, hoping to get all main track down by the weekend. Some might be amused by this second run just out of the box, apologies for those who would rather watch paint dry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JGXF2fZafA

Just an update post. My garden room has had two failed aircon/heater units so I agreed that the second just be taken away with a full refund (and a simple heater left for the trouble caused). This is boring since it requires a large part of the layout to be removed but does give the opportunity to show some shots of my sector plate arrangement which some might find useful. Fortunately I had built this section on casters since obviously the aircon unit would have needed servicing at some point in its life, I just didn't figure so soon! this box is the N gauge layout Stratham which lives under the main boards I find this the best method to get tracks really straight when laying: a long piece of aluminium profile and wood glue drops. In a terminus like this where the platform follows the track this heightens any kinks and hence the need to have everything straight. The alternative is to have a gently curving platform which I really like but unfortunately I have already made the main buildings to work with a straight set up.

All wired up and working although I am sure some people with be horrified with my wiring! Tracks fixed down with some strategic drops of wood glue and weighted to ensure everything is flat when set. As the say in cookery programmes "leave to set for 24hours". For those who have been following, thank your for your interest! It certainly helps me to keep motivated to get the more boring bits done. Andrew

If you are going to do a terminus properly, you need a LOT of space. There are some great examples here of good sized termini but I am happy with doing a corner of something much bigger in the area that I have available.

Er, you caught me out on that. It's going to be one great cheat. From the start of the curve, the whole of the track to the right is hidden by the streets of the City/Clerkenwell, this means that the tracks will find their way onto the the sector plate with simply the help of a couple of hidden points. All very unprototypical! I am intending to have a hidden turntable too, purely functional, to turn the engines so no hand intervention required off scene. Andrew

Yes and it's still a restaurant!

So I have all the feeds working and need to wire up the frogs and crossings. As you can see I tend to wire everything up unsoldered and ensure it all works and then go round again neatening it all up. Another thing I do is to have two bulbs connected and the power on whilst I am working so I know immediately if Ive done something daft and created a short. With apologies if I am teaching any grandmothers to suck eggs! I have picked up a lot of tips here over the years. Andrew