Rammstein2609

Hi All Slow progress has been made over the last two months as and when I find time to do anything. I've been focussing on finishing the track laying in the fiddle yard which is now complete. Attention then turned to wiring up the whole layout so now I just have to finish off the straight fiddle yard board and scenic board which are actually the simplest boards to wire up. Each board will feature a DCC bus, 12V DC bus and LocoNet bus. The only wires connecting each board together will be each of these Buses and everything else like turnout control and block detection will all be kept on board with all data being transferred via DCC bus or LocoNet. A few weeks ago I decided to lay the fiddle yard out on the floor and place some trains to see what would fit and I've figured I need a bigger fiddle yard! I knew this was happen anyway and the plan was never to build a massive fiddle yard for such a small scenic section. instead I utilised some of Tim Horn's curved baseboards I purchased a few years ago for a 2mm project which never got started. The idea with this layout is to test block detection and automation so the fiddle yard may seem excessive but there is sound reasoning behind the madness. I've also spent some time adding DCC sound into most of the fleet (only a few locos left to do). I've used Loksound V5's with double iPhone speakers supplied by Rainbow Railways which sound great and have a good degree of playability. Thanks Martin

Thanks for your comments, I'm rather happy with how things have worked out on the layout for now. The back scene is from ID Backscenes and I believe the photo was taken somewhere in Wales. I think it looks good for Scotland too! The buildings are my own creations. I started back in 2011 when I visited Rannoch several times and physically measured up the station building and signal box. Back then I was hoping to recreate these in 2mm scale but other things got in the way and now 11 years later I've finally managed to create these in 4mm scale. In doing my research, I have found some subtle differences between a lot of the stations on the line which have this design of building so can potentially produce a kit for each station. Next on my list is Crianlarich as I would quite like to make a layout based on there. I've already made a start on the engine shed by counting bricks from photos I've taken and I managed to physically measure up all the other buildings so have plans for these too. Thanks Martin

Hi Rhys Great to meet and chat with you over the weekend too. I'm excited to see the layouts others start creating with these building kits. The more West Highland layouts on the exhibition scene, the better in my opinion. The response to my layout and the buildings over the weekend have given me a boost to get on with the development and get these out to market. Thanks Martin

Hi All I’m pleased to say that Tulloch Bridge is at Model Rail Scotland this weekend! Well, the scenic section is. The Scottish Modellers demo stand ended up being a lot larger than we had booked so I’ve filled a space with the scenic board where I will be working on the scenics over the course of the weekend. Pop by and say hello if you’re at the show. Stand C22, top left corner of the hall. Thanks Martin

Hi, It has been confirmed for the St Andrews show in August. I'll provide more info closer to the show. Thanks Martin

Hi All Things have gone a little quiet on the layout front as things seem to be really busy at the moment. I managed to finish laying the fiddle yard track a few weeks ago with the exception of the tracks which connect to the scenic board. These will require a little bit of baseboard sanding to align the rail heads. Any modelling time I have had over the last couple of weeks have turned to modifying some rolling stock. There originally wasn't so much of an urgency to work on these items but now the layout has its first exhibition invitation for later this year, I thought I would start early. I've also been working on some neat little frog juicer units as well as a new LocoNet input/output control panel board. This allows for the use of physical push buttons on control panels but also the use of DCC throttle use and JMRI use when it comes to changing turnouts and setting routes - more on that later! I'll be on the Scottish Modellers demo stand at Model Rail Scotland this weekend with some of my buildings, footbridge and rolling stock so if you're attending feel free to pop by and say hello. Thanks Martin

Hi All It's been a while since I updated this topic as there hasn't really been any progress since the last posts. There have been a few false starts on laying track in the fiddle yard but on most of those occasions I just haven't been too enthusiastic about track laying so attempts were abandoned. Having recently organised my home office, I have created some space to setup a table in order to complete some modelling tasks whenever free time allows. Today I decided that I wanted to lay the track on at least the left hand curves of the fiddle yard and I have managed to do just that. I'm using Peco code 75 with curved turnouts for this but soon realised there isn't much of a curve to these. My initial plan was to handbuild some turnouts for the curved baseboards but in the end decided to go for speed and easy setup. The plan is to mirror the track layout of these curved boards on the opposite boards and just have straight tracks on the straight baseboards resulting in a pretty basic fiddle yard. Once all the track is laid I will then cut all rail gaps required to incorporate block detection and also ABC braking modules but more on that when I get around to that part. Thanks Martin

It’s interesting that someone else has picked up on this too as I ordered what I thought was a 4 pack of point kits last year but only a single kit arrived. When I checked the website it wasn’t worded very well with no explanation too. Upon checking the 7mm section of the site I assumed that 4PK stood for 4mm Point Kit but could be wrong. I’m not knocking C&L, merely an observation of something which caught me out. Thanks Martin

Hi All I managed to get some time this morning to add removable cross bracing to the straight board legs and set the whole layout up for the first time. I was pleased to find that it all went together absolutely perfectly first time, so all the planning and measuring paid off. I was also able to set the whole thing up on my own in under 10 minutes then pack it all down again just as quickly which bodes well for exhibitions. The scenic board is solid when the legs and cross braces are attached. Due to the height, it is a little wobbly on its own if pushed but once everything was bolted together to create the whole layout then everything is solid and not going anywhere. Now that everything fits together, I can crack on with track laying when I get some free time. Thanks Martin

I've finally had the chance to figure out a solution to this issue and have now successfully cut all the Ivar legs to length and added the bracing back in. I didn't want to change the aesthetic of the legs so designed a laser cut template to be used with a router and 30mm bush. Once the legs had been cut down I used this template to route out a new slot in each leg to accept the original cross brace which was carefully removed from the parts of the leg which had been cut off. The image above hopefully shows the process of how I've achieved this: 1, Flat pack template cut on the laser 2, Template built up (view from the top) 3, Template built up (view from the bottom) 4, 30mm guide bush in router base 5, Router used in laser cut template which is slipped over the end of the leg 6, New slot routed out to accept original cross brace. While cutting the leg heights down I also took the opportunity to add adjustable feet. For this I've used 6mm insert nuts with 6mm threaded adjustable rubber feet purchased from eBay for around £10 for 24. The image above shows the process of adding the adjustable feet: 1, 6mm insert nut and adjustable foot 2, Drill an 8mm hole in the centre of the base of the leg 3, Screw the insert nut into the 8mm hole until flush with the base of the leg 4, Insert adjustable foot 5, Foot fully inserted. I'm rather happy with the results now so I'm now ready to connect all baseboards together and test the fit and finish. I'll need to wait until the weekend to try this out unfortunately then I can get cracking with laying track in the fiddle yard. Cheers Martin

Hi All This past weekend was spent on the demo stand at the Furness MRC exhibition in Barrow where I was able to crack on with the roof of my station building and also the signal box roof. I finished adding all the slates and added the lead work around the ridges and chimneys. This was achieved by using Tamiya masking tape cut down to a suitable width before being cut into smaller sections which would allow a small over lap at each end as per the real thing. Unfortunately the roof sustained a small piece of damage during the journey home but a quick fix will resolve this thankfully. I just need to get working on the guttering and down pipes before fixing the building to the layout. Cheers Martin

Hi All I never got the chance to put the fiddle yard up on its new legs over the weekend due to other things getting in the way but I did manage to produce the two RETB boards today which are needed for the layout. I've used the same design as my test boards from last year but I've refined them a little. The main structure uses a laser cut 0.8mm board with brass tube legs, 1.8mm LED and printed RETB sign. This was designed in Powerpoint and printed on photo paper then sprayed with dullcoat to seal everything. The sign has double sided tape applied to the back before being cut off the sheet. The brass tubes are superglued to the back of the 0.8mm board and the LED is glued into the rectangular slot. The LED legs are bent sideways so they connect to the brass tubes, excess trimmed away then soldered. The boards are then sprayed grey all over then the fronts painted black. The LED has some black paint added to the top to represent the hood but I still need to add another coat to reduce light bleed. Once the paint has dried the printed sign is stuck down using the attached double sided tape. The edges are sealed with a quick coat of black paint, this also hides the white edge of the photo paper. Finally, wires were soldered to the brass tubes then everything was hooked up to my test rig. My ATtiny85 RETB control board is switched using a relay connected to my DCC servo & relay decoder. I have uploaded a quick video to YouTube showing the final result: I'll add these to the layout over the next few weeks and get everything wired up before cracking on with the scenic work. Thanks Martin

Hi Jeff At the moment, my limited testing shows that the 6mm bolts used to fasten the legs to the layout hold strong enough until the whole layout is connected together however I am planning further testing to see whether I need to bolt on some kind of cross bracing piece to hold it all steady. The plan is to bolt the leg assemblies to the relevant baseboards first then connect everything together. It’s a little more tricky than the leg assemblies I used on Ketton Cement but I’ve gone down this route to save space and weight in the car when transporting the layout. I’m working away from home this week so will try and take a series of photos at the weekend of how everything bolts together once I’ve finished the scenic board legs. Thanks Martin

Hi Paul This thought had crossed my mind. I’ve got some suitable ply which can be used to brace the legs at the bottom once material has been removed. I may look into the plausibility of routing out a rebate to accept the ply just as IKEA have manufactured these units. I’ll post a update once I’ve figured this out. Thanks Martin

Hi All I've been brainstorming different ideas for the layout legs with the main requirements being they had to be light weight and not take up too much space. The idea is that this layout will be able to fit into the back of my car with fiddle yard, legs, rolling stock and the other usual bits and pieces which are needed for a layout. After looking at several solutions I've decided to use Ivar side units from Ikea as the main leg design with some laser cut ply bits which will act as the interface between legs and baseboards. I've used the 30 x 124cm Ivar side units for the fiddle yard legs and used the 50cm versions for the scenic board. This looks to be an expensive way of building layout legs however when I calculated the timber I would need at todays retail prices and the time I would need to actually build the legs, the Ikea solution actually came out cheaper and much more convenient. I've had to design three different interfaces so far for the following: - end of straight baseboards - middle of straight baseboards (over joint) - middle of curved baseboards (over joint). This design allows for the laser cut interface parts to slide under the baseboard on the inside then a 6mm bolt will be driven through from outside the fascia to fasten the legs onto the board. The legs have 6mm insert nuts built into the interface so there's no need to mess around with wing nuts or similar under the baseboards. I still need to measure up the scenic board to design the interface pieces which will work with it. Once I've built these parts, I'll work out what height I want the layout to sit at then I can cut however much material is required off the bottom of the legs. Once this has been done I intend to use 8mm insert nuts with threaded feet to allow adjustment of the legs at exhibitions on uneven floors. Thanks Martin

Hi All Another quick project on my lunch break today was to design some benches for the platforms. I have based these off the benches currently at Crianlarich station as I had several photos and measurements taken on a recent visit and they looked fairly simple. I've gone down the 3D printed route for these as I thought it would be quicker and simpler to achieve vs laser cutting. The result is almost there but there is a fair bit of warping and as this is a rough test piece I didn't spend too much time cleaning off extra material where the supports connected with the main structure. The white frame is 0.5mm thick as are the bench timbers so warping was to be expected. I may now design a laser cut bench as a test to see how it stacks up against the 3D printed version. I couldn't resist quickly painting one up and posing it next to the station building for size comparison. Cheers Martin

Hi All Another quick update on the station building. Work has been busy this week and I've been staying away from home so decided to take a modelling bag with me. I only managed to slate half of the roof and install the chimneys but some progress is better than none. After the other half of the roof has been slated I'll add the flashing and ridge caps before adding the guttering and downpipes then the building will be ready to fix to the layout. I'll weather the whole layout as one rather than individual pieces so everything blends together better. Thanks Martin

Hi All Here is a quick update on the 3D printed chimneys. The first batch suffered from sagging issues so I adjusted the orientation and supports before printing another batch and I'm happier with these. There are some rough looking areas in the cruel close up photos but they look great in the flesh. Here are a couple of comparison shots against the first version of laser cut chimneys. The laser cut version does look good but is an absolute pain to build with over 20 individual pieces per chimney. Next on the list is to get these painted up, glued to the roof then I can commence adding the roofing slates. Cheers Martin

Hi All Progress has slowed recently but I've managed a few hours this week working on the roof structures for the station and signal box. I've designed a joist system for the station roof to make it more rigid but also to allow me to recreate the exposed joist ends which are a visible characteristic of this type of building. The ends are a little complicated as there are various angles to take into consideration but it all went together smoothly and has resulted in a roof shape I'm happy with. I've used 0.4mm board over the joists to create a nice flat surface to fix the roofing tiles to and this also stops the whole roof structure sagging like a banana when it is removed from the building. I managed to get some time this morning to spray the two main colours for the underside of the roof. There is some touching up required on the green edges but this will be an easy job for a later date. Lastly, my previous version of the chimneys involved over 20 individual laser cut parts to build a single unit which was a real pain to build. I've taken some time to design the two different chimney types in 3D CAD and they are currently printing on my 3D printer at the moment. The plan is to paint these up before securing to the roof then the roofing slates can be attached to finish the whole thing off. Thanks Martin

Hi All I seemed to have used up all of my energy working on the fiddle yard baseboards yesterday so spent this morning glueing all the window frames to some acetate sheet, cutting them out then fixing them onto the station building model. They were rather fiddly to get to a point I was happy but I've still managed to get some glue on the acetate sheet. From normal viewing distances it's not noticeable so I think I'll leave the windows as they are for now. The crude close up shots below don't help the matter but you'll have to trust me that it looks much better in the flesh. Despite trying hard to match the green as best as I could, I still felt this was too dark compared to the prototype but now that the white window frames are in, I think it looks like a pretty good match. Not perfect but close enough for me. Cheers Martin

Hi All This weekend I've been working on the fiddle yard boards to allow me to start track laying. I had some of Tim Horn's 2ft 6ins lite curved baseboards from an abandoned 2mm project a few years ago so thought I might as well use these up. I had to then built a 5ft straight baseboard to plug in between the curves. In the end, I decided to build two 762mm baseboards instead of a single 1524mm as this part of the fiddle yard will only have straight track and two boards means it will be easier to fit into the back of my car when transporting the layout. I decided to use a method of joining the baseboards I haven't used before. On my previous layouts I've used T-Nuts on one baseboard and an M8 bolt screwed through from the other baseboard. While this worked well, the T-Nuts were a bit of a problem as they would work themselves loose now and then. This time I've used 6mm insert nuts with M6 bolts. For the insert nuts, I drilled 8mm holes, counter sunk the opening then screwed the insert nuts into the hole with an Allen key. This ensures the flange of the insert nut is flush with the baseboard edge and gives a solid connection. To ensure perfect alignment with every baseboard, I laser cut a couple of drill guides to ensure accuracy. I'm really happy with how it looks and even happier with how quickly, easily and accurately it all screws together. I've also used 8mm dowels for alignment as I've always used these on my projects. (Two of the curved boards haven't been connected as I ran out of space) Lastly, I designed and laser cut end plates for the fiddle yard boards which will make transporting them much easier. These incorporate a handle and bolt holes at the correct spacing to allow me to bolt two baseboards face to face which will protect the track. The cut out for the handle has been smoothed with a round over bit in a router followed by a quick sand so there are no chances of getting a splinter! I need to come up with a solution for the legs. I was planning on using a similar method to that used on Ketton Cement but those legs were a little heavy and bulky. I have a few ideas to test so watch this space. Thanks Martin

Hi All Yet another quick update. I haven't been able to spend too much time on the layout this week as work has been rather busy. I did manage to fill the large holes in the front of the baseboard and repaint all the outer surfaces though. I ordered some custom self adhesive vinyl lettering for the layout name and this has now been stuck to the lighting pelmet. The last portion of fencing for platform 2 was built, painted and installed on the layout as was the base layer of static grass behind it. I've spent a small fortune on trees only to find that I need to buy more! The trees have only been posed for the photos and won't actually end up like this. I couldn't resist posing them to see if I was going to achieve the overall look and feel I want. Cheers Martin

Hi All I haven't made as much progress as I had planned over the last few days due to suffering side effects from my second vaccine dose but I've moved things along a little this morning as things get better. I've now added the picket fencing along with back wall of platform 1 and started to form the land behind the station. The lamp posts have now been glued onto their bases on the platforms but will need to wait until they can be wired up. I decided to pose a couple of trains for some photos to show the overall effect I'm aiming to produce. I must mention that the roof for the station isn't sat on the building properly and it's also not the one I'll be using. The roof on the signal box also won't be used as a new one will be made. Cheers Martin

Hi BoD You're right, they weren't visible to my eye but once I noticed them in the photo I've already gone back over them with a sharp knife. The blobs are small parts of the tabs I had designed to hold all the pickets in line and I obviously let my knife slip a little off line while cutting these off the sprue. I've also gone back and removed the stray fibres which ruin the look too. Cheers Martin

Hi All Slightly more progress tonight in the form of a test piece of fencing for the station. I was in two minds whether to 3D print all the fencing I need or laser cut it so thought I would design a small test piece for the laser because if this works then it will speed things up massively. The pickets are cut from 0.4mm laserboard and are around 1mm wide each. The horizontal timbers are also cut from the same 0.4mm laserboard (you can see these just below the pickets) and these are cut from the sprue then glued onto the pickets along the engraved guideline. Once this sets, the posts are cut from 1.5mm MDF and are glued onto the horizontal timbers in line with the etched guidelines I've included on the sprue. I've given the test piece a quick blast with some white primer and must say it does look good. There are a few stray fibres which only show up on the photo but these can easily be cleaned off. I'm pleased with the results so will move on and design all the fencing I need for the laser cutter. Thanks Martin