pirouets

Quick question. What station is the 37 going through at 1.11 in the video? I feel I have been through there.

Chugging away and have the layout wired now. There is a bit of tidying up needed under the boards but all working. I don't have a huge amount of wire left so not going to worry in the near future about the points.

On the Norton Rd side the back scene boards are in. Its simply off cuts from making the main board but it does frame it well. My thinking is that I will either make up or buy a decent photgraphic backscene.

Over the other side you can see I have loaded up the fiddle yard and found something I did not back on in planning which is that having Dinfield as a station running round to a couple of extra fiddle yard roads at the end of the shed (see the DMU in the distance of the picture), I can store all the freight stock just about on 3 roads with the 4th used for running round and swapping loco's. The length of a freight train is set at 4ft which is the length of the back 2 sections of the fiddle yard and the passing loop at Norton rd. This means a loco + 8/9 wagons depending on type of wagon is the limit which is fine.

As for Dinfield itself I have no plans to start really on this side yet but I need to look at is whether I can make platform 1 cope with 5 Mk1's which it cannot currently. I still debating as to what the space in the foreground will be.

Hmm, i'm seeing this hole slightly differently. I've slightly thinned it and it comes to rest in a long fringe of grass. Skin it a bit more and there is longer knee length grass that grabs your club and finally if you really mess up, the kind of bush you need to beat to death with a sand wedge to find your ball. The bushes themselves form a nice barrier alongside the course and the railway. (obviously i could be completely wrong)

Though Gordon, I have to say that hole is spectacular and am some what jealous.

I could build a great layout in his workshop, forget the rest of the space. Sir, we here on RMweb salute your insanity :-)

So the last week a fair amount of progress. I have the main circuits complete and wired now as well as Norton Rd now laid but no power to that. I decided to run straight in rather than the kink that is in the Minories plan and to add a siding at the edge. This leaves plenty of room for a scene behind the station. In terms of platform length it will take a class 37 and 4 Mk2 coaches, so hopefully it will take 5 Mk1's and a smaller loco such as a 33 or 25.

I also have the option as a siding coming back to the front of the photo and have 2 thoughts for this

- A parcels siding with a Royal Mail warehouse that would be tall enough to then meet up with the roadway that will have a bridge over the entry point to Norton Rd.

- A loco stabling area, the idea being that off scene is some other industries as well as being able to store a loco that can move to the front of an outbound train.

Not going to rush from here though.

Its that increase every year over inflation that can become the pain. Years ago where I played they gave us a £500 increase because they had built a gym and we had no choice whether to join it or not. In the end I left 4 years ago as in this is not my first grump with golf and I found out just how much the gym made up of my fees. If I could have paid the subs without the gym I would have never left and often thought they would have filled there golf membership if they had an option which would have out weighed the loss of gym memberships.

Went to the other extreme and the cheapest club near me for a couple of years. Whilst the course has its gremlins I still enjoyed the people but again ran in to my frustration at lack of time to practice and stopped last July, but things have changed some what since then and I have a bit more time so we shall see.

I also know that where Gordon plays they have some fairly grand plans so I doubt this is the last increase either but when you find a good bunch you want to stick there.

So is the course still open but with no Bar? As the gym is closed whilst I haven't played for 8 months I do wonder whether the bats by the front door may come in handy over the coming months. I saw one club was playing with raised cups and if you hit the cup its in. That way no germs left on the flag. Hope the doc gives you the thumbs up.

A Sipsmiths G&T. We were supposed to be with friends tonight for a 50th, so as we haven't had to drive we started early at home to celebrate anyway.

Why Mr Clive, we like that one. Still Corners, never heard of them till now but will be giving the whole album a listen to on my next modelling session. Keep em coming please :-)

On 22/06/2014 at 20:13, Clive Mortimore said:

Sheffield Exchange Mk1 which was fun to operate and if like me at the time you don't have much room by all means copy it and enjoy running it

Going back all the way to the update in the 1st post, well Clive, I plan to take that plunge in the near future once I have finished laying the other station on the layout. I have an 8ft by 16inch area just begging to use this plan. Who knows, I may even listen to the odd tune from this thread whilst building it.

Day 4 and have Dinfield laid. I decided that large radius points for this side should be used as the flow is so much better. At the moment the track is pinned and the holes for point motors have been made. The piece of MDF is just left there but it does show roughly where the station will be and I reckon the platform would extend a foot closer to the camera

I've also been up on the roof as there was a leak just over the door which needed sealing before I can add that board to complete the loop.

In other news going back to the 1st post in Clive's Sheffield Exchange he says -  Sheffield Exchange Mk1 which was fun to operate and if like me at the time you don't have much room by all means copy it and enjoy running it - To which I say don't mind if I do. The throat in this works well as made up of a 3 way point, double slip and single slip. The only question I have is whether I can add an extra siding with a kick back to a yard so I will have a play on Anyrail. That side of the layout is some way off being laid though.

Day 3 and first mistake realised. What kind of Muppet puts the insulated joiners on the far rail closest to the window meaning you have to lean over to solder dropper wire - That would be me. 

Haven't actually done anything today, it just dawned on me as my mind wandered whilst reading a document at work.

So day 2 has seen more tidying up and the start of track laying ( because I am impatient ). I have lots of code 100 so 3 of the main fiddle yard lines have been laid along with the run round at the far end of the shed to Dinfield. I measured everything out before laying to ensure each road in the yard is 4ft.

I also realised that I can fit in 2 extra roads at that far end, 1 which can take 4 Mk2 coaches plus loco and the other a 3 car DMU. It doesn't mean I have settle on Norton Rd station being a terminus but it does make thinks simpler to operate as it can run from the terminus, through Dinfield and then be stored till time to send it back. I guess with 8ft by 1ft 4in to play with Minories would be a good option and if so, I would set it with a road bridge at the entrance to the layout and that road then runs along the back of the layout which would give me plenty of buildings to work on.

The other piece Minories would give is the ability to run modern day as my eldest is much more interested in that so I can picture this with DMU's and a 4 car Voyager set. Who knows, that's a long way off.

For now though that will be it as I need to work out all the points I need plus whether the stations will be code 100 or code 75. I do have an old Wrenn Castle and some Hornby coaches from lord knows when and it might be nice if that can run occasionally in which case its code 100.

So the shed has been cleared and the new boards are now in. The plan for the layout is 2 parts. On the wider boards there will be a fiddle yard area under the window of 4-5 roads with Norton Rd in front. At this point I don't know what the Norton rd side will be and have a few thoughts such as Minories or a simple through station in a more urban setting. However the other side on the 18 inch boards will have Dinfield which is based on Oldshaw. Before any thing else though there is lots more sorting but in 2 weeks time I do have a week off and hope to get the track down for Dinfield and the fiddle yard. Hidden area's will be code 100 as that means I can use set track points to open out, but I am thinking of code 75 in the scenic areas.

The shed as of today

Main Plan

Dinfield Sketch

I have cut out room in the board for a canal to run part way along the front as though originally the local industries were served by that. The sidings themselves are used to hold VDA, oil, Clay and HAA wagons depending on which industry was being served. As for passenger services it will be DMU with the occasional service made up of Mk1 coaches. 

I know they say you often cannot do better than join a club which I haven't, or may be by being on here I did, just a stonking great virtual one

Who knew you could have a layout that develops your musical taste - Sheffield Exchange

Who knows how much you can spend on wood for boards - Eastwood Town

Who knew layouts could be are - Little Muddle

There are threads that are tutorials in there own right - Catcott Burtle

There is mayhem is Wheeltapers

There are rivet counters and code 100 users admiring each others work

I bet this topic has now got people guessing just how many days in the last 15 years Andy Y has not looked at the site :-)

In fact about the only thing missing is the ability to share a virtual pint - Oh no, I did that a while back at one of the trips to Pendon.

Now what will the place look like on March 15th, 2035?

Thanks Mr York and BRM

regards

Steve

So more shed clearing and the old layout is gone. The 1st photo show's just how much rubbish i have accumulated over the last 5 years and it was a pretty full car that went to the tip.

The second photo shows the 1st boards of the new build in and the shelving being moved to the end of the shed. I've also made a key design decision in that the left hand board in the photo will now be 19 inches and contain the model based on Oldshaw with a single track running behind the back-scene. The other board is 24 inches and when I start laying I will just lay the fiddle yard and leave the space empty in front whilst I decide what to do.

As previously said my eldest has suggested could it also be a more modern layout so there is an idea of Minories in front of the fiddle yard capable of loco + 4 coaches or a Voyager depending if its running in BR Blue or near current day. 

I hope to get all but the centre board for Oldshaw side finished next weekend and then I need to think whether I will add a canal in the model as my wife thinks I should have water in the layout.

Modelling insanity at its finest. It reminds me of when Andy York organised a tour of Pendon and they started pointing out what was inside the buildings. Now how about a phone for the booking clerks office :-)

Thanks. Seeing it laid out the way you describe it seems so much more straight forward and don't rush.

So my kids have thrown me a challenge - Dad, could this layout also work if it was set today? I think the lower station will as it can still be a backwater line with some industry needing to be served along with single and 2 car DMU's

The single line based on Alvescott though is a no, so I came up with a new idea. Newhurst was in RM a while ago and whilst it is modelled in O when reduce to OO with some slight trimming I think it will fit. having had a play around in Anyrail though I am going to tweak the plan so the right hand end of the layout curves very slightly backwards as that will align the single slip better. I can then see DMU's and maybe a Voyager running through this along with class 66's on various types of service. The common 3 I see from my window at work are container, aggregate and tanker though I would imagine having modern clay tankers.

The branch line then is imagined linking to the Oldshaw plan below and off scene would be the clay works.

I know I said I would probably run trains for the next few week but all the loco's got boxed up so I am starting to clear with a view that by the time I get a week off I can start on the new boards so may be its time to close this thread and move on. The larger station will keep the Dinfield name but not sure what the branch line will be though I could go back to Wycliffe or Cumberland Rd which have been names used in the past.

8 hours ago, KNP said:

Well, I can't see where the camera has gone to and I've been stood here for a while now!!!!

 

Gulp, could I do this? Only one way to find out - please sir. what did you use to create the field? 

Is bigger better - not always, but I think the challenge for the smaller layouts is crowds which means they can get ignored as its easier to see a layout with a crowd through gaps. My favorite layout developing on here currently is Captain Kernows Bethasada Sidings. Its a classic quart in pint pot but at if its exhibited how many people could see it at once, not many. on the other hand you can wander round and come back later.

Whilst I do like roundy roundy's as was said earlier, I also like those with wider operations going on so if your going to go large, what else is there going to be, though you do have the mild insanity of Heaton Lodge Junction being built at the opposite end of the spectrum - when is Simon hiring the NEC to himself again :-)

So not much more will happen now other than running stuff as my own beeching act will fall from the 27th of March. I am starting a new job on the 6th of April and have a week off before hand so I have 2 approaches

- Start clearing the shed over the next 3 weeks so it is ready for that week

- Run trains for now and then go mad for a week.

In truth I think I may aim for something in between but we shall see. In terms of new plans, I have 2 ideas to work on in the mean time. One of the things I have been thinking about is how to make the most of a 12*6 shed so the future idea will be a scenic section on either side with 3 or 4 storage roads behind. That way I can create a contrast of scenes.  Each scene would be a max of 8ft in length and between 16 and 18 inches deep depending in the number of storage roads behind. At the moment ideas for scenes are

- Alevscott or another country wayside type scene on one side

- A variation on Oldshaw or Underhill Rd in a more urban setting

I have a rough draft in Anyrail based on Alvesott and Oldshaw below. You can't see the storage at the bottom as its only the free version of Anyrail, but om my current layout, 4 storage roads take 6.5 inches. Each road would be around 8ft in length. As for seeing where a train is, my thinking is as long as I can see the head or the tail of either end, then there should be no crashes. 

Not a huge amount done or have I. Doing the fiddly things takes time. So far the allotments have started being laid out using what materials I have. I need to look at gluing some growth on to the frame and I am trying to find a simple shed kit or at least choose the right materials to make it out of.

Alongside this I have also been working on the Garage and its starting to come together. The lift is in and some interior details being added which don't show on this photo.

Also being running trains to the timetable I created sometime back which makes things more interesting.

A little bit of work on the garage. I've been scouring the internet for pictures and most car lifts I could see look way to polished. For now i've built the lift and put an initial black coat on so once dry I will add something to tone it down. No one will ever see it that closely (See the 2nd picture and you will see why) but its more about learning to do this. I've also got some piles of tyres and wheels but will be leaving the yellow and red ones out.

The garage has come together and I am using 2 parts of industrial buildings set. The car lift will go in the right one but you can see a shiny concrete floor which again will need toning down. I also need to add some work bench and tyre storage to the building as I have a set of tools and acetylene gas canisters that need a home

Whilst the paint dries i'll go back to the allotment and try adding some colour.

I also had one of those REALLY moments. I fixed the fiddle yard points motors in and when I tried to run a train, nothing worked. It was late so I left it and today it all works fine - go figure.

For me its easy as the 1st house I lived in backed on to the Waterloo line just up from Ashtead station which makes it 1970. Along with that I remember dad having a small shed with a layout. We moved that year but I can still remember standing on the bridge at the edge of the common waiting for a train to wave at. After growing up I then had the joy/suffering of being a commuter to Waterloo for 6 months before getting a shift based job which made commuting far more pleasant.