south_tyne
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Posts posted by south_tyne
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Morning David,
That sounds like a nice concept. I've seen some pictures recently of a Sentinel on a milk train around that part of the country. If you can capture a snapshot of this area I think you'll be on to a winner.
Hopefully some photos later.
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks Mark! Keep the photos coming and apologies for hijacking your thread!
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Ah! The fiddle yard. I haven't taken a picture of the fiddle yard have I? I'll take one tomorrow if I have a chance but once again there's nothing complicated. As the track exits the hole in the sky it is soldered to two copper clad sleepers. The rails here have soldered fish plates and the copper clad sleepers act as a bus bar of sorts. In the original plan I had ideas of using cassettes but in the end just went for a piece of track. Told you it was simple
The rationale behind this was I only shunt 4 wagons max. There are isolating sections-two infact.one in the goods shed siding and the other near the water tank so you can have two locos in play.
Thanks a picture would be appreciated, although no rush and I don't want to spoil that illusion
to be honest simple sounds perfect and just what I need to do! I was reading something on another thread about 'one point layouts' and how most people only 'play' with a layout in small bit-sized chunks of time, I find i very true. 20 minutes or so shuffling 4 wagons around sounds like heaven after a hard day at work... and the beauty of a layout such as this is, as you say, it can be easily stored, takes no set up time and is quickly out of the way again when you're done!Obviously, shunting the same few wagons around at an exhibition all day would probably result in you loosing the will to live so there are themes within the ironstone theme. Something that I mentioned earlier on in in this thread was if the water tank is removed the layout kind of becomes generic. I know at the exhibition we had an Eastern flavoured session with a BR Sentinel, Class 03 and Class 04. A Class 08 would also fit the bill.
The Model Rail Sentinel is an excellent loco for a layout this size, as is the Hornby J94/Austerity and the Hornby L&Y Pug due to their low speed running qualities. There is thoughts about an Heljan ex BR Class 14 as used on the Corby system but these are quite large locos really.
That is an interesting concept and will help keep the variety up. My plan is for a NE based layout so the aforementioned Sentinel and a J72 will probably be on the cards. Both of these classes were used to shunt Bishop Auckland goods yard (the intended theme/location) which is handy. A Class 14 would look the business as long as it doesn't overpower the scene.
Your supply of track sounds promising so one of the major expenses is out of the equation. See what you can find shelf wise and start having a play around with some track formations. It will be good to see you start a thread and/or a blog for your build.
Yes, the next stage is to play around with some 1:1 style planning. Initial thoughts are 1 or 2 points, a couple of sidings really, trying to take on board the 'less is more principle'...... or even a 'pointless' layout. Food for thought at least. I'll start a thread with my ideas.
Thanks again for your help and keep the inspiring photos coming!!
David
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Then having returned to JH top sidings with two 27T tippler wagons the crew of 'Twywell' take a rest haviing left her simmering in the goods shed road.
This was a shot I took yesterday having removed the back scene. I'm not sure if Terry has been painting the door but it does look a very clean. Perhaps it could do with a bit of toning down.
Cheers,
Mark
PS that is a stunning photo!!
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Hi David,
JH is quite an illusion really. I think the angle of the photos adds to the effect of greater length too.
The scenic section is only 25 inches long believe it or not. The fiddle yard is about 10 inches long. I guess not craming in too much track gives the impression of space-something I wanted to create.
Here's the sort of thing I used from B&Q:
Although my wood work isn't too bad I didn't want to add an additional fiddle yard on to the shelf. This would involve electrics and take up more space. JH sits nicely on a cupboard in my work room and ready to play so to speak.
As for bracing its a difficult question. Yes, I'd say it will help prevent warping of the shelf I guess but the shelf I used is solid pine, had been in the garage a few years and hadn't warped. The subframe I made in the end was bonded to the shelf with wood glue. The one benefit it would give you is the ability to wire from underneath the board as opposed to what I did of cutting channels in the cork underlay then covering it in DAS modelling clay. Think that breaks every rule in the book.
An illusion maybe... but what an illusion! It is difficult to believe it is such a small size. I am going to have a look for a similar shelf at the weekend, I feel inspired!!
I have fallen down in the past by having a separate fiddle yard board and then never getting round to building it... then it renders the whole thing pretty useless, so I understand the wish to have an integral fiddle yard... no baseboard joints, no complications. I guess framing could be added at a later date if felt necessary however your experience probably tells us we often over complicate things.
Can I ask what goes on in the fiddle yard? Is it simply plain track or is there some kind of traverser/sector plate? I am formulating some ideas in my mind but I think the fiddle yard will be so important on such a tiny layout.
The PECO points are Code 75 and wired as per the instructions with no modification. Again, I didn't want to complicate things. The SMP Scaleway Code 75 finescale track was some stuff I'd had for years. It joins nicely to the PECO pointwork using PECO fishplates. However, PECO Code 75 would be fine as would Code 100 if you have that. Use what you've got is my advice.
I never intended JH to develop like it has. It was meant to be a bit of fun and a photo plank for my models. Most of what you see is stuff I had laying around or have made from scratch. Using soil from the garden for some of the ground cover is free. A bag of chinchilla dust from the pet shop is about a £1 and is useful for ballast etc and the hanging basket liner is cheap and can be found in places like Wilkinsons.
You don't need a static grass tea strainer either-an old squeezy ketchup bottle will work or the Noch Puffer bottle.
Hope that helps David? I'm just going by experience. Like I said when I returned to the hobby about 5 years ago I was blinded by DCC, DCC Sound, building big layouts and being side tracked by other scales. With a small project like this hopefully you can finish it quickly and not get fed up with it.
RMweb has some brilliant modellers on here who will be prepared to help. Start a blog and post some photos of your work. You get feed back which keeps the motivation going and meet like minded modellers. I always think it takes some balls to post stuff on here but you benefit in the end.
Cheers,
Mark
I have some Peco points and some SMP (or maybe it is C&L) plain track somewhere at home so I would be able to recycle other bits and pieces. I'll have a think about it... I imagine they are small radius points for space-saving reasons?
Thanks so much for your insights and supplies. As I said I have had a difficult time over the last year but I really want to get on with a small project to restart my modelling, and a similar kind of thing will give me chance of completion. As I am currently working away from home I need something small which I can carry up and down the country!
I will start a layout topic once I have formulated my ideas. But the goal is just to have somewhere to shuffle a handful of wagons.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring project!
David
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Hi South-Tyne,
Thanks as well for those kind words. I'm glad JH has inspired you to have another go at things.
Have a look at Marc's work. He's a master of micro-layouts which convey atmosphere. Read an Iain Rice book on layout desgn/presentation and choose a subject you're really interested in. Iain's books give you ideas on how to approach subjects and it doesn't have to be finescale either. Use RMweb too.
Remember JH is built on a cheap B&Q shelf, a few PECO points and a bit of track. Nothing fancy. The points are controlled by the wire in tube method as well. I'm a real ludite when electrics are concerned. Even the controller was initially a Bachmann ex-set controller obtained from ebay. These are great value for money and work well.
In doing something like this you'll learn a great deal as I have said and Marc has pointed out.
Enjoy yourself and the opportunity to shunt a few wagons about.
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks Mark!
Can I just check a couple of things.....
I presume the scenic section is 3' long with the fiddle yard as an add on?
Do you find the shelf is fine without any additional bracing?
How have you helped to visually blend the Peco points with the finescale track? Did you modify the points at all?
Apologies for all of the questions and thanks again!
I'm working away from home at the moment but I might look at aquiring a similar shelf over the weekend...
David
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Hi Mark,
I just want to say that I think your layout is superb! The atmosphere you manage to convey in such a small space is incredible. Top class modelling. It really has inspired me, I have not done any modelling for a while after a difficult time of it lately but this little snapshot has almost single-handledly convinced me to try again.
Thank you for sharing!
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I must have read and re-read this thread about 4 or 5 times now, it is really inspiring stuff. I think it captures everything that a model railway should, painting such an evocative picture in a very small space. Thank you for sharing your work with us Mark and I look forward to seeing one of your layouts in the flesh one day!
Juniper Hill.
in Layout topics
Posted
I know the feeling Marc... I'm all set to start something...
The fiddle yard in the middle of two modules is an interesting concept. Wearing my other modelling hat (009 scale) there is a great modeller called John Thorne who has done something similar with his 'Ditton' layouts. They are a series of modules (standard size of 4' iirc) which are connected by a series of 'black boxes' containing a fiddle yard. It does seem a neat way of doing a few separate scenes and the break helps with presentation and maintaining reality. Interesting thoughts though......
David