Stockrington - Mojo ignited. Thanks, Heljan!

[jukebox]

Hi Scott,

 

Yes, I remember our talk in MRF, but just didn’t guess that jukebox there is you here

I intend to post an article about your layout, created with SCARM in my blog with link to this topic (if you don’t mind), so other users and modellers to see your work and progress with the real layout building

 

@rcmacchipilot: you can do this even now, by editing of library files, but I can explain this in more details in PM or in SCARM topic here (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/22613-scarm-modelling-software/), just to keep Scott’s layout topic clear

 

Mixy

 

LOL - no, just the one Jukebox around, I hope.  No, of course I don't mind you linking or referring to this thread ~ one of the reasons I migrated here to RMWeb was to present Stockrington as a work in progress, so hopefully other SCARM users can gain something from it.

 

***

 

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I seem to get "moments of clarity" in the hour or so after I wake up. Maybe it's the fresh day, my mind not tangled with the issues of work, home, and wherever else that crop up at work and whilst commuting, but a few years ago I noticed that I seem to resolve problems, or what seem like good ideas come to me, around 5am when I'm walking our dog, or showering and dressing for work. By the time I am in the car driving to the station - forget it!  By then, 60 minutes later, I'm plugged into my work routine, and my mind is slowly spinning up to full revs... (and my blood pressure probably is, too!)

 

I say the above as an explanation that I think I solved part of my "how to secure my backscene" problem.  The floor installer was throwing out loads of offcuts from the floorboards, so I gave him instructions to leave anything longer than 3".  I ended up with a large tub full of 12mm thick marri (hardwood), 100-600mm long   I had no idea what I would do with these, but knew the looked handy to build something.  Well this morning, it struck me that I can screw the smaller of these poking upwards onto to the ends of the cross members I am about to fix over the L-girders. These cross members (spaced at 400-600mm on the L-girders) can then be screwed down with these marri "feet" sitting hard against the wall, and all I need to do is screw an offcut of timber 6-10mm in from each end, and I have the perfect slot/slide/bottom support for the bottom of my backscene. 

 

I guess if I make the offcut a reasonable height, that may actually be all I need.  The width of the gap (6-10mm) would be the width of the material I use for the backscene +1-2mm for clearance. An added bonus (is there such as thing as a "subtracted bonus????) would be that in the early stages of construction, when the layout is relatively light and can still move around a little too easily - and that is a relative observation, as it's getting very heavy and quite rigid now - all I need to do is make sure the feet stay pushed hard up against the wall to make sure everything is square and aligned just as I have built it.

 

Hmmm.  Probably need a picture to explain myself better.  Will try and post one once I get a few cross members on over the weekend.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[92220]

I'm really enjoying not just what you are doing, Scott, but the way you think through, find solutions to, and explain the challenges you face. Keep up the good work!

 

Iain

[jukebox]

I'm really enjoying not just what you are doing, Scott, but the way you think through, find solutions to, and explain the challenges you face. Keep up the good work!

 

Iain

 

Thanks Iain - I'm still probably a year behind you at Camden, I'd guess - quite a mammoth task, when I think about it that way.  But the work I am doing now is quite noisy - drilling and cutting - and so I can't slip up and spend a few hours mid week.  Once I get into track laying, I can spend a few more hours a week.  But even so, I'm satisified with the progress - the basic benchwork was completed today (barring any additions I deem needed to stiffen things up), so the good thing is that I should now see things starting to prgress above the L-girders, rather than below them!

 

***

I borrowed thr F-i-L's ute and did the rounds of the local hardware, timber and salvage stores this morning. I even found the sheets of white colourbond that I originally thought I'd use for the backscene... but the problem was, the salvage yard had 3mm white MDF sheets for 1/7th of the cost (and 1/10th the hassle to slice up), so as I needed approx 20 lineal metres, I relented and went with MDF. I do wonder if, in years to come, I will resent the penny pinching (well, actually not pennies - more like £50 savings). Only time will tell. I also managed to find 75mmx35mm x 1.5m lengths of pine on sale for £1.25/ea - and grabbed a load of those to use as the cross members over the L-girders. They are seriously over engineered, but that thickness allows me to screw from the top and the sides without spliting the timber.

 

To follow up on my last post, here is a close up of how I made the base supports for my back scene - it shows the legs, the L-girder, and the cross member that the track risers will be screwed to, as well as the foot on the end that, combined with a stubby block, makes a slot for the backscene bottom to slide into:

 

 

I sliced up one sheet of MDF to see how the system works - the good thing is, the cut edge does not need to be perfect, as I'm just spliting sheets down the middle (so there is always a factory edge on top).  It all came together quite well, and looks like this:

 

 

I was impressed how much more rigid even adding just two cross members made the structure of the benchwork.  As another example of how the planning all needs to be rather advanced, I was able to lay out the plot plans of the areas affected, and make sure that I was keeping the cross members clear of potential turnout motor locations.  Here, I lined one member up with the middle of a crossover to be safe, and made sure the one to the left was well clear of the blades on the double slip.

 

 

Of course if the drawings are wrong... well at least it's not too much effort to fix.  The theory is that you can add a new cross member at an offset to the original, and slide a riser in under the trackbed, and then just unscrew the old cross member (they are attached from below) and remove it.  I think that is easier said than done, but the logic is sound.  Hopefully I wont need to test it too many times.

 

The purchase of the cross members was important, as I could not progress the lift up section until I knew the elevation datum.  Now I have a "zero" where the track sub-base will be laid, I know where the bridge has to sit.

 

One last curiosity.  Gordon (Eastwood Town) flagged many many posts ago that I should be careful of levels not being "level", after all the cr*p I went though with my floor. Well he was right.  Before I screwed the corss members on, I checked them with a spirit level. I actually needed to add 12mm of packing to members on the left hand side of the doorway to keep them flat relative to those on the right hand side.  I did know this was the case - remember that's why the floorboards are laid the wrong way - and in some places it would not matter, but I figured on the lift up section - which is designed to be flat - I should make every effort to get it right from the start.  The other place I want as flat as I can get will be the storage yard - if the Kadees are in tension, I will have trouble uncoupling them!

 

Here is a view down the tracks into the MPD... now that the layout has more or less reached it's final height, these teaser views are rather tantalising, and a good inspiration to keep steadily at it!

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Edited February 23, 2013 by jukebox

[MichaelW]

Hi Scott, it's good to see you making progress now the building work has been completed.  I don't think I'd realised just how expansive the shed was going to be till you laid it out on the benchwork.

[jukebox]

Thanks Michael - it is indeed a lot more fulfilling when you can see you are closer to running trains.  The shed area is very generous - as you say, it's only when the plans are rolled out at eye level, you stop and go "Okay...."

 

****

 

An interesting development this week.

 

I can see that if I chose the 5-road station plan - which is almost a certainty now - it creates a number of bespoke turnouts.  Inspired by Gordon and Jeff, I've been looking into getting some trackwork made to suit.  At first I figured I could slap an ultra-large radius (60") curved turnout down and fit everything in from there, but when I spoke to a supplier, he pointed out that I was making a beast over 40cm long.  He mentioned he was using Templot to set these out... and it made me realise that I really needed to learn how to use it, if only to better specifiy what I wanted built.  One thing led to another, and soon I realised I could also use it to get some nice flowing plans to follow when I track lay. So I reloaded it onto my PC and committed myself to a few hours each night this week.

 

So I started with this SCARM output:

 

Stockrington Station - Western Approach (SCARM)

 

I used it as a background image, and started playing around on Monday night. Eventually I was able to redraw it in Templot. Okay, that was part of the problem solved, but then I learn about how to draw transitions in Templot, and so drew it again, but this time letting the program join the open ends, and by tonight I've got it looking like this:

 

Stockrington Station - Western Approach (Templot)

 

I will be the first to admit it's a bit rough - and I've left the (mostly hidden) ramp to the storage yard off for clarity - but it is better than what I had with SCARM, and I'm really pleased how much more realistic and smooth the curves look.

 

And as an added bonus, it outputs in .dxf format, so I can plot it out at work without having to scale it up or down.

 

I don't want to take anything away from SCARM at this point: it was a lot easier to use to design a whole-of-room layout. Templot might also be able to do that in the hands of a skilled operator, but it would be an order of magnitude harder, especially for a beginner.  And SCARM's ability to present data in 3D is a real deal maker for me.  Templot is like a precision tool, or a stuntman - bring it in to detail out bespoke trackwork and turnouts, or to plot out transition curves. Apples and Oranges, as they say.

 

I've only been playing for about 6 hours, so while I wouldn't claim to have "cracked" Templot, I am actually getting to the stage where I now think I want to use it to re draw Northmoor MPD...

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

edit: Hmmmm: seems I lost all my tags last week when I updated my topic post. Normal transmissions now resumed.

Edited February 28, 2013 by jukebox

[MichaelW]

Hi Scott,

 

You're learning Templot a lot faster than I did!  I've been playing with it for a couple of years now (I paid for it originally!), and only learnt how to get it to do the transitions recently.  As you say, it's not good for initial planning, you have to spend too long on the details (I use XtrackCad for that), but for getting custom turnouts and transistions, I haven't found anything better.  Especially now you can distort a background image to fit...

 

Have a try at building your own track, I've just started for an N-Gauge club layout, and despite what people say, it is surprisingly easy.  Make yourself a simple template, then build it in the evenings when you can't run the power tools!

[David Todd]

Now up to date with pics. and Text...no need to reply J/B.  .

 

...dt.........

[jukebox]

I have to confess I'm not tempted to try building my own turnouts, Michael.  I'm sure I could get the knack of it eventually, but I did the sums early on, and with >30 turnouts to deal with, even if I got myself up to speed of say 2 hrs/ea, that's a lot of modelling time that could be directed elsewhere.  Conversely, I expect the bridge builds will take many, many hours...  At least with the turnouts, there are people available to outsource the work to;  The chap I have been corresponding with has a base price of £15.95, which is less than what I would value my own time at to build one, and only a little more than a bog standard Peco curved turnout would cost, so it's a good result.  However, out of curiosity, I might have a go at building the diamond I need, just to try it out.  With no moving parts, I'm thinking it might be less of a torture than trying to make a turnout... we shall see.

 

***

 

Another four hours on Templot - still not suite sure if I am using it right, as every now and again, it will not let me lay a transition when I do exactly the same as I have done the past three template elements...  oh, well, it matters not now, as I finished Templotting out the whole Southern (station) end:

 

 

Curiously, when I looked at the revised geometry, I saw I might be able to use a flyover to re-route the release track from the Up Loco Holding point more prototypically to the Up Slow line.

 

 

The gradients here are a bit iffy... but it looks the part.

 

So I'll run those off on the plotter next week and see how it looks 1:1.

 

During the evenings next week I'll have a stab at the Northmoor MPD...

 

***

 

I spent a few hours starting to fabricate the lift up section this morning.  Turns out those 30mm thick barge boards are not precision cut (!). One has a 5mm bow over 1200mm. Perversely, even the groove that is mitred into the back of them is not perfectly straight - I'm guessing they use the edge of the timber to set the alignment.  So there was a bit of messing about getting the slats to sit in a level plane as I screwed them in - and a bit of head scratching working out what I had to do in the first place. In the end, I realised that the track is sitting on the slats, so it matters more that they are in a plane that I can then align with the benchwork either side before I fix the swing up section in place. The sides are just for strength, and I can adjust the supports for them relatively easily (compared to having a twist in the track slats).

 

 Now I have the bones of a bridge frame, I just need to fix robust approach supports on each side.  I've got a piano hinge to try out for the pivot point - or pivot line, as the case may be - so can also set about getting that part built up and tested before I assemble to all together.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Edited March 2, 2013 by jukebox

[MichaelW]

Wow, that is a good price!  Why would anyone suggest you should build your own if you can get them for that much!   Erm...

 

Templot will only do transition curves if the two tracks don't cross.  Are the bits you are struggling with the platform roads where you have overlaid track?  You may find that for the platform roads you need to create the platform track at massive radius, make sure the curves into them don't cross the platform road, then create two transitions.  I suspect that your curves will intersect somewhere, I'm sure Martin has said it's impossible to generate a transition for crossing tracks, as there are an infinite number of them to choose between.

 

Station looks good, I like your idea about the loco release, though to make it work you may need to raise the point as well - could you move that a bit further left, to gain you a bit more height on the point?

[jukebox]

I posted a photo of a loco I built from an Agenoria kit a few years back now over at the Lunester Lounge.  Here's a few more shots, just to break up the boredom of Templot rumminations!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite large for a tank, I picked up the kit as I loved the muscular looks and feel of the prototype. It was fiddly, but a lot of fun to build.  She will have a home as an industrial renegade on Stockrington.  Maybe she can service the harbour branch?

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Edited March 4, 2013 by jukebox

[jukebox]

Well I had more than my share of interruptions yesterday, so didn’t get to capitalise on a long weekend on the construction front. But I did move forward, which is always good.

 

I trimmed up the hardwood that will form the hinge for the swing up section, and screwed down the 300mm piano hinge I bought for the job. This was held in with twelve 10mm screws – these are quite small, and so I couldn’t power drill them in… despite making pilot holes, they took a good bit of wrist work to screw down tight, which I guess is a good thing.

 

 

So that gave me a tidy, tight closing hinged flap (It's not screwed in yet, so that is why it's not flush with the top - which is where it will be when it's attached). The problem at hand is that one side of the fixed part of the hinge section sits just 50mm off the room wall, so I cannot get into that face to screw those pieces together as I build – I need to pre-fabricate, whilst still making a strong attachment to the benchwork.

 

 

After contemplating how to proceed, I have come up with the following:

 

The Blue represents the hinged flap, and the Red is the assembly I need to fabricate.

 

What it means is I can build the upper parts of the attachment away from the bench, and fix them to the swing section. This part built assembly then slides onto the top of the Right hand L-girder, and gets screwed on. As the weight of the swing up section is all passed through a hinge to this support, the load here is almost all straight downward - the only overturning is the small moment created by the distance from the hinge attachment point to the far side of the 80mm wide piece it is attached to.

 

With the assembly fixed and bearing down on the Right hand L-girder, I can then come from underneath, and attach the long bottom cross member from below. This piece will provide lateral stability by being fixed to both L girders, lock the assembly onto the L-girders to resist any overturning forces, and transfer any of the residual downward force that may come from the side pieces (if the Right hand L-girder were to flex, for instance – as doubtful as that seems) into the verticals of both L-girders.

Looking at the drawing, I might be able to pre-fabricate the whole assembly and just slide it onto the open end of the benchwork, but that would restrict how I could screw it onto the top of the L-girder, and would mean I’d need to be extremely precise so that it was all snugly fit. By screwing the base on after the rest is in place, I can shim and or adjust if I need to.

 

This is the span balanced in place as I checked some dimensions ~ It will be sanded back and painted before I fit it.

 

Time to go away and take some measurements, and make sure I have enough hardwood to build it all next weekend.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Edited March 5, 2013 by jukebox

[Physicsman]

G'day Scott,

 

First visit from me for a while - I think Chemical Ali was appearing on KL around the last time I looked!!

 

Your trackplan will no doubt continue to evolve, but popped in to see the woodwork.... as you well know, it's one of my favourite - if not THE best bit - of layout building.

 

Super L-girders, big fan of the open-frame design it allows. Great work!

 

Jeff

[MichaelW]

That's an impressive piece of joinery Scott.  You'll have to paint the far side bright colours so your family don't damage themselves walking into it...

 

Did you manage to solve the transition curve problems you were having?  I've been updating the plan for the club layout this evening, and managed to forget my own advice

[jukebox]

Jeff - Woodwork? Nope, definitely waaaaaaay down the list for me. A necessary evil, that is mercifully mostly done and dusted before the much more serious play begins. I do like the L-girder construction as a concept, though: I am amazed how rigid they are for so little timber, and yet such a blank canvas for terraforming when it comes time for contours to evolve compared to a board-based foundation.

 

Michael - you've been mind reading, haven't you? Despite the builder leaving that barge board in a close approximation to LNER Tourist stock cream and green, I too, was worried that enthusiastic visitors entering the room might cop a chestful (or if the are vertically challenged, a face-full) of timber if I didn't give it a 2013-style HSE livery. I'm actually seriously thinking wasp stripes like those on my steelworks shunter for the side facing the door (after all, the only time anyone will see it is when the door is open and it is locked down in place, which is exactly when they need to really be aware of it). The inside frame - and indeed, inside of the trough - may well end up matt black, to keep the visibility down and not draw attention to the scenery free feature, compared to the rest of the layout.

 

Templot transitions are all as good as sorted. When I looked at the plan posted on RMWeb, rotated through 90 degrees from how I drew it, there was one last "lump" I didn't like, so I re-did that part (circled):

 

Except that I need to sand it back and paint it, I could have the swing-up flap in place by the end of the coming weekend. Still on hold for laying out more top bearers until the blinds arrive, but I can cut a load of them to length, and maybe even pre-drill them to take DCC and 12V buses. I do want to get Round 1 of the woodwork done before I change tools, and start thinking about droppers and soldering…

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

[Barry Ten]

I posted a photo of a loco I built from an Agenoria kit a few years back now over at the Lunester Lounge.  Here's a few more shots, just to break up the boredom of Templot rumminations!

 

 

That's a fabulous looking model! I love it!

[jukebox]

Thanks Barry - I think the lining and wasp stripes really lift it's looks - well worth the effort.

 

***

 

My workbench has been dormant for a year rnow, with the majority of my modelling supplies packed away owing to the upheaval required for the house extension that now is home to Stockrington.

 

So as a bit of a taster of what I was up to back then, since the RSH has been so popular - some video!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=inNcATlTlqQ

 

And at the other end of the scale

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4ol7UauGBPg

 

As much as the layout build is great, I'd really like to get that P2 completed!

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[jukebox]

Hmmm.   Apologies for the lack of updates - more that things are not moving very fast, as much as anything else.  Over the last couple of weeks I've only been getting little bits done on the bridge approaches an hour or so at a time, and making sure everything sits as square and flat as I can get it.

 

The progress to date now looks like this:

 

I undercoated the softwood parts, and have completed the archway of the support frame on the right.  That support frame, when it's attached, sits level with the top of the bridge, not the 120mm higher that it is for the photo (there is no way to screw the wall-side screws in, to fix it to the bridge, when the bridge is in its final place as there's only 50mm clearance to the wall, so I need to paint the bridge first, attach the frame to it, then fix the frame to the left hand approach L-girder using the long hardwood bearer that I've got just sitting on top for now - eventually it will go underneath the L-girder at that location).

 

Today, I fixed a 19mm hardwood plate to the opening end, and levelled up a matching plate on the benchwork, and fixed that to the bench using a slab of timber off the jetty that the Queen Mary was tied up to.  So I have two hardwood faces on the right, and I'll fit some DCCconcepts alignment dowels to those once the hinged end is locked in place and proven as rigid.

 

I have an 1800mm long bubble level, and I can sit this over the span on both approaches, and all the cross-pieces show as flat and level, which is a good feeling - it means I have a reliable datum to start laying track in this area when the time comes.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

[emt_911]

Scott

 

I don't think you have to apologise for the lack of updates.

 

We all have to work at a speed that suits each of the tasks with the amount of time available, the complexity of the task at the time alongside the skills and knowledge for that task.

 

I've taken over a month with one building but that's how I want to work.

 

The main thing is to complete each part to your satisfaction. I am seriously impressed with the plans and certainly hope it ends up how you have pictured it in your mind.

 

Duncan

[jukebox]

Well last Tuesday was a red letter day at Chez Jukebox - blinds and curtains installed upstairs means the 2nd storey extensions are formally complete.  I celebrated on Tuesday night by nipping 30 screws in to the cross bearers that will support the storage tracks, that had been "on hold" for the last three months. That was 30 mins well spent!

 

Double cell blinds, a similar colour to the walls, to cut out the worst of the ambient summer brightness.

 

With the storage track datum set, I hove-to on the jig saw and cut four sets of the ladder fingers out of 3-ply that I will laminate into 6 ply - but not until I get the whole curve in place.  It's nice and flexible using 3-ply - great to form vertical transition curves. 

 

This is rather more what the room looks like to the naked eye.

 

The laminated 6-ply with supports at 400mm spacing comfortably held a 6-year old walking across them with little deflection - much to her (and my) amusement.

 

The fingers had a butt join to the pre-cut storage track, so that was attached with splices, PVA'd and clamped for 48 hours.

The timber spreads the clamping force - the paper stops the whole lot getting glued together....

 

I started to set up the incline, but will wait till I have the complete curve up to top-of-scenic-level before I commit to screwing in the risers.

 

4% up slope.  The temptation to throw down a few lengths of track at this point is huge.  Patience, man, patience!

 

The beauty of the L-girder system is you slot the risers where you want, and as they are screwed in, you can shift them if they get in the way. Still, if you know where turnout motors are going to go, you may as well plan to to have them there to begin with.

 

***

 

I'm not happy with the strength of the piano hinge I used on the bridge - the screws are not substantial enough for the weight of the bridge - so I will replace it with something more robust this week.

 

***

 

The plan is to try and get the baseboards for the storage track circuit and the bridge complete in the next three weeks.  Then I will start laying 3mm EVA foam trackbed, before the tracklaying and wiring commences.  Do you guys in the UK realise how lucky you are with this stuff?  I got a quote for supply ex-UK that was 1/4 the price I pay here in Perth - unfortunately, the company would not export to Australia.  When you have >200m of track to lay, the quantities needed can start to get serious.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

Edited April 2, 2013 by jukebox

[jukebox]

Definite signs of progress on the ground this week - it's funny how some tasks deliver that result, even if the actual effort is not as great as others.

 

I spent the week laminating the plywood subgrade into a semi circle to form the Northern (up) storage ramp, and then once that was done, fitted risers so that it sits atop them. 

 

The plan looks something like this:

 

 

The reality so:

 

 

I have not screwed the roadbed down yet - that just needs a few pilot holes and screws into the tops of the risers.

 

 

As the two starting and finishing datums were set, I was able to introduce a nice gentle vertical transition over 1m at each end, that builds to a constant 4% for the majority of the run.  This was a nice easy number to use, too - 10mm rise for every 250mm of run.  So all I needed to do was mark off 250mm chords on the trackbed, and factor the rise at each point a support could be placed.

 

 

At almost 1000mm, the left most span is a little too long to be self supporting.  I will either add an extra cross brace here, or possible just screw a 30mmx10mm timber edgeways under this span to stiffen it.  I can't just plonk cross braces across the top here, as 1/ the trackbed is lower than bearer height here and 2/ the MPD sits in the foreground, so I have to avoid fouling turnout motors. I'm also planning on having the major electrical jiggy-pokery on a sliding-draw arrangement under here, so need to be careful not to "pollute" the real estate under the bench here.

 

***

 

I replaced the piano hinge on the flap this week with two stainless steel door hinges - much better!  You can see on the right hand side in the second image the bridge has been removed and I am about to start painting it - I just patched a few screw holes with filler; when that dries I will sand it back and paint it up. 

 

In the mean time, the to-do list for this week is to get the curve at the South end cut out and laminated, to form the down ramp, so that I have a complete circuit of trackbed.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[92220]

Good progress Scott!

Will you need to compete the scenic work at the back near the walls before completing the trackwork closer to the centre? It's what I'm having to do at the moment, the board width being enough not to be able to reach across.

 

Iain

[emt_911]

Scott

 

Cracking progress. It's all coming together nicely.

 

I have to echo Iain's observation though, as it looks like you might have to work from back to front to allow full access.

 

Duncan

[billyb_imp]

Like others are saying, great progress Scott

 

Your project suddenly seems to have really taken off 

[jukebox]

Hi Gents - cheers for the visits and the comments.

 

Yes, I do have to be careful about the model railway equivalent of the inverse of painting yourself into a corner...  to that end, if you look closely at the 1st photo, you'll see I have now set stub girders all the way down the long side, ready to take a backscene.  Luckily, the plan on this wall is just a painted row of rear-of-terrace houses, and some stone retaining walls.  But yes, all that will need to go in before I start to lay track for the MPD. Further around, it isn't so bad, as the open frame construction means I can step "into" the baseboard to work from the-back-to-the-front.

 

But that all is academic, until I see how trains manage the 4% grade out and around from the storage sidings (remembering the mainline has a design of 2%-2.5%).  That test is still a couple of months away, but at least once I get the first circuit of trackbed down, I can start playing around with DCC buses and some tasks that can be tackled each evening instead of in noisy/fume filled bursts. 

 

Right now my roll of bus wire (seen hanging off the end of the benchwork in one shot) is being used as a door stop to prevent the sea breeze slamming the door shut - I just hang it up there at the end of each session!  You can also see the lower level of the benchwork on the left makes a handy rack for storing all the rolls of plot plans I printed up over the last year.

 

I was reflecting today that it really is great to have the space to have all the tools and materials laid out and "at hand" rather than having to hump them back to a shed, or put them into containers.  Once I lay the storage tracks I will lose all that staging area...

[jukebox]

Another useful week of construction - more cutting, laminating, and setting elevations off the datum.  Not terribly sexy, but pictures are always good, so here's some SCARM vs Reality views:

 

 

 

 

 

The keen eyed amongst you will notice... track!  

 

Nothing as serious as permanent way, but I needed to get the angle of the storage ramp trackbed right, so went ahead and cut up a Shinohara #6 Double Slip and matching Right Hand turnout as previously threatened! Once I have it all tickety-boo I will trim the upper laminate and glue it down, and then set the track in place on the Depron (needs to all come 20-30mm towards the camera from this view).  Looks like my "planning" has worked - those cross bearers won't foul the three Colbalts needed here!

 

I had my first benchwork "adjustment" this week: the rear L-girder on the wall above was installed with the top rib facing the wall; but the whole thing was closer to the wall than my SCARM plan, so there was not enough room for the double track that need to sit in there later.  Soloution? Undo four screws holding that girder onto the legs, and swap it over so it now sits inside the legs. Less than 15 minutes, and it was sorted.

 

With the 5% down ramp in place, I started beefing up the plywood into a 6-ply laminate. 

 

Final shot of the day - the freshly vacuumed floor, and area spruced up - lots of clamps, and housebricks, on the left hand side, bearing down on the upper ply whilst the PVA sets. Drop sheets in place to collect any errant glue!