I 'Ad That - Construction Gallery

From initial design to completion in just five months:

Revamp (maybe)

After a lot of discussion about what went well during the exhibition, what wasn't really needed and what didn't really work, we ended up with two problem areas.

First was the set of double points from the outer loop to the shuttle, which we've already decided to remove and will streamline the front of the layout, reducing derailments etc.

The fiddle yard has also come under scrutiny, while it is very large there are a number of reverse curves and this made moving trains difficult, also crossing to the outer loop via either of the two diamond crossovers proved difficult and required stopping whichever train was running on the inside. Then there's Canadian Pacific - on the inside loop it hit the points levers of the fiddle yard due to the overhang on the bends, on the outside loop it hit the edge of the boards!

I didn't want to lose the run round ability but also want to be able to park long, complete trains - especially on the outer loop. So I've revisited my Scarm design, firstly to remove the points from the front and then to design a more train-friendly fiddle yard.

This is the design I have in mind...

It will require some major work to achieve this look. Mainly because of the design of HD points with their operating lever (manual) or large solenoid (electric) which gets in the way of joining two points immediately together, you have to use quarter rails normally, which then reduces the number of sidings you can have due to the extra space this eats up.

I tried, and failed to find a way to modify manual points, however the electric ones seem somewhat easier, so after about 30 minutes I'd stripped two pairs of electric points and used the solenoid from a left-handed pair and grafted them onto a right-hand pair, placing the solenoid on the opposite side to where it would normally be...

I'll need to modify eleven more sets of points to make this work. These seem to operate fine in their new state but of course there's the small issue of building more electronics to operate them, and then there's the control panel - currently there's little room left for more switches unless I either redesign it, or build a second panel purely for the fiddle yard.

And if I electrify these, what about all the others? - Then what about electrifying the upper loop points so there's no more running around the back to change the points over.

I swear this thing will never be finished...

Train Cam

I bought a cheap keychain camera in the hope of bolting it to a scrap wagon and film the new layout from a unique perspective.

Sadly it didn't work out too well and after managing to just about capture the shuttle, it gave up (and got launched in a fit of rage)

The efforts were uploaded to YouTube and can be found via the YouTube tab that's been added to my blog.

Not to be beaten, I tried another, more expensive version and before the show opened for day two I had a quick trip around most of the layout. Only once I got home did I remember that I hadn't filmed the upper loop or the turntable & sidings.

Next time I set up the layout I'll film them too.

Anyway, for now here's the layout viewed from a spare 0-6-2 chassis, courtesy of some velcro and blu tac!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzpSBDXc-c

Exhibition's over!

Quick as a flash - the two day exhibition was over!

We were very well received, lots of nice comments and about five offers to show at other exhibitions next year, which I'll consider.

As for casualties, after two weekends of solid running back-to-back I expected some failures - Dorchester needed some lubrication after one of the axles seized up. My original 8F 48158 refused to double-head with the other 8F, despite working perfectly the previous weekend, this was found to be caused by a dry motor bearing. Again a quick lube and off they went together again.

Duchess of Sutherland made only a few laps of the layout before expiring having shed its connecting rod on one side. Worryingly the rod pins are still attached to the wheels and refuse to budge, this is the only non-runner of the weekend, however there was plenty of stock to run.

We'd already worked out from the previous weekend which rolling stock suited which tracks and kept all four tracks running for most of the time all weekend - not a bad achievement considering the age of the rolling stock and the track.

The shuttle loop, manned by 0-6-2 and 2-6-4 tank engines with a single coach each, ran faultlessly, if a little too fast, all weekend. This hopefully will be resolved by upgrading the old H&M Duette controllers. More to follow on that little project.

As for the layout itself, well it performed really well - no major work required but some simplifying will be done by removing a set of double points between the main loop and shuttle. When I originally designed the layout, the shuttle was a bit of an afterthought and having now spent so much time and effort getting it to work, the platform dedicated to the shuttle in the main station will never see use like it did on the previous layout, it'll be the permanent stop for the shuttle trains so there will be no need to send trains from the main lines into the shuttle. The points at the end, hidden in the tunnel will remain so that trains can still travel to and from the shuttle, they will just have to reverse instead! However after completing four days of running, this option was never explored and the shuttle was left alone.

More pictures...

The fiddle yard, with most of the sidings in use, while Cardiff Castle and the working 8F haul the brick wagons.

Viewed from the village terminus of "Brough" the 0-6-2 and single coach have departed to the main station, Brighton Belle is in the distance.

Brighton Belle trundles along the outer loop while the red LMS (Wrenn body) 2-6-4 waits in the main station.

Another 0-6-2, Green LNER tank hauls a rake of Southern coaches.

(Purists and rivet counters look away please!)

The main station, with buildings illuminated.

Better view of the front with a triple-head of Deltics hauling the goods train.

Video of the weekend is here, at 18 minutes it's a bit long and possibly boring for some but there's plenty of variety, sadly the video quality isn't that good due to the .mod files not being Windows 8 compatible, my iphone was jammed full of photos and I had to convert the files to make them work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7o17kE3n54

Enjoy!

Shakedown

Final chance to prepare for the exhibition weekend, so the layout was fully assembled with all the stock for final testing...

A few little tweaks to iron out but nothing too major. A good opportunity to work out which locos suit which trains and tracks. A few more photos below...

Every spare piece of siding space will be in use and still some stock will have to be left in the boxes (but nowhere near as much as with the previous layout!)

We've got the layout running really well and there were no casualties or unexpected problems.

Hopefully it'll be an enjoyable weekend.

Build costs

I never kept a running tally of the cost of building the new layout - probably just as well but having discovered that Ebay keeps a purchase history I started totting up the expenditure.

In Ebay purchases alone, that's mainly the electronic gubbins, board dowels, feet, latches and scenery like the extra platforms, tunnel mouths and modrock,  the total comes to £504.10.

That figure doesn't include the cost of all the timber, the four litres of PVA glue, ballast, grass or sahara beige paint. Thankfully the track was recycled from the old layout, with any extras being liberated from the loft layout, which is now reduced to a single, small running loop of 12ft x 4ft!

Then there's the cost of having to buy new racking as the old arrangement failed, causing the new layout to crash onto the car, then there's the cost of the damage to the car...

Thankfully everything is now repaired but this is a day I wont forget in a hurry. Thankfully the layout escaped pretty much intact apart from a few crushed pieces of track, a bent signal and losing one of the suitcases from one of the platforms (the four litres of PVA glue probably helped)

In the interests of fairness I wont factor in the cost of the car or the new racking, even so I anticipate a final build cost of nearly £1000!

I wont be scrapping this one in a hurry..