Friday 28 December 2018

Post Christmas modelling

I wa pleased to see that a few items off my wish list appeared recently as presents, either on Christmas day or on my birthday on Boxing day, so I now have to get to work with the reconstruction of the model so I will have somewhere to put the new items. I still have to get the track level, there are still a few dodgy areas where trains might derail to put right, then I can get some scenery sorted out. I will have to buy new backscenes as the old ones faded in the sun, but I now have a blind which I can pull down to keep the sun out of the room. The left hand point was a mistake, I really needed a right hand one, so I've ordered one from Hattons, and to make up the parcel a bargain priced loco was put on the order and should arrive soon.

The coach lighting has been fitted in one of my pullman coaches and looks good, but I now need some passengers to sit in the coach as it looks very empty. I also need lights for the other two coaches in this set, so I'll leave them on the Hattons wishlist for now.

The black car is an A40 Somerset (my first car when I passed my driving test, and the A35 van was my second vehicle)

Saturday 3 November 2018

Testing newly laid track

I've been away for a while so I thought I would test some of the newly laid track with this small train.
Click here to watch the video.

Friday 12 October 2018

On a rainy day

We have very stormy weather today, not nice to go out in, so as I had nothing else planned I have done a bit more on the railway. Having decided on the location for the brewery and the goods shed, these are now in place with some track laid to serve them. You can also see the location of the town, behind the main line at the back of the layout

Clicking on the pictures will let you see a larger version

Also in place, approximately at least, is the Railway Hotel, which will serve the station (which is yet to be completed)

Monday 8 October 2018

Testing the track circuits.

Having created power distribution points around the layout it is time to test it with a train. Click here to see it under test.

Friday 14 September 2018

Further progress

The main line is nearly in place, but the centre of the layout needs a bit of work.

I haven't decided where the sidings will go, this will have to wait until I have cleared the area and experimented with the spare track.

I also have to pin down the main line and complete fitting it all together and creating power feeds on each section.

Thursday 6 September 2018

Protection from the sun

All the backgrounds and some of the cardboard buildings have severely faded due to the large skylight in the roof of this room, so tonight's project was to fit a blackout blind. Hopefully, if I remember to close it the sun will not fade the items on the layout.

The sidings have been slightly modified and there are now two exits to the new main line, yet to be tested as the main line is not ready.

Work in progress:-

Tuesday 28 August 2018

The new Junction

After much experimenting with various combinations of track I think I have worked out how to connect the exisiting sidings to the new main line, by way of this crossover using two y points. A bit of work yet to do to get it all pinned down but at least a plan is coming together.

Friday 17 August 2018

Further progress

The track has been moved slightly so that there will be a clear straight section at the front left of the baseboard, this is so a drop down section can be added to give access to the centre and rear of the layout. this is the first stage of creating that entrance.

Clicking on the picture will bring up a larger version.

I can now get into the centre left of the layout to reach the rear section. The drop down section does not quite go right down at present, due to the length of the bolts holding the hinge in place, these will need to be shortened, then the dropped section will drop 90 degrees to give me a clear access point.

In the next step a second access point needs to be created now at the right hand end of the layout. I can then start wiring the drop down sections and relaying the track.

Thursday 9 August 2018

Work in Progress

I think all the track may have to come up, so I can rearrange the baseboard to allow easy access to all the layout. This is the latest series of pictures. I will then relay the track to the new plan (Not yet finalised) before I refix it to the baseboard

Friday 27 July 2018

I have started so now I have to continue.

There are two objectives, firstly to improve access to rear of layout so I can construct a backscene easier, and secondly to make the continuous running lines longer using the whole 8 foot length of the room.

Still quite a bit to do, I have to start cutting the board next.

Tuesday 3 July 2018

Time to go

After much deliberation I have decided that this version of the railway has to go. I kept the original 6 x 4 board when I moved to this house and added the extensions on the end, however I have now decided that the running loops are too small and should fill the whole 8 feet that are now available. I have also decided that the two access holes that let me get to rear of layout are too small to be really practical for regular use, so I would like to leave a bigger working area in the middle. So I have started removing loose items from the layout before I attempt to split it at the joint in the middle, so I will end up with two 4 x 3 sections, one of which I will rebuild. The extension piece will have to go to make room for this and then be rebuild as required. I don't have a firm plan, a lot will decide on what comes apart easiest. This could take some time so watch this space.

Monday 1 January 2018

New Year Special

Mallard, is not normally seen on this layout but appears here on a New year Pullman Special. New year Special