Return to Model Railways

I managed to actually accomplish quite a bit today!

Over the last week I’d added some bolts and wingnuts to the end of the board where the return extension bit goes. The solution works – sort of. The extension bit tends to hang down a bit. Not a bit surprise I suppose. I need to figure out how to make it sit level with the main board.

That didn’t put me off starting to lay the track down properly. In the process of layout out the track again, I decided to forgo a few bits of track. Firstly, the double-slip crossover is out. As this is Code 55 track, it has a lower profile. I’d read that in some cases re-wheeling rolling stock would be required to avoid derailments. Having run various locos around and other stock, I’d not encountered any such problems – except on the double slip. It added additional headaches with wiring, in terms of getting it to switch polarities about. This all seemed like too much effort, so it had to go.

Additionally, the storage sidings at the back have turned around. This is mainly so all the points are situated at the more accessible end of the board. Not only that, the sidings will go into what is otherwise dead space at the back. As it was, the end of the rear, hidden storage was almost right next to the end of the ‘live’ sidings where I intend to put a depot. Again, I didn’t like this as it reduced the amount of space for scenery. Now I have plenty of room.

Having decided on that, I started track laying. I’d bought some pins from Wilko (the notice board type – long with a little bobble on the end) which I used to contain the flex-track on curves. Basically, I’d flex it round, using the pins to retain it. Then I’d draw an outline with a Sharpie so I knew where it belonged. I also used my Peco 6ft-way gauge to make sure the spacing was good. Radii are the same as, or less than some Code 80 Settrack I have, so that’s good. I think the Class 66s bind a little on tight curves, being CO-CO chassis, but it should be OK.

Once I’d got the track down, I added in the copper-clad PCB. I’d picked it up in Maplin. I cut a rectangle to fit over the join, which covered both tracks. I screwed it down to the board with two screws either site. Next, I pulled the webbing off the flexitrack so the rail bottoms sat flush on the PCB. Next out came the soldering iron and I put down a few tacks first to hold it in place, then ran a bead along the outside edges, plus a bit on the inside edges to retain it. It’s not exactly pretty, BUT the wheels all seem to roll over it. Finally, I used one of those funny hacksaws with the extended blade for hard to reach areas to slice along the PCB, track and all. I’d made sure to insert a spacer between to two baseboards the same thickness as the hacksaw blade, so that when the cuts were done, everything would be flush. The spacer in this case was my steel rule!

In my zeal to cut through, I twisted the saw, and snapped the blade. I replaced it with a better quality one, which whilst being longer, and thus at a higher risk of breaking, it sliced through with ease. I repeated all this for the second one, removed the spacer, and it all went together beautifully!

At this point I hadn’t glued down the tracks on the extension board yet, so I simply lifted them a bit, and used some Evostick wood glue to stick it down. I sat some weight on it for a while, and it all stuck very firmly. That Evostick is some good glue! I’ve also got some bog-standard PVA I got in Hobbycraft, but this stuff is pure awesome in a bottle!

With that done I laid out the other track, and glued down the curves at the other end. One nice thing I found using the pins to hold the track is that the track can be lifted in position; it’ll slide upwards, but retain it’s shape, and leave enough space underneath to squirt a bead of glue along, then use a spatula to spread it. Then it’s a case of lowering the track back down, and applying a weight to make it stay put. No fiddling around re-aligning it, as the pins keep it aligned. A real time-saver, and it means I could fiddle about using the pins without getting glue all over the place, or making silly mistakes. A good reason for using the cork!

Having done all that, I decided to wire up the original droppers I’d put in some time ago just to sanity-check the layout. It works as much as it can; the return curves and back section need power, but the front bit still works, save for a small dead section on one of the point frogs. Nothing I can’t fix though.

The new revised layout mean only a few of the original holes I’d drilled for point motors will now fit. Not a bit issue, as I’ll do new ones, and the old ones were mostly badly aligned. I’m still looking for a fool-proof method to align the Seep motors though. I’ve still got some track laying to do before that’s a worry though.

Quite a lot of progress!

I went to Wycrail today which is held (oddly enough) in High Wycombe. They’re outgrowing the venue a bit (which is great, as it shows lots of visitors) but it’s a bit of a pain in places because the halls can get a bit busy. But it’s a nice show, with some really nice layouts.

A few really stood out for me. First up was Dairy Lane.

It’s an N-Gauge layout, and it crams SO much in to such a small space. It got me thinking of rejigging mine, but I really want to run long trains, so I need the longer track sections.

Another favourite was Cement Quay.

Some wonderful detail on this layout. There was a lot of texture to things. The grass and general background muck (piles of waste cement presumably) were so well produced.

The above closeup of the sidings shows some of that detail. It’s a OO (or thereabouts, I forget exactly) layout, so it’s relatively easier to produce such detail. I intend getting close in N though. I liked the fact most people viewing this layout just stood silently looking.

By far my favourite layout was Wells Green TMD. For a OO layout it’s remarkably small (just about two metres I’d reckon), and packs in an amazing amount of detail.

The loco stock is all super-detailed, some including drivers hanging out the doors. There was so much to look at, I have to be honest I can’t recall a lot of what I saw! The crime scene down the front was great. The police paddy wagon even having working lights which flashed a very convincing cycle. The disused tracks down the front were also very good. I stood and stared for a while at this one!

I also invested in a Digitrax Zephyr starter kit, and a couple of DCC modules. I’ve already loaded them into my two Dapol 67s, and they work like a charm. I did find I’ve broken a wire on the headlights on one though, so that’ll need fixing. But I’m otherwise pleased. Need to play more first though!

Tomorrow I plan on re-laying the track, and sorting the point motors out properly.

Having laid all my track down, and run trains a few times, I found they were a tad noisy. Not only that but the surface wasn’t looking too great. Some of the track was a bit higgledy-piggledy, so I decided I’d attack it in two ways. Firstly, I’d rip it all up, and secondly whilst I was doing that, I’d lay down cork tiles.

I’d looked previously to try and find tiles, but drawn a blank. I was in Wickes a few weeks back and happened to stumble down an aisle where at the end was a pile of cork tiles – they were in a totally random place, next to shelving as I recall. I went back again this weekend to buy some and found they’d moved again onto some other random shelf, albeit closer to flooring than the last lot. I purchased a couple of packs – each covers 0.84m2 and I had just over that, so I knew I’d need a couple. They’re not bad at £7 a pack.

Today I pulled up all the track, and started gluing them down. Thing is, I’d gone through all the pain and heartache of putting in my point motors – the arms on some of them will still reach (they were too long) but a couple will be too short. I think I’m going to have to make some sort of extension for them, which could prove fun. I have a feeling in re-laying the track nothing will line up anymore. That’s sort of a mixed blessing, as some of the alignments on the motors was pretty rubbish anyway.

I glued down the tiles with plain old PVA. They were pre-varnished, so I glued them varnish side down. They’re sticking fairly well that way. I was worried if they were varnish side up I’d have a lot of trouble getting scenic elements to stick down properly. I’ve applied a bit of weight using various nice big books. I might not have finished my CCNA, but the study guides have come in handy!

When I start putting the track down I’ve got a few baseboard joins to do, which I’ll do the old-school way with copper-coated PCB. Should work well. Once I’m happy with the track, I’ll finally stop procrastinating and wire up the point motors!

I decided I wanted to have a whack at ballasting, and whilst I was at it, I may as well try out other scenic techniques. In the past I’d made some very bad ‘grass’ areas using the basic scatter material, so this time I thought I’d see if I could do better.

I had a Noch starter kit, which included scatter, static grass, a grass mat, lichen, trees, and other random stuff.

So I took a spare bit of Plywood, and started work.

First of all, I glued down a piece of spare track, and painted it with my airbrush. I used some acrylic Burnt Umber, which was lightened down a touch to make it look more rusty.

Next, I used the age old method of PVA and Water in a 50:50 mix, with some isopropyl alcohol to make it flow.

Next up I laid some static grass. On one side I painted the base first a brown shade. The other side I didn’t bother. I basically wanted to see if it made much difference. It seems it did to a certain degree, but I think the shade of brown I used was a bit too brown, and not sufficiently earth-coloured. The reasoning behind doing it was that it gave a nice base, and didn’t show through as much as just plain baseboard.

I also stuck down a section of Scalescenes road, and edged it up roughly with static grass. Plus I stuck a couple of trees in.

On the whole it looks OK, and makes a good starting point. As it stands, it’s a bit sterile, and needs detail. The details should make it look better.

Not bad for a first attempt though!

I visited the International N Gauge show last week. There were some nice layouts there, and one major thing struck me – they nearly all formed a continuous loop. I think this makes for more operational interest, and allows for more interesting trains. Freight trains can rumble straight through the station, as can non-stopping express passenger trains. I’d otherwise not really be able to do those in the space I have. So now the track plan looks like this:

Which I’ve done by using a small extension on one end thus:

Admittedly, since I’ve done it, I’ve re-laid that section of track, as it wasn’t great. It’s now done in two continuous pieces rather than the four I first did it in.

So now I have a nice continuous loop, and the trains run around it full tilt quite happily.

I think I could do with a couple more power droppers elsewhere, just to give a good supply, but even then there’s no dropouts, and I ran the Dapol 67 round on a fairly low speed with no problems.

The extension won’t be scenic – it’s designed to be removed when not in use, so I’ll hide the edge with a bridge or something. But it’s all good progress.