After my last rambling post I’ve not done much more, other than occasionally stare at the track plan. I’ve also got the base boards 99% complete.

I now have the two 700×300mm boards, which are bolted together in the middle by two M6 bolts and wingnuts. Originally I was going to use M8 bolts, but I drilled the holes a bit off-centre from eachother. M8 bolts resulted in an un-even join. Enlarging the hole was a bad idea. However, the M6 bolts have just the right amount of play to make everything fit nicely. The three leg pairs I’ve built are also attached with the same bolts. I’d messed up building them, and spaced them the same width as the frame. This means the legs didn’t go nicely under the frame. However, one side will go under, and the back will go outside the frame. It still fits, so it works for me! The M6 bolts again allow for my wonky drilled holes to align properly.

Both boards are topped off with cork now, and align beautifully. It looks like one piece until turned over! I know from last time that as long as I make sure to include a spacer between the boards when laying the track join, it’ll all fit spot on once cut through. I’ve also made sure to mark up on the top side where the screws are holding on the ply, so I don’t try fixing through them (another thing I encountered last time).

As base boards go, it’s not going to win any prizes, but I think it’s a vast improvement on the last ‘attempt’.

Pictures will follow…

As for the track plan, this is what I have so far:

The blue shaded section is a hidden ‘off-scene’ section for a fiddle yard. It uses code 80 track. I intend making one or more of the tracks go off onto a cassette storage system. That can come later though.

The section in front of it will be a fuelling area probably. A through line will probably end at a dead end for now, with a view that it could be extended off-scene in future.

A bridge viaduct provides a scenic break to allow trains to disappear into the non-scenic area, or move into the fuelling area. This will feature under-arch shops.

Next at the back right, we have a small motive depot of some description. It has no headshunt visible – we can pretend that’s off scene or something.

On the far right we have a bridge/retaining wall thing. The bridge will cover over the end of the platform, and hide the fact the tracks don’t go anywhere (yet). It provides for future expansion again.

As mentioned, there’s an island platform. I’m considering a bay platform on the lower track, turning it into a siding. A station building could then sit in front of it.

The white areas are, as yet, undecided in terms of function. Indeed, the area above the blue fiddle yard will probably end up with something on top of it. I’m considering a retaining wall along the front of it (to hide it) so something sitting on top could be plausible.

I think it’s a pretty workable layout idea. It’s not exactly prototypical, but I think it gives scope to play around. I came to the realisation I don’t have the space to run long trains at speed. Short trains shuttling in and out will have to do! Besides, this is small, and very manageable. It gives room to spend lots of time on small features, without the feeling of having a lot to do to attain a good result.

I have a tendency to lose interest in some things if it drags on too long, as there was just too much to do on the previous plan. This is a lot more manageable. So much so I can break it into halves and work on part at a time.

Tomorrow I’ll lay out the track as much as possible, and make sure things fit. All going well, I’ll get on with laying track properly next. I just have to be happy with it.

These bigger main wires (there’s a few of them) were then soldered up into pairs, which went into screw terminal blocks, which all led up to a main point where the controller will connect. I need to add two other main power feeds which will go out to the addon boards, which will have a similar setup. It’s still slightly more cable than I’d like, but it’s fairly tidy, and it makes sense.

A few cable ties and screws held everything in place, and it’s done. I plugged up the DC controller and ran a loco up and down all the bits I expected to have power and they all work fine, even at lower speeds, so there seems to be good conductivity all through. I might check a multi-meter on it and see if there’s much voltage drop.

I’ve got one more point motor to fit, and then I’ll start running the power leads for the point motors. I’ll run them all to a central location. I have a feeling the labeller will be given plenty of use with all those wires!

Firstly, I’ve gotten the bulk of the track glued down now. All the code 55 trackwork is down. The Code 80 track round the back is still to be done, but that also requires the copper joiner strip fitting, so I’m in no rush to do that yet!

The bulk of the power feeds are also in. Some are a bit messy, but it’s such a pain soldering to the track that they’re staying as is, and will just be hidden somehow. In most cases they’ll be buried in ballast, so should disappear. As much as possible I’ve but them on the underside of the rails.

I’ve also converted one of my Class 168 DMUs to DCC using a guide from RMWeb. I also added some feeder wires directly from the bogies to the DCC unit, bypassing the body block entirely. I don’t think it’s made any difference to the pickup as it stands, but long-term it might help. I’ve still got a few to convert, including a Class 60 and Class 66 both from Bachman which could be fun!

I might next embark on trying to fit the point motors, and get them wired up, as well as building the control panel. The box I have is a bit too small I think, so I might need to find another one, or make one up out of wood or something.

I’ve run a Class 67 up and down all the tracks, and there’s a few iffy bits, but I think that’s just dirty track as I have managed to get dabs of PVA on the rail tops occasionally, as well as the odd bit of Sharpie ink!

My biggest issue right now is storing stuff, so I could do with picking up some sort of storage pots, rather than the random assortment of boxes I have.

All good progress though, so I’m pleased so far!

The obvious option was to basically cut the board in half. However, the half-way point had a batten along it, so any cut would have to be offset from there. Not only that, but there’s a load of pointwork right above. I eventually found an area between two points about two thirds of the way along the board in a simpler area of the board. The track sections are straight, and the points are back to back.

The baseboard was already built so it was a bit of a retrofit. The underside battens were screwed to the top on both sides at almost exactly the point I needed to cut through, so the screws at that point were removed. I cut the whole thing in half, and then made up two new end battens to go on the ends. Whilst I was doing this I also drilled the holes for the bolts to hold it all back together. Everything was screwed back together and the end result is actually a bit sturdier I feel, my dodgy wood-working skills aside.

After a little bit of trimming, the two halves went back together fairly well. I installed the copper circuit board joiner and soldered it down. The track on the right of the joiner is glued down too, with suitable holes cut for the point motors to be fitted later. I need to pick up some more wing nuts and washers for the joint to make it secure.

The points were placed with a gap the width of the saw I used. When I cut through everything else, it all lined up flush, when pushed together. I run a wagon back and forth across it and it seemed smooth, so I’m happy. Some more soldering will need to be done to provide power feeds. Now I’m gluing track down I’m making sure to check the track butts up nicely by filing down the ends. Previously, everything was just rough-cut to fit. Some bits will need replacing and cutting down further as they don’t quite fit the gaps properly.

I did notice the track needs a darn good clean though, as it’s getting very dusty and mucky. Most of the rest has been dry-laid, so it’s just a case of pulling up bits and checking it, then gluing everything down again.

I’m now starting to think I need to build some sort of legs for the board as the shelving unit it’s standing on right now just doesn’t support it in all the right places, so it’s a bit up and down. Once that’s rectified, and track is laid, it’ll be onto the point motors and final wiring. Then I’ll have an actual working layout.

Fate had conspired against me though. I’d phoned ahead to make sure they were open (having wasted a trip over before to find they were shut). I drove over, and found they didn’t hactually have everything I needed – they’d taken a load of stock to Warley!

DAMN!!!

I managed to buy two points, and some set track, and slinked home with my purchases. I took a scenic route, which added about a million miles to my journey, so probably spent almost as much on fuel. But never mind! I later ordered the other bits I needed online, so they should arrive in the week.

Today I got into some more track laying, and cabling up. The extension board had no power, so I soldered wires onto the copper strips that form the join. I then joined them up to some Molex connectors, to allow for easy removal. I did a similar thing at the back in the fiddle-yard area. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking, and wired these back to front. I’d been using Black wire for the furthest rails, and Red for the closest. I did the same in the fiddle yard forgetting that it flips seeing as the track forms a circle. Rather than re-soldering, I just swapped them round in the terminal blocks, and all was well.

I finished off with laying out the other sections of track as much as I could, and pinning things into place.

I ran a few tests with my two class 67 locos. I ran the full W&S train around the end curve, with the EWS 67 going the other way with a couple of wagons. Thankfully, neither struck eachother. One issue cropped up with the join between Code 80 and Code 55 track causing the W&S train to occasionally de-rail. I beleive that can be filed down to make up the difference. Also, the fiddle-yard track seems to be dirty as it has gained a few dead spots.

One thing I have decided on, is that the rear fiddle yards will be partially obscured by a low-profile multi-storey car-park, modelled on the one in town. Along with the depot building, that’s two buildings I now need to scratch build. I just need to learn how to scratch build now!

Yeah, it’s changed a bit. But the explain. The bluey/purpley shaded sections are ‘non-scenic’. I could turn part of them into scenery, but the right hand side disappears under a shelf, and the left hand side is removable, so it’s a bit pointless I feel. So basically just the front is the scenic area.

As you can see, there’s a station area down front, plus the depot up the back. There’s a small headshunt for the depot. It’s simple, but I feel it’s not necessarily making the best of the space available. I can’t really think how else to do it. The thing is, Code 55 track has very shallow curves on the points; the rear storage sidings are quite tight, but they are Code 80. I want Code 55 in the scenic areas as it looks nicer.

I do have a large expanse of nothingness on the right, which would make for some nice scenery, so I’m not too worried about it being empty. Not sure what will go there mind!

I’ll need a couple more points, which I’ll probably pick up at Warley this weekend. Hopefully this’ll be the last change, and I’ll start gluing things down properly!

So, comments and suggestions?

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’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 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!

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.