After much thought and deliberation, lots of questions, lots of reading, lots of surfing... I have decided on a track 'system':
I will use C&L flexi track for the plain track, and build my own pointwork using C&L components and custom templates designed using Templot (I've been playing about with this software for a few weeks and despite its complexity and general non-user-friendliness, it does enable me to create pretty much anything I want).
The advantage of using Templot over the C&L produced templates is that C&L's 00 gauge point templates have too close a sleeper spacing compared to the prototype and even, as far as I can ascertain, compared to their plain/flexi track. Also, with Templot I can also produce 'Y' points, combinations of points, as well as adjusting timbering, etc.
But if it hasn't already taken me long enough to decide on a track system, I now need to decide what I'm going to build it on! Building it in situ on the baseboards is out of the question - I need to be able to build, ballast, paint and weather it in sections away from the layout and only then install it all in situ.
This means I need to decide what to construct it on and how this will then be transferred to the layout, and whether I need some sort of extra underlay on the basebaords, or if the base I construct the track on will be the underlay....
Questions questions!!!!
Friday, 24 February 2006
Friday, 17 February 2006
Latest developments
It's been a while since I last posted anything on here - not because I haven't been doing anything, in fact quite the opposite. The business of actually getting down to business has taken priority over writing about it, and quite rightly so!
But I thought, for the sake of anyone who's following my progress, that it's only polite to put my head around the door once in a while and let you know how things are going.
Having said I've been busy, there's still not a whole lot to show for it! I'm discovering that, whether it's just my perfectionism coming through, or simply a matter of fact, that it takes a lot of time and patience to do things properly.
My Airfix brake van is still semi-complete - the new Gibson wheels came through and I've finally got around to painting them, hopefully in a suitably grimy and weathered state. I was hoping this meant I could glue the second half of the underframe into position with the wheels in place but I've now discovered I need to get some new bearings to fit into the Airfix axle bearings to take the differently shaped axle pins on the Gibson wheels. This means waiting for another order from Mainly Trains - once I've determined which type of bearings, from the multitude available, I actually need (awaiting responses from the uk.rec.models.rail newsgroup on this at the moment).
I've also filed down the suspenders and brackets on the footboards to hopefully achieve a finer profile. These will need to be painted before attaching to the van sides to prevent the paint running onto the underframe, which I've already painted.
The moulded handrails have also now been filed off and planking re-grooved where necessary. I've bought some fine brass wire to make the replacement handrails from but haven't started making or fitted these yet.
I fitted new metal 3-link couplings in place of the moulded Airfix ones last week. This required a bit of drilling and cutting but they now fit very nicely.
I've not worked out what colour the van body should be painted yet. I've seen photos of vans in BR bauxite (reddish brown) and also grey - I think grey was the colour of the original NER vans though, so bauxite is probably correct for what I want.
As for the layout itself - further to my last post I decided that the shed road needs to cross the basebaord join to avoid things looking articicially cramped. I played around with some very basic paper and card mock-ups of the engine shed, signal box etc. and realised that in 3D things need more space generally to look 'right'.
I think in the end this aspect of things looking right is a good deal more important overall than having the perceived extra running length beyond the station approach so having the engine shed eating into this space is a small price to pay.
Anyway, I should get back to the modelling. I've got a C&L point kit sitting here waiting to be built - I suppose I'm delaying it as long as possible because it seems rather daunting!
But I thought, for the sake of anyone who's following my progress, that it's only polite to put my head around the door once in a while and let you know how things are going.
Having said I've been busy, there's still not a whole lot to show for it! I'm discovering that, whether it's just my perfectionism coming through, or simply a matter of fact, that it takes a lot of time and patience to do things properly.
My Airfix brake van is still semi-complete - the new Gibson wheels came through and I've finally got around to painting them, hopefully in a suitably grimy and weathered state. I was hoping this meant I could glue the second half of the underframe into position with the wheels in place but I've now discovered I need to get some new bearings to fit into the Airfix axle bearings to take the differently shaped axle pins on the Gibson wheels. This means waiting for another order from Mainly Trains - once I've determined which type of bearings, from the multitude available, I actually need (awaiting responses from the uk.rec.models.rail newsgroup on this at the moment).
I've also filed down the suspenders and brackets on the footboards to hopefully achieve a finer profile. These will need to be painted before attaching to the van sides to prevent the paint running onto the underframe, which I've already painted.
The moulded handrails have also now been filed off and planking re-grooved where necessary. I've bought some fine brass wire to make the replacement handrails from but haven't started making or fitted these yet.
I fitted new metal 3-link couplings in place of the moulded Airfix ones last week. This required a bit of drilling and cutting but they now fit very nicely.
I've not worked out what colour the van body should be painted yet. I've seen photos of vans in BR bauxite (reddish brown) and also grey - I think grey was the colour of the original NER vans though, so bauxite is probably correct for what I want.
As for the layout itself - further to my last post I decided that the shed road needs to cross the basebaord join to avoid things looking articicially cramped. I played around with some very basic paper and card mock-ups of the engine shed, signal box etc. and realised that in 3D things need more space generally to look 'right'.
I think in the end this aspect of things looking right is a good deal more important overall than having the perceived extra running length beyond the station approach so having the engine shed eating into this space is a small price to pay.
Anyway, I should get back to the modelling. I've got a C&L point kit sitting here waiting to be built - I suppose I'm delaying it as long as possible because it seems rather daunting!
Wednesday, 8 February 2006
Kit building
I bought a couple of old Airfix wagon kits off Ebay last week - a brake van and a cattle wagon. They both probably date from the 1960s - the boxes wouldn't look out of place in a toy museum! I bought them intending to get some kit-building practise on something cheap and simple. I wasn't too worried about the quality of the kits themselves.
On their arrival, closer inspection revealed that they're not bad. I've begun to build the brake van, and ordered some Gibson wheels and three-link couplings in place of the moulded plastic ones that came with the kit. I'm also doing some careful filing-off of moulded handrails etc. with the intention of fitting wire ones later.
All in all, it shouldn't be a bad little model when I've finished I think, accidents aside! I'll post some photos when I get time, to show my progress.
I've also come up with some further (minor) revisions to the track plan which I'll post soon hopefully.
On their arrival, closer inspection revealed that they're not bad. I've begun to build the brake van, and ordered some Gibson wheels and three-link couplings in place of the moulded plastic ones that came with the kit. I'm also doing some careful filing-off of moulded handrails etc. with the intention of fitting wire ones later.
All in all, it shouldn't be a bad little model when I've finished I think, accidents aside! I'll post some photos when I get time, to show my progress.
I've also come up with some further (minor) revisions to the track plan which I'll post soon hopefully.
Friday, 3 February 2006
More changes
I seem to spend a lot of time these days staring at a flat, empty wooden board! Actually it's not entirely empty - there are various pencil markings, a few paper track templates, and one of my Mk 1 coaches lying around to alleviate the vast expanse of nothingness!
Last night I was looking at the baseboards again, thinking about my track plan. While I'm happy with the overall layout, one thing that I wasn't entirely happy with on the existing plan was the length of the goods yard - looking again at the rough outlines drawn on the baseboard, I was feeling that it seemed unrealistically short, and wondering if there was any way of extending the length a bit to get away from it feeling too cramped. One of the things I've noticed on photos of the rail thing is that even (especially?) at small country stations the goods yard was often quite spacious even it was actually only a couple of sidings. I want to be able to represent this impression even though the actual space I've got to work with is minimal.
Ideally, you see, I would have liked to have positioned the goods yard entrance before the entrance to the bay platform, but with the yard entrance coming off the same set of points as the run-round loop, this would mean the head-shunt distance would extend even further out of the station - in fact probably right off the scenic section of the layout - something I want to try and avoid. I also want to try and keep all the pointwork on the one baseboard so I only have one track crossing the join. This also limits things.
I finally got the old Marcway paper templates out again and started playing around with different configurations. In the end I decided that the best solution to gain the extra length on the goods yard (and the only realistic one I can think of at the moment) is to replace the staggered entrances to the bay platform and yard/loop with a single 3-way turnout, approximately at the same location as I had planned to have the bay platform turnout.
This means that the yard entrance (off the loop road) can be moved back around 8 inches, freeing up that little bit of precious extra length for the goods yard sidings. It's not a lot, but every little counts.
The trade-off is that the shed road will have to be slightly shortened (if I'm still to avoid it crossing the baseboard join), but I think that's ok since there's never realistically going to be need for more than one loco using the shed facilities at any one time.
Another possible drawback is that the 3-way turnout, while space-saving, may not be as visually pleasing - ideally I would like to have a bit more trackwork on the approach to the station, rather than a single line abruptly fanning out into station and yard. But I don't know what other options there are really.
I'm sure I'll check back in again soon with some more changes!
Last night I was looking at the baseboards again, thinking about my track plan. While I'm happy with the overall layout, one thing that I wasn't entirely happy with on the existing plan was the length of the goods yard - looking again at the rough outlines drawn on the baseboard, I was feeling that it seemed unrealistically short, and wondering if there was any way of extending the length a bit to get away from it feeling too cramped. One of the things I've noticed on photos of the rail thing is that even (especially?) at small country stations the goods yard was often quite spacious even it was actually only a couple of sidings. I want to be able to represent this impression even though the actual space I've got to work with is minimal.
Ideally, you see, I would have liked to have positioned the goods yard entrance before the entrance to the bay platform, but with the yard entrance coming off the same set of points as the run-round loop, this would mean the head-shunt distance would extend even further out of the station - in fact probably right off the scenic section of the layout - something I want to try and avoid. I also want to try and keep all the pointwork on the one baseboard so I only have one track crossing the join. This also limits things.
I finally got the old Marcway paper templates out again and started playing around with different configurations. In the end I decided that the best solution to gain the extra length on the goods yard (and the only realistic one I can think of at the moment) is to replace the staggered entrances to the bay platform and yard/loop with a single 3-way turnout, approximately at the same location as I had planned to have the bay platform turnout.
This means that the yard entrance (off the loop road) can be moved back around 8 inches, freeing up that little bit of precious extra length for the goods yard sidings. It's not a lot, but every little counts.
The trade-off is that the shed road will have to be slightly shortened (if I'm still to avoid it crossing the baseboard join), but I think that's ok since there's never realistically going to be need for more than one loco using the shed facilities at any one time.
Another possible drawback is that the 3-way turnout, while space-saving, may not be as visually pleasing - ideally I would like to have a bit more trackwork on the approach to the station, rather than a single line abruptly fanning out into station and yard. But I don't know what other options there are really.
I'm sure I'll check back in again soon with some more changes!
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