Model Railway - Built To Order

Having sold my last layout on that ever popular auction site Ebay, I received a message the following day which caught my attention.  It wasn’t the usual ‘if the guy dosnt by it, Ill ave it off ya for £20, n if ya deliver it to me’ but actually quite the reverse!

It explained that they thought the layout was superb but it was the wrong size and not quite what they wanted and wondered if I would be interested to build a layout for them.  Having never built something purposely for some-one else, I was a little apprehensive but some-how this gentleman was different, and it was a challenge which I accepted with some anticipation but also enthusiasm.

I obtained a brief outline of what was required, which included:

1.  Layout overall size not to exceed 5’ x 4’

2.  Double main running lines

3.  Two trains running simultaneously

4.  Elevated section of track

5.  Fully scenic with sidings and station

I set pen to paper and whilst everything was possible, albeit in a relatively small space, I could not see that I could make an elevated section work on such a small layout.  I therefore recommended that I make an over-bridge and this would give the ‘feeling’ of the track being partly elevated.  The sketches below were provided, approved and a small amount of money exchanged hands which allowed me to proceed with ordering and buying the initial materials.

However, I was then asked to include motorised point operation and colour light signals, to which I agreed and I got the green light to proceed !

To produce the over-bridge would always be the greatest challenge as I would have to produce some multi-level baseboard, and this being on the most prominent corner of the layout, the name ‘Kelly Bridge’ was born.

The End Of The Road

Does anyone else feel that they could do more to detail their buffer stops?  Well this picture was taken at Crianlarich in March 2012.  I always thought that they was always overgrown with weeds and rusted almost to a pile of dust, well this proves me wrong!

 

How simple would this be to model with a few offcuts of rail, and a sleeper?  Now where’s my box of spares and saw …………….

Lowdowne on DCC

Well this is a continuation of the layout Lowdowne to Upperend. It is mostly assumed in the model railway press that the wiring of a DC (analogue) and DCC (digital) layout are not compatible, and you have to choose before starting out which direction you want to go. I didn’t agree, and now having built a layout and videoed it, I have proof too !

Of course there has to be a compromise, and this was with the point-work. I choose to go with the standard insulfrog point, and in DCC operation, the smaller engines can sometimes stall when running at very slow speeds. The Class 08 shunter I use, will occasionally stall with the sound cutting out, but this occurs only when crawling. The Class 37 in the video seems to work faultlessly (being a longer wheel base and better current collection) although clean track is so so important.

The video below shows the layout in digital mode, being used with the two engines mentioned above, both with sound, and operated by a Bachmann Dynamis controller.

If you want to see more of this layout, and others, my not look and subscribe to my ‘youtube’ channel ‘mrmodelmayhem’ or save my‘blogspot’ to your favourites.

Lowdowne Junction to Upperend

Finally a new page to the blog means that a project has been completed and I have some free time at the computer to put together a few words, pictures and videos. This started out as a standard 6x4 foot baseboard (softwood frame, plywood top and MDF surround), and my list of objectives included:

• Multi-level – to have over and under bridges, and ‘loose’ the baseboard level
• To make the look of the railway having been cut into the landscape
• To use minimum 2nd radius curves, so that all of my loco fleet would run
• A design where the trains actually run to and from somewhere, but with the possibility of continuous running too
• To wire the layout, so that I could switch between Dc (analogue) and DCC (digital) by just switching over the controllers
• Remote point operation throughout, including mimic control panel
• Lighting throughout, including use of LED’s in buildings

So the basic design is a terminus station on an upper level (hence the name Upperend!) curving down to meet the lower junction station (Lowdowne Junction). The idea is that a train travels from Upperend, into platform 1 of Lowdowne, then travels a complete circuit of the lower level and into platform 2, and the travels another circuit and stops and platform 3. Whereby, it then makes the return journey. Of course this can be interrupted with the odd freight train, or parcels traffic, which can pass each other on the passing loop in the station. By using the engine shed road at Upperend, it is possible also to bring additional loco’s on and off duty as when required. All making quite an interesting operation for a small layout !

Of course, this was never designed for 10 coach express trains, but is any layout on such a small board? But having said that, I have been running my Flying Scotsman with 5 coaches!

This is a video of the layout in DC (analogue) mode:

Other than the road vehicles and the station signs, I have tried to keep the era and location fairly vague, as I have a wide collection of rolling stock and enjoy seeing them all in a realistic setting. Nothing better than sitting at eye level and watching the trains burst out of the tunnel and through the station, under the footbridge and disappear through the cutting at the other end.

One other project which was included which is sort of fictional, is the Dapol crane. This had been sitting in my spares box for some time part completed, and finally I finished this in a sort of ‘network rail’ yellow, and included wasp stripes and light weathering. This is a fixed scenic item, and have permanently soldered the point closed to this siding.

Items of note include the lake with the courting couple seated on a bench, a painted and partly detailed interior to the signal box, completely scratch built station buildings mainly from Will’s components, mimic control box, static grasses and the use of Woodlands Scenics risers to create smooth transition in track levels.

See the page titled ‘Lowdowne On DCC’ to further videos of the layout being using in digital operation.