Progress (or otherwise) on Jeff's new layout

Try to keep the realistic traffic jam in the background streets, Jeff.

:lol:

If you look at pictures of my old layout, you'll see that i was quite an expert at creating traffic jams! :cool wink

I have been fiddling a little more over the last week, a little bit at a time. Further third and fourth rail has been laid, including most of that for the crossover.




I have Blu-Tacked some arches and retaining walls to give a rough impression of what I have in mind for the longer term. I really want a steeper slope on the retaining walls so I will have to do some cutting and joining of segments but some of this would have been necessary anyway to get the walls around the curve. The retaining walls came from International Models and the slope they provide would seem to be aimed more at a railway line gradient rather than a road or more naturally created slope.

Please bear in mind this is by no means final!













The curved track on the upper level is only pinned very lightly as I will most probably be able to space them a little closer and pare off a bit of the inner edge of the track bed. The radii are roughly equivalent to fourth and fifth radius (around 22" and 24", very roughly). The 6EPB gives an idea of how it will appear with six 64' coaches - still sharper than I would like but it's the maximum I can squeeze out of the design.


Ddolfelin, please note the traffic jam at the front is due only to the fact I needed somewhere to store the road vehicles while clearing and rearranging the village area! :cool wink

I like those "under arch" businesses at the lower front level Jeff - the weathering looks great. :thumbs

Have you thought about using Scalescenes for your retaining walls carrying the road ?  You can make those however you want.

Thanks, Peter. The arches on the right are Wills kits while the ones on the left are Faller, in that last pic. I did weather them myself and I am reasonably happy with the effect.

I have bought the Scalescenes viaduct and support piers and have already printed some out and glued them to some stout card ready for the next stage of cutting them out. Good as they are, they suffer from the same problem that all card kits suffer from, namely a lack of relief. However, of all the viaducts available, the Scalescenes one best fits what I have in my mind's eye.

… And a little more fiddling this morning. I have commenced cutting polystyrene foam into an approximation of the contours for the village area. There is still much to do but this gives a better idea of how I see it in my mind's eye.

Hi Jeff,
Coming along very nicely since the last time I saw it.
Mark

Hi Jeff,

I have just completely read your thread. Very impressive ! Looking foward to seeing more of the ongoing construction. One question, how visible will the LT station be once the double main line goes in above on the front edge ?

Cheers, Gary.

Hi guys, thanks for the kind comments.

Gary, the LT station will be visible through the viaduct arches as well as from above. That was something I wanted to be clear about myself, otherwise there would be little point in modelling the station. I intend to have a concrete drain in front, running under one of the viaduct arches, with a bit of waste ground, so there will be weeds and mud, perhaps a trickle of water in the drain, and some bits of dumped rubbish.

Ideally I would like some wider arches for that stretch of the viaduct but, for the time being, will settle on the Scalescenes one. I may well have to scratchbuild to get exactly what I want but I would rather get everything up and running before revising any details.

Also to go in will be the LT signal cabling; I have around 200 of the old Harrow Model Shop castings for the cable runs, and if that is not sufficient, I can order more off their successor, Phil Radley.

Hi Jeff,

Speedy reply…! (great thing about being in the same time zone !)

Have you thought about using brick piers and steel girders construction for the main line across the front edge ? Similar to the girder you have in previous pics where the main line crosses the LT line, this would make a contrast to your arched retaining walls behind the station. Just a thought…

Cheers, Gary.

 

Funnily enough, Gary, I was just replying to your post in the locomotive thread!

The plate girder idea is not a bad one at all. I was going to use these for the double track crossing over the LT lines but they would be easier to install and also give a clearer view of the LT station. Definitely going in to the pot for consideration! :cool:

Hi Jeff,

That is exactly what I was thinking regarding viewing. I'm sure either way you go it will look good. Atleast with the pier and girder style, it'll be suited more to the modern running.

Cheers, Gary.

It could end up looking like the viaduct at Oxted on the Southern Region: brick arches to a certain point then lattice girders and concrete (?) supports beyond that.

Me again!

I have done a little more rearranging of temporary buildings in the village area and started sculpting and trimming the polystyrene formers. There is stil la lot to do but it is progress of a sort. The first four pics show the unsculpted levels.

























This is a more distant overview of that whole end of the layout … in fact it has most of the existing operational part of the layout in view (with my finger blocking off the untouched bit on the left!!!).



 

I have trimmed a little off the inner edge of the trackbed at the front of the circuit. I have also commenced screwing the supports and track bed down, although I ran out of energy before I could finish. The track is only lightly pinned for test purposes but I will be able to lay it properly soon, using cork underlay first.




And now, a couple of pics i couldn't resist posing with the title "Underneath the Arches". These are Wills kits and will probably be used later but not at this particular location.

I remember when that was a vacant room, Jeff.

Much progress.  :thumbs

It will soon be time to come over and visit you and Agnes again.  I reckon that this one will be better than the old one, the way it's going.

Thanks, Max.

You are welcome to come and visit. Just say the word and we'll try to organise around it. :cheers

It's looking great Jeff.

I may have asked before - sorry if I have - but what are the buildings ?

I particularly like the half timbered offering with the interesting roof lines ……..

Peter. The half-timbered building was scratch built by person or persons unknown, mostly out of card from cereal packets and glossy boxes.  I bought it at swap meet last year.

The rest are mostly resin offerings from Hornby's Skaledale range and Pocketbond's Scenix range, although the pub is a rather ancient Airfix kit I originally built over 35 years ago. The Saxby & Farmer signal box and Victorian gents 'loo are Wills kits.

The Scenix  terraced houses are rather nice in character but let down by having solid windows. They are quite inexpensive - I  spotted them on sale at Hattons the other day for around 15 pounds.

No wonder I couldn't place that half timbered building Jeff.

The others do look good as well.  Maybe I should have a look at these resin castings.  They're certainly quick to build ………….:roll::roll::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I used to use a few of the old Superquick range as well. Those and the resin RTR buildings can all benefit from some personalisation, even if it just to change the colours of the doors and gutters. One friend used to make up overlays for the Superquick buildings so that the surfaces became more three-dimensional - they looked superb and were only just recognisable as to their origins.

I currently have three of the Skaledale 'Town Houses' being delivered. These look fairly typical of the 1930s style but, with memories of the rows of houses (mostly semi-detached) between Bromley and Petts Wood in Kent, I will be repainting at least two of the three into alternative colours.