GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

Congrats on the header photo, John. When you first posted it, I knew it was a winner. I think the B&W one was also superb.

It is indeed a stunning layout John.  I could have selected probably 10 or 12 shots from it that would each have been very worthy winners.

It's obviously a personal thing but yours is one of the layouts I always study in great detail - because there's always great detail there to study. :thumbs 

There are a few layouts which really catch my eye and yours is well and truly up there with them.

Congratulations.  :cheers

Thank you for the kind comments Geoff and Peter……sorry it took me so long to acknowledge them

Although two thirds of the layout is virtually complete the window side of the railway room is very much a construction site

This is a shot that I posted in June showing the start of the terminus at Granby 
 



There will be 6 platform faces. On the right are 3 bays from which I intend to run an intensive commutor service. Followed by the Main Up and Down Through Lines and a goods relief. The lines on the extreme left will lead to the Engine Shed and two hidden sidings for coal trains. The space towards the back,by the window,is destined for accessing the goods yard which will be inserted as a module into the far corner 

 




I have now managed to paint and ballast most of the track seen above including the track, recently laid, that will lead to the Goods Yard

I originally classed the goods yard and its approach as a low priority while I focussed on the station but I soon realised that wouldnt work……leaning over the baseboard to reach the far side is fraught with peril…..see the shambles in the lower level storage siding. In addition when ballasting the back area, no matter how hard I tried, I tended to scatter little bits of white/grey ballast on my newly finished ash ballasted loco service area……..looked as though we had just had a severe hail storm.

So I decided to start at the back and work to the front even though it delayed the station ……logic applied better late than never..



First problem was how to deal with the Window areas and centre pillar



Most of the layout has a painted sky backscene with multiple layers of Townscene Buildings fixed in front. However I get little enough natural light in the basement so from the get go I decided not to extend the backscene accross the windows.

As a compromise I laid the headshunt for the goods yard (thats the far track with a coal wagon and buffers) about 3" from the cill so I could create some sort of embankment.

Cut a piece of card (well two joined together) the length of the cill and deep enough to give me a scale 6' above the cill

Stuck on some Scalescene Brick Paper and then added card formers at right angles



Attached the front wall and added some pillars to hide the joins. The coping stones were spare from the Metcalfe Platform Kit (more on this in a later post)




Add layers of Paper Towel soaked in PVA




Slap on Green and Brown Acrylic as a base and then add a variety of Woodland Scenics…..mostly burnt turf



And here it is in situ with, for good measure, one of my favourite locos a Collet 0-6-0 2251 Class……once complete this guy will be doing a lot of shunting here 




The Card Buildings are a random collection of failed or semi successful modelling attempts over the last 18 years. Couldn't bring myself to throw them out…… but never felt they were good enough for a regular place on the layout……and now they are a bit bashed about

For now they can stay here as a temporary backscene……eventually I will build a drop in module of layered half relief buildings. Scalescenes are talking of introducing a kit with the backs of High Street stores which would be a great starting point

 For once the camera is kind……believe me the Bilteezi shops look far better here than in real life




I have covered the centre column (and power point) with a small backscene rescued from Granby II with some new Townscene Bulidings in front and a continuation of the wall 



Virtually all the track is now ballasted and landscaped……cleaned and tested within an inch of its life…… so the next step should be to bed the platforms in, but unfortunately I have a technical problem.

The ladder of points that gets trains from the lower level across the station throat to the hidden sidings has three double slips……being code 100 they are insulfrog so, not needing to switch polarity, I used Peco Point Motors. The feed for one has separated and defies all attempts to solder it back. Fortunately I have space for an above ground motor………but until it arrives (from Liverpool along with other vital stuff) I am at a bit of a standstill……dont want to be leaning accross the platforms while I am drilling

Lots of other projects to occupy me meantime!

Nice work, John.  :thumbs

Just great catching up on all the work you have been doing, John.  Nice to see the full size of the room and I really like the work you have done on the new embankment.  I'm a great fan of walls and other types of hard landscaping, particularly in an urban environment, which probably harks back to my youth and living in London.

Even though they are old rescued buildings and painted backscenes, they bring the whole layout to life and do a very good job of disguising the window openings without losing the natural light they bring.

Keep the updates coming as they are quite inspirational and kick me into action every time..

You're taking us with you on the journey, John.
Like others, I look forward to the next instalment.

Thanks for the post John -

was that a RR&CO speed profiling track I spied in front of the layout?

That enbankment is particularly effective John and the idea can be used on many layouts. Simple to do too, which is even better.

John,
I like the way you made your embankment. Very effective!  

couldn't you have a removable back scene for the window areas? That way you could keep it put away until needed for photos or play time.

Wayne

Your shots are always so inspiring John.

Even before ballasting, the pointwork looks superb (and authentic) - I love that row of points on the long run from the far track behind the signal box to the near one where the goods shed leaves - I can just imagine a train slowly bumping over that lot. :thumbs

The embankment looks great - an 2easy" solution to a potentially difficult area and very well executed.  I can see that idea appearing on many a layout - including one in France. :cheers

If those buildings are "random failures" I'll take all the failures you can produce !!!  ;-)

What's "The Antelope" ?  It looks pretty substantial and a typical "twixt the wars" design for a large pub.  We had a very similar one near us in Leeds - the "Fforde Greene", the spelling of which always intrigued me as a kid

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Even before ballasting, the pointwork looks superb (and authentic) - I love that row of points on the long run from the far track behind the signal box to the near one where the goods shed leaves - I can just imagine a train slowly bumping over that lot. :thumbs

I am afraid they do exactly that:twisted:…….I dont have Gordon's patience and carpentry skills so the trackwork is not as level as I or Mr Bachmann's designers would wish

The embankment looks great - an 2easy" solution to a potentially difficult area and very well executed.  I can see that idea appearing on many a layout - including one in France. :cheers

Ahh but when Peter

If those buildings are "random failures" I'll take all the failures you can produce !!!  ;-)

A trade with local produce could be negotiated

What's "The Antelope" ?  It looks pretty substantial and a typical "twixt the wars" design for a large pub.  We had a very similar one near us in Leeds - the "Fforde Greene", the spelling of which always intrigued me as a kid

Cant remember the name of the kit I am afraid…….it's quite a detailed model and fun to build but it was printed on gloss card and appeared too shiny despite my weathering attempts but you are right it has captured that Thirties "Road house" look that I associate with provincial ring roads and that road out of London to Slough and Staines (Great  West something….can that be right?)

I thought it was only in North America that adding an additional "e" added a certain cachet………….I avoid ye olde shoppes like the plague

 

Agree with Petermac.

Peter: In Wales we have a lot of Ffordds - I used to live in one.

(It translates as 'Way' but more commonly used to mean Lane or even Road).

I am repeating this overhead shot of Granby Junction in order to show how frustrating I found some of my recent problems





In the bottom left, by the window, you can see the start of an empty mineral train and from there running diagonally accross the layout a series of double slips which enable the coal trains to emerge from the (almost) hidden sidings and strike across the main running lines to go to the lower level branch.

One connection on one motor of two of the double slips failed…… with the result that the trains either derailed or headed in a totally unexpected direction . I covered this horror story in more detail in a separate thread but I think this shot demonstrates how infuriating the whole episode was. It took an inordinate length of time to trouble shoot.

In the end I chose to replace the conventional Peco underboard motors with surface mounted side action ones which were surprisingly easy to install…..there were some other issues related to the point decoder but hopefully all is now resolved.








 

I have painted them out…though they still show a bit of sheen and added a few weeds etc once the signals are sited I hope the motors will not look to out of place.

So back to the Platforms because these need to be sorted before I can continue with the roof (separate thread)….. Bit of history here…..previously I have used Ratio plastic kits……this time because of the length and curvature I decided to go with Mertalfe kits.

They were quite easy to construct and surprisingly robust



 

Having said that they proved rather disappointing. The brick work is very ordinary, the tarmac surface is bland without any surface interest and I found it very difficult (as you can see above) to apply the supplied self adhesive (?) edging strip. I didnt help matters when, despite spending forever on clearances, I made some sections a little too wide . I solved that issue by carving back the coping stones on the non viewing side but the end result was rather unattractive!


Scalescenes to the rescue! John Whiffen claims that his platform kits can be sucessfully overlaid on existing platforms…….and this proved to be the case 



 

Not a great shot but I think it conveys the general idea. I downloaded Engineers Blue Brick for the walls and chose to install the Scalescene Tarmac top which has much more visual interest……its a bit shiny because of the protective finish (even though it is matt). Flagstones are supplied as an alternative but after some thought I decided tarmac is better for this type of station


The coping stones were a joy to fit and already have the white line marked on them which saved a ton of time.

I did say the Metcalfe sub construction was robust!




 This wasnt a stress test just an effective way of applying downward pressure while the glue set and because there is a little sideways flex ensuring the clearances really did work!

Incidentally this is a great shot (upper right) of the hidden mineral sidings I referred to at the start of this post.

 To the left of these sidings is the site of the Engine Shed but completion of that is many months away…..I am still waiting for Walthers to sort out their TT……..apart from the Roof the next project is the Goods Yard which is the other unfinished layout corner.




 

Busy times, John.  I'm glad you're getting it sorted.  :thumbs

Peco side mounted motors are ideal for Insulfrog points as no contacts are needed for frog switching - a pity they cannot be made with a small changeover set of contacts though.

Scalescenes papers can be used in many methods for sure. And I prefer his paving stones to that of Metcalfe.

Looks like a bit of a stretch to get detail into those corners, John.
Will you work it on an off-layout base and drop it in?

Some beautiful shots there John. :thumbs  I still come over all hot and excited when I see the station throat with all those slips …………:roll::roll::lol:

As DD said, some of those corners look as if they'll require long arms - is there something you're not telling us about your ancestry  - I think I recall you hail from Lancashire but even a Yorkshireman wouldn't dare suggest such a thing other than for someone from Hartlepool ………………:lol::lol:

Just caught up with your thread again, John, that wall/embankment system is a top notch idea, the PVA soaked towel must make it very rigid when dry and must easily 'go round the bend' too…:thumbs:thumbs:thumbs


Doug

Thanks Guys and a Happy New Year to you all

[user=606]Sol[/user] wrote:

Peco side mounted motors are ideal for Insulfrog points as no contacts are needed for frog switching - a pity they cannot be made with a small changeover set of contacts though.

You must have second sight Ron…….I split the post into 2 and the other half deals with my tribulations changing polarity with a side mounted motor

[user=394]ddolfelin[/user] wrote:

Looks like a bit of a stretch to get detail into those corners, John.
Will you work it on an off-layout base and drop it in?

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

As DD said, some of those corners look as if they'll require long arms - is there something you're not telling us about your ancestry  - I think I recall you hail from Lancashire but even a Yorkshireman wouldn't dare suggest such a thing other than for someone from Hartlepool ………………:lol::lol:

 

As it happens I do have rather long arms Peter…..in my suit wearing days, showing a cuff was never really feasible.

I still have to use a foot stool to reach over but as DD suggests the segment will be built off site and all the ballasting and track detail installed there. The board itself is the off cut from the main board when I gave the main lines a slight elevation a year ago………..waste not want not even for a Lancashire lad

 

Great Progress there John.
That wall embankment build method idea will become a classic for future layouts.
Your Railway is really coming together.
I have often wondered about tarmac platform/ or road surface
model materials.
Maybe one could look at various grades of sandpapers or dark wet and dry papers to get that texture look?
Have a great 2012.
 Derek