Eastern Region themed mainline

Those who read my 00 gauge Upton to Dunton layout thread will know of its demise and of my plans for something new. I have a heap of N gauge track used in previous projects and a good sized base board so I thought I would have a go at developing a a DC, BR 60s Eastern Region themed, N gauge layout with a mainline flavour. The layout not will be based on anywhere in particular, but will be influenced by some mainline locations such as Ipswich, Peteborough and (although LMS) Bletchley. Essentially a two track mainline with several platforms; it will also be a junction serving a rural branch that feeds several factories. That area will act as a storage yard for some decent length freight trains.

I have called the layout Tempsford, which is a village not far from me sitting on the East Coast Mainline. It has no station; but the name sounds good!! It is where I can sit and watch the Flying Scotsman and other high speed trains.

The station will need to be able to cope with several (minimum) 8 coach mainline trains as well as local services and I want some long runs so that big express trains can stretch their legs. Here is the overall base board:



The track I am using is Kato N gauge Unitrack. I have inverted one board to give me a river crossing and, at the moment, I have roughly set up the station area as below:



As constructed it could handle 4 x 8 coach trains plus two shorter ones (I may change this). The Kato points are good in that they are fitted with motors and pre-wired, they just need to be plugged into the switches, which in turn clip into the controller for power, so no wiring needed. The points have about a 30 inch radius and provide lovely smooth transition.

The downside of Kato track is that it has fixed curves, and although quite generous for N gauge (12 -13 inch radius) they still look very tight:



I would not be happy with this angular look. Fortunately Kato do a conversion piece of track which allows you to connect to Peco, so I bought a couple to experiment with:



It works quite well, so with some Peco flexi track I can create a nice sweeping 36 inch radius curve:



This has potential. I need to buy a couple of scissors crossings for the station area. Until I have those I will continue planning and adjusting before laying the track. Here is the river crossing area - scope for a nice long bridge or viaduct over an east coast estuary as inspired by the Colchester area:



Great fun!

Bob

I have been continuing to fiddle around with the track plan and have gone for a station running diagonally across the baseboard  that gives greater length and reduces the angular appearance of the layout. The station consists of two main line platforms - made from balsa and faced with brick paper. The platform surfaces are adapted Metcalfe items. There is a third platform for local services and sits on the goods relief line and the opposite main line also has a passing loop.



The next step here will be a goods yard that will run down past the signal box. Here is a J27 by Union Mills on the relief line:



I Have also done a bit more on the bridge, adding girder trusses:



With a J25, again from Union Mills, at the head of a coal train:

Yesterday I finished laying the track in the station area, which includes additional relief loops and the goods yard. The points are in (total 10), wired up and tested.



I also started work on a station building using the Kestrel kit, still to be painted and finished off:



And finally, a bit of testing, I dug V2 Green Arrow out of its box and gave it a run around. Looks nice, runs well but quite noisy - like many of the older Farish locos.

Nice big baseboards with plenty of room for some great scenics etc. won't be cramped on there.

Good progress as well.:thumbs

Toto

N guage gives a lot more scope ,just wish I could handle it,looking really good
:thumbs;-):cool:

Great start, nice to see some more N-Gauge!

I know your still developing the layout Bob but I reckon the signal box would be between the goods yard throat and the running lines and turned around 180 to give the signalman a better field of view. Just a thought.

The scope for scenery is making me itch to get at it!

Keep it coming.

Marty

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

I know your still developing the layout Bob but I reckon the signal box would be between the goods yard throat and the running lines and turned around 180 to give the signalman a better field of view. Just a thought.

The scope for scenery is making me itch to get at it!

Keep it coming.

Marty

Thanks Marty, I think you are right. In fact it is where I had it earlier. I will rethink the location when the ballast and scenery goes in.

Bob

Over the weekend I have been working on the station buildings and a goods shed. I have always liked the Kestrel Town Station kit, but have not got around to making one. The model is old and a bit basic, but with a bit of work I thought it could look good. The biggest problem was the fit of the parts and some warping. I used filler and aluminium foil on the roof to fill the gaps. Here is the station after painting and weathering and some posters added:





The second building, which will sit in the sidings is a goods shed. Again from Kestrel, which makes up into a large shed:





In the meantime I have been weathering the track - more on that later.

Bob

Those buildings look great Bob - but then you always were a dab hand with a paintbrush. :thumbs

I also envy your ability to work in "N" Scale - it offers so much more space for "proper" trains but alas, neither my hands, nor my eyes could cope with it.

Looking forward to watching this develop. :cheers

Started to weather the tracks, which is essential with Kato track to get rid of the plastic look. I decided to try out the Woodland Scenics weathering "track painter" sticks. They are easy to use and so far I am quite pleased with the results:

Before:



After:



These are the paint sticks:



I have many yards to do yet, after which I will add ballast.

Bob

Great thread Bob, envious of your layout room but then again we all get to share it through your posts. I too like N gauge but as with others my eyesight can't handle it, more please.

Ian

Nice job on the Kestrel Station Bob.

Marty

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

Nice job on the Kestrel Station Bob.

Marty

Thanks Marty. Apart from Metcalfe offerings it is really the only kit available of a decent size station. The rest tend to be village types. I suppose you could expand the Peco station by adding more sections.

Bob

As part of a job lot of box wagons I ended up with a bright yellow banana van that stands out brightly amongst its bauxite and grey companions. I decided to weather it and tone it down. This is the wagon:



The first thing I did was to give it a wash with matt black acrylic and, after removing the wheels, I painted them brown. They too were given a wash of black when dry:



Next I used a Tamiya weathering kit to tone down the van:



Here is the result:





Bob

Looks nice and grubby Bob :thumbs


Ed

I have been quiet for a bit as there is not much to say about weathering and ballasting 30 feet of track; however at last I am able to say that this particular task is almost complete. Here is a view of the relief loops to the North of the station duly weathered and ballasted. I still have to do a little work around the points. I think the result improves the plastic Kato track quite well:





Bob

Disguises it really well Bob.

If it wasn't for the bits around the points, you wouldn't know from the pictures it was Kato track :thumbs


Ed

Wow!  What a transformation, Bob.  :thumbs

Nice work Bob, I think you need a new user name mate.   Pete.