reddragon
Established Member
I need my track to arrive before I can ballast!
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My 00 Gauge layout - Oldmoor Junction Model Railway
- Thread starter Peter C
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Great start. Look's a lot neater than my attempts.Thanks
Thanks for the help. I've been thinking about what kind of things I'd like to be around the track and I've boiled it down to cable troughs and maybe a couple of junction boxes. My ballast arrived earlier this week and so I've been slowly getting it looking somewhat decent around the track before I started gluing it this evening. There won't be any cable troughs etc. in the area I've started gluing and I've left a gap in the bits of ballast I've put down to remind me where they will go.
View attachment 88452
The coupling is there to remind me where I've glued - there's a man in high-vis at the other end of the glued area.
The ballast isn't perfect but I can always remove bits from the sleepers with a small screwdriver. Thank you @Cowley for the advice re: water then glue; it's made gluing the ballast so much easier than it would have been otherwise (and has been in the past).
-Peter
It has been said that ballasted track works best when track is present...
Thanks
Your ballast looks really neat - and it's actually given me some ideas for how I might do bits for the ground cover in the railway centre area of my layout (i.e. glue first then the ballast/ground cover).-Peter
ThanksYou've done a good job there @Peter C
I spent quite a bit of time getting the ballast looking half decent and to be honest I was actually quite scared that all the time I'd spent on it would be ruined when the glue went down, but I've done the first bit and I'm feeling much more confident about it now.-Peter
Ah OK - thanks again.
I'd made a PVA/water mix just going by how viscus (good word - we should use it in conversation more often) the mixture was and adding water/pouring the mixture away as necessary, and I think I managed to get it right. That and the fact that I got some 'Track Magic' for Christmas and it comes with a pipette which is perfect for this kind of thing... -Peter
I didn't use Fairy liquid, no - completely forgot. I had an old glass which I filled with water to begin with and then simply poured some PVA in and mixed it together. I should have properly measured it all out to see how I did it as it worked very well but I'll just have to get lucky if I ever make another mixture again. I'll make sure to add some Fairy liquid as wellExcellent. Did you use a tiny bit of fairy liquid too? It breaks the surface tension and helps with the erm, viscosity...
-Peter
reddragon
Established Member
I have a 5 litre bottle of diluted PVA and a small dispenser pot with a pipette I plan to use.Ah OK - thanks again.
-Peter
Apparently copydex makes the ballast softer, deadens noise but never goes hard so dust sticks to it and it stinks a bit!
I might try gluing polystyrene under the boards as sound dampening!
I’ve got a layer of 8mm cork over the entire baseboard to cut a bit of the noise down. It definitely helps plus it’s easy to dig out if you want to put lower details in like streams etc
reddragon
Established Member
I thought that 50m of 1.2m wide board to cover was a no on that front!
Whatever you do, the glue will transmit (is that the right word?) the sounds of the trains running over the track through the baseboards and trains will sound louder going over ballasted track than not. Charlie from Chadwick Model Railway has done a few videos on the subject:
He uses Copydex and says it smells of fish.
-Peter
The_Train
Established Member
- Joined
- 2 Jun 2018
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- 4,358
Finally caught up on this thread. Quite a process you have undertaken Peter but definitely worth it for the end result, or the result as of where you are up to at least.
I have to say that those in the modelling game really impress me with their creativity and the effort in turning their ideas into reality. Lots of layouts I see now look so realistic and I can add this one to that list. Great work mate!
I have to say that those in the modelling game really impress me with their creativity and the effort in turning their ideas into reality. Lots of layouts I see now look so realistic and I can add this one to that list. Great work mate!
Thanks
This layout is still far from finished but I'm getting closer to having a layout which looks less like some track on some wood and more like a model railway. My aim isn't to make it ultra-realistic because I don't have the time but to hear from someone else that it does look at least somewhat realistic is brilliant.
-Peter
=====================
Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 17-and-a-half
===================================
This isn't really a proper update, more a mini update - or maybe even just me saying 'hey look at this thing wot i done'. You choose!
Eastfield Road is the two-track, 1980s/1990s NSE South London station in the top right-hand corner of the layout. I've not been that happy with it recently as I've come to the conclusion that running a train into the station and then running it out is essentially what I can do with Little Piddling on-the-wold. So, I've decided to fiddle around with the trackplan to double the number of platforms I can have in that station.
I've dug out my best crayons and worked out something:
The four tracks in the top right-hand corner of the frame are the four tracks forming Eastfield Road station. The two rightmost ones are the existing ones and the two on the left are the new ones. The carriage siding also currently exists (but as a goods line, complete with half-built goods shed).
Platform 1 can easily hold a two-car Class 110, which can run from Eastfield Road to either Little Piddling or Oldmoor Junction. Platform 2 can hold a Class 121, which can do the same; Platform 3 can hold a loco-hauled set with a loco and then three coaches - four at a push - and Platform 4 can hold a loco-hauled set of the same(ish) length.
There's a crossover built-in so trains entering or leaving Platform 2 have to go via the track leading into Platform 4 (meaning P1 and P3 share the same access line, and P2 and P4 share the other access line). It also means I could run something like a Class 128 into Platform 4 and then back into the carriage siding track (which I'll probably design to have provision for a parcels platform thinking about it).
Are there any other changes people on here would make to this? This image isn't that good in showing the curves on the left and so I can't have a kickback siding coming from the track into P1, which is a sham, and I can't have anything else on the right. Also - what engines/units would look good in such a station? Now it's got four tracks, I'm thinking it might be a small London terminus (the likes of Paddington, Waterloo, etc.). @Cowley might be able to help with trains of the 1980s/90s?
Thanks,
-Peter
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reddragon
Established Member
PeterThanks
This layout is still far from finished but I'm getting closer to having a layout which looks less like some track on some wood and more like a model railway. My aim isn't to make it ultra-realistic because I don't have the time but to hear from someone else that it does look at least somewhat realistic is brilliant.
-Peter
=====================
Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 17-and-a-half
===================================
This isn't really a proper update, more a mini update - or maybe even just me saying 'hey look at this thing wot i done'. You choose!
Eastfield Road is the two-track, 1980s/1990s NSE South London station in the top right-hand corner of the layout. I've not been that happy with it recently as I've come to the conclusion that running a train into the station and then running it out is essentially what I can do with Little Piddling on-the-wold. So, I've decided to fiddle around with the trackplan to double the number of platforms I can have in that station.
I've dug out my best crayons and worked out something:
View attachment 88531
The four tracks in the top right-hand corner of the frame are the four tracks forming Eastfield Road station. The two rightmost ones are the existing ones and the two on the left are the new ones. The carriage siding also currently exists (but as a goods line, complete with half-built goods shed).
Platform 1 can easily hold a two-car Class 110, which can run from Eastfield Road to either Little Piddling or Oldmoor Junction. Platform 2 can hold a Class 121, which can do the same; Platform 3 can hold a loco-hauled set with a loco and then three coaches - four at a push - and Platform 4 can hold a loco-hauled set of the same(ish) length.
There's a crossover built-in so trains entering or leaving Platform 2 have to go via the track leading into Platform 4 (meaning P1 and P3 share the same access line, and P2 and P4 share the other access line). It also means I could run something like a Class 128 into Platform 4 and then back into the carriage siding track (which I'll probably design to have provision for a parcels platform thinking about it).
Are there any other changes people on here would make to this? This image isn't that good in showing the curves on the left and so I can't have a kickback siding coming from the track into P1, which is a sham, and I can't have anything else on the right. Also - what engines/units would look good in such a station? Now it's got four tracks, I'm thinking it might be a small London terminus (the likes of Paddington, Waterloo, etc.). @Cowley might be able to help with trains of the 1980s/90s?
Thanks,
-Peter
Have you thought of adding depth to your railway, as in more than one level?
An underground yard and high level track. That would enable you to have more stock out!
I'm lucky now to have a huge loft, but I started with an 8' x 4' board as you have too
I'd love to add an extra layer in some way but the main issue is space, on all three axes; the layout is on a bit of wood on top of a table, and not a standard baseboard design, and then there are bookshelves around the edge where I keep the rolling stock when it's not on the layout. I've often thought about how an underground layer would work - it would probably be either a small fiddle yard or a simple London Underground station of some sort.
-Peter
-------------------------------------
Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 17-and-three quarters*
=========================================
Another mini-update because I want to share things but things haven't been done.
I dug some of my other crayons out today and I've drawn the layout out on one of these fancy computer programs (SCARM for those interested, and no that's not an insult) so I have an indication of what the mass of plastic and metal on the bit of wood behind me actually looks like. I thought I might as well share it here as others might be interested to see what the layout has become; I was thinking about doing this on the 18th of February to coincide with the one-year anniversary of me making this thread, but I can't be bothered to wait, so have this comparison between the layout one year ago and how it is now for free - and early!
Left: the original trackplan, as I showed on here on 18.2.2020.
Right: the trackplan as it is now (the railway centre and Eastfield Road (station in top right-hand corner) are actually yet to be built), 15.1.2021.
I think it's really interesting to see how the layout has come in the space of a year. Over the past 18 months I've played around with several different trackplans but the one I've got now is definitely my favourite and so I'm sticking with it. I'm planning to get the track for Eastfield Road in the not-too-distant future and so once that's built, and I've glued down the rest of the ballast I've put down, I can run the first train on the layout in 2021. Yes - fifteen days in and no trains have yet run!
And now time for something completely different.
British Rail came under fire this weekend for the demolition of two shops located where their extension to Eastfield Road station is to be located. The two shops, the Wool and Yarn Shop and Rainbow Carpets, have been relocated to the other side of Oldmoor and the proprietors are less than impressed. Mrs. Betty Miggins, owner of the Wool and Yarn Shop, told us she was 'devastated' and 'would need a hip replacement due to all the extra walking she'd have to do to get to her shop'. The owning company of Rainbow Carpets refused to comment. British Rail also refused to comment but a spokesperson has said the new works will help them maintain their standards. Now for the good news.... (with apologies to Ronnie Barker)
That's a long-winded way of saying I've made a new little bit on the layout. I've moved two houses (I've not told the residents but I'm sure they'll work it out soon enough) to the centre of the town and in their place will be the other Metcalfe shop kit I have yet to build. This, along with the moving of the two shops from next to Eastfield Road, will turn the top left-hand corner of the layout into a little shopping square of sorts; it's kind of a town square with a railway running through it (which I think would improve many town centres to be honest). The residents of Oldmoor are very happy to learn that a pub will be coming to their town at long last as part of the new shops being built; Mrs. Miggins, though, is less happy as she's not been that keen on pubs since an incident in a pub in Bodmin in 1948.
Anyway - hope you enjoyed reading this.
-Peter
*(we're ignoring the fact that there's no 17-and-one-quarter)
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reddragon
Established Member
OK Peter, I need to do some track plans!
Might have to do it in bits though!
Might have to do it in bits though!
I'd definitely recommend SCARM (Simple Computer Aided Railway Modeller) over AnyRail now I've used it. It allows you to use many more pieces in the free version and whilst the keyboard commands aren't as good as AnyRail, the track pieces thing is so important that it trumps all other issues.
For a large layout I'd expect you'd have to do it in bits, yes
-Peter
I'd love to add an extra layer in some way but the main issue is space, on all three axes; the layout is on a bit of wood on top of a table, and not a standard baseboard design, and then there are bookshelves around the edge where I keep the rolling stock when it's not on the layout. I've often thought about how an underground layer would work - it would probably be either a small fiddle yard or a simple London Underground station of some sort.
-Peter
-------------------------------------
Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 17-and-three quarters*
=========================================
Another mini-update because I want to share things but things haven't been done.
I dug some of my other crayons out today and I've drawn the layout out on one of these fancy computer programs (SCARM for those interested, and no that's not an insult) so I have an indication of what the mass of plastic and metal on the bit of wood behind me actually looks like. I thought I might as well share it here as others might be interested to see what the layout has become; I was thinking about doing this on the 18th of February to coincide with the one-year anniversary of me making this thread, but I can't be bothered to wait, so have this comparison between the layout one year ago and how it is now for free - and early!
View attachment 88700View attachment 88701
Left: the original trackplan, as I showed on here on 18.2.2020.
Right: the trackplan as it is now (the railway centre and Eastfield Road (station in top right-hand corner) are actually yet to be built), 15.1.2021.
I think it's really interesting to see how the layout has come in the space of a year. Over the past 18 months I've played around with several different trackplans but the one I've got now is definitely my favourite and so I'm sticking with it. I'm planning to get the track for Eastfield Road in the not-too-distant future and so once that's built, and I've glued down the rest of the ballast I've put down, I can run the first train on the layout in 2021. Yes - fifteen days in and no trains have yet run!
And now time for something completely different.
British Rail came under fire this weekend for the demolition of two shops located where their extension to Eastfield Road station is to be located. The two shops, the Wool and Yarn Shop and Rainbow Carpets, have been relocated to the other side of Oldmoor and the proprietors are less than impressed. Mrs. Betty Miggins, owner of the Wool and Yarn Shop, told us she was 'devastated' and 'would need a hip replacement due to all the extra walking she'd have to do to get to her shop'. The owning company of Rainbow Carpets refused to comment. British Rail also refused to comment but a spokesperson has said the new works will help them maintain their standards. Now for the good news.... (with apologies to Ronnie Barker)
That's a long-winded way of saying I've made a new little bit on the layout. I've moved two houses (I've not told the residents but I'm sure they'll work it out soon enough) to the centre of the town and in their place will be the other Metcalfe shop kit I have yet to build. This, along with the moving of the two shops from next to Eastfield Road, will turn the top left-hand corner of the layout into a little shopping square of sorts; it's kind of a town square with a railway running through it (which I think would improve many town centres to be honest). The residents of Oldmoor are very happy to learn that a pub will be coming to their town at long last as part of the new shops being built; Mrs. Miggins, though, is less happy as she's not been that keen on pubs since an incident in a pub in Bodmin in 1948.
View attachment 88703View attachment 88704
Anyway - hope you enjoyed reading this.
-Peter
*(we're ignoring the fact that there's no 17-and-one-quarter)
Ah I’d missed your update. Was the little terminus on the top right there before or is that completely new?
I am pleased that you’ve considered the welfare of your residents during the upheaval you’ve been causing them. Although I think that the gap where the pub should be is slightly mean of you as they’re going to need somewhere to relax and compare notes with all this going on...
Have you thought about knocking one of the stations out and maybe putting freight facilities in anywhere?
That top right corner would make a nice urban goods yard for something a little bit different.
The terminus has been there for a while, but it's only recently that I've expanded it out to four tracks instead of two. It's more of a proper terminus now as opposed to a small station in the middle of nowhere!
Haha
They'll get their pub once the bank is finished - I expect they'd want a drink after paying in their bills just to forget about it all!I had considered it for where the TMD is now (in fact that area was a small goods yard at one point) but I hadn't gone anywhere the idea. The trackplan for the station would work for a small good yard I suppose, yes. You've given me an idea actually - I might see if moving the TMD to where Eastfield Road is now and then using the space the TMD leaves for a small freight yard could work. That would make Oldmoor Town make a bit more sense if it's serving some kind of freight terminal.
I'll get back to you on that - watch this space!
-Peter
Haha
Having the ability to store some engines in isolated sidings would be ideal now I think about it but I'm not sure if I've got the available space!-Peter
Love the story about the shops moving. When I was first planning Dale End Lane I also used SCARM to make sure everything fitted on the boards which included some very different layouts to what was produced. First image showing a SCARM drawing with the station and fiddle yard at the other end of the layout to where they are now while the bottom image shows the current basic layout with sections.Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 17-and-three quarters*
=========================================
Another mini-update because I want to share things but things haven't been done.
I dug some of my other crayons out today and I've drawn the layout out on one of these fancy computer programs (SCARM for those interested, and no that's not an insult) so I have an indication of what the mass of plastic and metal on the bit of wood behind me actually looks like. I thought I might as well share it here as others might be interested to see what the layout has become; I was thinking about doing this on the 18th of February to coincide with the one-year anniversary of me making this thread, but I can't be bothered to wait, so have this comparison between the layout one year ago and how it is now for free - and early!
View attachment 88700View attachment 88701
Left: the original trackplan, as I showed on here on 18.2.2020.
Right: the trackplan as it is now (the railway centre and Eastfield Road (station in top right-hand corner) are actually yet to be built), 15.1.2021.
I think it's really interesting to see how the layout has come in the space of a year. Over the past 18 months I've played around with several different trackplans but the one I've got now is definitely my favourite and so I'm sticking with it. I'm planning to get the track for Eastfield Road in the not-too-distant future and so once that's built, and I've glued down the rest of the ballast I've put down, I can run the first train on the layout in 2021. Yes - fifteen days in and no trains have yet run!
And now time for something completely different.
British Rail came under fire this weekend for the demolition of two shops located where their extension to Eastfield Road station is to be located. The two shops, the Wool and Yarn Shop and Rainbow Carpets, have been relocated to the other side of Oldmoor and the proprietors are less than impressed. Mrs. Betty Miggins, owner of the Wool and Yarn Shop, told us she was 'devastated' and 'would need a hip replacement due to all the extra walking she'd have to do to get to her shop'. The owning company of Rainbow Carpets refused to comment. British Rail also refused to comment but a spokesperson has said the new works will help them maintain their standards. Now for the good news.... (with apologies to Ronnie Barker)
That's a long-winded way of saying I've made a new little bit on the layout. I've moved two houses (I've not told the residents but I'm sure they'll work it out soon enough) to the centre of the town and in their place will be the other Metcalfe shop kit I have yet to build. This, along with the moving of the two shops from next to Eastfield Road, will turn the top left-hand corner of the layout into a little shopping square of sorts; it's kind of a town square with a railway running through it (which I think would improve many town centres to be honest). The residents of Oldmoor are very happy to learn that a pub will be coming to their town at long last as part of the new shops being built; Mrs. Miggins, though, is less happy as she's not been that keen on pubs since an incident in a pub in Bodmin in 1948.
View attachment 88703View attachment 88704
Anyway - hope you enjoyed reading this.
-Peter
*(we're ignoring the fact that there's no 17-and-one-quarter)
Thanks - there may well be more in the future...
Both of those layouts look really good! I've been fiddling around with SCARM today following @Cowley's suggestion of turning Eastfield Road into a freight yard and it's been quite fun now I've got an idea of how the program works. I'd like to have a layout the size of yours at some point; I've got lots of ways I could fill a loft layout
=====================================
I've said I've been fiddling around in SCARM and so it would be rude not to share what I've done.
The idea for this actually came out of some messing around with the plan I did last night; the main difference between the last trackplan I shared and this one is that the two leftmost tracks forming the Eastfield Road site have been set at an angle to the rest of the site, meaning I can get a couple of slightly longer sidings and include a shorter one too.
For the purposes of this diagram, I've called the station 'Eastfield Road', but I think this is probably going to change - I'll explain shortly.
My thinking is that this station is no longer going to be a 1980s small terminus station and will instead be a heritage station. I could never get the 1980s station trackplan sorted - two tracks was two few and four tracks looked comically small and would never have passed off as a proper London terminus. This seems to be the best way of using the space, and it will allow me to use this space for a kind of trackplan I really like but have never done.
The diagram is pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain it quickly here:
- The station will be a single-platform affair with a run-around loop in the adjacent track. The headshunt for the run-around loop is only big enough for a Large Prairie (61xx) loco, so larger engines will have to shunt their train all the way out of the station to access the engine shed, but this makes it more realistic and interesting I suppose as not every station can fit every engine.
- The engine shed will be a scratchbuilt building just so I can make it to the right dimensions and it will be a small brick-built thing, as seen at many heritage railway stations. I'm thinking of including a few wooden crossings over the various tracks so people can go from the site entrance to the engine shed and back so enthusiasts can see their favourite engines up close
- The site entrance will be along the edge of the baseboard and will essentially be a path going from a gate to the platform to allow passengers to get on the trains. There won't be a ticket office/etc. at the entrance, or on the platform; this is going to be left to the viewers' imaginations.
- The sections marked in purple and orange on the diagram are bits which had been part of Eastfield Road for a while, but I never thought they worked with the rest of the station. Here, with the station in a heritage railway form, a small engine shed and goods platform seem to be quite a nice addition and allow for some extra operational potential. A small engine on a (very) short goods working could potentially come into the station, put the wagon(s) in the platform siding, and then run back into the engine shed.
-Peter
Thanks! Even I could expland (probably into a propper fiddle yard first!).Thanks - there may well be more in the future...
Both of those layouts look really good! I've been fiddling around with SCARM today following @Cowley's suggestion of turning Eastfield Road into a freight yard and it's been quite fun now I've got an idea of how the program works. I'd like to have a layout the size of yours at some point; I've got lots of ways I could fill a loft layout
I like the idea. Personally I would flip the cross over if possible to give you more platform standing space Although it would mean the other points for the sidings would have to move as well.I've said I've been fiddling around in SCARM and so it would be rude not to share what I've done.
View attachment 88776
The idea for this actually came out of some messing around with the plan I did last night; the main difference between the last trackplan I shared and this one is that the two leftmost tracks forming the Eastfield Road site have been set at an angle to the rest of the site, meaning I can get a couple of slightly longer sidings and include a shorter one too.
For the purposes of this diagram, I've called the station 'Eastfield Road', but I think this is probably going to change - I'll explain shortly.
My thinking is that this station is no longer going to be a 1980s small terminus station and will instead be a heritage station. I could never get the 1980s station trackplan sorted - two tracks was two few and four tracks looked comically small and would never have passed off as a proper London terminus. This seems to be the best way of using the space, and it will allow me to use this space for a kind of trackplan I really like but have never done.
The diagram is pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain it quickly here:
I hope this is somewhat interesting - apologies for rambling!
- The station will be a single-platform affair with a run-around loop in the adjacent track. The headshunt for the run-around loop is only big enough for a Large Prairie (61xx) loco, so larger engines will have to shunt their train all the way out of the station to access the engine shed, but this makes it more realistic and interesting I suppose as not every station can fit every engine.
- The engine shed will be a scratchbuilt building just so I can make it to the right dimensions and it will be a small brick-built thing, as seen at many heritage railway stations. I'm thinking of including a few wooden crossings over the various tracks so people can go from the site entrance to the engine shed and back so enthusiasts can see their favourite engines up close
- The site entrance will be along the edge of the baseboard and will essentially be a path going from a gate to the platform to allow passengers to get on the trains. There won't be a ticket office/etc. at the entrance, or on the platform; this is going to be left to the viewers' imaginations.
- The sections marked in purple and orange on the diagram are bits which had been part of Eastfield Road for a while, but I never thought they worked with the rest of the station. Here, with the station in a heritage railway form, a small engine shed and goods platform seem to be quite a nice addition and allow for some extra operational potential. A small engine on a (very) short goods working could potentially come into the station, put the wagon(s) in the platform siding, and then run back into the engine shed.
-Peter
You're very welcome
I'd love a proper fiddle yard!Thanks
There are a few other designs I'd like to do but the main thing is that crossover; I had designed a layout for Eastfield Road which used one (R614) and bought it from eBay the other day, and so I don't really want to discard it. It's a little bit annoying as it restricts what I can do to this essentially but I quite like this design.
-Peter
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