Mt Yatala

Out of the ashes of Boronia (for now) comes the next layout, actually my fourth build now (what am I doing ).
I have decided that the dream of making a layout to take a 4 standard car length (roughly in real terms 4x72 foot carriages) with a bit of room to make them run a bit, was just not going to work in the near future. Storage in the garage is one issue, the boards make up a combined length of 3m and then there will be the run-around track, it was to be a cameo box exhibition layout, as is this one. This would require a 3m long workbench to work on the scenic part as a whole, which simply isn't going to happen in this garage any time soon. Then there was the issue of moving the layout. It was first planned many year ago. Since then, and i know these things change, we are into out 3rd La Nina year, which, for those who are unfamiliar with this term, it means that eastern Australia cops a lot of rain, a LOT of rain. Since one of the options was to move the layout about by trailer, i could see this becoming an issue unless i built a waterproof structure for the trailer too...How much time do I have?
Additionally there were other issues, i had made mock-ups of the Boronia layout with cardboard outlines of the buildings and I was still left with a fair few buildings (or concepts) that i really wanted to incorporate into a layout. I had an idea for an alternative layout kicking about for a while, which was to be simpler and of an earlier era, but its track plan would work better in a smaller space
I then decided to make it the same era as Boronia, the 1980/90s as this is more my passion anyway, and that is what i have my ideas for. I have built 3 layouts which aren't this, so its time I did.
In reality it is only a slight reduction in size, but this will make the difference. The layout has 2 boards, 1200mm long by 600mm deep, put together they make 2400mm long. This allows for a platform to fit wholly on one board. I have a thing for platforms that go over 2 base-boards, it is very hard to get it right, haven't seen too many.
So, after lots of playing with Anyrail and full size cutouts on the floor i settled on a plan.

It is single track, with a platform on the passing loop. It has a dock platform additionally and 2 other sidings. Lots of room for a township, but still enough train movement.
Another lesson of La-Nina is to paint all wood. Un-painted wood around Sydney generally goes mouldly at the moment, as there is plenty of surface area for the mould spores to grab hold of. Mould just wipes off painted surfaces. It takes a bit of extra time now, but will be worth it in the long run.

This layout is HO scale and will be NSW Australia based, but not on any particular location.
Cheers
Tony

 

The track will be code 75 for the scenic bit. This is my first time using one of the finer rail profiles. Some people around here like to use the code 83 to represent Australian track, but my 2 local stores don't carry it, and one thing i am trying to do in this layout build is to support our local stores, I'm very glad a new one has just opened up down the road, his prices on Peco track are more than competitive. At each end of the scenic section there is a short piece of transition track from code 75 to 100. The run around curve track will be code 100 and the fiddle yard will be too.
I actually started this a while ago, but it has taken me a little while to come up with the name. I still want to use Boronia for the layout that it is meant to be, so I had to come up with another. There is another Trig station and creek in our area called Yatala, it is also the name of a suburb on the gold coast, so in order to separate myself from the I put the Mt in front of it. The 2 next suburbs to mine are Mt Colah and Mt Kuring-gai, and there is not mountain at all around there, so this fits right in.
I also started buying up points and track. Remembering that during the height of covid that track became a bit hard to get due to factory shutdowns, transport shutdowns and lots of people stuck at home deciding to build model railways, i didn't want to get stuck, also there is a big threat of inflationary pressures on the price of this, so i decided to act sooner rather than later. In fact, one of the points, a 3-way for the fiddle yard was not available at the time, they only had one, I asked if he was gong to get another in, he said yes, in a couple of weeks, but don't expect the same price. I picked up the second set of points today for $8 more than the first, so I'm glad i didn't have that rise across them all.

By the way, that photo was for the P1MRC Facebook page for what i was doing that weekend. The eagle-eyed will spot a set of lawn mower blades in that lot, and some gas-struts, they were not for the railway!
Cheers
Tony

 

Took about a day to get the underlay, then track in. Also managed to install the pcb sleepers at the join of the two boards and cut through the rails so that the boards could be separate again, so i can move them around the garage.

I found code 75 seemed easier to install than code 100, especially when joining up points in loops. Or maybe it's just due to more experience since i last made a loop for Gundah Junction a few years back. The code 75 seems more pliable, which makes sense as there is less metal, but the sleepers seem easier to deal with too.
Here it is mounted on my mobile work bench, this was originally designed for 2m long modules, but there is a bit of extra length on the top due to the frame, so the 2.4m of this layout doesn't actually hang out too much.

On a shelf below you can see my Gundah Junction layout, will have to make a dust over for it.
Next task is to finish and re-figure out my home-made capacitor discharge unit, i stopped work on a it few years ago, so might be almost starting from scratch, except that the circuit is built, just don't know where the wires go, but i should be able to figure it out.
Once done i will have to purchase the point motors for this, not going rod-in-tube for this one.
Lots to do, but the task that needed an all to rare big block of time is now done, and that feels like a great achievement for now

 

Just seen how long it has been since I posted about this, and therefore how long it has been since I have been working on it. I have been distracted getting the U-drive layout finished I suppose. Today, I found myself with a bit of unexpected time, so i quickly pivoted my day to work on this layout and get some of the larger items done while one side of the garage was car-free for a while (I am meant to be making a desk for the 11 year old and a peg-board for my wife), well the paint on theirs was drying, so why sit around?
I needed to make the semicircular run-around boards and I have gotten rather tired of a very large sheet of ply leaning against the shelves next to my car. I would also like some space to open the car doors, and maybe to even access the shelves without having to remove that sheet of ply (again) I figured the best way to cut this would be to make a trammel for the jigsaw. I recently picked up for the right price a near-new AEG jigsaw with a handy clamp on the baseplate for this purpose, having the tool-less quick release blade holder seemed like a good idea too.
I made a radius guide out of some left over aluminium and then marked the centres on the plywood. The only issue I had was the the blade holder in this jigsaw is very ordinary and the side force from the blade turning a circle (I was not pushing too hard) kept jumping out of the wheel guide for the blade, changing the position of the blade. Not critical for this job, but still annoying. My Metabo jigsaw is vastly superior and this does not happen, but it didn't have the nifty trammel holder. AEG is not the brand it used to be, it is currently owned by the same company that owns Ryobi (need I say more).

Once these were cut out i then placed ribs radially across the sections, using my normal method of PVA glue and the nail gun. I then curved around 3mm ply to form fences, so that in case of a derailment or brush past, a train does not come to grief. These were screwed and glued due to the tension.

Took a little while, but the time really seemed to fly. There are many aspects to this hobby I like, and base board building I really get a kick out of. You're still a long way from running trains at this point. But, like a lot of things, it's the journey as much as the destination (or more or less depending...)

I was also able to get a start on the fiddle yard. Construction for that will be almost identical to my inglenook layout, Peate, except without any scenery. Hopefully it doesn't take me 7 months till the next update. With almost all the fairy garden layout done this should start progressing again.
Cheers
Tony

 

Just to prove yesterday wasn't a fluke I managed to get some more progress today, finished off the guards around the curved boards, and then got into the fiddle yard boards. My normal construction here, ply top and 42x19mm pine frame for the base. Screwed in the corners and the rest nail gun and glue.

Not pictured is the underside with 3 ribs for strength, and i remembered to drill holes through these ribs for wiring, it is only the fiddle yard, but i still would rather not have wires running at track height.
There are two boards that make up the fiddle yard, they will be hinged in the middle, and because there is no scenery here, the hinges do not need to be covered up, which is a relief.
Next step is to design and make the legs, or to start the points wiring, or to lay fiddle yard track, decisions, decisions.

I've just worked out the real reason for the long break with this layout, is wasn't just the other layout, but the fact that in early October we got a puppy, well that is full-time, but things are finally settling down.
Cheers
Tony

 

Managed to sneak in a little bit of painting. The lesson in the climate here in Sydney is to seal all wood, this, in the first instance will protect the wood from mould, and in the second instance should well inhibit dimensional changes in the baseboards, which would not be helpful.
The fiddle yard boards are now joined together with hinges and ready to have track laid, although i have changed my plan a little and now need some more points to make this happen.
The top of the boards is black in flat, and the underneath is some old colour i found in the garage that did not get used for some reason.

Time to take a break again from this layout though as there is a possibility of exhibiting one of my other layouts in a couple of months and there are a number of things i would like to do to that first.
Cheers
Tony

 

Turns out I'm good at sneaking in more work on this layout. Had the house to myself for today, and perhaps a larger period in the future, so thought I would tackle some of the larger jobs, and be ready for the long period ahead where I can potentially get a lot done.
To this end I thought I would get a start on the track in the fiddle yard. This is to have one line going through the middle. Each end has the shortest length of straight set track which attaches to a 3 way point. This will allow 2 loops. The set track piece is an attempt to minimise any possible damage to the 3 way points from being near the edge of the board, and connecting and disconnecting track from them. After all, they are not cheap.
Each loop will then have a dead end siding. Have only got enough points for one side at the moment. Will see how it looks, maybe I only need 2 dead end roads, not 4.
I then soldered PCB sleepers either side of the board joint, once they were screwed down to the board the rails were cut, so the yard could fold up again. While the Dremel was out I cut a groove in each of the PCB boards to avoid a short between the two rails.

Once this was done I ran a Lima 12 wheel coach over the point work to check for problems, which I'm glad to say were not present.

Probably should go back to what I am supposed to be doing.
Cheers
Tony

 

Well, all the other modelling tasks are done and our local Lego exhibition is done for another year, so I can get back to layout building.
I thought i had put in all the holes on the support beams so that I wouldn't haver to do it later, but there is a fair bit of design as you go on my layouts and i needed a 15mm hole to mount my standard 2 pin DIN socket for AC power for points. No real reason to use this type of connector, as it is fairly obscure, but it keeps power supplies all interchangeable, so i guess it's worth persisting with. This meant that i needed to drill a 15mm hole. Normally I would use my Makita right angle drill, but pretty sure it has a 10mm chuck, and my drill bit is reduced shank, but from 15 to 13mm, not 10mm.
It seemed like luck that my new drill is really short in the body, it just fitted!

Here it is compared to another drill of mine

Makes a big difference. BTW it is night and day in quality and usability between the Milwaukee and Ryobi drills, even if they have the same parent company.
I then was able to get the switch panel installed, along with the CDU and the first point motor.

This part of the layout will take a while, but it can be broken up into lots of small bits, which is great as i don't have to wait for some big lot of time, which is always hard to come by.
Cheers
Tony

 

A lot of people dread doing the wiring on layouts. Admittedly working upside down, with a soldering iron over your head, in the dark, and with the prospect of dropped molten solder onto you does not sound very nice.
So luckily I am building a modular layout. Each board is placed upside down on a sheet of carpet underlay to protect the laid track. First thing to do is the point motor control and the point motors. There were only 2 point motors on the first board. I then used 6.5mm Jack plugs to make removable links between each board. A lesson I had from another layout, Hamley Circuit, was that I did not want leads trailing down, as they can catch on things. Sockets were used to terminate the ends near the board edge. Each jack plug takes the power from either side of the switch to either side of the point motor. Ground for all is done in a similar way, but simply with a banana plug.

I am using extended pin Peco motors on mounting plates, which is a first for me. Was quite easy to install, using colour coded wire, all switches not only worked all the first time, but all the switches and motors were installed the right way round.

Next task is to solder track droppers in, and install the switches for the frog polarity. Using the Peco switch that attaches to the point motor to do this. Intending to glue these down with contact adhesive. The instructions refer to 'impact' adhesive, which I assume is the same thing.
This is a great point in the layout build, any small bit of available time is useful. Have all the tools and materials ready, so if I can only get a 15 minute opportunity I can put it to good use. Many tasks I can't do that and need a bigger time block.
Cheers
Tony

 

More incremental progress, attaching the frog polarity switches to the point motors. People on other media were asking what I was using to stick them on with, here is a picture of what I was using and how much, ie very little, as I don't want to gum up the works.

Two down, only three more to do, then it's onto the bus wires, already have the droppers in place.
Cheers
Tony

 

My new favourite tool, keep on finding new uses for this one, took a long time to justify buying one (actually bought it for removing grout between bathroom tiles, but still haven't got round to that yet).
This time for making a neat cut in the baseboard. So much less impact than using a jigsaw.

Cheers
Tony

 

If I get tired of wiring I have found my diversion. I have simply made cut-outs of the footprints of buildings to see what will actually fit. But having the buildings themselves to place there will be even better. There will be a mix of commercial, one light industrial, religious and a number of residential. There may also be a scout hall depending on how it all turns out. I don't want a crowded look, so I am starting the buildings that I want most first, then to see what else will fit nicely.
I have a mix of styrene kits and laser cut wood ones. I have decided to start with a styrene one. A Walthers kit, which I think can be made into a very good Aussie house with a couple of mods.

First of all the small cellar windows have to go. Then that big window at the front needs changing, the proportions of fixed to sliding is just not right for Aussie buildings. Was wondering how to hide that second door, am thinking now of making an attached carport on that side of the house, and putting panels of clear Alsynite (clear corrugated) above the windows so to not block their light. This is quite common here.
I also have seen a trick which could make the roof look better, but I need to research it more. Am surprised with the colour of the walls out of the box, I was thinking it would be quite dark brown, but it's closer to what I wanted, blond brick.
Still a fair bit of wiring to do, but that can wait. I don't have a deadline for this, yet...
Cheers
Tony

 

Today I managed to finish all the wiring in order to test the two scenic boards. I am pleased to say that all worked first time, no shorts, no mistakes.

Here we have a 41 class sitting in what will be the dock platform. I have only built these buildings so far, next task is to build the core buildings, see how it all goes together before deciding on a final layout of them. There appears to be plenty of room for the road, nature strip, footpath and front gardens here.
At some stage I need to decide on a height for the layout, then build legs.
Cheers
Tony