Newton Broadway

A small but significant step was taken yesterday: I finally got around to fixing the gap in the woodwork on the upper level at the current (temporary) end of the fiddle yard loops. I have been toying with the idea of using the existing board as a template to cut an entirely new one, but after assessing the degree of support under it, I decided to just cut the small, oddly shaped bit of MDF from an off-cut, trimming it with the jigsaw in small increments for the final fit. By way of explanation, the original was intended to be temporary as it was exactly the right size for the gap but had that missing wedge, leaving two future tracks partially unsupported unless I replaced the whole section.



This now allows me to screw down the adjacent board, which is already cut to the correct shape and fit, which, in turn, allows me to start more track laying.

As a preliminary to the laying of further track, I have placed a few lengths of rail and posed a 9-car unit as being the maximum allowed length: 2 x 4 CEP units and an MLV were loose coupled to gauge where the end of the loop is needed (with a little leeway built in) and where the next lot of points will go.

There is, as always, still much to do (that's almost become my mantra!), but it feels like a new start on progress after a period of stagnation.

 

Hi Gary.

Up to now, I have only laid the tracks for half (or two-thirds) of the loop lengths. The other end is now in the process of being worked out, as to how the tracks will merge and what points to order - I use old ones from my previous layout as templates so I don't waste any money ordering the wrong things. Even so, I think the majority of the points for that end of the loops will be large radius curved points., with one or two on the outer track being straight ones.

I need at least one track on each side to be the nine coaches long, but I may well be able to arrange more than that if I'm careful.

The track on the bridges will converge towards the loop tracks but not join them, before separating again to go around the double-track curves at the outer end of the layout and come back to join the fiddle yard loops. It will be more or less a dumbbell shape but with a 90 degree bend in the middle. I have a scanned early drawing of the track plan, although there have been a couple of modifications since that drawing, and it is really only a sketch approximately to scale.

Red lines are the London Underground lines (dashed for the tunnels) and are already operational. Minimum radius is 20", with the exception of the single track branch (actually a long siding). Any lines in the middle of the end loop (essentially, those drawn in blue) for the engine sheds or sidings are purely ideas at this stage - I need to lay track out to see what will fit and what works or does not work. I may possibly use Peco code 75 or even the new bullhead track for those tracks, but all others are laid with Peco code 100 wooden sleepered track, and all points are electro-frog and modified to suit DCC operation with the stock rails electrically bonded to the running rails, and Peco micro-switches changing the frog polarity. I have an existing Fleischmann turntable which I intend to re-use.

 

I have been laid up a bit over the last few days with sciatica on the left-hand side. The doctor gave me two days off work and said "Rest, but don't spend too long lying down or sitting in one position". I decided to do a little track positioning (not laying, as such!) which I could do standing up without much bending involved (even so, I fear I have overdone it a little). Using my new Xuron track cutters made this a relatively quick and easy job, too.

What I have done is cut and fit the track along the front of the layout, on the bridges and viaducts. It is not fully laid as it is not fixed down in any way, yet, a job that has to await my finishing the bridges and viaducts and also completing the third and fourth rail laying on the lower level (the viaducts get in the way of this).

Anyway, here are a couple of photos to show how the alignment will look when finished. The curve under the 2 HAP unit (the unpainted resin kit at top left) is a set track 3rd radius item. If I can ease this out a little I will do so.

 

Thanks Gary.

In actual fact, I did more or less what you have suggested on the low level, with the inner track corresponding to pretty well what you said, with the inner rail of the inner curve corresponding closely to the outer rail on the set track curve.

On the high level, for the tracks in the foreground, but just behind the camera in the upper shot in the previous post, the inner track curve largely corresponds to the outside of the sleepers on the 3rd radius set track plus around a couple of centimetres or so, then eases out to a transition curve (which is what can be seen in the foreground).

These earlier photos show how I used the set track as a rough guide for track laying and the end result.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

Hi Keith.

I was originally planning to scratch build the platform buildings to that style, then Bachmann very kindly announced they were to produce exactly what I had in mind! I wasted no time in pre-ordering mine as soon as they appeared on the retailers' web sites.

I didn't intend using the main station building, but one became available through one of the forums with the gentleman offering me first pick. Even then, I didn't intend to use it for the Underground station, but possibly for a main line station on the upper level. As it worked out, the main building looks quite good at the edge of the village and doesn't look out of place because of the degree of separation from the platform buildings. It is visible at the upper right of the second pic in that same post.

I'll look forward to seeing your progress and also the effect of the lighting on yours. Enjoy your trip to Scotland.

 

Toto wrote:

Thanks for the compliments (to you and to Paul).

I should point out that the vast majority of my photos have been taken on my HTC One mobile phone, which seems to be able to take quite decent shots in fairly dim light.

 

One more from me, with a nine-car set of units (MLV + 4 CEP + 4 CEP) posed on the viaducts to show how the longest proposed trains will look snaking along the top.

 

Thanks Dave.

I have quite a few 08/09 shunters and several class 37s too. They all get an airing sometimes.

 

SWMBO decided that we needed to pull curtains down for washing in various rooms of our house. This also involved swapping to different curtains in our bedroom. That meant that the dark blue crushed velvet curtains from there were now spare.The orange curtains in the train room, while very heavy duty, didn't really make a good backdrop for my models, so I suggested that the blue ones would be rather better (ideally I wanted some sky blue ones but none were available in the local Spotlight store when we looked). The result is this: