[Vulcan]

Hello all. I thought at one point I'd started a layout thread - but I can't find it anywhere.

Aslanvale is an N gauge layout with a modern setting. The name comes from the fact that the layout lives in a wardrobe when not in use - much like Aslan in the books of C. S. Lewis.

I haven't built a layout for over ten years and am enjoying being back in the hobby.

Here are the baseboards, well nearly all of them. There are two small scenic boards that attach at either end. The layout has three main sections - the station terminus (furthest from the camera), the quarry area (nearest to the camera), the preserved railway (couldn't resist this one, it's raised above the station - and has the turntable. It has its own fiddle yard.) The quarry has a small feeder line (raised highest of all, with the engine shed - which has now gone).

The control panel. DC layout here. All points are electrified with seep motors, controlled by the Gaugemaster PCU1 and 2. The controllers give separate control over the mainline (x2), quarry section, preserved railway and the feeder. Various sections can be isolated.

It packs away rather neatly.

There's a road over bridge that hides the baseboard join. It carries a 4 track mainline - I'm going to stage some engineering work or an accident here to explain why nothing is running.

The preserved railway.

Ballast down in the quarry section.

Turntable - it's mechanically operated with a hand crank.

Work starts on the large quarry terminal building.

Spot of paint.

On with the roof.

More photos on the blog!

 

[Brian Considine]

Like the whole concept & the name.

Those baseboards look very well made indeed.

Thanks for the update & be sure to keep us posted on progress.

 

[Chinahand]

A very nice piece of work James. Good concept, good solid baseboards and a very clean, neat look to the whole thing.

Look forward to seeing your progress.

Expat.

 

[7113]

Excellent work - it looks like you will have fun with that.

Keep up the good work.

Regards

 

[Vulcan]

Thanks everyone. My carpentry was a little rusty - but I think investing in the right tools paid dividends.

I received a package this morning from CR Signals and I have to say how impressed I am - quickly delivered, beautifully built and extremely easy to install.

(for those wondering about my paving problems mentioned elsewhere - I got distracted by the signals so haven't tried anything new yet!)

Shunt signal for exit from the yard, two aspect for entrance.

An 04 is the first to wait at the entrance to the yard of 'Jadis Aggregates'

Looking under what will be the bridge - it's next on the list when the quarry terminal is finished.

As well as the two signals, I also purchased three lit buffer stops from CR Signals. They stand out like a sore thumb at present and aren't stuck down. They'll be bedded in asap.

I was originally going to install the switches on the main control panel - but thought it would be good to offer a second operator something to do, so here's the signal box! The first switch controls the main lighting circuit.

 

[Vulcan]

Not much progress really - you wouldn't know I'm not working at the moment!

Darkness falls:

 

[ebaykal]

Very nice indeed,

I too like the name. "Aslan" in Turkish means "Lion". -Lionvale-

Baykal

 

[Vulcan]

My first loco repaint!

The BR Blue of my Farish 04 clashed with the blue I'd chosen for the 'Jadis Aggregates' building - so as I had a spare 04 body I decided to have a go at creating my first ever new livery - Jadis Aggregates Blue!

The handrails on the 04 are quite possibly the most fiddly thing I have come across! Much cursing later...

BR Blue in the foreground, Jadis blue beyond.

Now I know it's very minor repaint, but for a first attempt I'm pleased. It needs fading a little I think and of course some weathering eventually. For now she can be as if she's just come out of the paint shop!

 

[Vulcan]

Lots of today's modelling time was taken up with removing all the installed lights and signals! It suddenly dawned on me how much mess creating the cliff face in the quarry area is going to make and how vulnerable the lights in particular are with all the baseboard flipping which is currently going on to get at the wiring. So, at least the wiring is done when they are ready to go back in!

A lovely Hattons parcel arrived today - and one that I wasn't expecting! Those wishlists are a great thing aren't they?!

These freightliner 100 ton hopper wagons are works of art - if very very VERY happy to derail at the first sign of anything.

I've also done some more work on the quarry terminal. The sign is up (it is straight honest - doesn't look it to my eye in this photo!) and the new roof on the rear is taking shape (I didn't like the glazing I originally attempted). Nothing is glued together yet, I plan to put the lighting in it tomorrow. Attempt three at paving round the track inside the building (this time simply with metcalfe printed card) seems to have worked.

I do apologise for my lack of ability with a camera - all my artistry goes in to the day job of playing the clarinet!

 

[dwb]

QUOTE day job of playing the clarinet!

I presume "day job" here is being using idiomatically rather than literally?

David

 

[Vulcan]

Being the musical diva I am I'll flounce at that...

Day job - honest, nothing idiomatic about it.

 

[dwb]

QUOTE Being the musical diva I am I'll flounce at that...

That won't work

I live with one of those but her main instrument is the pipe organ - Bach, Buxtehude, Messian et al.

David

 

[Vulcan]

Dear lord - you have my deepest sympathy.

I find organists to be particularly tricky. The level of coordination for the feet and hands causes other functions simply to switch off...

 

[Vulcan]

Ok, so my maiden attempt at scratch building is 'finished':

I could do with some constructive criticism here - it's a very basic attempt I know but I've learned lots and lots for next time.

So what would/will I do differently when I decide in months/years to come that it's not up to scratch and needs replacing?

1) The corrugated sheet is out of scale as are the gutters really - not sure how I'd make these but there we go!

2) I'd make the building in one piece. The rear section doesn't marry as well with the front as I would like.

3) The paving round the track looks ok, I think I'd build the track up so that all the paving is level if I were doing it again.

4) Weathering - well, the roof looks ok. I should have scuffed up the walls of the building before painting. It all looks a bit 'painted on' at present - it may wel have more work done.

 

[dwb]

The roof looks fine and so does the paving. The guttering doesn't look odd in the photo. Maybe it's more a problem in your eyes?

The only parts that doesn't convince me are the walls. I think it's the large flat expanse. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any building which would have cladding like that. It would be very expensive to build a wall like that in brick, so unless the building is an old converted mill (say mid 19th century), I'm guessing some kind of panelling would have been used, maybe something corrugated or concrete panels.

If you're looking for inspiration maybe a walk along an industrial section of a canal or an oldish industrial estate?

David

 

[Vulcan]

dwb - yes, I know exactly what you mean, thank you for putting it so well.

I was half intending to score the walls up before painting - and go at them with some sand paper. Somehow after I built the carcass I was loathed to mess with it too much. I'll know next time. Certainly this is going to stay put in the short term, I'm keen to get on with some landscaping and felt that a building as large as this should be in place before that side of things got more advanced.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi James. Good to see the progress you're making.

As regards the building it would probably be clad with profiled aliminium sheeting. How about using some narrow strips of thin card glued onto the flat surface at regular intervals to create the 'profiled' look ?? I'm afraid it will mean a repaint of the building but, as dwb says, it does look unrealistically smooth at the moment.

One other small criticism I would make, if I may be so bold, is the size of track ballast you're using which appears quite over-scale in some of the photos, though this may be just a trick of the light. Scaled up, some of the pieces would appear to be more like 12" boulders rather than 4" crushed stone. Have a look at either the Noch N Scale ballast or the new Faller Premium N Scale ballast (Cat. No. FA171697).

Keep up the good work,

Expat.

 

[Vulcan]

Expat - something like this perhaps?

Profiled Aluminum

That's an excellent thought, thank you. I think the strips are going to have be pretty close together aren't they? A couple of mm at the most.

That repaint won't be too much trouble - I'll paint the strips and then apply them.

Regarding the ballast - darn it, someone noticed. It's Woodland Scenics, as far as I know as small as they go. I bought it on the advice of a model shop, and regretted it as it was going down. Trouble is I didn't want to risk damage to the track and the like with taking it up again and can't ballast half the layout in one size and the rest in another, as that'll draw attention to it. Next layout of course - it'll be a different story!

 

[Vulcan]

Actually - looking closely at a photo or two of real ballast and comparing mine, it's not that far away.

Very crudely and simplistically, it seems that the width between two sleepers should accommodate 4-5 pieces of ballast, and for the most part, mine's there.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (N Gauge James @ 25 Aug 2008, 01:23) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>something like this perhaps?

Profiled Aluminum

Yes that's the stuff. If you don't fancy cutting all those lengths of card to exactly the same width you could also use Slaters Plasicard Microstrips.

QUOTE Regarding the ballast - darn it, someone noticed. It's Woodland Scenics, as far as I know as small as they go. I bought it on the advice of a model shop, and regretted it as it was going down. Trouble is I didn't want to risk damage to the track and the like with taking it up again and can't ballast half the layout in one size and the rest in another, as that'll draw attention to it. Next layout of course - it'll be a different story!

Depending on how heavily it is glued together you might find that a going over with a hard tooth brush will remove enough to allow you to get a very thin layer of finer ballast on top. At the very least it would fill in some of the gaps between the existing ballast particles to give an overall finer look.

As regards your 4 - 5 pieces per gap have a look at this picture which seems to show more like double that.

Cheers,

Expat.