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Thought it was about time I started this thread as I have been thinking about doing it for far too long! I wasn't sure at first if I should use my blog for this, but in the end decided a thread was better so you can all have a go at my poor modelling ability: lmfao:
First of all, I had constructed boards to build my layout in a spare room. However, sadly that plan had to be abandoned as the room was needed for something else. Here is a photo of some of the original boards covered in probably about a third of my stock, the last time I had it all out to photo for insurance purposes:
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So with the spare room no longer spare, I had to look elsewhere. The decision was taken about this time last year to build a shed. Construction started last Easter and was finished towards the end of July 07. It is well insulated and the windows are double glazed. I have installed a temperature and humidity logging system which switches a small heater on if the temperature falls below 5oC inside. To date, only once has this happened which I find incredible particularly considering the climate in Northern Ireland. Humidity also hasn't been a problem. Here are some photographs taken during the construction:
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My plan is to construct a 1930's LMS based layout. It will not be based on a particular location. There will also be a varied of LMS NCC stock operating so it really wouldn't be possible to model a real location! Plus, there will be a few items from outside the period, for example Deltic. If I like a loco, I'll buy it. Although over 90% of my "fleet" are LMS.
The photograph below shows the basic layout of the shed. The board to the right will contain a large locomotive depot, the board at the top will become my station and the board to the right will be a country scene. The board currently sitting in the middle of the room is my almost complete fiddle yard. It will eventually be located underneath the board on the left. I plan on using one or two of the boards from the abandoned layout to bring the right hand board into the room more.
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The track laying and wiring of my ten track fiddle yard is now complete:
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I have used this as a bit of an experiment as 4 of the 8 points are controlled by Peco point motors with insulfrog points and the other 4 with seep point motors and electrofrog points with frog switching. Over time I will see which half of the fiddle yard performs better. All but two of the point motors are mounted beneath the board with the extended pin protruding through the surface. The other two are mounted directly to the point. The problem I have currently is cutting the extended pins in situ as I have wrecked two sets of nippers trying to do this! I then used a small cutting disk on my dremel which although it cut the pin perfectly, I had to replace the point as the tie bar was melted by the heat generated!
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All ten tracks have been individually wired so that I can use a MERG kit for occupancy detection. It is not fully working, just waiting for my control panel to be finished so I can mount the LED's. All 8 points are operated by MERG decoders currently controlled by my ECoS. I had planned on using the MERG encoder to control the points, but am going to wait and see how the new layout control bus (CBUS) develops before going any further with the electronics. THe next picture shows some of the electronics mounted on top of the board for now, the accessory decoders are mounted beneath it:
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The end of the fiddle yard will comprise a cassette setup for swopping and turning locomotives. I have bought the aluminium angle for this, and cut the plywood bases to size. Once this is complete I will be able to mount the board in its proper position.
At the end of the left hand board that will contain my depot, I am going to construct a locomotive workshop using the marklin traverser from the previous thread. I am currently constructing the workshop building from a DPM kit. It can be seen on my workbench below and also the proposed track layout for the loco and carriage workshop area.
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And finally, a have a somewhat unusual storage system for my layout. An old thread wrack from a long closed department store! I removed every other shelf to allow for the height. It works very well. Currently most of my stock is in storage so it is pretty empty:
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Well thats it for a while as my final exams are in May I won't have too much time for the layout over the next two months.
Hope you enjoyed the photos,
Rob
First of all, I had constructed boards to build my layout in a spare room. However, sadly that plan had to be abandoned as the room was needed for something else. Here is a photo of some of the original boards covered in probably about a third of my stock, the last time I had it all out to photo for insurance purposes:
So with the spare room no longer spare, I had to look elsewhere. The decision was taken about this time last year to build a shed. Construction started last Easter and was finished towards the end of July 07. It is well insulated and the windows are double glazed. I have installed a temperature and humidity logging system which switches a small heater on if the temperature falls below 5oC inside. To date, only once has this happened which I find incredible particularly considering the climate in Northern Ireland. Humidity also hasn't been a problem. Here are some photographs taken during the construction:
My plan is to construct a 1930's LMS based layout. It will not be based on a particular location. There will also be a varied of LMS NCC stock operating so it really wouldn't be possible to model a real location! Plus, there will be a few items from outside the period, for example Deltic. If I like a loco, I'll buy it. Although over 90% of my "fleet" are LMS.
The photograph below shows the basic layout of the shed. The board to the right will contain a large locomotive depot, the board at the top will become my station and the board to the right will be a country scene. The board currently sitting in the middle of the room is my almost complete fiddle yard. It will eventually be located underneath the board on the left. I plan on using one or two of the boards from the abandoned layout to bring the right hand board into the room more.
The track laying and wiring of my ten track fiddle yard is now complete:
I have used this as a bit of an experiment as 4 of the 8 points are controlled by Peco point motors with insulfrog points and the other 4 with seep point motors and electrofrog points with frog switching. Over time I will see which half of the fiddle yard performs better. All but two of the point motors are mounted beneath the board with the extended pin protruding through the surface. The other two are mounted directly to the point. The problem I have currently is cutting the extended pins in situ as I have wrecked two sets of nippers trying to do this! I then used a small cutting disk on my dremel which although it cut the pin perfectly, I had to replace the point as the tie bar was melted by the heat generated!
All ten tracks have been individually wired so that I can use a MERG kit for occupancy detection. It is not fully working, just waiting for my control panel to be finished so I can mount the LED's. All 8 points are operated by MERG decoders currently controlled by my ECoS. I had planned on using the MERG encoder to control the points, but am going to wait and see how the new layout control bus (CBUS) develops before going any further with the electronics. THe next picture shows some of the electronics mounted on top of the board for now, the accessory decoders are mounted beneath it:
The end of the fiddle yard will comprise a cassette setup for swopping and turning locomotives. I have bought the aluminium angle for this, and cut the plywood bases to size. Once this is complete I will be able to mount the board in its proper position.
At the end of the left hand board that will contain my depot, I am going to construct a locomotive workshop using the marklin traverser from the previous thread. I am currently constructing the workshop building from a DPM kit. It can be seen on my workbench below and also the proposed track layout for the loco and carriage workshop area.
And finally, a have a somewhat unusual storage system for my layout. An old thread wrack from a long closed department store! I removed every other shelf to allow for the height. It works very well. Currently most of my stock is in storage so it is pretty empty:
Well thats it for a while as my final exams are in May I won't have too much time for the layout over the next two months.
Hope you enjoyed the photos,
Rob
