[silky_jack]

Hi all,

Right, I have decided to extend my garage layout from 10x4 to 14x4 with a 4x4 dog-leg. I have decided to keep it in the garage and also to use cork underlay. So I thought I'd drop you some inititial photos.

This could be a long build as I now have a 4 week old daughter to go with my 3yr old son....so time is a luxury to be honest!

This is what the layout used to look like:

I have then turned it around (which wasn't easy and moved it onto the back wall:

I have started to take the track up and these loops will be extended out, with the outer loop dog legged left.

The new base boards waiting to go down.

Here's my brand new Bachmann Class 56 loco having it's first little run....I couldn't resist!

 

[upnick]

Great layout so far Ian

look forward to seeing the extension to it

 

[FUNGUS]

Great starter for 10! How much garage are you going to take over?

 

[Spud Murphy]

nothing else matters now! your are quite simply a legend! Volvo S40 Super Touring car pictures on the wall, youve rocketed up in my estimations!

BTCC FTW!

 

[silky_jack]

QUOTE Great starter for 10! How much garage are you going to take over?

Erm, well that's a good question. The fact is that with theexisting train set in there, it means I can't get a car in there....so I thought, "well I may as well take up more space then". Basically I reckon about half will be taken up in total.

QUOTE nothing else matters now! your are quite simply a legend! Volvo S40 Super Touring car pictures on the wall, youve rocketed up in my estimations! biggrin.gif BTCC FTW! biggrin.gif

Ha ha ha - I wondered if someone might comment on those! They are from the glory years of the BTCC and if you notice the right hand one is signed by Mr Rickard Rydell himself....that was the year he went on to win the driver's championship and the Bathurst race too. Gotta love them Volvo touring cars! I used to love the 850 too.

 

[silky_jack]

This is the plan I was thinking of. The first pic shows the main level of the layout:

And this pic shows the raised area at the back in light blue. It then slopes down under the baseboard (in red) to a fiddle yard underneath, then back up to the new extention, eventually crossing over the main line.

 

[silky_jack]

Well....been working on the framework for the extention this evening...still a long way to go.

 

[Chinahand]

Looking good Ian. It won't be long before you have it running ALL the way round the garage.

I reckon you've just embarked on the new extension to get out of nappy changing

Incidentally, how do you plan to get access to the low level fiddle yard when a train derails down there ?? Murphy's Lay says it will happen.

 

[silky_jack]

QUOTE Incidentally, how do you plan to get access to the low level fiddle yard when a train derails down there ?? Murphy's Lay says it will happen. ohmy.gif

Hi Trevor,

It's not going to be easy, but I should be able to reach ok....I just hope it won't happen too much!

 

[silky_jack]

Right, some small updated...nothing very interesting i'm afraid. But at least there's some progress:

The baseboards are finally going down!

This one gives you a good idea of what the size of the layout will be like:

 

[silky_jack]

A bit of slow progress to the new extension section:

This is the framework for the embankment.

Now for an experiment....after buying plaster modrock rolls when doing the tunnel, I found that was an expensive option. So for these embankments I am trying layers of kitchen roll dipped in 50/50 water/pva mix. No idea if it will work ok....will see tomorrow!!

 

[craw]

I'm sure the kitchen roll will be okay.
I,ve used newspaper instead of kitchen roll.
I also thought of getting crepe bandages and dipping
them in a plaster mix.
should be like Modrock I would think.
The layout definately starting to take shape.
John

 

[FUNGUS]

Kitchen roll works fine, Id tear it up into small triangular sectionsto avoid creases though!
Looking good.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi Ian,

Kitchen roll & PVA will work fine. Like John I have, in the past, used newspaper but with a mix of wallpaper paste & PVA.

I notice, however, that your embankment has actually become quite a long cutting which, to my mind, will look a bit unnatural and will hide the trains running along that section. I always try to imagine what the landscape would have looked like in real life BEFORE the railway arrived and how the engineers would have built the railway through that landscape. In your case, with what seems to originally have been a slope from back to front, they would have minimised the amount of earthmoving and cut just enough width into the slope to carry the track. Excavating a cutting along the side of a slope would have required the removal of about 4 times more earth than was strictly necessary.

Just a thought and I hope you will take it in the spirit of constructive advice that it is intended to be.

 

[silky_jack]

Hi all,

Some new additions to the layout:

Peco bridge - painted it and mounted it on a metal frame. Still need to add rust colour and finish the paintwork.

Painted the main hillside brown in preperation for the scatter etc.

Painted the embankment brown and then used two shades of scatter. Having never done it before, I am pleased with the result. Just need to add long grasses and bushes etc.

 

[craw]

Definately taking shape and the scenery work looking good.
I'm in the process of doing something similar hope it turns out
as good.
John

 

[silky_jack]

Many thanks John - I'm sure yours will turn out just fine. I found doing an initial coat of PVA with a brush useful for the first layer of scatter, but then second and third layers worked best by spraying them afterwards with a 1/3 water, pva, meths method. That seemed to hold it all in place nicely.

 

[craw]

Hi Ian
Thanks for the helpful advice .
John

 

[fishytrains]

Nice progress. I too have an incline and raised area. I like the girder bridge, may use this idea on my own layout, when I get to that point. Look forward to seeing more progress.

Mike.

 

[Sir Dubalot]

Hi there

Enjoyed reading your thread, great work, could I ask please if your track layout is replicating a real track or is it your own idea, thanks for posting pictures.

Best regards

Willy..............