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The Engine Shed

50K views 173 replies 42 participants last post by  Alan D 
#1 ·
Having been on the forum a few weeks now, and joining in a few topics, I got interested in madon37's shed layout as I am doing a similar project.

The shed is 20' x 10' and all I was using it for was dumping all the rubbish we didn't want in the house. So I decided to split it in two, use the front half for DIY and a railway room in the back. I began this project over two years ago, but got really busy with work and such, and the shed once again became a dumping ground.

But on visiting Model Rail Scotland this year my enthusiasm returned I cleared out the rubbish in the shed and got to work in resurrecting the work I had previously done.

I had gotten quite far I had insulated and plasterboarded the back room and constructed the baseboards. I had also began to lay some track.

As I like to watch the trains go by I have decided on a tail-chaser, but in such a small space, I have decided to use and old idea of an inverted figure 8 design to maximise running length.

So here is some pics of the resurrected layout, I will post and explain the plans later. (they are kind of still in the development phase)



This is the front of the shed looking to the railway room at the back.





The railway room itself - sorry about the mess at the moment



Here is a neat little trick my phone can do - a panoramic view

Cheers everyone

Alan
 
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Discussion starter · #6 ·
The curves may seem a bit sharp but there is nothing less than 2nd radius in the plan. Although not prototypical the sharp curves mean longer straights for the hidden sidings and these curves should be out of sight in the final layout.

I'm using peco flexitrack and short radius points for the lower section, and hoping to use medium to large radius points for the top section where the station and goods yard will be. (If I have a goods yard)
 
Sorry you can't see the pictures. I am using Mozilla Firefox and they are showing up on that, but I tried it on Internet Explorer and I get 3 X boxes so I don't know, they are standard jpegs and should work, I've changed them to gifs can you see this?





 
I'm not sure it's about 1:30 give or take just enough to take it 75mm (2 3/4") higher than the lower level. As for woodwork skills a lot of failures over the years have helped me learn the hard way. I really enjoy working with wood having made dollhouses for my daughters, made to measure furniture for my house etc. I probably should have went down this route careerwise years ago but didn't.

I have the idea that the scenic section which will be directly above the lower storage lines should be removable to enable regular track cleaning, but if there are any derailments, I'm hoping that there will be enough room to get my hand in without taking the scenic area off.

N.B. The front part of the picture gives the illusion that the rails do not meet. This picture was taken in 3 parts by my sony ericsson phone and matches the pictures up automatically but it didn't do very well matching the front of the layout.

Cheers Alan
 
Thanks for that. I must admit I have been worrying about the gradients. I only have the gradients on the straight sections of track but so far all engines even tho they slow down, can pull a 6 coach train up the incline. The engines seem to struggle more with the 2nd radius curves than the gradient. I will however have a look at this again. and see if i can improve the gradient. Also the inclines themselves are not going to be scenic so I'm not worried about the look of them. They are purely functional to give me an inverted figure 8 for a longer run.

I am also using a Duette as the power supply, I wonder if a feedback controller would improve the performance of the engines uphill.

Cheers Alan
 
Cheers guys,

I thought though that feedback contrllers "sensed" more reistance in the motor and automatically applied more voltage to compensate. Is this true or have I been misled in the past.

Regards

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
A wee update!

The inclines are made but I've still got a bit of trackwork to do on the storage yards and a few other bits and bobs, i.e. wiring to my control panel, track, points etc.

So I thought I would try my hand at a little video to show an engine going round what track I have laid. I bought a Lima Class 20 from Ebay for a song and I thought I would use this as my subject. However this was a story in itself. Watch the vid then read on!



Oh Yes indeed! It ran very well that first day. But the second day it began to judder and stall. I was annoyed
.

On close inspection I found that the tiny gears were slipping on the axles of the driving wheels. The tiniest spot of Super Glue and a lot of swearing later ( I've got big hands you see!) It ran as sweet as a nut and I'm happy again.

As was mentioned on another topic about the Bachmann 20 I think I'm going to detail this as I got it very cheap. But that's probably a few months down the line (pardon the pun
) as I need to continue with the layout itself. So back to underlay, track pins and wire, - I've got a railway to build.

Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
Sorry for the tardy reply but just noticed your question this morning. I use the underlay mainly because I find it the quickest way to lay flexible track. The noise doesn't bother me as I find there is probably more noise from my growly lima engines than there is from the stock rolling on the track.

When I build my upper section I don't think I'll be using underlay on the higher scenic section of the layout (when I get to it) as I think real ballast will give a better appearance. I did however see in an old model railway constuctor annual many years ago a layout which used a mixture of underlay and real ballast and to be quite honest it looked fantastic.

In fact it was that particular article which really fuelled my enthusiasm for creating a model railway rather than playing with a "Train Set". I wish I could find that particular book and article now as it was I had borrowed it from the library about 1985 and had to return it. - and it was old then.

Cheers Alan
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
I haven't updated this in a while but I will post pics soon, the bottom section is now almost complete, the track laying is finished but still to wire up some points to the control panel. I will then test all my loco's on the track to check for problems, so far with the loco's I have tested I haven't found any, My wiring and continuity all seem sound.

So I will now be moving on to the upper section which will include the scenic area. I would like to set it in The green steam/diesel era and I am looking for an appropriate track plan. There will be an over track Station building to try and give the illusion of longer platforms. The whole scenic area will be higher on the one side than the other. The station being at the higher end leading downhill to a sort of townscape. But it's the trackplan that bothers me - I want 4 main lines and some sort of goods yard. and I'm currently ferreting about in my old RM's and MR's along with the late Mr Freezer's books for something suitable. As this era was slightly before my time I am trying to understand how operations were done at this time and what items I will need (Water Tower, signal Box etc). So if anyone has any ideas or seen something along the lines of the above description I would be grateful for the help.

I must say I'm looking forward to this bit. Though I don't have a lot of time to spend on it I find myself thinking about it no matter where I am or what I am doing. I'm hoping that all my thoughts and ideas I am having just now will speed up the process when I actually come to construct the upper section.

So I will update with pics soon and a draft TrackPlan for approval or disaproval whichever the case may be. I am completely open to constructive criticism and will take on board any comments. Some of the stuff I have seen in this forum over the past few months has really inspired me and I hope my efforts will inspire others in the same way. Then I will feel I have given something back to the forum.

Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Here are the Pics as promised



My view from the control well showing my old "Clipper" Rusty but works beautifully!



The control panel for the lower section now almost complete just a few push buttons for points tro add.



Some of the pointwork



View of the tracks from above



South View



North View

Hi Darrell

I'll probably scratchbuild the Signalbox as I've been researching boxes near where I live and none of the proprietry models are suitable. I Like the old Dapol/Airfix Tower - I may go for that.

Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
QUOTE I bet you are enjoying some of the test runs.. getting some stock rolling around


Well to tell you the truth I'm still getting my head around the routing and if the switches aren't in the correct order I can sometimes have two engines fighting each other for power or if both controllers are on I get some wierd results. However I'm getting there.


Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
The radius is 450mm and 510mm slightly wider that 2 and 3 at 438mm and 505mm respectively. You can actually bend flexitrack to these radii the 450mm takes a little coaxing though. The reason for the the tight curves is simple as Mr Freezer said himself it give a longer straight area which is more suited to scenery, the curves can be disguised through tunnels at one end and the overhead Station at the other.

The over head station will save on platform length too and give the impression of more platform length under and thorugh the overhead buildings.

Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #38 ·
I must say I've been pleased
with progress over the last couple of days. Work has begun on the upper section of the layout as the pics will show. A lot of thought, measuring, checking, measuring again, double checking has gone in to produce what I have now. The upper section will be removeable to enable me to clean track on a periodic basis.

Anyway here are the pics

First the upper section on it's supports. Now you can see why I built my baseboards so solidly.



Secondly underneath showing the some of the many supports needed to keep the board from warping. I believe there are about 20 on this one piece, I never actually counted.



This pic shows how the board may be lifted there is a locating dowel in each corner of the board.



And lastly a pic showing the track s-bending under the upper board, and the use of Peco templates downloaded from their site, a very useful tool.



I had actually bought this point today but having my 2 grandchildren in the model shop with me,
I lost my concentration and bought an Insulfrog by mistake, I also forgot track pins and joiners. I was too busy making sure the kids weren't pulling stuff from the shelves. So I will have to return before anymore work can continue - less the kids this time.

Cheers

Alan
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
Hey Martin

Not a lot weight involved as the board in itself has no bracing, it is merely resting on the supports from the lower boardand the 4 locating dowels keep it in place. I am hoping that the section which lifts off will have very lightweight scenery so as not to add too much weight. The main problem is lifting it off easily in a cramped space and the locating dowels are quite tight at the moment so it takes a little effort to lift it off at the moment. Although not big issues I will consider these probs and try to resolve them soon.

Cheers

Alan
 
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