Taking Stock or What am I doing!

I think it is time to re-assess my modelling. I am nearly 70 years old and still making layouts at quite a rate.  I realise this can not go on for ever, but even now I have just built three more baseboards for projects I have ‘in mind’. Added to this I have two unfinished layouts and five that are currently ‘on the circuit’,  and it doesn’t stop there, I am still involved with three other layouts that have moved on to other homes.  That makes a total of thirteen layouts, built or building over the last three years.

I have to admit that Exhibiting is becoming more difficult due to lifting etc. and if it was not for some excellent support from my wife, son, Graham and Shaun, I would have given up some years ago. Having said that, making layouts is a compulsion that does not go away, perhaps obsession is a better word but whatever,  planning and making continues.

The following layouts are 95% complete, is a layout ever finished? and are all viewable on this site.

Sefton Yard           – O Gauge Shunting Yard —– 1955 – 1970 in various eras

Low Street             -OO Sleeper Depot ——firmly fixed 1955-60

Merlins Lane         – O Gauge DCC Sound Fuelling Point —–1964 -68

Morlock Heath       – O Gauge Engineers Yard — various eras 1970 to 1995

4000yds – Area5      -SM32  WW1 ——– 1916-18

The following are layouts made by myself, but now owned by others

Norton Wood           – OO 3rd Rail Station

Norfolk Coke and Tar  – O Small Steam Shed (originally Industrial)

Ashwell Moor           – O Gauge Fuelling Point (DC)

This brings us to the current batch of baseboards and the two unfinished layouts. All un-named at present.

O Gauge Loco Depot (transition) – Complete up to Electrics – about 50% Complete. I would like to run my Industrials as an alternative.

O Gauge Station Layout (transition+) – Complete up to Electrics – about 50% Complete. 1955 to 1970 various eras and areas.

OO Gauge Modern Station – Baseboard only —- 1985 onwards in various eras and areas

OO Gauge Steam Shed  – Baseboard only —— 1955-62  various Regions.

OO – Layout based on a Diesel Fuelling Point or American HO Shunting layout – decision still to be made.

Well that’s about it – I must be mad!

I will post all progress on this site as things proceed.

 

More work on latest project

Because of a rotten Summer cold and being unable to spray with the airbrush, I have spent most of the time outside progressing the new project baseboards. I have now completed the corking, lengthened the fiddle yard by 9″ and made the back boards.

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While I was doing this to the latest layout I also added the back boards to two previous baseboards that I had made. I reported on these earlier on this site, when I joined a laser cut baseboard to a laser cut fiddle yard – sector plate. They are both the same except that they have different sized sector plates.

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That’s three new boards waiting for further progress – I also have two layouts about half completed, both O Gauge. I will do a separate post on the five layouts and what I would like to achieve.

 

And the next project is………….

After much thought and the need to do something a bit different, not another Diesel Depot, as I have said before! I have decided to make a OO Small Terminus Station that has been rationalised to a basic formation, run by mainly DMU’s

There will be three tracks, two with platform facings on a single platform and a storage siding – nothing else. The layout will be 11ft long overall with an approximate 6ft scenic section and a 5ft fiddle yard, the width is 15 inches.  At the moment I don’t think I even need a run-around

I  worked out what trains I wanted to run, and then matched the size of layout needed:-

1 Car DMU —- 2 Car DMU — 3 Car DMU

RHTT (Two Loco’s and two Wagons)

Test Train (Two Loco’s and two Coaches)

2 Car Tram (Weed Killer)

Small topped and tailed Engineers Trains.

DMU Substitute (Two Loco’s and two Coaches)

I want to run various era Modern Trains from approx. 1985 – to date. A few long-lived first generation DMU’s may appear, but generally they will be after the BR ‘sell off’ and therefore company trains. I will have at least three DMU’s for Company/Era filled out with other trains listed above.

I still have a few dilemmas about what track to use, but it will be DC as I could not afford the cost of putting sound in over thirty items, and see no advantage in DCC without sound as I only need three isolating sections on the scenic section.

Below are photo’s of the layout, fiddle yard and fiddle yard adjustable stand.

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Photo’s taken at various times during construction.

 

 

SM32 WW1 Old Barn re-gauging

Just when you thought you have finished another job comes along. Even although I made the height of the old barn to scale plus an extra mm or two, it’s not until you actually test the tallest piece of rolling stock that you find models can differ from scale.

Anyway the height had to be increased by 5mm, I decided to increase the height by 9mm, just to be on the ‘safe-side’.This is because 9mm fitted in with the stone brick formations.

I have also amended the barn side on the viewing side to hopefully enhance the viewing. I had to cut and rejoin five pieces of the remaining embossed plastic as supplies were very low and I did not want to buy another whole sheet – strangely, it worked out fine!

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