Layouts

Gare De Brindille Blending

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Today I started to blend the front of the new fiddle yard with the original baseboard. There is a lot to do with the broken down Barn a priority. Graham has ordered a load of 16mm bricks and is actively seeking some appropriate roof tiles. It will be quite a tight schedule as this needs to be complete by September 10th when we are at the Cambridge Model Exhibition with the layout in its new form.

I also took the chance to touch in the flaked paint and replace missing ballast. Humbrol Enamel paints both diluted and neat were used.

Gare De Brindille -New Fiddle Yard

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Yesterday we added the new fiddle yard to Gare De Brindille. We now have an off scene fiddle yard, all shunting previously done on the scenic section. We also took this opportunity to clean the whole layout and patch up some ballast that had come adrift. All that remains now is to blend the colours for continuity, Graham will also be making a building, probably an old Barn to ensure exit from the layout is not through a ‘hole in the sky’.

A Fiddle Yard for Gare de Brindille

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Over the last two days I have made a fiddle yard for Grahams latest SM32 WW1 Layout. Before this fiddle yard all shunting was carried out on the visible layout, but now it can be carried out off scene. Simple construction as there is only one line, but it had to be matched up with the old ‘end board’ which is still part of the layout.

This Layout is Appearing at the Hornby Model Mag – Great Electric Show at Milton Keynes (2022)

Met three old friends today.

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Had a nice morning at the Thetford Model Railway Club Exhibition today, as a visitor. Met Terry and Bernard from the Cambridge Model Railway Club (31A) – great to see them – had a good natter. They were with a layout I sold them 12 years ago. I had it on the circuit 10 years before selling it to the lads – so the old girl must be over 22 years old and still going. It was called Hobbs Lane when I had it but Terry changed it to Hobbs Warren. Long may it continue.

Work on N Gauge Layout (26/7)

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Yet another busy day on the layout. First job today was to chamfer all the cork edging on the outside of the tracks, very happy with the result, well worth the effort.

I have sketched out various embankments around the layout and today I started to form the outside MDF boundary. The below photos show the work done so far on the first board.

Work on N Gauge Layout (25/7)

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

I am posting every move I make with the Kato track as it may be useful to others. Today I am preparing the track on the scenic sections for ballasting or should it be ballasting between the tracks and on the edges. I have purchased two packets of compatible Kato ballast to use, but at £7 a pack for such a small amount I decided to put a further layer of cork in all places that will be ballasted later to save on the amount of ballast needed. The below photographs show how I cut the cork to size, glued it and temporarily pinned it down, the pins are Peco and all are salvageable.

I intend to do a small section to see what is the best way to glue the Kato ballast down. I will use sandpaper to make a chamfer on all the cork on the edge of the track, this should help the finished appearance. You will note that I have started to disguise the wiring for the board joins.

Work on N Gauge Layout (24/7)

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

I have now finished all the wiring on the layout. All track is now pinned and glued, I have tested all options and the whole layout runs extremely well.

I really hope I can disguise the KATO oddities on the scenic sections.

As John is on holiday next week, I hope to do some renumbering and weathering in 16mm, 7mm and 4mm, quite a change from my last few weeks.

Turning the N Gauge Layout

Kelvin Barnes Uncategorized ,

Today John came down and we had a massive running session to ensure all was to his satisfaction. So that we could now start on the scenic section, we split the layout and turned it to make more room.

After turning we tested all tracks to ensure the move had not upset anything – all was fine – let scenic detailing commence.

Test Loco