discussion My layout in the making

[dynamite25]

I have now fitted both MDF boards to the back piece but I need to remove them so I can recess the hinges so the boards are level and I was going to cut the second one today but it started to rain,so I fitted it to the layout but I might still cut it when I remove them but I will see and the other hinged section should be refitted back on the layout by Sunday.

I will post Pictures tomorrow and Sunday is the last day to work on the layout as Monday I am away for 4 days at my sisters in Norfolk as she is moving house and we are helping her,then two weeks after that I am on holiday for two weeks in Norfolk as my parents wanted to spend our holiday near my sister as they miss her being so far away from us.

So the two weeks I have before I go on holiday I hope to have my trains running again and the lower level point motors wired up.

 

[dynamite25]

Restarted work again my layout today and got the hinges recessed and refitted them and the boards too I also screwed a 25mmx50mm length of wood to the front piece and screwed the boards to that as the front piece will be screwed to the baseboard,then I stuck the hinged section on top to see how heavy it was lifting both up and I am going to have to split both sections up as it is to heavy to lift up altogether so that is my next job tomorrow.

I had an idea that it would be heavy but not that heavy but it's better to sort it now than later.

I will have pics up during the week once I got it sorted.

 

[dynamite25]

Got it done today but just need a few odd ends sorting out tomorrow then I can lay track down tomorrow or Wednesday.

First two pics show the new MDF sheets in place with the hinged section in place.

These next two show the hinged section in two pieces rather than one long one as before.

This one shows where the upper level section has been cut so it's in two sections.

And this one is where I had to put a support piece to support the hinged section in the middle but it will be made removable so I can still get about the loft.

But once I did all that I lifted one section up and it was a lot lighter but then I ran into another problem which is when I lift the sections up to get to the track below I only have about 8 inches clearance between the baseboard and the upper section when lifted up,because the hinged section hits the rafters above so I will have to remove the hinged sections to lift the upper level up to give me the room I need to clean the tracks below and to fix any loco and it only takes me 2 mins to undo the screws to remove the hinged sections so not a big problem.

 

[Guest]

Do you have any sketches of your proposed layout? I can't get my head around all those hinged parts - if you have two levels how would you get from one to another, what kinds of gradients can you get away with in 00?

 

[dynamite25]

Hi Alan at the moment I don't have a track plan for the whole layout as the plan is always changing the only part that won't change is the hidden sidings,there is only one incline to the upper level at the moment but there will be a second one once I got the upper level done plus there will be a viaduct for the country scene side of the layout for the upper level.

The incline on the layout now is roughly 16 ft long from 0mm to 104mm but has been made in stages so the curves are flat and the second one will be the same.

The MDF sheets will have the station on and the hinged section off that will have the main lower lines on and the second incline to the upper level,and both inclines will be hidden from sight so the trains look as if they are going somewhere and not just seen going round and round in a circle.

 

[dynamite25]

I was going to order all my stuff for the layout in November but decided to order some things yesterday instead So I have ordered.

Knightwing Kits From Express Models

1xPM103 Fuelling Points

1xEXL103 Lighting Kit For PM103 Fuelling Points Kit

1xPM116 Diesel/ Oil Depot

1xPM108 Drums, Packing Cases etc

Hornby and Peco Items from Hattons

6xR603 Long Straight

4xR608 3rd Radius Curve

1xR614 Left hand diamond crossing

4xJAV/PIN Packet of trackpins

2xLK56 Loco inspection pit for Code 100 track

4xSL10 Pack of 24 metal rail joiners/fishplates for Code 100 track

 

[dynamite25]

Fitted the rest of the supports for the upper level just need to make some L brackets for the back scene out of some 2x1 timber then I can screw the boards down and cut some ply to fill the gaps in for the upper level,I had a look through all my model railway mag's today to look for ideas for the upper level and I couldn't find anything I could use so it looks like it will be sometime before I will lay any track on the upper level.

Here are some pics of the work I've done.

I have decided that my TMD will be on the left in the pics and will be 7ftx18" as the 6" left of the 2ft wide board will be for the mainlines.

Hopefully my stuff comes tomorrow so I can lay the rest of the mainlines on the lower level.

 

[dynamite25]

Got a bit of work done on the layout while I still wait for my stuff from hattons so I put some supports under the MDF sheets in the middle to stop any sagging but didn't take any pics of that as I had stuff on top of that part of the layout,I also hinged the smaller section so it hinged down out the way so I can walk pass to the other side of the loft but I need to get some things from wilkos to finish it off.

And this is where I am altering the track for the hidden sidings so they are separate so I have the four long ones for the outer loop and the four short ones for the inner loop,also so I can have the trains running in different directions so I have an up line and down line on both levels but can't finish it off till I get my track from hattons which royal mail still have it.

 

[dynamite25]

This has been a boring two weeks as I haven't been able to do much work on the layout as I am still waiting on stuff to arrive from royal mail and will be two weeks since it was posted,but once there arrive I will be straight into the loft to get the track laid and trains running on both lower lines if and when they arrive just hope it ain't another week.

 

[dynamite25]

Well I can now start back on my layout after waiting two weeks for Royal Mail to deliver my goods from hattons and here is two pics of the stuff I ordered.

Items from Express models.

Going to order a few more things from Express Models before Christmas.

Items from hattons plus two extra left-hand Diamond Crossing I ordered the week after the first order.

Tomorrow I am buying a new soldering Iron and other bits and bobs for the layout plus some MDF primer paint.

 

[dynamite25]

Well I have finally got the track down on the hinged section of my layout and I now have train running again.

And here is a video of the trains running which is my merchant navy loco pulling the orient express pullmans and the Gresley coaches from my Northumbrian train pack and a class 47 pulling mk3 and mk2 virgin and intercity coaches.

Sorry about the poor Quality but every place I upload it to makes it look bad but it isn't on my Laptop as it's clear but if you click on the button below the video next the volume to shrink the screen size it is a lot clearer.

 

[dynamite25]

I now have my two Peco engine sheds for my TMD area that I ordered from Rails of Sheffield and I didn't think that there was that many parts to build it but will be fun to build it when I do.

 

[dynamite25]

Decided to buy myself two early Christmas Presents which are two Heljan locos one is a Class 57 and the other is a Class 47 both in First Great Western livery and I paid £89 for both from Rails of Sheffield and are brand new but were Second hand and un-used.

Here is a pic of them but only of the boxes but I will take pics of the locos when I run them in either tonite or at the weekend.

 

[dynamite25]

Right after spending an hour in the loft running both locos in I have got some photos of them.

Heljan Class 57 605 'Totnes Castle' First Great Western.

Heljan Class 47 815 'Abertawe Landore' First Great Western.

 

[dynamite25]

Work has restarted on the layout with point motors being fitted in the hidden sidings just a few more to go but need to order a couple more point motors and fixing plates,also I ordered the track for the upper level now that I have a track plan that I am happy with for the upper level and I got the track today from hattons.

And this is the track I ordered.

1 * Peco Model Railway Products SL100/B Box of 25 * 1 yard (91.5cm) lengths of Wooden-sleeper nickel silver flexible track.

2 * Peco Model Railway Products LK56 Loco inspection pit for normal code 100 track

4 * Hornby Model Railways R601 Double Straight

3 * Hornby Model Railways R606 2nd Radius Curve

3 * Hornby Model Railways R608 3rd Radius Curve

4 * Hornby Model Railways R614 Left hand diamond crossing

2 * Hornby Model Railways R615 Right hand diamond crossing

11 * Hornby Model Railways R8072 Left Hand Standard Point

1 * Hornby Model Railways R8073 Right Hand Standard Point

And here are two photos of the Track and I forgot to put the track in the second pic with the other track in the first so I had to take another.

And here is my track plan I have done and I have added the two buildings and fueling point in the TMD,and platforms in the station which there is three also the red bit is a brick wall and the long brown bits are the 3x6 beams in the loft .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/dynamite26/new31.png

 

[dynamite25]

Over the weekend I Decided to buy the wire and Crimp Connectors for the layout for the DCC wiring so I ordered.

100M BLACK 1.5MM TRI-RATED CABLE x1

100M RED 1.5MM TRI-RATED CABLE x1

CRIMP BLUE TAP SPLICE x100

CRIMP BLADE SPLICE x100

6.3X0.8MM RED MALE BLADE PK100 x1

and I received them Yesterday.

So today I started on the hinged section first by screwing two Batterns to the underside of one of the Hinged sections.

Then I screwed four Electrical blocks to the Batterns and then connected four lengths of wire to them two red and two black,then I fitted 8 Blue Crimp Blade Splices to the wires and fitted 8 red male Blades to the wires from the track then connected them to the Blue Crimp Blade Splices and tested them with a multimeter.

There are four wires on the hinged sections so I can still run trains under DC till I get my DCC system,then both sets of wires will be connected to the main DCC Bus wires.

 

[dynamite25]

Got the other Board done today and got one of six power connecting Leads fitted between Baseboards and I'll get the others done on Sunday,I also need to fix the wires to the underside of the frame work so they don't hang down to much.

 

[dynamite25]

Didn't think I would have one this soon in my layout build but here it is a Bachmann Dynamis DCC set and a 2 Function Decoder for one of my Heljan locos.

And I am off into the loft in a bit to have a play with my DCC system.

 

[dynamite25]

Update time.

Over the last week or two I have fitted 3 of the 6 upper boards for the upper level but they will need to be removed to clean all the saw dust up and to wire the hidden sidings up but I will do that once I have got the other 3 fitted then I can do the whole end in one go,but I have two photos of the 3 boards that I have fitted and shows how much space I have for the upper level.

 

[dynamite25]

I have updated the track plan for the upper level after I noticed some mistakes on it last night and now shows part of the lower level tracks and the second incline as I didn't leave any room for them when I did the right hand curve for the upper level so I have corrected that,I have also added the rest of the baseboards that are removable from the layout that have the mainlines and incline on them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/dynamite26/newdesign.png

Hopefully if I can get the tracks wired up in the hidden sidings this week I hope to start laying track on the upper level in 2 weeks time.