First steps towards new layout - baseboards/fiddle yard
Hi Folks,
I'm uploading a few pictures of the first stages of my new layout in the hope that I'll get some helpful comments.
The layout is in O gauge, and is a straightish fiddle yard to terminus idea. It is set in mid- wales in the Dulas valley, and is based on the idea that the Corris Railway was to be converted to standard gauge as per the real plan from 1873ish. The proposal approved by parliament intended to link the existing Corris route to the GWR line at Brithdir near Dolgellau. In my fiction, this line was closed somewhere north of Corris due to lack of funds, and the imaginary station I'm going to build changed from a through station to the terminus of the line. If anyone is interested in discussing the possibility of such a line and what may have happened to it that would be great, but for now, i'm going to concentrate on talking about the construction of my model.
The fiddle yard was the first task, and for this I have built a train turntable, 5' long, so that I can turn complete trains without handling them. It can pulled out on its castors when in use, and when in position to allow the trains to run it is locked in place by bathroom door style sliding bolts. I have also used these for track alignment with the neighbouring board and electrical connection to it. Hopefully the pictures will explain this.
The scenic board features the trackbed leaving a tunnel mouth as a scenic break and a bridge passing over a road. The board is constructed roughly along the Barry Norman lines, using birch ply sandwiching softwood blocks to create rigid girders integrally as part of the sides and ends.
I'm intending to use C&L track, and to lay it on their rubberised cork underlay. I'd be very interested to hear from anyone with experience of this.
My next step willl be to lay the track on the turntable/fiddle yard and through the tunnel mouth, to check that all is well with the alignment of the tracks leaving the turntable, and also to check that there are no snags with the operation of the turntable.
- 11
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