Boghouses / Tŷ Bach. Two scales - one gauge

[Gwiwer]

 

Boghouses was described in the topic above.  It was shown to the public twice and that was that.  Regrettably most images have been lost in various internet crashes both RMW and external host sites.  The text survives giving some background and context.  

 

Seven years after the tiny portable layout which travelled the world in a suitcase effectively broke itself up Boghouses is set to return.  

 

Having moved last year into a typically small Cornish cottage it had been agreed that there was not space to build a layout at home.  While there is always space in theory I am unlikely to derive lasting pleasure from one of those circular displays in box files or around a plate.  After a year of travelling 45 miles to and from the nearest MRC clubroom, a distance which is somewhat inconvenient and which reduces significantly the time I can actually spend working there, it was suggested to me recently that I could, perhaps, after all have a small layout in the equally small room - technically a single bedroom - which I use as an office.  

 

It has to be small.  The space is 226cms by 26cms.  Just enough to build an N-scale end-to-end with a small station at one end and an equally small DMU-length run-off at the other.  And just enough to re-create Boghouses using similar scenes to its first life.  

 

However I can also be a bit clever.  By building reversible back-scenes and with judicious use of swap-out structures I can also build this as a OO9 layout and run the stock currently seen on Porthgarrow .  With a few additions such as a wider variety of goods wagons and some "bug box" coaches for the occasional passengers.  Given the availability of RtR OO9 items the theme is likely to be Welsh.  The name Tŷ Bach has been chosen literally meaning "small house".  Or colloquially "bog house" or similar.  Thereby matching its N-scale counterpart in style if not in substance.  

 

Porthgarrow is two gauges in one scale.  Boghouses / Tŷ Bach will be the reverse namely two scales with one gauge.  

 

As most of the scenic material for the original Boghouses was Scalescenes downloads which I still have on file these should be easy enough to rebuild.  Tŷ Bach will be all new.  

 

The brick s**thouse featured prominently on the original layour proudly bearing a very battered sign reading "British Rail - Boghouses" will of course return!  

 

The boards arrived today.  9mm MDF braced on 1x1 pine will do for a small plank running above the desk.  So long as the work area remains free of supports there is no problem.  And in due course I can play trains indoors once more without having to drive through all that traffic which today took me 90 minutes.  I shall maintain my presence at Hayle Railway Modellers as Waddlemarsh is being rebuilt there.  

 

This is an additional project.  

 

[Gwiwer]

So we now have a track plan.  And an outline sketch of what goes where.  Not to scale but with a general idea of size and shape.  One of the interesting possibilities which arose during the drafting of this plan is that with very small rolling stock and despite the restricted space I can potentially have a split-level fiddle yard.  That will allow a bit more space for both gauges and may mean I can keep both sets of stock on the rails at all times. 

As one views the layout - probably by sitting at my desk - the station will be to the left.  There is slightly more width here and a small station can be fitted in to accommodate a 2 or 3-car N-gauge train.  For OO9 the N-gauge platform height will be fine as the "bug-box" passenger coaches to be used have ground-level steps for entry.

There will be redundant track beds just as there were on the original Boghouses and ancillary buildings will be "swap-out" to suit the two scales and different themes but using the same footprints.

The crossover will sit midway along the board and will therefore be above the computer.  All the points could be manually-worked but the intention is to power them up.  The main line then vanishes at the right-hand end where again there is rather more space and a wider, curved-edge, section of board can be used for the fiddle yard.  That will hold 2-3 tracks each long enough for an N-gauge loco and four (possibly more) of the "Megabox" bogie freight wagons to be used.  Those will be more than sufficient for the OO9 trains.

The "Tip Road" which will be the destination of the N-gauge freight known as the "Boghouses Waste Dump" can equally be used as a loading / unloading area for quarry trains in OO9.  Behind that there is space for a rising single track which will lead into the OO9 mountains and give reason for the quarry trains to be there at all.  As with various Welsh mountain railways these will accommodate passengers on demand so while the trains might be all skips or all slate wagons some will include the passenger coaches.  That track will simply vanish into the scenery as though disused for N-gauge operation

In case it cannot be read from the image the basic plan of operation is that the N-gauge passenger service will be a DMU simply shuttling in and out while the freight will arrive, have the wagons shunted by an "08" shunter and those then returned to the station where the loco can couple to the leading end and take them away.

The OO9 train will come down the mountain into the station where a second loco will come off the spur and shunt the stock as or if required before leading it away down the main line.  And vice versa.

 

The station will of course be named "Tŷ Bach" when the OO9 theme is being run.  

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Wood has been cut. And measured twice before doing so 😂

 

The layout will be built along the wall shown and above the computer screen so fully 130cms from the floor. 
 

The wide shallow-angled return will be the station end; the narrower return with the small curved section will support the fiddle yard. As there is room for about another 20cms on the return this will be fitted with an outrigger panel to maximise storage length. 
 

[009 micro modeller]

This all looks very interesting. When I first started reading this and the old Boghouses thread I thought it was going to be one of those small continuous run layouts with a dividing backscene, with 009 one side and N the other, but this arrangement actually seems more interesting and impressive. I might have missed this but how do you plan to space the tracks on the double track section? Some of the 009 stock is likely to be too wide for a normal N gauge spacing.

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

how do you plan to space the tracks on the double track section? Some of the 009 stock is likely to be too wide for a normal N gauge spacing.

The spacing is defined by the crossover which is N-scale.  The 009 stock currently in the collection will pass; the unknown is the yet-to-be-collected bug-box coaches.  The existing Peco passenger coach is at least as wide as those however and will (just) pass one of the Baldwin steam locos on the adjacent track.  

 

It will be a "one train working" operation.  Not literally one engine in steam as a shunt move using a second locomotive will be needed but two trains will not be required to pass each other on the double-track section.  

[Gwiwer]

A statement of intent.  And a line-up of some of the rolling stock for use on this / these new layout(s).  OO9 and N side-by-side for comparison and OO9 stock on two adjacent tracks to determine what, if any, issues there might be with passing trains.

 

The Peco open passenger coaches will not pass the bug-boxes nor the Baldwin locos on the adjacent line.  No matter - they won't have to.  It will be a one-train-working operation and the tracks will be farther apart closer to the station where shunting might mean things have to pass each other.  Those slate wagons are tiny!  Much smaller even than the V-skips.  I must admit that having seen some (there is one preserved at the Launceston Steam Railway for example) they are very small indeed.  

 

The options exist to run passenger, slate, mined stone or general freight trains.  Or any combination.  The Baguley-Drewry diesel loco is much narrower and will pass anything on an adjacent track.  I may invest in a second.  Despite having a goodly number already I might also invest in some of the newly-released green V-skips for a bit of colour variety.  All so far are brown and heavily rusted to boot.  

 

All the wood is now here but construction - which of necessity makes noise and dust - is on hold for ten days while Dr. SWMBO works from home for a time.  The flip-side of that is once she returns to London I then get ten days to myself.  

 

The N-gauge stock will be the same as was used on the original Boghouses layout but may be added to selectively if the right items happen to become available.  I am thinking of the "reversed" grey/blue class 108 DMU for example but which in turn would require me to source a train-load of HAA wagons and suitable traction to match the time period

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2 by Gwiwer

[009 micro modeller]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

A statement of intent.  And a line-up of some of the rolling stock for use on this / these new layout(s).  OO9 and N side-by-side for comparison and OO9 stock on two adjacent tracks to determine what, if any, issues there might be with passing trains.

 

The Peco open passenger coaches will not pass the bug-boxes nor the Baldwin locos on the adjacent line.  No matter - they won't have to.  It will be a one-train-working operation and the tracks will be farther apart closer to the station where shunting might mean things have to pass each other.  Those slate wagons are tiny!  Much smaller even than the V-skips.  I must admit that having seen some (there is one preserved at the Launceston Steam Railway for example) they are very small indeed.  

 

The options exist to run passenger, slate, mined stone or general freight trains.  Or any combination.  The Baguley-Drewry diesel loco is much narrower and will pass anything on an adjacent track.  I may invest in a second.  Despite having a goodly number already I might also invest in some of the newly-released green V-skips for a bit of colour variety.  All so far are brown and heavily rusted to boot.  

 

All the wood is now here but construction - which of necessity makes noise and dust - is on hold for ten days while Dr. SWMBO works from home for a time.  The flip-side of that is once she returns to London I then get ten days to myself.  

 

The N-gauge stock will be the same as was used on the original Boghouses layout but may be added to selectively if the right items happen to become available.  I am thinking of the "reversed" grey/blue class 108 DMU for example but which in turn would require me to source a train-load of HAA wagons and suitable traction to match the time period

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice - I like the weathering! It does also emphasise how wide the bug boxes are, I suppose on the prototype their very low height helps to make that possible.

 

On 24/07/2024 at 12:45, Gwiwer said:

two trains will not be required to pass each other on the double-track section.  

And in case you needed a ‘prototype for everything’ justification for this, we have a short double track section on Mail Rail which is signalled such that trains never pass there (they would just about fit but any kind of door swinging open etc. would cause problems). And I’m sure there must be other examples on other prototype narrow gauge lines.

[Donw]

Hello Rick

I remember very well the original boghouses and talking with you at SWAG.  This looks very interesting coping with two scales will be fun. You could go for the track being covered in ballast as on some early lines to disguise the incorrect sleeper spacing or just ignore it. 

I probably have a similar space to you in the indoor railway room and am building a small portable 0 gauge layout along one wall. The length is 3m  but the cassttes are 1m long and I need to be able to swing them round into place so I expect about 225cm scenic front. Width is about 57cm  needed as 0 gauge is wider. I dont expect to run the 16mm NG steamer on it though. I do want to find room for a small 2mm layout though. 

Look forward to how you progress with this.

Don

[Gwiwer]

25 minutes ago, Donw said:

You could go for the track being covered in ballast as on some early lines to disguise the incorrect sleeper spacing or just ignore it. 

Plan A is the former; a well-gunked and poorly-maintained "four foot" with the sleepers as covered as I can manage with crud.  That is what I did on Porthgarrow which also uses N-scale track for OO9 trains and that largely because I could only get the required geometry and pointwork in N.  

 

The branch (OO9 only) may well end up with correct OO9 track as it would appear as a redundant mineral line for N-gauge purposes.  There is still a minor compatibility issue here as OO9 track is Code 80 and I am using finescale N code 55.  The joiners are the same so a one-off odd joint between the codes might be dealt with by shaving the base or careful rubbing down of the railhead.  Or simply as a "rough joint" if that works when trains start running.  The difference in rail height between code 55 and code 80 is tiny but so are the wheels of the OO9 stock.  

[009 micro modeller]

8 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Plan A is the former; a well-gunked and poorly-maintained "four foot" with the sleepers as covered as I can manage with crud.  That is what I did on Porthgarrow which also uses N-scale track for OO9 trains and that largely because I could only get the required geometry and pointwork in N.  

 

The branch (OO9 only) may well end up with correct OO9 track as it would appear as a redundant mineral line for N-gauge purposes.

That is what I did on my first two 009 layouts, which used N gauge set track before 009 set track was available from Peco, and before I learnt the trick of removing alternate sleepers which I’ve used subsequently (which wouldn’t work in this case as you want all the sleepers in place for N. If the branch has 009 track won’t the sleepers appear a bit wide?

[Donw]

I find card packing glued underneath solves most height mismatch just knocking off the edge of the rail ends  helps too.

 

Don

[Gwiwer]

The first of the bug-boxes and the first of the slate wagons have been weathered.  In attempting to remove the "FR" monogram from the bug-box the livery itself came away.  I have therefore made the most of this and very carefully rubbed a bit more away beneath the window frames using the tip of a scalpel blade.  The remaining coach retains its "FR" for now but this could become ER or even BR with deft application of the white marker-pen.  

 

The slate wagons are really tiny.  Even by OO9 standards they are small.  This one will be an "end" wagon in the rake as it has been fitted with a standard OO9 coupler at one end.  All intermediate couplers on this rake will be the simple hook / loop arrangement they are fitted with as supplied but which sensibly are a plug-in fitting allowing changes.  

 

The green Baguley-Drewry shunter also used on Porthgarrow's ng line is shown alongside.  I now have a lined maroon version as well making two diesels and with the arrival of "main-line Hunslet" Blanche (which may have her name removed) there are now three OO9 steam locos with the pair of Baldwins from Porthgarrow also available.  

 

Most of the track is now here.  The baseboards are ready for mounting on their legs which will be the next and slightly tricky stage as the cottage floor is far from level so each leg will be a different length.  

 

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

The woodwork is slowly progressing.  

 

I bought some screw-in feet for the legs to allow for precise levelling.  Not the fully-adjustable ones which cost a lot more but the type with a threaded shaft and rubber foot.  They even came with a drill-bit supplied in the pack in case the purchaser didn't already have one.  

 

The shafts are 7mm diameter.  The bit is 12mm 🤦‍♂️

 

I also have some angle-brackets to attach the legs to the baseboards.  These didn't come with screws so I now have to await tomorrow and a trip to the hardware shop (yes, in a town of just 4500 souls we have a traditional hardware shop) to purchase some small ones.  All those I have in stock are too long.  

 

Just another frustration and minor delay in the scheme of things.  Especially as I have today to myself and cannot progress the build.  

[Gwiwer]

An afternoon of determined, if less than skilful, woodwork has resulted in the boards now being up. 
 

The legs are attached to them with small angle brackets and are cross-braced in pairs below the half-height point. As they have to stand clear of skirting the legs are not exactly at the corners. 
 

The two boards meet with a front-to-back bearer beneath the join and both sheets of MDF glued and screwed to it. One mid-section leg currently takes the weight and rests on the desk. One more will be added on the other side. 
 

With an uneven 1820s cottage floor and a decent span across the desk getting things level was not a given. The feet will screw in or out of the legs for fine adjustment if required but it seems I have it as near level as makes no difference at the first attempt. 
 

All bearers, legs and other joints are glued and screwed to minimise distortion and damage from the occasional knock 

 

As can be seen the layout fits along one wall above the desk (which is messy today), computer, printer and weathering works. Quite a lot in a small space. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Donw]

Very nice Rick. One suggestion if the leg on the desk is annoying.  I used a triangle of ply. A vertical piece of timber screwed to the wall and the ply screwed to that to support a baseboard  without legs onto something underneath. I did add strengthening wood strips to the other two sides. Another piece of ply fixed to the other side would neaten it up. Yes it does mean two screwholes in the wall but that is easily fixed with some filler  and a bit of paint if you need to remove it. If it is a stud wall you are best finding a cross member if you can.

 

 

Don

[Gwiwer]

As I don’t yet have any track in place for the layout I took the new OO9 stock to the clubroom today for a running-in session. With some background noise from another club-member’s construction works 

 

Both locos are powering. There was no problem with the gearing causing differential speeds although without any load and starting opposite each other the diesel slowly caught up with the steam.
 

A mixed rake of various bug-boxes (and the two Peco open coaches not seen here) can be offered. Likewise freight which might be in the bogie vans, an open wagon or the tiny slate wagons. Quarrymen can ride in their grey coaches attached to the slate wagons. 
 

 

[Gwiwer]

Weathering of the rolling stock continues steadily.  

 

The bogie vans are already factory-weathered but I wanted to have them looking different rather than identical.  I also wanted the numbers (which are identical) removed.  I normally use cotton-wool buds dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove details like that but on this occasion, as with the bug-box coaches, it took a little of the livery with it.  No matter.  

 

Weathering powders have been applied and a spattered effect obtained by the use of hair-spray as a sealant.  More powder was quickly brushed over that before it dried - there's only 10 seconds to do this - and which stuck to the tacky droplets but brushed off elsewhere leaving the "spots".  

 

The tape is included for scale on these small vehicles.  

 

The one on the left is shown first in its factory-finished condition and then as weathered by me with more rust and green slime than that on the right.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

The first cork underlay is down.  

 

The track is posed not fixed but this is where the station will be and this is the approximate position of the two "remaining" tracks.  Two lifted tracks will be sited in front of these with a redundant platform between them.  

 

The two scales again posed side by side.  

 

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Weathering of the four "bug-box" coaches has been completed.  

 

These have benefitted from the application of IPA rubbed over the livery to take it down to a dull green, some of the paint has been randomly removed altogether revealing the brown bodywork beneath and some of the printed markings have been removed.  

 

A goodly coating of weathering powder has then been applied to give the required careworn and unloved look.  

 

As these, along with all the other stock, will only ever be seen from one side the side panels not visible here are not treated.  If necessary I can therefore treat them differently at a later date and run them facing the other way round.  

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

The track is laid out ready for cutting and pinning.  The backscenes have arrived ready for pasting to the card (which I have yet to obtain) and which will have to be carefully done to ensure they are reversible or - at least - easily swapped out.  I would like them to be reversible but the curves in some areas will make that tricky so two sets of scenery may well be the answer.  

More OO-9 buildings have arrived as these are more easily dealt with using resin than downloads for my purposes.  The N-gauge scenes are already on file as Scalescenes downloads so await printing, mounting, cutting and assembly.  

I plan to be a bit crafty with the canal scene.  The original Boghouses had a canal with lock and narrowboat.  All of them Scalescenes items.  In order to replicate that in the dual-scale environment I can build one canal but two narrowboats.  Canals are typically either 7-feet or 14-feet wide so the single-width canal will be a 7-foot wide one in OO-9 and a 14-foot one in N with different boats to suit.  As I cannot build a dual-scale lock that will have to be dispensed with.  Other items such as the bridge over the canal can be swap-out items.  The same footprint can be used for an N-gauge road bridge and a OO-9 footpath bridge.  Using correct scale bricks / stonework for each of course.  

The plan is also for the resin OO-9 structures to occupy the same footprint as will be used for N-gauge buildings with the latter representing structures twice the size.  

I have a controller in the loft which can be used for this layout.  What I don't have is overhead lighting so that will be another cost as things move along.