Big jim's (now dismantled) 12 x 6 shed layout

[Wrighty]

Back scene looks much better. Great layout

[roundhouse]

Jim

 

Found something for you

[big jim]

quick 10 mins earlier arranging the track ready to be laid properly tomorrow, earlier in the week i'd laid the cork in position and fixed it with spray mount glue

 

the main thing i have changed is i have swapped from steel sleeper to wooden sleeper track as i think it looks better with the amount of points i have at the bridge end of the layout

 

ive shortened the platforms at the town end so i can make the curves a bit smoother in the hidden area, they dont need to be as long now i can use the hidden section to create the illusion of longer platforms

 

the points are located outside the tunnel area

 

looking back at the temporary town area

 

with bridge parapets and station front, i'll most likely make a brick wall for the outer end and use a parapet at the other

 

as i have mentioned before i got a drive through from c and m which im going to place at the bottom of the bridge

 

i also mentioned the area was under junk last week, well this is the junk!

major sort out to be done!

 

with a few items of rolling stock in position i think it will look good once i get round to securing everything and starting the scenics on that side

 

 

drivers eye view of the station approach

[Pete Harvey]

Jim

 

If you add another siding next to the bay head shunt you could still shunt while the bay is occupied.

 

Just a thought.

 

Pete

[big jim]

I did think about that but i can use the bi-di mainline platform as a turnback when the tanks are in the bay

[big jim]

productive day in the shed today before work tonight

 

first up i fixed all the track in place (bar the shed and oil sidings) and got power to it 

 

jumped the power from one track over to the next, this end gave me power as far as the points at the shed end, a bit rough and ready but its going to be under the town area so doesnt need to be hidden below boards

 

this end i took power from the mainline in front of the signal box to the bay platform and sidings which feeds back to where the removable section fits in, from there i ran a wire below boards to the outer track and voila, the whole lot powered up, with no shorts and no dead spots

 

so once that was done i marked up the wall for the batons for the town, i measured them to the height of the top of the Bachmann low level officeblock

 

and fitted the batons

 

then amazingly i found a piece of ply exactly the same size as the piece of foam board i'd used to try out different ideas, i'll add more legs to the outside edge when i fix it in place properly 

 

then using that piece of foamboard i played about with a few ideas again, i'll most likely use it as the backing anyway

 

 

 

and with the wet and dry road in place, i'm going to make the road go "off scene" to the right of the book shop and have a row of trees along the rear wall as if the public space/park continues on futher beyond the 'bus lane' road, that a while off yet though

 

with the platforms populated with trains its starting to take shape nicely

 

now i need opinion on this, the wills flexigirder here is from my removable section bridge i've nicked to see how it looks

 

the question is would you get a bridge that looked like that, brick underneath the girder?

 

obviously its just stuck to the front of the foamboard in the piccie but i would be cutting it back into the foamboard if it is prototypical, its a bit like the bridge i did on the other side, something just doesnt look right with it!

 

i could add proper parapets to the platforms if that makes it look better, however would i need steel angle type beams directly above the track holes, below the stonework, effectively giving me a narrow course of brick/stone between the flexi girder and angle girder or could it just be brick/stone all the way down from the flexi girder to the hole

 

and the other side of the layout has risen from the dead too!

Edited August 28, 2015 by big jim

[d winpenny]

really coming on nicely jim

 

David

[big jim]

Bit more done this morning

 

First up, cut out some more terraced houses, placed temporarily on the layout

 

Then i added brick paper to the town area, ive stuck it to the foamboard which i'll mount to the ply with velcro dots so i can get into the tunnel to clean the track etc

 

 

I passed under a bridge in walsall last week that was the perfect prototype to what i was trying to achieve here, basically i wasnt sure if it would be brick with the steel girder above or vice versa, anyway it was vice versa

 

And with the brick paper and platform column added

 

Then i went back to the other side of the layout and turned the low relief warehouse round so it is on the other wall, i had to trim the retaining wall below the houses back by about 5mm to allow me to move the bridge parapet slightly so the warehouse could fit

 

Then I could add some brick card into the tunnel mouth on the back wall

 

So with the building moved the other way i ran the 'road' down to ground level along the rear wall

 

Then i can have a medium high wall along the back wall with a gateway into the back of the factory, the bus is just there for sizing

 

Getting there nicely now

[The Stationmaster]

Good to see you making proper use of your Rest Day Jim

[Swifty11]

Really nice work! Looking good!

[big jim]

Good to see you making proper use of your Rest Day Jim

for once!

 

Kids back in school today, peace and quiet and some 'me time'

[Marcus 37]

Hi Jim

Layouts coming on in leaps and bounds mate. Really start to come together now with the Scenics progressing nicely.

Good to have a chat and a catch up the other night. Speak again soon.

Cheers

Marcus

[big jim]

Little job for the afternoon, as i mentioned the other week i bought myself a download 'office backs' card kit from scale model scenery which i printed off last week and mounted onto some card (cereal packet) and i decided to have a go at building it today, the original kit is for a 3 story office block but i needed 5 storeys so i printed off a complete kit and some extras to extend upwards

 

The result was this, As you can see ive cut the bottom of it off so i can place it on the layout,

 

its only about 5mm thick so fits nicely behind the platform wall

 

2 storeys are below the town road level and 3 above it, ive adapted the windows on the top half as the bottom row have anti burgler railings printed on them, not much point 3 storeys up!

 

The next stage is to print off another 2 kits and extend the whole thing another kit long, possibly even 3 kits long, then it will revert to 3 storeys towards the depot end of the station, im thinking once its complete to brand it up as a tesco local or similar town centre supermarket, shop floor on floor 3 and storage rooms below etc

 

Edited September 3, 2015 by big jim

[class"66"]

Some more very nice work Jim...

[big jim]

ive just realised something looking at the pics, the top right window column is upside down, the blinds are going the wrong way and the windows are slightly out of line to all the others

 

i've just printed off another 2 sets of buildings ready to extend and i noticed, just as i was about to start printing that the printer had, by default set the size to "shrink to fit the page" so i honestly dont know if i've printed the existing building slightly smaller (97%) than the one i've just printed, i wont know until i get back in the shed and compare sizes, if they differ i'll have to print another 2 smaller sets and re-use the ones ive just done elsewhere 

Edited September 3, 2015 by big jim

[APOLLO]

 

 

the question is would you get a bridge that looked like that, brick underneath the girder?

 

I doubt you will find brickwork underneath a girder Jim. A wide span, what will support the brickwork ?. If you look at house windows there is always a lintel (type of girder) usually behind and supporting the brickwork. A bridge with greater span / weight will have the brickwork resting on a girder.

 

Your girder looks man enough for the situation. I suggest putting it below with brickwork on top. The brickwork can be either a wall or a building.

 

Here is an example - Bolton Trinity St.

 

 

 

Hope this helps. Your layout is coming along nicely.

 

Edited to add - silly me, I see you have already done this !!!!

 

Brit15

Edited September 3, 2015 by APOLLO

[big jim]

already done, see the pics above, i passed under a grider with brick on top bridge in walsall last week and that was good enough for me

[250BOB]

Next time I'm in Crewe visiting relations....I'll check to see if you are about.

 

Looking really good Jim.........now have you got some heating sorted so you can continue through the winter months,.

 

Bob.

[phil-b259]

Just a thought, the exit from the depot to the platforms is lacking any form of trap points protecting the running lines from unauthorised movements off depot. Not easily solvable with the space available and track layout you have chosen - and as the layout is built for your enjoyment it may not bother you. Nevertheless it might be worth having a think about it before the area concerned gets the full scenic treatment.

 

Otherwise its looking good - thanks for sharing your progress with us.

Edited September 6, 2015 by phil-b259

[big jim]

Not any room for trap points as you say, there are quite a few things on the layout that aren't exactly prototypical such as the train leaving the station and returning back through it again in the same direction a few minutes later!!

 

Typically thiugh ive put some catch points exiting the yard area but forgot to add a point motor hole so they are just sat there cosmetically, the problem being you cant see them from normal viewing angles

[big jim]

a bit more done today, couldnt go out anywhere as both of my cars are broken so i locked myself in the shed and did a bit more

 

earlier in the week i printed off a sheet of coping stones i downloaded from modelrailwayscenery.com, you basically cut them into strips to what ever width you require 

 

i also libirated a number of wooden coffee stirrers from a local fast food restraunt

 

to which i glued a strip of the copings

 

scored the edge, folded the sides down and glued then stuck them to the top of the retaining wall by the low relief houses, looks much better than the plasticard i'd previously used

 

i'm going to use them for the retaining walls around the high level town and the bridge down etc, the beauty is i can make them whatever width i need 

 

i then went on to the 2nd part of the low relief offices, as i suspected the original print had resized and was smaller than the one i printed the other night, i adapted it slightly and its not too noticable 

 

the print quality of this one isnt as good as the first for some reason, however the colour is better in my opinion and its not come out as glossy which is a bonus, the problem being is this print is very easy to scratch and scuff compared to the first as you can see by a few white marks on it 

 

and joined to the other piece, still got a few bits of fine detail to add such as the 'flashing' in the middle of the building and window sills

 

and in place

 

 

i also downloaded my first item from scale scenes, this time ive gone for roads and pavements, i've not printed the whole elements off, just a few to see how they look but there are extra elements with bus stops, taxi rank etc

 

 

just plonking some of the elements down you can get an idea of what you can achieve

 

similarly up the top

 

you can cut out individual elements

 

and place them on the road

 

i'm liking this set up when i get round to that part of the scenics, put a bit of an angle in to avoid everything in that corner being square

 

basically a wide pavement in front of the station entrance and a bus stop/drop off area on the other side of the road with a one way exit heading off scene, the centre piece could then be the park/green area i mentioned, or possibly even a few small buildings  

 

there are a couple of ways the road elements are laid out that are a bit annoying (in case mr scalescenes is reading this!) for example a piece of plain road is on the same sheet as a one way street element with arrows on both sides of the carriageway, so to print that off i have a wasted road element (without modifying it), 2 normal pieces of road on one sheet would be far more useful, possibly even a junction or crossroads element would be handy

[big jim]

So a couple of jobs...

 

First up epoxy'd a brass tubular section to the removable section to replace the damaged PCB, got to remove the old solder from it and redo it once its in situ to make sure the track is correctly aligned

 

Then i laid the cork in the depot and fixed in the points and track ao thats that bit done now

 

Then i slotted in the removable section and had a play

 

Overview of the whole layout, starting to take shape nicely now

Edited September 7, 2015 by big jim

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

I really like the final photo which shows an overview of the whole layout.

 

This is how I plan to have my new layout when I start putting it back up. A space in the middle for me to put a chair and to operate the trains and then the boards running around the walls. On previous layouts I have just had one whole piece of board from one wall to another but I have found this way isn't a very good use of space as sometimes there are gaps in the middle of the layout that haven't been filled.

 

How many complete circuit running lines do you have on your layout Jim?

 

I am planning on having two complete circuits on my new layout with possibly a third if there is enough room as well as some loop lines and lots of sidings to store locos and wagons.

 

The ballasting and track layout and just everything in general is coming along really well now Jim. Keep up the good work!

[7APT7]

Hi BJ

 

What great layout... here, nice progress

 

Jamie

[David Todd]

Have enjoyed reading through your thread this morning Jim,thank's for sharing.

May have missed it, but have you arrived at a decision on signal's