A break from turnouts

Today may have been the last guaranteed day of  no rain for sometime. With this in mind, I decided to to erect the layout outside and look at solving two issues with the setup  that surfaced at Workington.

• First being why the the support beams sagged at one end
• Second is to solve the sagging top and pelmet

I'm hopeful that I've solved both. The beams seemed to be OK, so don't know why they sagged at one end at the Workington show...but I did tighten some connections. The addition of the cantilever cable has definitely helped with the sagging top/pelmet.

It's been an excellent exercise erecting the layout in its exhibition format again. Has given m chance to hone my skill in putting it all together. While I continue with constructing the track, I now have to give some thought to the back screen. Not just to which material to use but how easy or difficult it will be to hang it from the rear pelmet. Besides the back screen, there is the lighting to consider...

Slow progress since Scaleforum

As the title states, progress has been slow since Scaleforum. Contributing factors being contracting Covid for the second time then, after recovering, having days preparing for and entertaining a few visits by friends and family.

Though we really enjoy having visitors I'm hoping the next couple will have fewer distractions. My aim is to have the layout self-supporting with both tops installed for November 16th/17th at the SolRail show in Workington. I have already have one trestle built and two of the six support beams constructed along with the top for baseboard one. Workington show is a little over two weeks away so there is still chance that the layout could be presented at the correct height with lighting pelmet installed. Unfortunately I doubt I'll have the lighting stripes installed as I'm still researching options for controlling the lighting to represent an autumnal day from dawn to dusk and onto into the evening. So for the show some sort of temporary lighting will have to think of.

Anyway, what progress has there been made? Since Scaleforum, the track for the three coal roads on baseboard one has been laid along extending the running shed roads to the baseboard joint. More chairs have been threaded onto rail ready for laying. Other tasks have been to install the pelmet support on the right hand cassette board along with solving a slight issue with the slope up to the coal sidings on this board. There had also been a modicum of progress in the construction of the Y turnout on baseboard one.

Frontal view

Looking stage left

Looking stage right

Cassette board two showing the offstage slope down to the cassettes

Scaleforum 2024

Well, I've been thrown a bit of a curved ball. I received an invitation to attend Scaleforum 2024 with Rospeath Lane. This will be a demonstration stand to promote the Society's Jubilee Challenge. Wow...that was unexpected, but I feel honoured.

This has given my schedule for the project a huge kick up proverbial...So I set about adding the extra 2 inches along the front of baseboard one. After doing so I thought I'd better check that it would still fit in the car.

Well all is good, there is space down the side for the addition of the travelling case sides...just...

Baseboard Two

Scaleforum in September 2026 is over 2 years away but I'm under no illusion that this layout is a quick build. The amount of track I have to build, buildings and scenery to complete along with converting some 20 plus locomotives to DCC makes this a big two year project. So I've created a schedule with milestones I think I have to hit to keep me aware of my progress or lack off.  At the moment I think I’m behind schedule by about a month.

Anyway I got to grips with cobbling together baseboard two over the last few days. I has taken a quite a bit of thinking about to replicate the image I have in my head. There has been much standing back from the baseboard just looking taking stock of progress and seeing if it is visually looking OK. This was mainly to do with the two slopes at his end of the layout. Eventually I've calculated that the slope up to the coaling stage is approximately 1:15 with the slope up to the coal storage sidings about 1:30. The top of the slope to the coaling stage there is flat section which might be longer than it should be. I've intentional done this so I can have one or two empty coal wagons standing there without the fear of them rolling down the slope. During an operating session they can be replaced with three or four full coal wagons.

Eventually I'm hoping that the visual interest of the layout will be balanced. The weight of the main buildings on the right will be balance with the three track elevations along with the road bridge and shed office/enginemen’s bothy building.

A slight alteration to the plan…

I’ve not been happy with the short siding at the front of the layout, it looks like bit an afterthought, which of course it has been. Unfortunately, I have no more square inches to spare of the Challenges 18.83 square feet to alter it. After remembering some layouts expanded their footprint after the previous 18.83 challenge, I wondered if I could do the same, as well as fit the whole layout in my car. In taking more measurements of the car boot, I realised I could squeeze a little more out of its width. Initially, I’d measure the narrowest width of 37 inches, which is 16 inches above the boot floor. At the base of the boot, it is 39 inches wide. So I’ve devised a cunning plan to make use of the extra 2 inches.The baseboard and track plan for the challenge. The blank area at the front of the layout offers the possibility of posting small information panels/sheets.

My thoughts for extending the siding along the side of the Running Shed after the challenge.

The inspiration for extending the siding came from a colour photo of Penzance Shed in Western Region Steam Locomotive Depots by Laurance Waters. As a result, I feel it has improved the look of the layout considerably. To achieve this new idea, I will have to add a section to the baseboard I've already built. Do not think that this will be much of a problem, being a small slither of 2 inches should not create a weak point.

Baseboard One (post 2)

As mentioned in a previous blog, I'm using plywood salvaged from the baseboards of the previous version of Rospeath Lane. I also decided to replicate the baseboard construction. I'm hoping that the two scenic baseboards will be relatively light considering their size.

Baseboard subbase being glued in postion

 

Scenic area of baseboard complete

 The area without a plywood top will not be part of the scenic area. It will be  painted black and used for descriptive text about the model.

Checking how the coal wagons will look on the sidings behind the coaling stage

My main concern during May will be getting Tredethy Wharf ready for Scalefour Crewe. The hope was to have both Scenic Baseboards built by the end of April. Best laid plans and all that eh.

Basboard One (post 1)

My initial intention was to construct Baseboard Two, the board with most turnouts on, first. Then thinking that the most critical element will be lining up the four tracks that run into the Running Shed I thought I'd start with Baseboard One. I've been taking my time laying and relating the Templot plan on the board. By doing so I realised the turntable was very close to the back edge. So, I slightly adjusted the track plan by moving the turntable half an inch towards the front of the layout. In doing so should slightly improve the visual look by giving more space for buffers on the turntable run off roads. Below is the current state of play.

Baseboard top cut to shape, hole cut to take the turntable and all holes cut for the inspection pits. Section cut out at top left is for the raised track bed for the coal sidings behind the coaling tower. I'm hoping to have the top mounted on its subbase by the end of the weekend, fingers crossed.

Progress is slow and I'm currently about two weeks behind a schedule I've set myself. The plan is to take Baseboard One to SolRail (Scalefour Cumbria) as a work in progress demonstration. By then, there should be some track and buildings in place on the board.

Goodbye Rospeath Lane version 1

I’ve eventually been able to get my new hobby room organised. I have eventually organised my new hobby room, transforming it from a storage room, filled with furniture and boxes, to a space where I can begin building a layout. First task was to take a proper look at the original Rospeath Lane baseboards. The damage was not as bad as I originally thought… Hmm…it would have been an excellent layout with potential for expansion in the future. Despite building it in two baseboards, it would be very large and difficult to transport to exhibitions. The two baseboards were more for movability during construction and also in case a house move. Even though it has moved house, with now what seems to be minor damage, I’m sticking with my decision to replace it with a more manageable size layout.

Last view of version one before being dismantled

Today has been the day I embarked on dismantling v1 baseboards. The intention is to repurpose as much of the plywood as possible for version 2. The baseboards had been designed to accommodate tortoise motors so had a frame a depth of 110mm. Version 2 will not require a frame with the same depth as I’m proposing to use Makeit Miniature’s turnout actuator. This will mean I can tidy up the cross members to a uniform size.

It's now just a pile of plywood 

None of the baseboard tops seem suitable for the new layout. This gives me a choice deciding to go with 6mm plywood as the baseboards tops or going with 5mm FoamX Board.

Before I dismantled the baseboards, I did salvage all the sleepers and rail. 

With the plywood tidied away in a corner of the room for sorting later, I made a start on cleaning up all recovered wooden sleepers.

Progress on the Two Main Baseboards

Hopefully the photos below will depict my progress over the last few days

Last few sections being glued in place on the second board after checking on the turntable for position, height and alignment

View from the front with the last fascia being fixed in place

It all looks OK, ready for the different sections for the baseboard tops to be cut and glued in place.

 

Checking all the cut-outs for the inspection pits, also the position of the boards that will support the mainline and head-shunt to the coal stack sidings

All baseboard tops fixed in place with two coats of primer/undercoat. The piece resting on top will be the continuation of the gradient up to the coaling stage.

 

 

 

Next task is to lay the cork underlay then, to gently break myself back into building track, I might start laying the sleepers and rail for the three sidings at the front.

Clamping and Gluing

The clamps I’d ordered to help with construction of the baseboards arrived yesterday, which enabled me to start constructing the framework for the first board. In an attempt to keep these large baseboards as light as possible I’m only gluing the components together, no screws or pins. On my previous layout (Tredethy Wharf) I’d glued and screwed the boards together so this is new territory for me. On these boards with the amount of joints and the supposed strength of wood glue (around 3000ppsi) I’m hoping it will be strong enough without the additional weight of the screws. The only addition I might make is adding a right angle brace of some sort in each corner of the board for added rigidity.

So I’m taking it steady, clamping and gluing each section in place, checking levels and leaving to dry before moving on to the next section. The instructions claim the glue is dry within 30 minutes but the joints are fully cured in 18 to 24 hours. I’m leaving each section for about 6 to 8 hours before moving onto the next. At this pace this framework should be finished tomorrow, when I’ll start on the next board. The tops will be cut and glued in place when the frames for all three boards are built.

Making slow progress on the first baseboard

I have made some progress on the construction of the first baseboard. Hopefully the pictures will help to explain my thoughts on how I’m building the boards. At the moment nothing is fixed in place, the books are helping to keep everything upright.

All profiles have been cut to reflect the different ground levels, with additional sections cut out for the turntable and inspection pits. The baseboard top is at the bottom with the track plan on. This is so I can position the infill sections to miss any possible conflicts with turnout wiring and TOUs. Fingers crossed I’ll get them all positioned correctly. There are just the last three infills to cut and position. This will be done when all others are fixed in place in case I have made a miscalculated on the dimensions.

Looking from the turntable end

The joint between the two main boards

It might workout OK

The shed area being flat is a good start

Mainline Gradient (1:103)

I’m hoping to start putting it all together in the next couple of days.

Baseboard construction - Part 1

 

I made a tentative start on building the baseboards yesterday. My first task was to mark the different track levels on each cross piece. All changes of track levels do seem subtle at this stage. I’m hoping that subtle changes should help to project a believable scene.

 

At the above stage I realised that the very end cross piece (furthest away in the above photo) was going under the turntable. How did I miss that on my plan? I’ve been lucky enough to acquire a GWR turntable from Alan Smith after he’d decided to dismantle and break up his Little Stoke layout.

I carefully brought all pieces out of storage and couldn’t resist installing the turntable deck to check it over. I’m looking forward to seeing this in operation. 

 

Little Stoke’s baseboard is 9mm and the turntable is mounted on a 15mm thick ply underneath to allow for the turntable pit. It’s a solid piece of modelling and therefore a little on the heavy side. Unfortunately, after mulling the options over, I think modifying it would destroy what is a good working turntable. With that in mind I decided to accept its solid construction and move on to how I’m going to install it into the baseboard.

I was not surprised that the former track positions on the turntable board don’t match my plan; it would have been a slim chance if it had. That will be one modification that I’ll be able to match without causing any irreparable damage. So by ignoring the current approach tracks on the turntable board means I can align the turntable base square to my baseboard. In doing so means it would also miss the proposed inspection pit on the right (marked by the ply strip). My intention is to use 6mm plywood for the baseboard top with 3mm cork underlay which should match the 9mm of Little Stoke’s baseboard.

All seems good at this point…

Timber has arrived

Yesterday the Plywood for the sleepers arrived all 4000 of them for plain track, plus strips for turnouts. My God, this now looks a daunting task to lay all those sleepers!

Then today I got a knock on the door and found the arrival of the baseboard timber.

As traveling to the nearest decent Timber Merchant would probably be against the current Covid rules I settled on ordering the plywood online. Initially I thought about using a supplier of laser cut base boards. I then decided against this due to the track plan having some subtle differences in levels. Finally found a supplier that would cut birch ply to any size I required. Below are the pieces of my baseboard jigsaw puzzle.

My aim is to cut each piece for the ends, width and sides to the correct profile, then the longitudinal pieces will fit at one depth to brace the framework. The tops can then be cut to match the profiles and track bed with all the rises and falls. Baseboard construction will not start for a few days just to give the plywood chance to adjust to our house conditions.

Well that’s my plan we’ll have to see if my carpentry skills are up to the task.