Track Planning for Jordan, Part 3

Posted on February 28, 2021 by gordy87

Well Jordan came to me and said hey how would my plan look in a 24ft x 2ft space? Theres only one way to find out eh!

This was where we got to last time in a 12ft x 12 ft space. When changing space its important to re-inspect the givens list so we checked in with Jordan.

He wanted the following

layout fed by two helices for continous running and staging underneath
Keep the yard area & round house
Station area for communter trains
Keep City feel
Try not to change the switching area on the right hand pennisula

So my first stab at chaging this I kept the yard and rotated the pennisula. the additional module in the middle is where I added the station area with platforms. Jordan approves but we can always make improvements.

Can you spot the changes??? Well yeah lets talk them through, so national biscuit has moved to one of the large warehouses behind the depot. That gives you a larger run around to serve the coal yards and brick yard. I have also added a passing siding to allow trains to avoid the yard and depot area.

Each of these modules are 4ft long and Jordan plans to follow the TOMA aproach building two modules at a time. The first two modules have arrrived and Jordan has shared this picture with me of his modules from CMR products.

Well thats it for today, the postie brought a helix and some other parts today so we can get on with some work on my own layout tomorrow.

Gordy

Its February NMRAx today :)

Posted on February 27, 2021 by gordy87

Well its our Monthy NMRAx event today so this is a wee reminder post rather than a modelling post but don’t worry i did do some modelling last night mostly re-drawing a track plan for one Mr Kramer to fit in a longer but narrower area.

Anyway today its NMRAx for those in the USA its from 2pm EST until 11pm EST with 8 hours of clinics with a one hour break.

You can watch live over on the NMRA Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHw-7-1FWB5zQgTM0ZVY-Yw

I’ll be back tomorrow with some more modelling or a look at Jordans plan being transformed from a 12x12ft space to now fit in 24ft x 2ft.

Gordy

Boards for Layout electrics

Posted on February 26, 2021 by gordy87

Ok yeah you have seen this concept before on another module but as we move to wiring up ackerville I wanted to get the board in place for the module we are now at scenery stage with.

This is just an A4 size 6mm MDF board with two hinges and a 38mm bolt

As you can see the boards are simple but have screw terminals for the feed wires so the wiring on the board to the electrical modules can be neat and tidy.

The hinges are screwed to the underside of the module frame and the board will swing down when I need to work on it and up under the layout when in normal use. There should be minimal climbing under baseboards.

I dont have all the modules yet because I don’t need them. I’ll get them when I do so for now the screw terminals will be shorted so all track feeds get power. I’ll remove them when I get the modules installed.

Here is the board swung down and you can see the locations for the electrical modules. These won’t go on yet, I’ll only install them when I have enough track down to warrant a operating session.

Well tune back in tomorrow hopefully that sculptamold we did has dried enough for some paint. It looks far too blue over there.

Gordy

Sculptamold, yes more mess!!

Posted on February 25, 2021 by gordy87

Well we are around the corner from Ackerville and heading towards Waukesha the WSOR here is decending to be level with the CN mainline for the next scene on the layout.

As you can see sculptamold everywhere but when its painted you’ll not see some of this mess and it’ll be buried under snow anyway.

Here is the transision between the main Ackerville section the lines here are curving away to the right which is the area in the first photo.

Yeah this looks like a mess but paint will hide it all. The CN is on the left and WSOR on the right.

Well thats a right mess i’ve made i best go clean it up and plan tomorrows entertainment. See you all soon

Gordy

The mainlines are in!!!

Posted on February 24, 2021 by gordy87

I took a couple of days off this week and yesterday as you say I got the backscenes into placce. Today i added feeders and cut the flex for all the main lines through Ackerville. I don’t glue my track down until its all done but today i got the feeders soldered to the rail and fitted through the baseboard with the track cut to length. I just need to add the yard tracks one evening this week and it that track will get glued into place.

looking northbound you can see whats left to do here in Ackerville

looking south the track on the mains is in as far as the corners which won’t get done until I add the sculptamold to the next board and get it painted so thats a job probably for next week.

The final shot showing a box car on the WSOR mainline about where the Highway overpass will be fitted. That track on the incline still needs to be fitted the gaps there under the roadbed will be filled with woodland scenics flex paste.

Well not sure what we will get done tomorrow possible these last few tracks in the yard or that sculptamold I guess it depends how messy i want to be after my first day back in the virtual office.

Well till next time.

Gordy

Backscenes for Ackerville

Posted on February 23, 2021 by gordy87

After a weekend of Train meetings I took a couple of days off to recover so that of course means time in the train room. I’ve had the wood in the garage for a few weeks and after playing with the snow I decided to add the backscenes to help me with the tree colouring issue we spoke about yesterday.

I used 3mm plywood and mounted an ID backscenes over cast sky photo backscene using a spray adhesive. But they come at 15″ tall which is good and bad because I needed to cut them but good because one pack now goes twice as far. There was a little excess that was removed with a hobby knife.

The boards are held in place with self adhesive magneting strip that is attracted to the supports for the upper deck and are just strong enough to stay in place but also be easily removed.

Its honestly easy to just remove and put back into place.

Then back to the trees, I haven’t done anything else to them but here they are with backscenes behind them.

I have however spotted a nice looking bush growing into my garden that might be perfect for N Scale armatures I’ll be having a look tomorrow to see if it will work.

Trees how to colour winter trees?

Posted on February 22, 2021 by gordy87

Well its all about trees I am experimenting with different things some plain out the box. Others are painted brown, grey or brown with a dusting of grey. I am still not sure what I will go with what do you think?

And here are some pictures to give a flavour of what the finished layout might look like.

Quick update on some snowy stuff on a Saturday afternoon

Posted on February 22, 2021 by gordy87

Just a few pics from me testing some snow products this afternoon. I am now upto 10 hours of Train meetings this weekend already so its really cut into the modelling time.

SATURDAY Round Up

Posted on February 21, 2021 by gordy87

Its been a really busy day, on the go here from 8am-10pm in really terrible conditions for working in the garage. Anyway I thought you’d appreciate a few shots of what’s been happening and there will be posts explaining what’s going on next week.

National Model Railroad Association Achievement Program – Golden Spike

Posted on February 20, 2021 by gordy87

This weekend its the NMRA board of directors meeting, time in the train room is likely to be limited or well none existant, but I will do my best to get more track down for you guys. This morning though I presented to the NMRA British Region about the introduction to the NMRA Achievement Program known as the Golden Spike. The NMRA Achivement program is a set of 11 certificates covering a broad aspect of skills and techniques someone would use to build a model railroad. Upon obtaining 7 of these certificates across 4 sections you earn the title of Master Model Railroader. It usually takes multiple years of work to achieve the standard necessary for this award.

https://www.nmra.org/education/achievement-program

The Golden spike is an introduction to the program, its about doing the work rather than being an expert in it. If you complete the award you will get a certificate and are probably well on your way to completing one or two of the more in depth AP awards that exist. Below are the slides from my presentation and a PDF version at the bottom if anyone wishes to use this for reference or to present themselves. More information can be found on the NMRA website https://www.nmra.org/golden-spike-award