PERTH SHOW 2016

 I was up at the Perth Model Show yesterday.  I had a good day catching up with a lot of different people that i had not seen for while.

There was one or two new layouts, most i had seen before,  and for my scale there was not a lot selling wise to buy, so my Wallet didn't take as big a hit as it did at the show in Glasgow.

This small On30 layout caught my eye as they were using real water for the waterfall along with a mister at the bottom of the fall, was very well done.  But i am not sure the guys in the boat enjoyed it much......

So on to my very least favorite part of the Hobby, wiring is the Wiring. I managed to finish the last point on the layout, so they are no all wired up.  I have made a start in running all the track droppers to Copperclad ready to take the Power Bus.  I am using the Gaugemaster Seep PM1, I find them to be very cheap and very easy to use.  Next steps will be lay a few more lengths of track then i need to sort the bridges out.  I picked up a few Detailing parts, some people, animals and Windows and Doors.  Along with some ballast.  

Track Laying and Point Wiring

I am off to Perth Model Railway Show tomorrow....

I can't believe it was a year ago at this show that i bought the first lengths of track and the points i am now just getting around to fitting.
Talk about slow progress...

 Well a lot has been happening over the past few weeks,  i have a lot of the papermashie base on, and i have now finally started to lay track and fit points.

I had some help working out the wiring as this is my least favorite part of the whole model railway experience.  But i now have a very easy to follow wiring diagram and a colour system to follow.

 Over the past few days i have managed to fit 2 points, The first on the bottom of the layout at the back.  With will be my take off/put on track.  and because i am using the ECOS system it will also be my Programming track.  This will be the only point on the layout that is under the layout, with the rest being placed directly under the point.  This part of the layout was not on the original track plan, and was added only when i came to lay the track in this area.


The Second point i have fitted Takes you from the main loop up to the big white hole, which will become my Turntable pit.  I have fitted a clear piece of plastic card between the point motor and point, this will allow me to ballast around the point with out fear of affecting the motor.

There is quite a few gaps between the rails where i have soldered the droppers to the underside of the rails.  once i have played with the trains for a while or to give its official name 'test run'  i will add these in where needed.

I have a small shopping list of urgently required items for tomorrow, a right hand point, ballast mix, and some coloured wire.  I am also hoping to pick up some people and bits of scenic's but i shall see how things work out.

Anyway i am very happy with the Progress so far,  it seems to be moving along well.

Yes that Is Track you See........ (Track Laying)

Well i took the leap, i have been putting this off for ages scared i might make a mess of it.  But finally the first 2 lengths of Track are down.

I now have all the Landscape base in place, and before i could do much more i needed to have the track laid where it will disappear into the Tunnel.

I drilled two holes in the baseboard to drop the wires through, and soldiered the wires to the underside of the rails.

Once i have  the ground cover and ballast in place these will not be seen at all.

I laid the Track using PVA (white glue) on to the cork base.  Using Panel pins to help hold the track in position and weighted it down with anything i could find. (My drill, some spray cans and a bottle of Limeade..)

                                                                              At both ends of the track will be a point so that is the next stage for me,  I need to look out the wiring diagrams  for the point motors also. once i am happy with the track position i will add the extra sleeps in to close the gaps up.  

I hooked up my Roco DCC system as a tester to see if things ran ok, and put my Little Porter on with a few Wagons to see how it would hand the curves and the slope.  The Porter had no problems but i think my Forney might struggle,  The Layout has been Designed to run Porters only, but i was looking for an option with the other types.  I will give it a run later to see if it will work, It might mean i need to tweek the track a little, but i would be worth it.  If i can't get the radius of the curves to work, It just means i will have to built another layout to run it......

So this is the first Video on my Porter Running up and down the track ;-)  No holding me back now.

And the Paper Mashie Continues......

AND THE PAPER MASHIE CONTINUES......

With a Saturday morning free, i managed to get a few more layers of Paper mashie on the layout. I am now at a point where i can add track to the layout and might even see a loco run around the layout before the end of the year....

 

In this last picture i have added little rock outcrops, around where the trestle bridge will be (Honest....)  Once this has all dried of course ;-)    

Paper Mashie - God i hate it :-)

So with the cracking weather we have had over the weekend, i decided to lock myself in the shed and attack the layout with a pasting brush and ripped up newspaper.









What a difference it makes to have the layout covered in newspaper,

Its starting to take shape and one i like.

Its a lot clearer on how the levels are changing and clear where the tracks are running.  This is just the first layer of paper to give me a base to work from.




The next step is to form the Scenic are where the track will disappear into the 2 tunnels after the Trestle bridge.

This is a View at the back of the layout, where the track crosses.  The plan is not to have this as a viewing side,  but this might change if i can make it look ok

The well is where the Turntable will sit when built.  Another project that needs kick started.  I am going to use an Atlas N Gauge Turntable with motor.  I am going to fit a Chip to it to allow me to operate it using the controller and then there is no need for fancy boards and switches.

Model Rail Scotland 2016 - DCC SYSTEM

Scotland's biggest Model Railway show was this weekend.  I went along on Saturday with a friend and Sunday with my little boy.

In my opinion, I found the show to be quite poor.  If you have an interest in British OO you would have enjoyed it.  The trade stands just seemed to be selling the same stock, and i found there was no real variety of scales and scenic s.  A lot of the layouts I had seen before and most of them had Model Rail Scotland Badges from previous years.

There was a few nice layouts,  One stand out was The Raven Group American On30 backwoods layout.  The snow affect has been done very well, and the weathering on the loco's i was very impressed with.

One good thing about the show for me, I was able to pick up my DCC system i will be using

The Ecos 50200

I had the chance to operate a layout at the show using this system, I found it very easy to control the Locomotives and find the different functions.  The full colour touch screen shows everything you need at a touch of a button.

I now have a lot of reading to do, to understand all the functions and how i can operate points, and other parts of the layout through the system.

I also picked up a bachmann 2-4-4 forney outside frame second hand from a layout that no longer required it.  It has been very nicely weathered.  I am hoping this will run around my curve to get onto the Turntable, if not it may just do a little loop around the track every now and again.

The build up of polystyrene is progressing, the layout now looks like a Xmas cake.  I have the base level set for the Turntable to sit on, and i am starting to build the rock sides up.  Its a slow, messy process but i get see it starting to take shape.

Risers in place, and Turntable Location sorted

It has been a few months since i last posted, I have been busy in this time.  The Workshop has had a lot done to it.  I have build a 8x4 foot workbench in the middle of the room, allowing me to put the layout done on a flat surface level surface, and be able to work around it.

 I emptied the kitchen cupboards to weight, it worked very well

 All the risers are in place now, i have a bridges to build now to cover the gaps.

 The Turntable will sit here, about 7 inchs higher.  My next move is to infill the middle section to get it up to the correct height.  The piece of paper is a template for the first curved Trestle Bridge. It will be 3 inch's tall.

I am going to build a dock at the front of the layout, the piece at the front is the road into it.



A few more pictures of how it is taken shape