And because Westleigh is getting too big ive decided to begin a much smaller project about 7ft scenic section with a casstte fiddle yard. Its designed to go in the back of a small car and be operated by one person. Its going to be southern region but im not sure whether to have a convetional platform or have a siding and a cleaning platform. The juries still out but i have all the points so the costs of this should be less than a £100 to get to a reasonable state. Much cheaper than the £1300 of Wetbury. Richard

Wetbury Begins

Id mentioned in my previous post that im working on an N gauge project based on Westbury in the period 1990 to 1993. Ive uploaded the track plan which is 16x3 in size on 4 4x3 boards. The fiddle yards are going to be either cassettes or standard ladder yards for The east end, salisbury and frome routes. Or i might make it roundy roundy with a central operating well with seperate fiddle yards. Ive done a tot up of the track required and ive valued it at £1300 just for the scenic section, not cheap is it? Richard

Its been a while!

I suddenly thought a few minutes ago i havent updated this in a while. It turns out its nearly a year. Well so whats happened in that time . In some respects not very much accept ive built another layout. However it will look very similar to original Westleigh, why is that? Well about 6 weeks before its first show i noticed a slight hump on a board joint and it was of course, warped! So what did i do, well i rebuilt it in 6 weeks flat, three new scenic boards from scratch. Amazingly i did it with nearly 10 days to spare. Ive also changed the home board so its covered so you cant see any of the tight curves that were present on the old version. Apart from that not much else has changed really, the only other new development concerning the layout has been the control system has been upgraded to a lenz set 100 with two handsets so i now have two cabs which makes operating it alot easier. In other news my scheme to build Westbury in N is progressing well. Ive nearly got the plan sorted so i can start building the structures on the layout. Its a very long term project but its something i can do work on it when i want to so i dont get bored with modelling. I shall upload some photos to accompany this blog post tomorrow. Richard

A new update

Well i promised i would do a fuller update and here it is. Since my last post i have had to completely change one end of the layout. This being the town/station raised area. I have was having so much difficulty in doing the retaining wall that i decided i wouldnt bother for its first show and have changed it to a flat design as can be seen in the piccies. Since then i have added the foliage, some trees and the fence. The bridge has also been extended and modified to suit. Ive ordered some more Knightwing fencing so i will continue this up to the footbridge with an area of hardstanding behind the fence. I've also just finished the wiring for all the points. Although i still have the route setting for the 5 main fiddle yard roads which wont be done before the show all of the other points are operable. The only other electrical jobs is to now install some extra signals in the station area due to the extention, this will be done although i am having to replcace two tag strips as i didnt put enough capacity in the first time, lesson learnt! Anyway i hope to have more to show next week when there something to see.

Dont go away...

Literally as the title says. Ive been busy with everything and anything at the moment so i havent really had the time to update this blog as much as i would like. Having said all that i hope to put a post up tomorrow detailing everything to date and some things have changed quite drastically from what was planned. My plan has always been, make it up on the spot!

A new update for a new month....

Well its been a while again, so many things have taken over my time since update so here it is. The last few weeks, months even i have been debating to see if its possible to do hands off uncoupling. I was going to bodge a system using the tension locks but after having heard of various trials with them i decided it was the way to go. Basically my main problem was a 1st radius curve so having tried some out today they all sailed round fine. I could probably even drop it from the long to medium shank length which is what surprised me especially as i keep getting told you cant do it on less than 3rd radius, i proved that wrong! The layout was set up today and run for the first time and it all works fine. Not a single problem even on the uneven patio. This is something i wanted to get out of the way as if anything didn't work i wanted to find out as soon as possible. Ive also got my On-On-On switches courtesy of rapid and Ive also fitted some new signals to the front to protect the run round loop. This should mean the major electrics are done although i do need to sort out how many buffer stop lights i need so i can get an order off to Mr Barrow. The wiring is done for this however through the panel, Switch and onto a connection on the panel so it would be a quick job to install. I'm going to upload some video to youtube tomorrow showing it working and it up in its full size. It looks so small in a show hall but its massive at home. Still its just under 16 weeks to go now! Also for some reason it isnt putting the paragraphs in properley, i dont know why though!

Weird Posts

Some of you may have noticed three posts of utter gibberish this afternoon. Thats what happens when you let your three and half year old nephew use your smart phone! Anyway getting back to the layout. The other end of the fiddle yard has been completed. All i need to do now is to join it all up together. The only thing i need to do now is to lay all the straight tracks on the rear. They should be lined up ( i think im 2mm out) but until i set the 4 up together i cant really say for certain. Anyway just a quick one this as there isnt really very much to report.

Fiddling away

Well work is progressing on the fiddle yard. The other end is now up and tracklaying has commenced. Ive also extended the two sidings but ive left the loco headshunt the same length.

The only other thing to report is a change in location. Its now in the wessex area. My eventual plan is to fit 3rd rail to the main lines and the loop. This will mean i can add a Hornby 4Vep to my fleet. Assuming i can find one that works of course. A 4cig wouldnt go amiss either.

Nothing else however is changing as nothing needs to be changed. The only job i have to do is to add two shunt signals as the fixed signals will be off scene. Then its just a question of ballasting, flocking etc to make it look all presentable.

And im still waiting for my dynamis command station back from Bachmann Its been 7 weeks now!!

Fiddling it all

Well ive been working on the fiddle yard and have now got to the extent that one end is done. Ive used code 100 track with set track curves and points to save space. Once i cut two rails tomorrow i can start the other en and then set up the entire rear fiddle yard so i can get it all aligned. Then its wiring it all up so i can have auto matic route setting to make things easier.

Ive also been working on the other scenic break. Its difficult to describe but there is a station building along with a bus depot and a row of shops. I have a sketch of it which i will upload tomorrow. But for now youll have just imagine it all :D

Autoglym

The autoglym model number remover. Works on most models and doesnt damage paint work unless your silly with it.

Trackage

Well the Bristol show has passed without a hitch and ive now got some of the kit i need to continue on my fiddle yard. Its mainly s/h track but its all lightly used and clean so practically as new. I still have a few points left to get and the odd length of flexi but apart from that ive got most of it so i will get on with that this week.

Ive also had the chance to do some rolling stock work this weekend and have dismantled 7 lima TEA tanks for respray, denumbered and denamed a 37 and began removing the logo off the mobil TTA tanks. Ive begun using a car polish to remove the numbers and logos and found it worked quite well. Ill post a pic in the next post of the said polish but i know halfords stock. Tcut also works but is far more abrasive so this stuff is better as its less abrasive but still effective.

Anyway enough for now....

Timber!

The last few days has seen me back in the garage cutting up bits of wood into a vague attempt to sort out the woody problems. This included extending the boards so they all match. Along with building new legs and adding bracing to the exsisting boards. This is all done and has proved successful in that everything fits together. I still have the end plates to do but i shall probably do that closer the time.

The next task is to lay the track and add the wiring. I will begin from the current scenic break and work round so that i can have it in a working U shape initially. Then i will complete the last two boards to give me a continious circuit.

This means i need to consider the station again and how im going to do it as i currently dont have a clue so no change there then.

Flasher and Furniture

In an effort to finish the scenic section of the layout to a reasonable standard ive tried to get most things sqaured up. So today i fitted the last of the station furniture and did the last of the wiring (accept for fitting the two signal switches in the panel) the front section is nearly done. I might now look at the end plates for the layout as well as getting on building some more legs. While doing this i will crack on and look what the fiddle yard needs doing to it. In this case everything except the boards!

I would say im roughly half way through. There lots more to do and the clock is ticking. Better stop yakking and get cracking.

Fiddling Around

I decided to make an effort and get on with some jobs today. This has meant the fiddle yard boards are nearly ready to go and have track laid on them as they have been bolted together and aligned ready. I will take the scenic section down so i can box it up ready. I might as well do it now as it all needs doing.

One job i have to do is to build some legs for the fiddle yard. I have two legs i can widen by replacing the cross members but i need at least two more which will have to be constructed from scratch although i hope this shouldnt be too difficult.

In terms of the scenic section i have added the concrete barriers to the bus station today and stuck down some of the industrial estate details. Hopefully in the next day or two i will pack it down and do the end plates (see above) and then begin work on the fiddle yard.

Before i do this however i have also drilled the hole for the digger. This needs wiring in so i need to solder up some wires (should only take 10 minutes or so) so i can get this working. I will do this before i dismantle it so i know its done.

Anyway enough for now!

Latest Photos

Well trainwest has now passed so i thought id upload the latest photos for you all to enjoy.

Update

Well i wasnt able to get the switches but i did get some smaller details along with an ac to dc converter.
Also the last 47 needed has arrived in the form of 47975 in dutch for the princley sum of £59.99. I only need two more locos but i still have lots of dmu gaps.

Im also still considering the fiddle yard and what im going to do there but its late and another day beckons!!

Trainwest

Just a little note to say im at the Trainwest model railway exhibition at the christie miller sports centre in Bowerhill, Melksham. Some very good layouts to be seen, i also hope some of my stock will get a run. Or thats the plan anyway.

Fenced

Well fence has arrived and installed. I begun the job now of ballasting in the rear area and also sorting out the indsutrial units so they can be fitted. All being well this should be completed in a few days.

The paving in the bus station is now complete along with the platform slope. I still have the concrete barriers to add in the bus station.

Once the two sets of jobs above have been completed in terms of the main layout i can begin adding the details. Ive got two ice cream tubs of bits that came of Westleigh mk1 some of which will go on to mk2. I need to sort through and choose what i will use and what i wont.

I also need to get back to construction issues such as the fiddle yard. So far only the boards have been built so theres plenty to do but thankfully plenty of time to do it all in. Its still only 23 weeks though!

Bus stopping....

Today i did some work on the bus station. I fitted the tarmac sheet and surrounding wall and then proceeded to ballast in around that. I still have the platform to do along with the paving in the bus station area itself but if i can get the bits i will be able to finish this off tomorrow and sunday.

I also hope the fencing should arrive tomorrow. This will allow me to get on with this and finally finish it.

The to do list gets shorter and then gets longer when items related to things recently completed appear so it seems to be in a state of equilibrium.

Replatformed

Well not replatformed as such but restationed certainly. Ive decided to do away with the bridge and go back to something similar to Westleigh mk1 and have a footbridge and bus station. Once i have the continious run up together though i will be looking at putting the bridge in and hopefully by that time i should have a station building of some for or another.

Apart from that board 1 is virtually complete and work has commenced doing the back area of board 2. Im going to use the knightwing fencing and am currently awaiting its delivery. Hopfully it should be here Saturday so i could start it then. This mean i should be able to complete the majority of the layout over the weekend. It will then also mean i will need to consider the fiddle yards. But theres still stuff to do before then!