Otterston - 'L' Shape OO Layout (Construction)

[Zeffico]

Update - 2

Hey everyone, thought I would do a little update on my layout.

So since asking a few queries in the DCC sub forum about insuring my layout would be DCC compatible I've had to do a slight revision to my plan.



Due to possible compatibility problems with DCC all the proposed set track and point pieces have now been removed from my layout and replaced with Peco Felxi 100 and associated 'electrofrog' points. Overall the layout has stayed the same bar a few areas that needed revisions.

Due to installing the bracing to my layout beforehand, I had to check that I wouldn't have any clashes with point motors. Please to say my adjustments don't require me to remove and relocate the bracing



Plywood tops have now been cut and fit nicely to the frame so will be fixed in place soon and then all the boards painted in a light grey subject to passing the 'flex' test.



At the weekend I was able to pop to my local model shop in my town (lucky to have one so close) and grabbed most of the track and points required for my layout. Have to wait till more points come in stock as I'm missing 5 to complete my layout.



Zeffico

[Emettman]

Ruddy Heck, this is moving...
Make me feel bad!
(Hang on, I am bad... that's OK then.)

[Zeffico]

Update - 3

I've been luckily to have a bit of spare time in the evenings after I've finished work allowing me to do a few things before the misses gets back from her work hence why there's been quiet some progress in the last few weeks.

No promise that I will keep this pace up though I'm really enjoying the time spent on this project so far.

Last night I was able to screw and glue the plywood board to the frame. I'm also please that this morning I carried out the 'flex' test with a couple of cans of paint sitting in the middle of the boards and had minimal flex (around 1-2mm).



Just need to grab some light grey paint to seal them and smarten the frame faces up.

Now the real question is do I have a ballast shoulder using cork or have the track straight onto the board Need to think this one through.

Zeffico

[TimberSurf]

Its not the centre deflection that concerns me so much. Its the torsional (corkscrew) effect. If supported with lots of legs, bend and torsion are not an issue, it's when your manhandling it during that 'move' that worries the hell out of me. With two pair of hands it should be OKish, it's when your in a hurry and there's just you, and your grip slips and its not supported both ends..... abnormal forces will be in play that form cracks all over the place!
I just know you will ignore me, then in 8 years time, that single handed booboo will occur and you will be cursing my name for being right!
I guess rule 1 does apply here, but you carry the can as well
As for ballasting underlay, here is some additional food for thought viewtopic.php?f=15&t=49151

[Zeffico]

I should of elaborated a little more on my flex test as I also did carry out a 'twist' test on it too and that again showed little flex. Though taking what you mentioned previously and just now I might go down the route once wired up underneath installing 5.5mm plywood board with a few large openings in key areas kind of creating a solid baseboard. I hope that makes sense?

Thanks for the ballast link too, really helpful

[Zeffico]

Update - 4

Over the weekend I was able to spray paint the edges of the timber frame and plywood board to seal in any exposed edges though likely down the line I will cover them in felt or something similar.

I looked at many topics on what should be used as the track underlay and there are many creative options out there but in the end I opted for the tried and tested approach of using cork.



I'm currently working up board 1 (station) so the picture above shows the template stuck down over a couple of sheets of cork ready to be cut. Sadly AnyRail doesn't give you a option to show a shoulder line easily so I'm marking out where to cut the cork. I decided to offset my shoulder about 5/6mm off the edge of the sleepers.

This is a slow process but it does mean once done the cork will be cut neatly and the track template intact when laying the track.

Zeffico

[Fratton71D]

I'm all for this - another SR/BR 'L' shape layout!

Its' looking good and I'm really looking forward to seeing Otterston develop.

[Zeffico]

Update - 5

Hope you all had a good Easter weekend. I was fortunate to have a little bit of time between seeing family and friends over the little holiday to work on my layout.



Board 1 (station) has now had the cork underlay laid, cut and glued along with the track installed. The points have been loosely installed so I can remove them easily to allow me to drill the holes required for the future point motors and modify for running DCC on them. I had concerns over the sharpish curve in the top right hand corner but after being tested with a number of different engines I'm please to report that I don't need to adjust this area.



While I wait for my new soldering iron to come in the post I have now started to make some progress with board 2 (industrial). As you can see the cork has been laid and the layout template cut out in preparation of gluing down the cork. Near the middle of the board in the picture one of the track templates is showing a small red line highlighting a potential area that I may have running issues. This area will be worked up first and if required adjusted to ensure that my engines will run with minimal issues before progress the rest of the layout.



I know that this isn't model railway related but on the Tuesday following the Easter weekend I was given the opportunity to live out one of my boyhood dreams which was to ride 'The Flying Scotsman'. Luckily where I live I'm surrounded by a number of heritage railways including The Bluebell Railway which was hosting the engine for nearly a week. This is one of the pics I was able to get of the engine while at Horsted Keynes station.

The visit to the railway also enabled me to get some future reference photos of the track, surroundings and rolling stock for my layout when I begin to work up the scenery in the far distant future.

Zeffico.

[Zeffico]

Update - 6

Hope you all had a nice bank holiday weekend. My progress on my layout has slowed a little as I've been recently getting into a really good PS4 game (Horizon: Zero Dawn) however I have found sometime to mess around with my layout.



I've now completed laying all the track to Board 2 now and have tweaked it slightly from my original plan. I've now removed a couple of points and readjusted a couple of curves to give my engines a smoother ride.



Overall shot of my layout. I've also completed the track laying between the two boards and insured that there was no movement in the track as well as being level to prevent any derailment problems.



Popped to my local hobby shop and picked up a brand new Bachmann E-Z Command controller they've split from a set. Being eyeing this controller up for a while as I've been reading that this is the perfect controller to get into DCC and the price was spot on. Also picked up a few decoders from Hattons to start getting my engines ready for DCC.



As well as the decoders, I picked up this Hornby R3314 Class 4F. I've got quite a soft spot for this engine and overall I'm really pleased with the engine especially only paying £58 for it (wouldn't pay full price for it). However I feel the engine has been put in the wrong box and should be part of the Hornby 'RailRoad' instead of the Hornby 'Railway' range. Its just lacking the detail you would expect from the 'Railway' range.



Lastly, I had a little time to kill yesterday before our film showing time at the local cinema so we popped to Hobbycraft where I picked up this Woodland Scenics landscape kit. I've seen this kit get mentioned a few times in this forum so I thought it wouldn't hurt get this especially not having any experience with modelling landscape.

Next step is the wire the layout up for DCC.

Zeffico.

[TimberSurf]

Great progress!
Are you aware you can run one DC engine on that controller on No. 10?
it's not recommended to leave it on track for long, but could help you test track before you chip the engines

[Zeffico]

Thanks Timbersurf, your comment is much appreciated.

You've probably noticed that I took your advice and lost a couple of the points on Board 2 (industrial area) as they become pretty pointless (no pun intended ) and were lost in this loading area. Means 2 points less to wire up too and a little saving!!

I did notice on the controller and the instructions (*gasp*........actually read some instructions!) about the DC mode on channel 10 though like you mentioned and others its not recommend for a long duration. Luckily my 'Thanet Flyer' train set came with a Bachmann DC controller which seems decent enough for the job to run my engines. I also noticed it can be connect to my DCC controller too.

[Bufferstop]

Hi Zeffico, I've just got round to taking another look at this thread. Your photo of Scotsman is brilliant it almost looks like a model. I think it's a combination of the strength of the sunlight, the angle and depth of the shadows, a slight lack of definition on the front of the loco, and the static posture of the three staff in their orange vests. Looks like it was a great day.

[Zeffico]

Hi Bufferstop.

Glad you liked the photo especially considering it was taken on my new mobile phone (LG G5 - surprisingly has a decent camera) and hadn't have the time to play around with settings beforehand. I will say the best photo I did take on the day was of the Maunsell S15 Class No.847 with associated carriages at Sheffield Park station.



This is a great photo for using as a reference for the track dirt, surrounding buildings, etc.... in a station environment.

The Bluebell Railway especially the staff/volunteers put on a great show and we were so lucky with the weather that day.

Sorry all for going a little off-topic.

Zeffico.

[Bufferstop]

Good photos of the real thing are never inappropriate especially when they show plenty of the surroundings. Most of my photos are of little interest to anyone but modellers, but there's lots of odd detail in them.

[Zeffico]

Update - 7

Just a little update today on my layout.



I've now completed the wiring for the DCC part of board 1 and now looking at starting board 2 shortly. My engines have been tested on this board and all run nicely with the exception of a little stuttering in the few dead spots on the points which will be sorted once the point motors are installed and wired up. The yellow tape seen in the pics is the location for the 'Electrofrog' feed wire for the polarity switch.

Zeffico.