Frankland

[sishades]

I really like the posters that you have made.

[SouthernBoy]

Thanks for all your replies and encouraging comments - much appreciated.

I do like Southern and wish there was more RTR available. Longer term (my next layout, one day) I fully intend to get into scratch building and work more fine scale. Ideally I'll have some third rail EMUs alongside steam. If anyone has pointers or ideas for modelling third rail EMUs in N I'd be interested.

Anyway - more specifically -

Geezer:
Thanks for the link - beautiful locos. Whether you love them or hate them - once seen, never forgotten !

TomWebber:
Geezer is right - think what an amazing N gauge layout you could get in your shed .. Yes, the 'folded figure of 8' certainly is a good plan. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants the illusion of a long run but has limited space.

Metheringham:
Thanks - I remember you helping me with the original plan, and I've been watching progress on Flaxengate (time for an update ?)

sishades:
To draw the plan I used Quark Express, not ideally suited for this sort of work but I work with it everyday so I'm very quick with it - I then saved it as a .pdf. I know a lot of people here use Xtrkcad - but I'm a Mac man, so it's not available to me. There are a couple of programmes for Mac - but they weren't worth the ££ for what they can do (yet).


I'll try and make updates more frequent - and hopefully I'll get a digital camera soon.

[tinsleytmd]

very nice plan i like it & a good start keep it up looking good

[eggbert17]

Great pictures southern boy, i love the west country or is it a battle of britain lol

[SouthernBoy]

Hello,

Here's an update on progress at Frankland. Apologies for image quality - I borrowed a digital camera from work but I'm not fully familiar with the functions.

First up is a revised track plan:


The two main changes are:
1) The addition of a small 'halt' top right - which will serve day trippers to the castle ruins and castle museum.
2) Revised layout for the yard - which is described below.

The revised yard:


This picture shows the yard to-date. Still quite a bit to do! Top left of the yard is the entry track from the main line, and to the right of this are three carriage sidings. Lower down to the right is a siding which will serve a goods platform (probably for local parcels, mail, milk etc). Bottom left are points which take a line left for coal trains to the gas works and a line right to a loco shed (for the shunter).

Btw - the strips of masking tape running across the board mark where wooden supports are positioned underneath - this way I don't forget where they are and accidentally position points (and motors) too close to them.

I'm toying with the idea of a signal box spanning the four main lines on the left of this picture - a small scale version of the one at Clapham Junction maybe. I figured it would be a good vantage point for a signal-man to get a commanding view of both the main lines and the yard. Any views on this ?

Buildings:
I've taken a break from track laying and ballasting the last few weeks and turned my hand to some urban scenics, staring with buildings. I'm still learning - but am quite pleased with how some of the buildings have turned out. Here's a couple of images. Window frames and glazing still to be added. These will be low-relief buildings. Unfortunately they've caught the light a bit here and look more shiney than they actually are.





Vicory Road and Victory Road Station:
Next images are overviews of 'Victory Road' (top left on the plan). The buildings are just placed roughly at the moment to give me an impression of how they'll look. Actually - I find it quite useful to take pictures and then view them on the computer screen - it's almost like seeing the layout through different eyes - like a second opinion.




Where the train is standing will be Victory Road Station. Above this to the left will be Art-Deco flats. Then along the back will be shops, offices and a pub. In the foreground is the gas works. Before anyone says anything - I wanted gas works on my layout well before Lyddle End decided they were going to manufacture such buildings commercially - it's just their release coincided very nicely with my layout progression - ok!

In general I have realised I prefer kits I can adapt. But in view of the fact that my rate of progress is very slow and I would like something finished in my lifetime - I'm happy to compromise with a mix of kits and ready-mades.

This is the Graham Farish gasometer I want (it's supposed to be released this Autumn).


Travelling east from Victory Road will be the backs of a few offices and shops - and then further east the awe-inspiring Frankland Power Station will hove into view...



Btw - ignore the oversized section of embankment wall made of card - I'll not use card for the finished product - it's just there to help me visualise future developments.



The power station will have large chimneys eventually. I've had it loosely positioned for some days - just looking - and thinking - thinking it was too large-scale and would swamp everything else - but having now looked at it from another viewpoint - ie. as a picture on my computer screen - I think both the power station and large gasometer will be very evocative scene-setters.


And that's the update. Sorry there aren't any trains this time !

My thanks to everyone on here for publishing their experiences and their 'how-to' lessons so freely - and especially to those who have bravely shared their disasters and dark moments too - this site is a truly rounded resource which I have found invaluable and inspirational.

Mark

[Sprintex]

Nice to see an update Mark

Like the sound of the signal box, different from the usual lineside item that's for sure

Where did you get the info and picture of the GF gasometer? Are they bringing out more scenic items do you know???



Paul

[SouthernBoy]

Where did you get the info and picture of the GF gasometer? Are they bringing out more scenic items do you know???
Paul

Gaugemaster: There's only two Graham Farish scenic items advertised on the Gaugemaster site though, I can't see any others.

http://www.gaugemaster.com/ngauge.html

GF376750 90' Diameter Gasometer
GF376751 Gas Retort Building

There's also a couple of Piko Gasometers on gaugemaster - although they're not so 'English' looking ...

PK60013 SHELL GAS TOWER
PK60013 GAS TOWER

[SouthernBoy]

Oh, apparently there's more -

GF376752 Electrical Sub Station
GF376753 Station Masters House

Country Station, Water Tower, Martins Corner House & Smith, Weighbridge Office, etc etc

In fact it lseems there's a whole range due which emulate Hornby Lyddle End by the look of it - although from the pictures they don't look as good - the Gasometer seems the only decent one there.

[Sprintex]

Thanks for that



Paul

[Superb]

Hi Mark
Been following your progress for a while and was sure I'd posted some comments before but apparently haven't so here's some long overdue praise for you.

I really like your project and its coming together well. I thought the original source for the layout would be a good way of getting a good run but I think you've taken it up a notch with a bigger baseboard so its more successful. The revised trackplan is much better looking too. The sinuous curves of the revised yard make a big difference to the feel.

Like you I'm a Mac user, although I did dabble. with xtrkcad running it in an old copy of Virtual PC (with Win XP). It was a bit slow but usable. However the interface was a bit clunky. Hats off to you for using Quark tho, I guess familiarity with software wins out. I'll prob use Illustrator for next plan.

Anyway good luck, I'll be watching progress and look forward to more pics.

DaveT

[Metrocamel]

Great work there Mark! I like how the layout looks populated even without people being there if that makes any sense.

[Philip.E.Thomas]

Mark, can I ask what make the low relief buildings are and are they available in N, I particularly like the victorian style ones.

Cheers

Lawrence

[SouthernBoy]

Thanks for your comments:

DaveT - I spent quite a while thinking about the yard... I'm really pleased with the new plan - being longer but more narrow adds more depth to the layout - and in a small space creating the illusion of distance helps a lot. It meant a compromise in operations (eg. no turntable now), but I think the improved depth is more important than cramming everything in.

At some point I'll probably create a Frankland web site - then I'll use more Photoshop and Illustrator. At home I'm still on a Blueberry iMac - it's my trusted friend, slow but sure.

Metrocamel - Spot on - you just made my day! One of my main objectives is to have a layout that looks 'populated' - Thankyou.

Philip.E.Thomas - I've used a mix of Faller, DPM and Walthers kits. Using them as low-relief buildings rather than stand-alone units means I get two or three buildings for the price of one. And it's quite easy to paint and accesorise them to look like English rather European or American outline.

Here are a couple of links:
http://www.modeljunction.info
http://www.dpmkits.com

I bought the DPM kits direct from the States - although by the time I'd paid shipping and tax there wan't much advantage over buying them in the UK despite the £ > $ being so favourable at the moment. Let me know if you want more specific details.

I've just spent most of today pulling this together...
http://www.modeljunction.info/estore/pr ... cts_id=251
It's going to look fairly different though - probably be a telephone exchange or block of early Deco flats or similar.

Thanks again for your feedback guys.

[class37]

really good layout cart wait for a video

[SouthernBoy]

Hello and welcome to Frankland update number three.

Slow progress again I'm afraid - but here it is:

About a month ago I started work on the station in the north west section of my layout, which is called Victory Road. The first image shows platforms in place. I used Peco platform sides and Plasticard for the platform surface.



Since then I've built most of the rest of the station. I really wanted a Southern style Art-Deco station - and this is my effort. Obviously it will benefit from adverts and other station furniture. It's the first thing I've built from scratch - (apart from the window frames, which are from a kit). I know it's far from perfect - but I'm quite happy to regard it as the first step on my learning curve to (hopefully) better buildings. Here's my M7 on early morning milk train duty.



The next couple of pictures show the morning Boat Train thundering through the station and away down the line toward the coast.







Next up is my 4MT on a semi-fast . The long building in the background was going to be a power station - but it's somehow now suggesting to me that it's more a school - any other suggestions ? ). The red plain building to the left will eventually be the back of a cinema - so will have some massive hoarding featuring the latest blockbuster of it's time. To the right of these buildings will be a signal box that straddles the four main lines and also the line to the yard. It will be something like the box at Clapham Junction.





I'm now nearer getting to grips with the gasworks. Here's a picture of the works with its own platform for delivery of coal and dispatch of coke. The platform will have coal staithes and will be quite black and dirty !



To the right will be the gasometer. I bought a Walthers Cornerstone kit for the gasometer, which is yet to be built.



Victory Road itself is part of the main commercial and shopping district in Frankland - so everything is quite ship-shape and Bristol fashion here ! It will benefit from shop awnings, street furniture and advertising at some future point. Each area of the layout will have distinctly different characteristics. There'll be the castle ruins with a museum and gardens in the north-east; ribbon development and a more genteel 'old town' south-east; whilst he south-west will have the traditional Victorian terraced houses common to any large city.



Some of the buildings in these pictures are still a bit wonky I know - they've not been fixed yet.






Here's a couple of pictures of my stock to-date, The area here will eventually be Frankland Station:






Locos:
M7
Bullied Pacific
4MT
Bullied Q1 (but that's going back because it's faulty).

Passenger carriages:
2 x Suburban carriages in Maunsell green
2 x Suburban Brake Ends in Maunsell green
1 x Pullman kitchen car
1 x Pullman brake

I could do with a couple of corridor coached too. And I'd like some four wheelers - I think they'd look good with the M7 in particular.
I'd love some EMU's but don't think that's going to happen for a very long time - probably my next layout (with third rail).

Goods:
1 x CCT van in Malachite green.

I need more goods wagons. Coal wagons obviously for the gas works. Then just a few for local supplies such as a banana van, a milk van, that sort of thing - any suggestions for what other sorts of vans would I need for suburban deliveries (no heavy industry here ! )... ?


Next set of jobs are:
1) Track adjustments as in some places running is not as smooth as it could be.
2) Retaining walls across the back of the layout.
3) Adding the castle ruins and castle museum back-right of the layout.
4) Finishing the goods yard area.

As you can see - I'm working from the back, forward.

Comments, observations and suggestions welcome as always.

I also started on a short video in iMovie yesterday - I'll post it here if / when it gets finished.

Best


Mark