Dungness Nuclear Flask Transfer Terminal

[macydys]

where abouts are you building the layout

[macydys]

do you want pics of the crane as i could go get some cos i live near by

[Direct Rail Services]

The air turned bright blue today, ive been finishing off my baseboards, i was minutes away from scraping the lot! It wasnt going well at all!
Anyway i managed to complete the bloody things all bar the legs which will be done sometime this week, im on nights so it might slip into next.

My 37's are due in October so ideally i want to have track down and wired by then.

Well here are some pictures of the near finished thing:

Overview:


The storage area:


And looking towards what will be Dungeness:


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Mr. Macydys if you have some pictures of the crane and compound that would be great thanks!.

DRS.

[Andy_Elms]

Great stuff

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a collection of old rail chairs...

Very good doorstops...

[Direct Rail Services]

I was going to borrow the crossing section from the centre of the point, but it was very heavy!

They were talking up some old sidings at work so we all had our fair share of chairs and sleepers!

DRS.

[Direct Rail Services]

Today saw the purchase of the remaining wood i need to complete this stage of contruction, Legs and leg bracing has be brought, along with a electric saw and work bench so i can get all the legs the same length!.

The plan was to get B&Q to cut the lot for me, but they said no on the grounds of H&S . So was forced to buy the saw and bench.

So what was going to be a £30-50 trip turned into £120!, Its funny as the very same bloke cut the same type of wood last week, with no problem??? maybe its beacuse i turned up at 1545 (Close 1600) with 22 lengths of wood to be cut????

Anyway, i plan to contruct the legs over the coming week, (work permitting) in the frame of a 'H' then attach them to the underside of the boards, once they are secure i will brace the legs long ways to get a rigid table type thingy.

Then that should be it, he says!

As normal i will post some pictures of progress in the coming week.

STOP PRESS:

I was Sooooo close to scraping Dungeness in favor of a container terminal (! ) today after seeing the new Dapol FEAs! wow they are very nice vehicles indeed!!!

But Dungeness will be contructed as planned inspite of this tempation!.

DRS.

[Direct Rail Services]

I had a very productive afternoon, i nearly lost a fingure and smashed my fingure but i managed to get all bar the last set of legs and supports on.

Tomorroe i plan to attach the final set of legs to the main board and complete the legs to the storage board.

My new electric saw is excellent, i wise now i had invested in it, at the beginning instead of using a hand saw but there we go.

The saw has a laser liner which is very very useful in cutting a dead straight line, which i need to get level legs.

All being well the i should be up temp. laying track on the weekend, i will lay in down check for any problems and mark out the holes for the point motors and uncouplers.

I was planning to buy a kit or two of the S-Kits FNA Flask carrier but the wood cost more than expected so, they will be defered until i have completed the trackwork and wiring.

Could anyone recommand a decent track cutter?

DRS.

[Direct Rail Services]

Im 98% complete on the main board, will all the bracing and leg wood cut to size ready to fit tomorrow morning to the storage board.

The mainboard stood on its own 12 feet for the first time


And prefectly level!


A view of the top end bottom leg supports


I used a scrap leg to make sure all the bottom supports were all the same height off the floor and the trusty chairs to keep everything in place whilst i secured it all


Same view of the bottom end leg supports


The complete length ways supports, these extend the full length of the board on both sides


Again the bottom end lower leg supports, at present these are not secure, as i ran out of nails!


So hopefully i will have completed all the wood work on the layout by tomorrow ready for test track laying and marking out for the point motors sometime before the weekend.

After the near abandoment of the project last week, during the baseboard contruction phase i'm glad now that i stuck with it. I'm rather proud of myself, as this is my first wood work ever!.

Oh and a few pictures of my saw, i strongly recommend this product.

General view


Looking down from the operators view


And the laser aided cutting guide, very very helpful indeed!


See you next time, the fun starts here!!!!

DRS.

[beerandpies]

Looks a lot like the saw I used for my baseboard. I think mine cost £10 from Wickes.. Hehe.
Did the job though, fun to use too!

[Direct Rail Services]

Da Drrr..........

Boardboard....DONE !

The Storage Board starts its journey to becoming a baseboard.


Job done, and very quickly to, it helped speed things up as i pre cut the wood yesterday


The completed Board in situ


The trial track laying in the compound at Dungeness



More to follow.....

DRS.

[Direct Rail Services]

Looking down the loop from the compound gate


The start of the branch which leads to Lydd Town Crossing in the distance


Roughly were Lydd Town Station and crossing will be, the wood bridge is were the crossing overbridge will be


And the future location of Lydd Town Station, which will be set back from the track as per real life


A test laying of the underlays for the north end of the loop


I was initially planning to have the branch curve from the back of the board to the front and then kick back inwards to the terminal loop, but this would have set the loop and spur dead straight, which i didnt really want as there would be loads of space at the rear but very little at the front. So i have reset the track to run into the loop at an angel to allow the full compound to be modelled and the access road.

I am looking to buy a cutter to cut the flexi track to length tomorrow so all going well i can lay proper the track over the weekend and into next week.
I have also aquired my first piece of rolling stock in the form of a 20t CAR Departmental Brake Vehicle, which will be weathered and 'dumped' on the headshunt.

DRS.

[Black-Marlin]

i have reset the track to run into the loop at an angel

I take it this would be the Angel Islington?

[Direct Rail Services]

DRS.

[Black-Marlin]

Not to worry, mate - we all make mistakes.


I remember I made one once.

[Direct Rail Services]

More work was undetaken on Dungeness today with temp ballast fitment on the storage roads right down to the north end of the terminal loop.

I need to cut the holes in the board for the point motors and buy another roll of underlay plus another pack of fishplates. My first item of rolling stock arrived yesterday in the form of Bachmann 20t CAR in Departmental (Electrification) colours.

Storage roads with ballast (1)


Storage roads with ballast (2)


Bachmann CAR Brake Van


DRS.