Bigpower

well after being in my new house for 3 months and the long cold days and nights upon us its time to start on my new layout.
i have started building it in the front bedroom as i need to board out the loft, insulate and get some electrics sorted up there.

some of you may remember my old layout that i built in my old flat.


last wednesday i stripped this lot and took all the boards apart.
paul had sorted me some 2x2 timber to use as the legs and i used some other wood as the side supports.

so started building the frames for the boards to sit on.



then started laying the boards on top.
this first section is 10ft x 3ft


then started laying out were my platforms were going to go



then sorted out my up and over loop.



i found these 2 viaducts in the loft when i first moved in


i got all my points out together and made the mistake of woundering
how much there worth and in total this lot is just under

Good stuff, nice to see the Dundee knife is being used in full effect

Looks like it's going to be quite a set Al. Have you thought about putting some mirrors around the set to give it a 'bigger' effect?

bit of an update, tested the up n over loop and found that the sloped is slightly to steep as the trains would go up ok one side but coming down the other was to fast which ment the trains would derail so its been scrapped for now.

started on the 2 corners laying out the track sorting out my terminus lines


then work on my sidings for my freight, this took 3 days to sort out
all the lines, cross overs.


and this is my siding yard


to the right of the siding yard are my 5 lines, 2 freight and 3 passinger


after sorting out the siding work started on the engine yard.
i wanted the set up as 2 seperate areas, 1 for deisel and 1 for electric.

this will be the west side depot for electrics


and this will be the east side depot for diesels


a seperate area of sidings.
this is going to be the diesel refueling depot.


i am going to be building my own platforms so i have printed
off a load of sheets to fit. i made these all on paint



and these is how it looks at the moment, a organised mess:smilielol5:


next task is to test all the lines to make sure all connectors are working
correctly and if all goes well ill tack all the track down, theres a day job lol

Jon wrote:Good stuff, nice to see the Dundee knife is being used in full effect

its a very importent tool to use,
when i used it by the window i did get a funny look from a couple
of people walking past.

Daniel wrote:Looks like it's going to be quite a set Al. Have you thought about putting some mirrors around the set to give it a 'bigger' effect?

mirrors that mean i would see reflection sod that:D
this is just the test bed untill i can get it into the loft and then it
will be twice the size:nod:

How do you control a setup like that with so many different trains , do you have a controller for each train or a fancy box of tricks that does everything . Do you change the points by hand or are they done off of a switch , i should think that the electrics are a key part of making the whole setup work . Pete

each circuit has its own controller so thats 5 lanes, 5 controllers.
on top of that the engine depot area will be on 2 seperate controllers
so while the main 5 are going round i can shunt engines about around the depot
and in the fidle yard.

you can buy point motors but these retail at anything fro

Looking good Bart although you say you have 'started building it in the front room.....' is it likely to ever move from there as it looks pretty permanent
Your missus must be understanding !!

hi Gareth, yes it will be moving.
the boards have been measures so that i can fit it straight into the loft with
small modifications to go round the beams.
it was her idea to start building it in there as she knows it will take a while
to sort out the loft with boarding, insurlating and wiring for lights and plugs.

since my last post with pics i am still tacking the track into plase.
such small nails if not put in right they ping out at the first tap
ive done about 80% of it so far.

so inbetween tacking the track down i have been working on my platforms
as i wanted my own design and not the standard hornby stuff.

so made up some templates for the curves and used some chipboard i had
to make the bases of the platforms


once cut them and made sure the trains would clear them i screwed the first one in place.
i also cut up some printoffs i made to go onto the side of the platform
dont look to bad i think.



next job was to make the platform tops so used 4mm sheet of wood
to keep in scale with real life.
so mark on the board and cut the 4 out



after this i cut my top platform sheets and double sided taped them into
plate, i tricky job indeed to get them all straight.


this is how the station area is progressing so far.
the platforms closest are hornby stock but these will be covered with my
templates so there all the same.


working this weekend so wont be getting much done all:(