Shades of grey

I thought I'd better paint the boards before progressing further. It would be easier before there is (more) track and scenery added, and as it's best done outside, before the weather turns!

Loctern and Hexworthy were painted with a grey primer from Wilkinsons that proved to have a suitably dark shade and nice finish. However, that was oil based meaning it took ages to dry and brushes were a paint to wash - anyway, Wilkos is long gone. I got a water-based grey primer from B&Q which allowed me to get a couple of coats on and the boards back indoors before the moody skies looked too serious. 

Sadly, this paint turned out to be paler than expected, and much lighter than the grey I previously used - as compared below. The aim is for a neutral grey which won't distract from the scene, and I wasn't convinced the light grey would do that. It also had a chalky finish, I mean it is meant to be an undercoat, but clearly I would need a top coat.

So back to B&Q and I picked up "Princeton", a dark grey that proved to be a close match to the other layouts. It's also water-based so dried quickly, and being quite gloopy care was needed to avoid runs - there are a few, but not in obvious places. Note the card used to protect the existing scenery.

With the paint dry the latches and sockets were refitted and the pelmet and fiddle yard reassembled. It looks a lot more presentable on the outside now.

Whittlingly fiddle-yard baseboard

The next job was to add a short baseboard for a fiddle yard. In this case, the fiddle yard will have two entry tracks as it completes the run-round loop, but doesn't need to be long as trains will be a couple of 6-wheel coaches or 3-4 wagons and a tank loco. 

I didn't take many construction photos, but the sides and top were marked out and cut from the same 5mm ply as the main board, and cross-beams cut from timber. Before assembly, I remembered to set up the alignment to the main board, which used a couple of "bullet" type dowels - I had these and the catches in stock left over from a batch I bought for Hexworthy. It is easiest to clamp the ends together, then drill pilot holes through both from the back of one end - hence doing this before assembling the board. The holes were then drilled out to 7.5mm and the bullet and corresponding socket were tapped into place. 

The board is approximately 2' long by 1' wide and simply consists of a cross-beam at each end and one in the middle, with ply providing longitudinal support front and rear, and finishing off the ends.

Up top, the ends are profiled to support a shelf - on Hexworthy a shelf has proved useful for spare stock and tools. The rear panel has a cut-out to clear the turntable, and the deck has some cut-outs - hopefully, the reason for these will become clear later.

The upper deck curve was marked out with a "compass" made from a stick with a screw for a pivot and a hole for a pencil, it's 21" long. To get the deck height correct, the fixed part has 3 layers of 5mm ply (lower deck, spacer, top deck) - it seems that 44mm timber + (3x5mm) = 58mm, the 5mm ply is actually about 4.7mm! The turn-table deck sits on spacers of thinner (4mm ish) ply so it is slightly lower, this is for a cunning plan (we will see). I then marked out lines perpendicular to the curve for the track centres - there will be three tracks, but the outer two will be quite tightly curved. 

The turntable was then strengthened with some small strip wood and fixed with a 6mm bolt, a block of wood under the deck provides support to the pivot and depth to hold the bolt vertical. A strip of ply provides a lip and neatens the front of the shelf too. So far, it's looking pretty neat. 

Finally, the over-centre catches were added to hold the boards together. This was tricky as the 44x19mm timber forming the ends of the boards already has screws into it from the front and rear and deck ply panels, leaving little space for the screws holding the catch!

While it looks a small, simple board, getting the levels right while thinking about how the turntable needs to work made it quite a head-scratcher to make. I've come to the conclusion that "fiddle yards" are so-called because they are fiddly to make - or is that just me?

Growing Whittingly

Extending an existing layout that wasn't designed to be extended isn't easy, especially when it is a portable layout and it is fully scenic. So, I have been thinking about how best to do this for some time, but eventually it is time to take the plunge. It starts with removal of the existing low-height backscene. While this was screwed in place from the rear, the scenery had stuck to the backscene in places, and with trees and structures in the way it needed careful separation. 

The new 5mm ply backscene is longer, higher, and intended to be semi-structural in keeping the extended layout straight. That means it drops down to meet the cross-members of the extension, but, it had to sit onto the original board as the original backscene had. 

The new cross-member was attached to the end of the layout to support the deck extension, but being 44x12mm and the deck being 5mm ply, but the existing board being 55mm deep, a spacer was needed. Strips of the old 6mm MDF backscene were perfect, hence the blue. I also remembered to drill holes through the ends for wiring to be extended. 

The extension deck was then fitted with the outer cross-member from 44x24mm timber and another strip of MDF. The cross-members are also screwed to the backscene, and later, to the fascia, keeping the extension rigid. A similar process was followed for the right-hand end. 

Like the backscene board, the front facia is used to keep the board straight, and is cut from 5mm ply but with the top edge profiled to the shape of the scenery. I also cut an opening for a control panel, which was difficult to find space for without the extension. A second piece of ply was cut with a slightly smaller hole to fit behind the opening, this provides something to mount the recessed panel to as well as strengthening the fascia around the opening once glued in place.

A detail shot of the right-hand end shows the control panel opening in the fascia, the end panel fitted with 12x12mm strip wood to join in to the backscene, bracing around the top of the backscene board and end board, and the opening for the tracks. 

A view from the underside shows how the extensions have been added to the original board, and how the fascia (right) joins all together with spacer blocks to the original board's front piece (which is recessed). You can also see the cut-outs for magnets to be fitted below the track. 

The lighting pelmet is simply two pieces of ply at right angles, with timber bracing and strips at the end. The ends sit on the end board top-edge brace, which holds the end board, backscene board, and front "wing" piece together. A small piece of wood attached to this provides a mount for the lighting pelmet, with a captive nut a finger-tight bolt at each end is all that's needed to hold it in place. 

Note there are two bolt holes, allowing the pelmet to be fixed overhanging the front of the layout by a couple of inches to improve lighting at the front of the layout. Alternatively, it can be fixed further in to save width. 

So the small diorama now sits within a larger, "cameo" style baseboard. With an extra 6" at the left end and 8" at the right (the extra makes space for the control panel) it has grown from 2' 6" to about 3' 8" long - almost 50% bigger!

Next, I need to build a fiddle yard. And work out how I will add a backscene. 

Whittingly - To Extend or Not?

After my last post considering what next for Whittingly I've pondered on the feedback and the practicalities, and sketched an alternative idea - Plan C? In this case, short 6" extensions are added to both ends of the scene, being fixed extensions to the baseboard where marked with arrows on the plan. That on the left provides the spur beyond the platform canopy and extended hospital buildings, while that on the right extends both loop lines and the engine shed. The overall board length is now 3' 6" which is still easy to store and handle, while a separate fiddle yard need only contain a turntable or sector plate. 

This is difficult to picture in 3D, so thanks to the visualisation possible with CAD (card aided design) using cereal packets, here's a mock up of what this plan might look like. 

At the left-hand end the front track protrudes beyond the platform canopy, providing somewhere for the loco to rest in view. Most of this extension is taken up with the stores building, which would need to be extended from the low-relief building on the existing board - this is likely the most difficult task since brickwork would need to match and I'd rather not lift the existing building. I've not mocked it up but behind this the boiler house roof would need extending too, but there is space for a curved backscene, and perhaps a tall brick chimney? The left hand end could feature a flat/low relief wall of the main hospital building. 

At the right-hand end the two loop tracks are lengthened. The engine shed and its siding would also need extending, the back of the shed just being an open hole against the backscene - and as it is at an angle, it would be difficult to extend. Making the extension in corrugated iron as if a later add-on might make things easier (and more interesting), though matching the roof could still be tricky. In the foreground, I might move the tree to the right (perhaps with a second tree) to hide the exit. There could be space for a footbridge as a view block, although I don't think it is needed. 

This view shows that the lengthened loop lines will allow plenty of clearance to run around 4 wagons or two 6-wheel coaches while they remain on scene. The fiddle yard still completes the run-round loop so the loco must go off-scene; extending the scene to fit a point in adds at least 18" as in Plan B in the last post.

So, this all looks possible, although extending the buildings looks difficult without removing them from the scene, with the resulting ground cover damage to make good. The question is, are these extensions worth the extra effort? The alternative remains Plan A, which effectively has the extended trackwork but in non-scenic areas, and so keeping the original scene unmodified. The scenic extensions of Plan C means that more of the trains are visible more of the time, and the scenic frontage of the layout is increased without increasing the overall length, but operation is unchanged. 

I'm interested in your views!

Whittingly - What next?

Since the Rail200 event at the NEC National Festival or Railway Modelling, Whittingly Hospital has lived in its box in the garage. It was always intended to be the basis of an operational layout, not simply a diorama, so it is time to think about the transition. 

As a reminder, this overhead shot shows the layout as built within the Rail200 rules - which limited not just baseboard size, but overall height and the position of the front, disconnected, through track. The buildings were all constructed to fit within the available footprint and height limit. 

So here is Plan A. This was my original concept. The track layout is modified with a left-hand point by the end of the platform connecting the 3-way point to form a crossover, but otherwise the scenic area is unchanged. I would replace the backscene with a taller one, and add a cameo-style lighting pelmet. 

The key changes would be off-stage. To the left, a short extension gives a little more head shunt room beyond the platform canopy, and lengthens the two sidings through the buildings. On the right, a fiddle yard both provides for a change of train and completes a run-round loop with the 3-way point. I'd sketched a turntable yard, though if that doesn't look like it would work a sector plate would do. A train of 2 6-wheel coaches or 3-4 wagons and loco would be 15-18".

In this plan, the Rail200 challenge entry is kept largely unchanged, which minimises the work involved, and there are no board joins in the scenery. The downside is that only about half the layout length is scenic, shunting will go off-stage, and during key movements such as running around the loco can't be seen. 

Plan B is more ambitious. The extension to the left has become scenic, allowing the loco to be seen beyond the station canopy. A second board to the right provides the rest of the run-round loop and a point "on-stage", as well as the off-stage fiddle yard. This means pretty much all operation will be visible, and makes the scenic length around double that of the fiddle yard. 

The downsides are the complexities of extending the existing buildings. The engine shed would be particularly problematic, as sketched it crosses a board join, but the current structure is well fixed down and has an angled rear that is incomplete. I'm not sure how well the scene on the right-hand board works, messing up the balance of the existing scene without really adding to it. There's also an inconvenient backscene join, and it's harder to store. Finally, the resulting layout has lost the connection to the Rail200 challenge by growing well beyond its original size. While technically better, it would be better not starting from the current layout. 

Let me know what you think!

Rail200 - The Grand Finale

The Rail200 competition culminated at the National Festival of Railway Modelling at the NEC last weekend. I went along on Sunday to find Whittingly Hospital connected to other modular entries. 

I took a few wagons and a loco to make it look less abandoned. I'd forgotten to take a spare set of batteries for the lights though, which expired after an hour or so on Sunday morning. My calculations of how long they would last were rather optimistic, unless they'd been left on since Friday night!

I have to say the Peco team had done a great job to connect together around 30 modules, which they'd not seen before, complete with 90 and 180 degree corners, for trains to run through. A clever DCC system was able to run several trains at once, detecting their location through current draw, and slowing or stopping trains to keep them spaced apart. Apparently it all worked first time!

Of course, not all the trains were appropriate to all the modules! 

When I started this challenge, it was not just about making a model/diorama/layout, but about taking part in something to celebrate 200 years of railways. That's why I chose to enter the modular category, and so I was delighted that my model was selected to be one of the 40+ (out of around completed 250 entries and 650 boards sold) to be shown at the exhibition. Those who have seen the December Railway Modeller may have noticed that Whittingly even made the shortlisted top 5 within the modular over-16s category!

Congratulations to the winner in the same category, Joseph Laurence, for his Project New Street - a near-scale depiction of a corner of this well known major station. 

And the runner up Mike Tomlinson, for Mind The Gap! A model of an underground station including a section of Mail Rail. Both are highly original, well-modelled and eye-catching!

Congratulations too to the other category winners and runners up. Awards were given out by Pete Waterman on Sunday afternoon. Overall, it seemed well organised and brought enjoyment to lots of people, hopefully getting some modelling for the first time. It was especially good to see the good range of entries from the youngsters in the under-16 categories. 

I intended to take photos of all the entries there, but looking through I realised I have missed some. So, here's an incomplete record of the modular entries in no particular order...

Not all the finalists were in the modular categories, although there were fewer standalone entries on show. One of the attractions of the standalone category was that any scale and gauge could be used, whereas of course the modular entries had to be OO scale. So, here we have narrow gauge, N, TT, and even T scale. Another almost but not quite complete record of those on show...