amdaley

Any list of layouts & traders etc who will attend ? I looked on the site but didn't see anything. Tony.

Shared.

The Sciatica is improving slowly but its a bloody painful thing. I've used some of the wall panels I cast earlier to do some scenic work. Here is the walling I installed before any painting. And here it is after I'd done some painting work on it. I may put some railings on the lower walls. I'll decide later. The walls at the back are Javis Dry stone roadside walls which I left a little proud of the backscene to give a bit more depth. I'll do some more when time permits. Tony.

It's getting there Patrick but it's a slow process

Suffering from sciatica at the moment so work on the layout is restricted. I did manage to construct a Mimic display panel for the fiddle yard so I can see the position of the points from the other end of the layout. Tony.

Nothing visible to report. Most of the work has been under the benchwork. I've installed an Accessory bus as its good to be able to change points if I get a short on the track & be able to fit other accessories without worrying about running out of power etc. Just waiting for a Roco booster to arrive from Germany. It's coming by GLS but where I live GLS usually pass on any packages to a local courier so that would add extra time to the journey. In the meantime I've installed the Accessory bus & connected all point motors up to it. I've tested for shorts or any cross wiring & haven't found any. I connected up the DCC bus to the Z21 to make sure the supply to the track was ok. The frogs were dead which puzzled me until I realised that I had disconnected the point motors so of course the frogs were dead Those of you who haven't yet reached over 70 don't laugh because it's coming for you too I looped the Accessory bus into the Dcc bus to test the point motors & everything works as expected. Tidied up some of the wiring & a few other bits so just waiting for the booster to arrive now in the next couple of days, hopefully. Once that's fitted I'll construct a few buildings & do a bit of scenic work. Tony.

This weeks progress. Fitted a few more of the fiddle yard point motors. Only four left now to be fitted. Did some wall castings for the new layout. When dried out they can be cut to the required height & length. When finished painting they will look like the examples below from my other layout.

A little progress. I still haven't fitted the rest of the fiddle yard point motors but I did make up a couple of control panels. I hope to get the rest of the point motors fitted when I get a chance.

Nice photo of Cahersiveen station yard.

Not much happening at the moment. I'm busy with other things. I've installed some Ip Digital switch machines on the fiddle yard. Still have about seven to go. I did however make up a Modelux Victorian Warehouse. Still not sure where to put it though ?

I have used both underlay and cork on my layouts. I think I prefer cork. You can buy 3mm cork on pre cut rolls or sheets & cut it into trackbed strips yourself. I stick the cork to the baseboard with PVA & stick the track on top using copydex. Use track pins to hold the track lightly in place until the adhesive goes off. Then remove the track pins as the copydex will hold the track in place.

Can I ask what size is the brass tubing & rod you used ? Thank you. Tony.

Fiddle yard points all wired up ready for fitting. One has been fitted. Only 13 more to go

You haven't seen the rest of it

Fiddle yard is now wired up & tested. Next job is to prepare Ip Digital point motors before installing them so updates may not happen for a while. There's a total of 38 point motors on the layout I usually wire & setup the point motors before I install them on the layout. Makes it much easier to wire them into the system. If anyone is interested in how I prepare them let me know & I will post pictures or maybe even make some sort of video, although I can promise it won't win any academy awards I will try though. Here are photos of the fiddle yard wired up. I have wired it on the baseboard top surface as it's easier than trying to fiddle about under the layout.

That's a fine show. I was there some years ago. If I remember correctly David Lane was running the show at the time ?

Yes I got this one from Model Rail. It has a Loksound 5 micro decoder with upgraded speaker & a small stay alive fitted.

First loco test & a little shunting. VID_20241204_181643.mp4 VID_20241209_112640.mp4 Fiddle yard track is down but needs to be wired up.

I can understand that. I'm fortunate that there is only two of us in the house now so the space is available.

Now there's an idea although I think I'd need planning permission

Not set in any particular area or time frame. It's a bit of a rule one layout. Any big four British steam or early diesel, even pre grouping but nothing modern I have another larger layout as well but I wanted to do something new & different. I've never built an end to end layout before. It's more about the building rather than operating with me. I'll put up more photos as I go along. If anyone has any questions just ask away Tony.

Progress continues. Scenic side track plan complete. Track has been connected & tested. Point motors are a mixture of Tortoise, MTB Mp4's & Ip Digital's. I used a Roco 108836 accessory decoder for the Tortoise & MTB point motors. The Ip Digital have built in accessory decoders. The command station in a Roco Z21. Next up is track laying in the fiddle yard. Tony.

Look at who's selling it

More photos of some track progress.

What do you do when you have too much stock ? Build another layout of course Not content with my main layout downstairs I decided to build another one in a loft bedroom. It will be L shaped 12 ft x 9 ft & I decided to call it Mill Road because I couldn't think of anything else . It is built in modular form so that it can be taken down & moved if the need ever arises. Baseboards are 24" deep so easy to reach the back if needed. Fortunately I have a very understanding wife & it keeps me out of trouble, well most of the time anyway. Here are some early photos. I'll post more on a regular basis. The framework is 3" x 1" with 9mm ply for the top. The legs are 2" x 2". Tony.