Diesel Depot

[Irishrailwayman]

My 6th layout is designed to be a compact/shelfie exhibition standard layout to show off mainly Irish locomotives of a variety of liveries. It will be sufficiently versatile to allow diesels locomotives of CIE, Supertrain, IR, IE or even UK/BR liveries to be shown. The size will be my usual 4.5 feet by 9 inch dimensions with a 2 foot fiddle-yard at one end which easily and accurately attaches/detaches with snap toggles. It will be controlled by DCC with sound in most locos. It will fit neatly into the boot of my car for easy transportation to exhibitions. I intend to allow for shunting of oil wagons.

I have already built the base-boards using techniques trialled by Wexford Model Railway Club for their innovative new O gauge layout.This involves accurately cut 6 mm X 100 mm high-quality birch ply-wood sections (available from www.woodworkers.ie). The appropriate lengths of ply are hot-glued to the base-board and 15 mm sections used for face pieces. Metal connecting dowels are hammered into these pieces to align the fiddle-yard. Lengths of fibre-glass webbing are glued in place with PVA at each interface of the ply-wood elements beneath the board. Sections of wood are also glued/screwed in place to support the back-scene and side-boards. A couple of pictures:

 the ba

 

[Noel]

Impressive base board construction. Looking forward to following this layouts development.

[Irishrailwayman]

A couple of shots showing progress with baseboards including painting and backscene. Note the cut-outs for inspection pits for inside the engine shed and point control. Cut-outs also needed for Kadee magnets to be hidden below the ballast...

[Kinvara-Train]

i like your work ,Ply wood is the best great Job

[Irishrailwayman]

A couple of shots showing the inspection pits and two Kadee magnets fitted to the board. Also shown is an outline of the track layout. Note the use of a double-slip as a space-saver enabling locomotives to trundle between 6 sections of track.

[Irishrailwayman]

The track for Diesel Depot is now laid out with connecting electrical droppers soldered under the track ready for wiring. Note the single track through to the fiddle-yard with a point allowing two storage roads one of which will double as a DCC programming track by use of a double-pole/double-throw switch. End mirrors and additional scenery will be added along with details to fill out the scene over the next few months...

 

[Past-Avenue]

Looking good gerry 

[Irishrailwayman]

The main DCC bus-bar has been put neatly in place using dropper boards designed by Dave McCabe of Wexford MRC fame. Also in use are the standards deployed for the new O gauge layout ("Little Sidington") being developed by Wexford MRC including colour coding all wiring, labelling etc. 

The two-road fiddle-yard may also be used as a Programming track at the flick of a switch...

[Irishrailwayman]

Some progress with development of an outline design for the back-scene with multiple open/closed brick arches and bridge access to the fiddle-yard.

[Noel]

Love the way this layout is shaping up Gerry. I missed some of your mid summer posts, but enjoyed catching up just now. 

Looks great especially with a fabulous Black'n'Tan livery B121 in-situ.  By coincidence I was going through boxes last week and discovered I had two similar Hornby diesel depot kits in a box since about 1993 as well as a few packs of those brick arch kits. Like the mirror idea behind two of the arches. Looking forward to watching this develop and seeing it in the flesh some day.

[burnthebox]

Very well done Gerry, you've got that looking just great, & that's a nice with the option to change the to a programming one with the flick of a switch.  Mind telling me what's the width of the baseboard on the run up to the diesel depot, TIA

Paul

[Irishrailwayman]

11 minutes ago, burnthebox said:

Very well done Gerry, you've got that looking just great, & that's a nice with the option to change the to a programming one with the flick of a switch.  Mind telling me what's the width of the baseboard on the run up to the diesel depot, TIA

Paul

Thanks guys. The width of the scenic section is 4.5 feet by 9 inches (in old money!).

The idea is to have a fictitious but interesting layout to be easily transported to exhibitions to show off a selection of locomotives. I plan to use the new Z21 tablet controller including DCC slow-action points in order to operate the layout from the front or back. This would allow more direct interaction with the public as young people particularly react positively when they see a model railway operated by technology interfaces that they relate to!

[Irishrailwayman]

Diesel Depot receives my trade-mark mirrors at each end for an infinity/continuity illusion:

[Kinvara-Train]

Great Basebord work (Plywood)

[Irishrailwayman]

50 minutes ago, Kinvara-Train said:

Great Basebord work (Plywood)

Thank you. Yes the technique results in a flat/level running surface and the fiddle-yard bolts on accurately every time with rails perfectly lined up. Ideal when setting up at an exhibition etc.

[Irishrailwayman]

The brickies have been in and completed the array of open and filled arches on Diesel Depot:

 

[Irishrailwayman]

Some more fun with mirrors! I have developed an overhead rail line at one end of Diesel Depot as a break point for the end of layout but with infinity perspectives:

 

[Irishrailwayman]

I have fitted two Quad Tower Yard Lights (from Model Rail Baseboards) to Diesel Depot. One is being repaired by a technician with a good head for heights!

 

[Irishrailwayman]

The old brick steam shed has been demolished and a new concrete/steel/glass Diesel Engine Shed is being erected in its place:

 

[Irishrailwayman]

The brickies have used engineers blue bricks to break up the row of arches and the workshop doors have a new paint job. The newness of the bricks has been toned down with a black wash:

[Irishrailwayman]

The Diesel Depot workshop is taking shape with lighting up and running including in the yard tower lamps.

 

[Irishrailwayman]

Diesel Depot is now equipped with a Re-fuelling Point and Oil Storage Tanks:

[Irishrailwayman]

Diesel Depot has been visited by the ballasting team:

[Broithe]

Gritty realism, as a film critic might say....

[banntry]

Looking good-great shots of the depot

[PJR]

Super workmanship, I was wondering where you got the lifting jacks and other fittings from?

[Irishrailwayman]

13 hours ago, PJR said:

Super workmanship, I was wondering where you got the lifting jacks and other fittings from?

 

Thank you. The lifting jacks, caged gas cylinders and coolant trollies are by Bachmann with other fittings included in the Hornby depot kit. The re-fuelling point is by Knightwing and the Oil Tanks are by Ratio. This is still a work-in-progress and additional details will be added including people and overhanging trees above the arches...

Edited February 6, 2019 by Irishrailwayman

[Noel]

Hi Gerry, layout coming together really well and looking fabulous already. I can see hours of endless shunting fun with sound equipped locos.  Echos of parts of inchicore works. Especially like the little bridge and viaduct structure that disguise the base board join. Really adds a city urban rail infrastructure feel to it.

[Irishrailwayman]

9 hours ago, Noel said:

Hi Gerry, layout coming together really well and looking fabulous already. I can see hours of endless shunting fun with sound equipped locos.  Echos of parts of inchicore works. Especially like the little bridge and viaduct structure that disguise the base board join. Really adds a city urban rail infrastructure feel to it.

Thanks Noel, drop over and see DD some time soon. I plan to show it at Enniskillen in September. Not long to the Wexford Exhibition at Easter where I plan to show my Llanuwchllyn layout.

[Irishrailwayman]

I have added a small extension to the front of the layout to enable me to fit in a fencing system:

[Irishrailwayman]

Don't fence me in! Diesel Depot gets a modern fence fitted with some more greenery (need to keep those grafitti artists out):

[Past-Avenue]

Thats looking great and coming together very nicely 

 

[Noel]

Stunning Gerry. Love the brick work, blended colour tones, track ballasting, the patches of grass growth, and especially the storage tanks.

[Irishrailwayman]

The final details have been added and Diesel Depot is now complete and ready for exhibiting! I will post pictures of the layout in CIE, IR and IE mode over time.

[Rob]

Looks brilliant!