BR O Gauge Diesel Depot

Irishrailwayman · October 18, 2019

I am helping a friend develop an O Gauge British Rail outline exhibition layout based in part on my recent OO Diesel Depot. We have started by developing three baseboards using the same techniques namely 6 mm Scandinavian birch plywood 100 mm lengths hot-glued to the underside of the baseboard. The end cheeks were formed from two sections of 6 m plywood stuck together with wood glue before using a pillar-drill to precisely mark the dowel points. Metal dowels were fitted to precisely line up the boards for quick assembly.

Irishrailwayman · October 18, 2019

We selected the Heljan O Gauge Modern Depot kit to form the centrepiece for the layout. This was to enable us to plan out the track layout on the boards precisely. The kit goes together fairly well using poly liquid cement although lack of kit precision means that some gaps between sections will need to be masked with styrene strips.

So, the project so far:

Glenderg · October 18, 2019

Looking good so far, but I'd get a box of 18 x 3mm screws and secure those reinforcing triangles and all other joints, 38mm centres. Those joints will eventually fail without proper wood glue and screws and undo all the hard work ye're about to venture into, despite alignment dowels.

Best of luck with the project, looking forward to seeing the results!

Richie.

Kinvara-Train · October 19, 2019

Plywood is the JOB

Irishrailwayman · October 19, 2019

9 hours ago, Glenderg said:

Looking good so far, but I'd get a box of 18 x 3mm screws and secure those reinforcing triangles and all other joints, 38mm centres. Those joints will eventually fail without proper wood glue and screws and undo all the hard work ye're about to venture into, despite alignment dowels.

Best of luck with the project, looking forward to seeing the results!

Richie.

When the track plan is finalised cross pieces will be hot glued in place and fibre-glass webbing hard glued in place at all joints.

Irishrailwayman · November 5, 2019

Track planning ongoing to ascertain the position of point motors before fitting cross sections beneath the baseboard.

Irishrailwayman · November 6, 2019

On 10/19/2019 at 12:58 AM, Glenderg said:

Looking good so far, but I'd get a box of 18 x 3mm screws and secure those reinforcing triangles and all other joints, 38mm centres. Those joints will eventually fail without proper wood glue and screws and undo all the hard work ye're about to venture into, despite alignment dowels.

Best of luck with the project, looking forward to seeing the results!

Richie.

Once the position of the point motors is known, a 10mm hole is drilled for the actuating wire. Next the cross pieces can be glued in place using the hot-glue gun and all interfaces taped with glass-fibre tape which is then saturated with No-nonsense PVA. This results in a light but strong baseboard.

Irishrailwayman · November 17, 2019

Progressing well with track laying with dropper wires soldered beneath the rails once their precise location is checked:

Noel · November 17, 2019

Looks good. That will be amazing when its finished if it looks like your Diesel Depot layout. Now all he will need is some 0 Gauge 141 or 121 locos like the super MRSI layout at SDMRC. It just won't look quite the same with miners strike BR blue livery class 37 and class 47s. Class 20 and class 25s nice and short ideal for a shunting layout.

Droppers! Me I believed the two wire marketing hype when DCC was launched and so only have two wires going to our layout, no droppers at all, much to the amazement of the prophets of DCC doom. 400m of track and it works fine.

Irishrailwayman · November 17, 2019

17 minutes ago, Noel said:

Looks good. That will be amazing when its finished if it looks like your Diesel Depot layout. Now all he will need is some 0 Gauge 141 or 121 locos like the super MRSI layout at SDMRC. It just won't look quite the same with miners strike BR blue livery class 37 and class 47s. Class 20 and class 25s nice and short ideal for a shunting layout.

Droppers! Me I believed the two wire marketing hype when DCC was launched and so only have two wires going to our layout, no droppers at all, much to the amazement of the prophets of DCC doom. 400m of track and it works fine.

Each section of track is independently powered with no fish-plates used (just as developed for Little Siddington). The droppers will be brought to (D McCabe's) design board as part of the bus-bar. I guess BR Blue is the UK equivalent of our black/tan or Supertrain era and is the livery of choice of Barry the owner of this layout. You may have seen his mighty diesels on LS which should in time grace this new layout also. I have fond memories of BR Blue from the 1980's when I travelled by Interail through the UK to Europe as a student.

Noel · November 17, 2019

23 minutes ago, Irishrailwayman said:

Each section of track is independently powered with no fish-plates used (just as developed for Little Siddington). The droppers will be brought to (D McCabe's) design board as part of the bus-bar. I guess BR Blue is the UK equivalent of our black/tan or Supertrain era and is the livery of choice of Barry the owner of this layout. You may have seen his mighty diesels on LS which should in time grace this new layout also. I have fond memories of BR Blue from the 1980's when I travelled by Interail through the UK to Europe as a student.

Yes I have fond memories travelling behind BR blue class 37s and class 47s in the 70s to London from Wales.

Irishrailwayman · November 19, 2019

Continuing to lay track - shaping up well:

Irishrailwayman · November 27, 2019

The board under the diesel shed tracks is cut to make up the inspection pits. Wood sides are glued in place beneath the board and these are lined with stiff card, finished with polyfilla and painted. The track was replaced and the outside sleepers pinned in place before cutting out the centre of the sleeper to form the pits. Additional details will be added including steps down and fall-plates.

Irishrailwayman · November 27, 2019

Moving swiftly along, the wiring has been completed on the first board using the David McCabe dropper boards to form the DCC bus-bar. Each wire is colour-coded, labelled and numbered indicating which position on the bus-bar it occupies enabling fault finding to be expedited. No fishplates are used but each individual section of track has its own DCC feed. Cobalt slow-action digital point motors are being used for this project which also throw the polarity of the frogs.

Irishrailwayman · December 1, 2019

Second board has its wiring completed with some figuring out to do on the electrofrog double slip! Wiring on fiddle yard also completed at this point. Looking neat and easily tested/checked and repaired.

Irishrailwayman · December 6, 2019

We have selected a gritty industrial back-scene for the O gauge UK TMD:

Irishrailwayman · December 12, 2019

LED lighting fitted to inspection pits, back-scene strengthening battens added and fiddle-yard completed:

Edited December 13, 2019 by Irishrailwayman
Typo

Irishrailwayman · December 17, 2019

The mirrors are in place giving the impression of a much larger layout!

Irishrailwayman · December 21, 2019

Adding plasticard strips to the engine shed to provide a better finish prior to painting. Also a view without the shed so you can spot the mirror!

Irishrailwayman · January 1, 2020

Working on adding a "concrete" apron around the depot shed using mounting card glued together with contact adhesive and stuck in place using PVA (which enables the card to be lifted without damage if ever the need arises). Also completed adding plastic strip to the shed and started painting it.

Irishrailwayman · January 7, 2020

Progress with concrete apron and painting shed:

Past-Avenue · January 7, 2020

Looking good Gerry

jhb171achill · January 7, 2020

The details.... that's the beauty of "O" gauge. Out of interest, suppose one were to use 0 gauge track to represent 5'3". If my calculations are somewhere close to being correct (and I'm aware we have one former maths teacher here!), that would presumably mean that in order to use 0 gauge track as 5'3", you'd be working to a scale of 6.26mm = 1ft, is that right?

Very long term future, thinking of some sort of diorama but with 0 representing what we have here.....

Does that make any sense?

Galteemore · January 7, 2020

I’m not a maths teacher, JHB, but it does make sense. The only issue would be how much sheer scratch-building one would have to do. It’s tricky enough in ‘pure’ 7mm but using a non-standard scale would shut one off from all kinds of useful stuff from buffers to scenic items. Indeed, the very track itself might look odd as the sleeper spacing would be off scale too if using proprietary 7mm scale track....

Edited January 7, 2020 by Galteemore

murrayec · January 7, 2020

I calculate it out at a scale difference of .8875 so 6.11mm = 1ft??

But I have to agree with Galteemore it would be far easer to make 5'3'' track than it would be to model in 6.1 or 6.26mm scale, it even knocks out kits, everything would have to be scratch built.

Eoin

jhb171achill · January 8, 2020

1 hour ago, murrayec said:

I calculate it out at a scale difference of .8875 so 6.11mm = 1ft??

But I have to agree with Galteemore it would be far easer to make 5'3'' track than it would be to model in 6.1 or 6.26mm scale, it even knocks out kits, everything would have to be scratch built.

Eoin

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

I’m not a maths teacher, JHB, but it does make sense. The only issue would be how much sheer scratch-building one would have to do. It’s tricky enough in ‘pure’ 7mm but using a non-standard scale would shut one off from all kinds of useful stuff from buffers to scenic items. Indeed, the very track itself might look odd as the sleeper spacing would be off scale too if using proprietary 7mm scale track....

Yes, I get that OK. It was just a thought.

Actually, what Ihad in mind would be more tramway than railway-orientated so the sleeper spacing mightn't be such an issue - but buffers.... I actually hadn't thought about that!

I had an idea - dunno if I had put it up here or not - this would be bought chassis with plastic-scratch-built bodies, of a fictitious branch of the Blessington Tram. Just a diorama thing, as space would be limited. The thing rattles up a road (like to Crooksling) and there's a stop with a siding at a crossroads. Like the D & B, it carried goods too - the loco & passenger car could have a van or open wagon behind it. It can drop it or lift it from that siding.

Must speak to Baseboard Dave about an off-cut bit of board.... It would be called "Lamb's Cross"...... Unsure whether to get a spare bit of 00 track, or do 21mm. Maybe 0 gauge, hence my earlier comments. 0 scale Irish gauge would be 36.75mm....that WOULD look good. Space is the issue, though.

Really, I'm dreaming here. First thing to do is get the Dugort Harbour thing all up and running.

Galteemore · January 8, 2020

Yes, it’s funny how our minds move on to project 2 right in middle of project 1! Dioramas are a great way to go - and quick! And you really can knock up 36.75 track quite easily with old Hornby oo rail and card sleepers. This whole thing took less than an hour from start to finish as a rough test piece of 5’3” track ...

Edited January 8, 2020 by Galteemore