"The Wicklow Branch Line" in N.

[Sean]

so with the micro shelved, and the TMD moving slowly, I was still without a place to run trains, particularly somewhere with a continuous run that i could just sit back to watch trains going around.

until i started playing with an old farish class 08 set ive had for the last few years and looking at n gauge layouts on youtube i quickly fell in love with the idea of building a small layout in N as practically i do not have the space to create a decent sized oo layout. and my scatter brain approach tends to find it hard to actually comitting to a plan for a large scale layout this has become much more manageable and fun.

 

Its only a simple oval with a single track station and a yard/siding on the other side, and im using this build to really focus on improving my scenic work and actually finish a project so that is ideal for what I am doing,  there are a couple of isolated "dead" points in the trackwork which can be controlled via the controller in order to allow one train to stand whilst the other runs to the station freeing up the siding for them to swap over.

 

there will be no backscene, as i intend to operate the layout from different "scenes" which will change depending on what side of the base board the user decides to sit at. There will be some efforts made to visually obscure the scenes  which the user is not sitting at as this way points of interest can change over time.

 

there will be a few unusual features on this layout such as a small coillte forest with 4x4 tracking  and a ruined round tower which attracts tourists. I am trying to recreate the feel of what a railway running through the dublin/wicklow mountains may feel like but whilst also incorporating props from some of my other hobbies.  the station itself will be based upon kilcoole as it is the only single track station i really know of around me but the line itself completley fictional  and without too specific an era. as N presents enough challenges as it is already

 

forest area slowly being fenced off and terrain building up. not a big area but the local 4x4 club hold leasehold for offroading here.

 

out of a tunnel and over the bridge.

 

fully loaded siding as the dart service runs round. this is just a simple yard/ loading dock.

 

few videos capturing the atmosphere of just what im trying to achieve with this layout, im really looking forward to modelling this one to completion.

I do particularly like the dart station level crossing scene.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Sean

[David Holman]

There's a lot to be said for smaller projects that can be completed in a fairly short space of time. You learn, gain experience, enjoy seeing something finished and have fun.

[Sean]

thats exactly it dave, and this is really inspiring me to construct a larger n layout after seeing that i can run decently long trains even on this small layout.

 

the mk3's arrived today so i can finally start on the  full lenght station platform

[Noel]

9 minutes ago, Sean said:

thats exactly it dave, and this is really inspiring me to construct a larger n layout after seeing that i can run decently long trains even on this small layout.

 

the mk3's arrived today so i can finally start on the  full lenght station platform

Enjoy the process Sean, this is shaping up really well. Well done.

[MikeO]

An N gauge layout in whatever size you want to make is very feasible. You have made a good start with this one. The skills you have learned in converting the oo gauge stock will still apply to your  N gauge conversions. The 2 main strengths of N gauge are that you can get more into less space and smaller details on the stock are not required( in some cases are very difficult or not feasible to do). The main consideration given the small size of the stock in my opinion is the look.  Sometimes that can be tricky enough to achieve.

I have been converting/scratch building Irish N Gauge stock for the last 8 years and run the trains on varying sizes of layouts made up of T-Trak modular boards. This is the link to my T Trak thread.

Any questions just ask.

MikeO

[Sean]

Been a nice productive weekend here on the line. im falling in love with n guage and the speed at which projects can progress and what can be gotten into the space.

 

mk3's landed so i could finally size up the passenger platform. was pretty happy to get the final thing built to that curve on the first go. the platform can accomodate a 141 and a train of 3 mk3's with the loco or generator car coming to a stop in the tunnel.

 

next, i decided i was gonna pick a section of track to start to build up  a nice lineside scene and thought the trackside banks around the forest would be a perfect starting point.

 

but first i said i would try a spot of ballasting, and well considering how well it was looking i kept on going until i had used up the entire bag, ittl need touching up here and there where a few bits of scatter has landed down on it or it did not stick completley. but to say ive never ballasted before im pretty chuffed. railheads will need a clean befoer i try a loco but stock is going over it nicely. the oval has also now been seperated into seperate sections using plastic fishplates for independant loco control on dc so these sections will need to be wired next.

 

rocky area with last white section of hill to be completled, then i will be able to finish the forest floor and built that up.

 

forest end is shaping up really nicely. I havent started on the actual forest yet as i only got around to filling the last hills etc today. its nice being finally able to take pictures that arent a sea of white polystyrene landforms.

ex BR stock on tow to the inchicore paint shop after a recent aquisition.

 

[Sean]

On 5/3/2021 at 4:12 PM, MikeO said:

An N gauge layout in whatever size you want to make is very feasible. You have made a good start with this one. The skills you have learned in converting the oo gauge stock will still apply to your  N gauge conversions. The 2 main strengths of N gauge are that you can get more into less space and smaller details on the stock are not required( in some cases are very difficult or not feasible to do). The main consideration given the small size of the stock in my opinion is the look.  Sometimes that can be tricky enough to achieve.

I have been converting/scratch building Irish N Gauge stock for the last 8 years and run the trains on varying sizes of layouts made up of T-Trak modular boards. This is the link to my T Trak thread.

Any questions just ask.

MikeO

thanks mike. this is one of the threads i read through before finally taking the plunge on n.

 

have you got any experience with the shapeways kits? i want to try and get them working on a kato chassis.

[MikeO]

No personal experience. A friend bought a number of diesel bodies with the idea of putting them on an SW9 chassis. I saw the bodies. First impressions were that they need a lot of work to make them look smooth as indicated in various threads in this forum. The main issue was the amount of space inside the locos it was very narrow and did not look like an SW9 Chassis would fit with out widening the inner walls of the body. Un fortunately he has not gotten around to doing anything with them.

 

MikeO

[JasonB]

18 hours ago, Sean said:

Been a nice productive weekend here on the line. im falling in love with n guage and the speed at which projects can progress and what can be gotten into the space.

Looking good Sean. It's progressing nicely. 

[Sean]

So nothing much has happened for the last few months as the layout had to take a back seat in order for me to get the thesis written, im definitely not scrapping this one, i like it too much  

last thing i got done was fitting isolating fishplates for my sectional running  but i never got around to rewiring things so thats the next job on the cards, getting things operational again.

 

for now though, heres some food for thought.

 

[jhb171achill]

That's looking VERY impressive!

[burnthebox]

Sean, my lad, you’ve been a very busy man, looking just great, keep up the good work,

BTB

[Sean]

with power restored on the line it was finally time to trial the up until now not run mk3 set.

 

i reckon this is the next scene im gonna work at to get me settled back into things.

 

mk3 set passes at speed as the dart awaits futher orders in the siding.