Let's see your layouts

[Mr Beef]

Thanks PJ.

Want to finish this one first and sell it to help fund new one so may be a while away.

Yes I am the fisherman, don't go as much as I would like though.

 

Steve

[N0ddie]

Love that layout Phul. What size is it?

 

Managed to download SCARM onto a works PC (I dont have windows at home) and have had a quick blast as putting my 8 x 4 layout together. Something like this is what I'm aiming for:

 

The 3rd and 2nd radius tracks will be joined by a couple of sets of points (Which I forgot to add in). I have some express points but their off size means One must have them at both sides of the board to make everything marry up nicely.

 

This layout means I have a lot of empty space inside the loops. I'm open to suggestions as to what I could stick in there. I was thinking perhaps the Hornby terminus but it might be too much when you consider I have 4ft of platform and over roofs at the top of the board.

[Mr Beef]

Some really good layouts there. Makes my little one seem inadequate.

Will have to get it finished and sold ready to fund new larger layout

[96RAF]

Express points diverge to diverge for a cross over will fit exactly into the standard intertrack spacing.

How about a bay platform off that top inner track into the left corner.

And a back track point from the top diagonal siding to a Y for a twin road engine shed and or diesel servicing area..

[Buz]

/media/tinymce_upload/DSC00285_copy.jpgSome really good layouts there. Makes my little one seem inadequate.

Will have to get it finished and sold ready to fund new larger layout

Hi Mr Beef

it's quality not quantity that makes a good model railway.

Oh one small point a model railway is never finished ;-)

Is there any reason the old cannot become part the new biger better railway?

If size was rely a big issue my second station would never have been built

and its even loosely based on a WC&PR real one

see atatched picture and infact my whole layout would never have been built if size was a real issuie

regards John

[Chrissaf]

I think the Phul007 layout is an excellent example of what a well thought out comprehensive lighting plan can add to a layout. Extensive use of LEDs and lit accessories (I wonder how many others noticed the working headlights and taillights on the vehicles) can really add a whole new dimension and level of realism to a layout, particularly if some of that lighting is animated, for example working road traffic lights.

 

I myself took a bog standard Land Rover Discovery Poilce Car (Oxford Diecast 76LRD001) modded it with four blue micro LEDs (1.6mm x 0.6mm), threw in a strobe controller circuit board and now have a static model where the roof light bar and front valance lamps strobe with blue lights just like the real thing. It is really not difficult, just very time consuming to do.

 

[N0ddie]

Express points diverge to diverge for a cross over will fit exactly into the standard intertrack spacing.

How about a bay platform off that top inner track into the left corner.

And a back track point from the top diagonal siding to a Y for a twin road engine shed and or diesel servicing area..

Had another go on SCARM and came up with this:

 

 

I have a single line going to the south of the main station. The rest of the inner lines are for some diesel loco/running stock. The pair of lines down to the right will go to a diesel shed or the likes. Think this utilises most of the space available so has some variety ie. high speed modern and slower diesel type locos.

[96RAF]

And what about the survey crew trying to work out how to disguise that Hornby surface mount point motor which actually did not look very much out of place.

I must agree the car lighting was so 'normal' I didn't see it first time around until Chris flagged it up.

Now I have a Coast Guard Land Rover towing a boat trailer that has 4 x tiny blue lights on the top and I really want to make it live. Chris you gotta post a How-To for your Police car.

[Chrissaf]

Rob,

"Chris you gotta post a How-To for your Police car."

.

The problem with a 'How To' is you really need to take some reference photos as you're doing it and I have no plans to do another at this time. Also to show the light animation effect you really need a video medium and that would mean posting on YouTube or similar as video posts not supported here yet (unless Adam states otherwise). I did make a video of the effect after I first built it to show to friends & family, but was disappointed with the video output. The video was shot at about 24 frames a second, but my blue lights strobe at about 40 times a second. This meant that in the final video edit, the strobing effect looked glitchy and intermittent as some of the strobing was lost in the video inter frame gaps.

.

What I can do though, is provide part numbers and sources for the parts I used, like for example the micro LEDs, strobe controller board and micro wires with a text description of the key parts involved in the process. And as you know Rob, text based descriptions is something I do rather well.

.

Give me a few days to put something together and I will post in the General section, probably sometime next week. What I will probably do is a ZIP file that contains a PDF document & a movie file, then upload it to "Wikisend" with a download link in the forum post. That will allow me to be as creative as I want with the PDF bit without having to upload lots of individual diagrams and images to the forum post.

.

I don't know if Phul007 did his own vehicle lighting mods or not as I have seen some internet model lighting suppliers selling ready made modded vehicles, albeit quite expensive due to sheer amount of labour involved.

.

PS - "And what about the survey crew trying to work out how to disguise that Hornby surface mount point motor." Yes that little diorama scene made me smile too.

 

[Mr Beef]

Hi Buz

I supose some could be used but I made the mistake of using a lot of second hand track and rushing into it, some of track is nickle and some steel. Some of the points were damaged so I had to buy latching motos, so would not want to salvage those.I supose I could salvage tha point motors and buildings, but I was rather hopeing it would be worth more If I sold it.

Steve

[96RAF]

Cheers Chris - I will be pleased if aand when Adam gets th ego ahead for the How-To section on the site.

Until then we are limited I suppose to publishing snippets rather than full articles.

Your solution sounds fairly intricate. I was hoping for a single flashing blue shining into the blue bottles on the roof as in using the existing moulding as a light tube.

I had toyed with the idea of running the blue light power leads to under tyre contacts that would match up with copper tape at various places around the roads so you could shift vehicles about for variety. If right hand drive convention was followed then road contact + & - would always be right.

On another thread (coach lighting) - Dropbox has been used successfully as a link to videos, rather than bellow to the world as is usual on U-Tube.

Wiki sounds like a plan. I've written Wikis before but haven't got into Wiki-Send yet.

Rob

[Buz]

Hi Buz

I supose some could be used but I made the mistake of using a lot of second hand track and rushing into it, some of track is nickle and some steel. Some of the points were damaged so I had to buy latching motos, so would not want to salvage those.I supose I could salvage tha point motors and buildings, but I was rather hopeing it would be worth more If I sold it.

Steve

Once I started ballasting track from one layout to the next I never bothered to salvage the track I tried and failed once so don't bother now its not worth it unless old rail is needed for a scenic item.

Point motors buildings trees wire switches any little bits and pieces I can salvage from last layout are. they are then cleaned up sorted and what ever can be re used is, if not and its worth keeping it is kept

Where posible the wood and alluminum that the bench work is made of is also salaged and where posible reused

The aluminium under this layout has been on three prior layouts the platform on my main station was on a previous layout as part of the board now cut to shape as a platform.

Never waste anything you can reuse it helps keep the cost down however track is not something I would buy second hand nor is power equipment.

Don't worry to much we have all made our fair share of mistakes all you can do is not make te same one twice.

The  next layout is always, better than the last one and the one currently being worked on should in the opinion of the builder be the greatest layout ever built.

regards John

[Chrissaf]

Rob,

Is this your Coast Guard Land Rover. This one is advertised as 1:72 scale. Couldn't find anything that matched your description in 1:76

.

/media/tinymce_upload/coastguard.jpg

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If it does represent your model, then I think the four blue 'flower pot' lamps on the top should be OK to mod, provided the blue plastic goes right through the roof to create a light guide. Then it is just a matter of gluing a SMD 0603 type LED on the underside of the roof over the top of the blue plastic projections. The internal glazing shell will need to have some holes cut in it to make space for the LEDs glued to the inside of the roof and once glued, the resultant LEDs will need painting black to minimise light bleed from lighting up the model interior. Looks like plenty of space to hide the wires is available inside. Initial impression is that it is an easier mod than that I undertook for the Police car. That's the essence of it, but will cover in greater detail in my post next week.

.

The controller circuit can do a number of different blue lamp sequences. All four together on and off, alternate front and back on and off or rotating all four lamps individually on and off in a diagonal alternate pattern e.g 1, 3, 2, 4 (counting the four lamps clockwise sequentially from 1 to 4). It is this last sequence that I used for my police car with great realistic effect because of the fast strobe rate. At a fast strobe rate, the naked eye finds it quite difficult to actually detect the pattern.

[Chrissaf]

MESSAGE FOR ROB (RAF96)

Rob,

See further up this post. Post timeline 19:47 10th March. Message for you to comment on regarding your Coast Guard vehicle. The image moderation delay on this occasion has done exactly what has been discussed on the forum feedback thread. Left a post behind and isolated after an avalanche of fresh posts.

[96RAF]

MESSAGE FOR ROB (RAF96)

Rob,

See further up this post. Post timeline 19:47 10th March. Message for you to comment on regarding your Coast Guard vehicle. The image moderation delay on this occasion has done exactly what has been discussed on the forum feedback thread. Left a post behind and isolated after an avalanche of fresh posts.

 

 

Thats the one Chris - out of 00 scale I know but OK when placed in vanishing point perspective.

I'll pull it apart and do a recce.

Thanks Rob

[N0ddie]

Started the construction of the new frame for my new layout. Managed to get some nicely round edged wood. Managed to fit 10 8ft lengths of the nearly 4" x 2" sections into my little 3 door Fiesta. First half is complete (though missing legs until I have completed bracing on the 2nd frame):

 

 

Once the bracing is installed leg cutting and fitting is next (I'm thinking 2ft legs to allow the little one to still be able to see/play). After that is drill holes in the internal braces to feed the cables through (Though I forgot to lift the holesaw from my bench in work so that'll have to wait until next week.

[Black Marlin]

This is my layout, 'Starlingford'. It's 10'x15', with an additional 2'x1.5' engine shed board and 8'x4' fiddleyard:http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2650_zpsf2f90a63.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2663_zps26fc8475.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/J11ampTroutStation1_zps801dcecb.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2216_zpsf32d66ce.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2165_zpsd2e48b33.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2163_zpse061c3a5.jpg

[96RAF]

Started the construction of the new frame for my new layout. Managed to get some nicely round edged wood. Managed to fit 10 8ft lengths of the nearly 4" x 2" sections into my little 3 door Fiesta. First half is complete (though missing legs until I have completed bracing on the 2nd frame):

 Once the bracing is installed leg cutting and fitting is next (I'm thinking 2ft legs to allow the little one to still be able to see/play). After that is drill holes in the internal braces to feed the cables through (Though I forgot to lift the holesaw from my bench in work so that'll have to wait until next week.

 

Nice boards - serious bracing there N0ddie  but it looks like Sundeala top boards so probably really necessary for board stability. Don't you hate it when you get home and find the essential tools are somewhere else. Been there, done that, got the etc, etc...

I like the idea of low board height for the little ones. Look at it this way you can provide low chairs for biggies to maintain status quo. Later you can easily insert extension pieces if required to raise it.

 

[tony_forward]

 

A couple more of Boghampton:

 

/media/tinymce_upload/bh031.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/bh033.JPG

 

[Chrissaf]

NOddie,

Something you might want to consider at this stage, although you might have been planning it already. I used 3 x 3 inch legs, bolted to the frame with additional diagonal cross bracing for support. The extra support and the leg size allowed me to fit large rubber castor swivel wheels to the bottom of the legs. This gives me the opportunity to easily move the whole thing around and gain access to the bits normally against the wall.

[Chrissaf]

Rob,

I'll think you'll find if you look really closely that what you thought were Sundeala top boards is in fact NOddie's carpet !!!

Chris (smiley face here)

[Chrissaf]

Black Marlin,

Loved the ripple effect on the water, that must have took some time to perfect. The water colour looked brill too.

.

[PJ_model_trains]

Started the construction of the new frame for my new layout. Managed to get some nicely round edged wood. Managed to fit 10 8ft lengths of the nearly 4" x 2" sections into my little 3 door Fiesta. First half is complete (though missing legs until I have completed bracing on the 2nd frame):

 

 

Once the bracing is installed leg cutting and fitting is next (I'm thinking 2ft legs to allow the little one to still be able to see/play). After that is drill holes in the internal braces to feed the cables through (Though I forgot to lift the holesaw from my bench in work so that'll have to wait until next week.

 

It looks very sturdy N0ddie,

Just a thought. Have you thought about what type of point motors you will have, if under the track consider your nogging positions.

PJ

[PJ_model_trains]

This is my layout, 'Starlingford'. It's 10'x15', with an additional 2'x1.5' engine shed board and 8'x4' fiddleyard:http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2650_zpsf2f90a63.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2663_zps26fc8475.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/J11ampTroutStation1_zps801dcecb.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2216_zpsf32d66ce.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2165_zpsd2e48b33.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii283/Blackmarlin84/IMG_2163_zpse061c3a5.jpg

 

Very nice Black Marlin, I hope you have Velux windows in your roof, if not the planes will have done it for you.

 

The water also looks very realistic

 

PJ

[Graskie]

That layout looks splendid, BM. Oh to have that much space, although I can't get anywhere as near to finishing my smaller layout after starting it up 20 years ago!