Restarting from Scratch

One great thing about a hobby is that you can do it when you want to, and put it aside when you don't. Another is that you have no deadlines and no requirements; you're completely in control of your project. After putting together nearly the entire baseboard and track for my layout, I realized that the design I had used had some serious drawbacks. There was only one passing track, the 'town' area was very cramped, and there were some small track design issues that I really should have caught, like putting a short straight section between two otherwise continuous curves.

So I tore it all up and started over with a new design. I put some thought into what I actually want to do with the layout, and realized that a point-to-point, rather than a loop, is fine because I find that putting trains together in a yard and sending it off somewhere is what is enjoyable about operations. This new layout fits into a corner, has a good-sized main yard, a small dockside yard, and three industries along the way. It also incorporates the wooden kit bridge, in addition to four additional bridges! There are some pretty dramatic elevation changes, but the steepest grade is still about 2.5%.

I'm going to try using open benchwork, as well as making the legs bolt on so one day I can try to move the layout to a new location. This is the current plan in Google Sketchup. The extension piece for the town year will be bolted to the main frame and the track pieces fitted together so it too can be removed if necessary.

Overall I am really looking forward to putting this new plan together. I am currently painting the first of my buildings, the signal house, and will post some pictures of it when it's done.

Testing Continues

Waiting on some paints to get started on the buildings. Set up the layout to test the upper level, supervision cat supervised.

New Structures

Received three new structures in the mail from Japan: a rural station, signal/switching tower, and a station master's building, all by Greenmax. The detail of the parts looks great, although I'm not sure if I will end up using the bases for the smaller two structures. I am very skeptical about using the included fences - they end up being some like 1x1m in N scale, far too bulky to look realistic. I should be able to start assembling them on the weekend.

Picked up some more wire and some terminal blocks, hopefully I can improve the wiring situation underneath the layout. I also bought some quick disconnect terminals for connecting the power pack to the layout, but they don't feel as quick to disconnect as advertised, plus I have no idea how the wires are supposed to be attached to the terminals; they are also labeled as "solder-free".

Got to visit the Hockley Valley Railroad recently, which has a great couple of HO-scale layouts and an amazing indoor G-scale layout set partly in the modern era and partly in the transition era. I would encourage anyone in the area (Alliston; in Southern Ontario, north of Toronto) to check it out, the owner is extremely friendly and helpful. They have a great selection of Canadian locomotives, although they seem to specialize in HO and G scale rather than N.

Upper Level Track and Bridge In

Finished laying most of the track for the upper level. Also, the wooden bridge has been fully assembled and installed, and just needs a little touch-up painting. In time it will get some foliage, especially around its base, but for now it's supported at the right height and the track has been glued down.




Here's an overview of the layout, just missing the rest of the spur track and the final bit on the upper left of this picture, where the other bridge will connect to a small sliver of hillside.

Building with Cardboard

Since using cut foam was out, I went with a cardboard structure to support my upper level. I still don't know if using so much cardboard is normal. As long as I seal everything down the road, I can't see any downside to it.

I cut a section of cork board, the same material I used for the ramp, to support the 2" high portion; later I'll build natural-looking slopes from plaster cloth. Since the cork board I have is 1/4" thick, I cut out reasonably level strips of 1 3/4 tall cardboard to support it and glued them to the bottom of the base.

I laid out the strips of board without any specific plan, just wanting to support the board evenly. Having them folded seemed like a good way to add stability. The corrugated bits are running vertically. I weighed down everything with some heavy textbooks, which also flattened the board on the table.

After this dried I placed it on the baseboard and glued and weighed that. Once everything was dry, it certainly felt like a strong surface. I wouldn't start swinging around the layout while holding it, but it doesn't budge when pushed on. Also I can easily pierce it to run more feeder line, or trim off sections to better shape the hillsides.


Overhead view without the upper portion of the track in place. Lots of room for the small, rural passenger station that will be going on the spur to the right of the image.


Our cat seems pleased with the whole thing. You can see the wooden bridge, still unfinished, in the spot where it will eventually be fixed. Next comes laying the rest of the track, then fitting the bridges. Soon I'll be receiving shipment of new structures: the station, a signal box, and a small office.

Bridges in Progress

I'm in the process of assembling and painting both of the bridges. The deck girder bridge went together without any trouble. The instructions confusingly try to cover the steps for HO and N scale, 40' and 80' bridges, so I had to figure out for myself that the included deck plate was 80' and had to be spanned in half for my 40' model. Right now it's painted a flat black but will receive some grey and rust details. The Stoney Brook Bridge is fantastic. I do regret the time I spent putting the scale rivets into the sides of the supports (I only did so on the outside too) but so far it is looking great. The picture above is only missing the walkways and side barriers.

I finally hooked up my wire foam cutter to the 4.5 battery it requires, only to find that it doesn't heat up for some reason. I had hoped to build the upper level yesterday, but since I can't cut the foam effectively it looks like I will have to build a strong but light base from cardboard sections to support it.

The Bridges of Taihoku County

The two new bridges have arrived: the N scale 75-153 Deck Girder Bridge by Micro Engineering Company, and the #874 N Scale Stoney Brook Bridge by Branchline Trains. Both are interesting in their own way. The deck girder bridge is simple but detailed for a plastic model, although the instructions could have been a little clearer on how one should prepare the 40' model from the 80' deck provided. The Stoney Brook Bridge is just incredible in its detail, but unfortunately one sprue of plastic bolts got a little warped. I'm looking forward to assembling both of them.