Category: Model Railway

There is now a wall separating the rather unfinished tarmac outside the terraced cottages and the narrow gauge track:

The shops and house by the main station have now been replaced with a new building:

The wall between the narrow gauge track and the shops has also been replaced, and this area is now largely finished:

Just for reference, this is how this area looked seven years ago:

The Main Station Forecourt had been a problem ever since the narrow gauge track was laid in front of it. This is how it originally looked:

Unfortunately, the curves on this track proved to be too tight, so it had to be relaid, which then disrupted the paving…

Finally, I’ve reworked this area, and am reasonably pleased with the results:

The goods yard has always been in a rather ‘half-finished’ state whilst I decided how to finish the surface. The walls between it and the main track were also only ‘temporary’:
I was recently given some long offcuts of 2mm MDF, and glued two strips together to make the basis of a long, curvable wall:Having sorted the walls out, I decided to use some of the left over track ballast for the goods yard surface. This was then sprayed to tone the colour down.
With a bit of greenery, it now looks a lot better than before:

There was a gap between the New Country Pub and the railway halt that has now been filled with a small cottage and office:

Yet again, this has been made from cardboard and laser printed paper.

Finally, after what seems like months, the Country Inn on the layout has been replaced with a more detailed one, again made from cardboard and laser printed paper:

You’ll notice that there are no chimney pots yet – a number of the new buildings need them, but as they’re so easily damaged, it’s best to fit them after everything else has been installed.

 

 

When it’s cool enough, I’ve found odd moments to tidy up the area around the station forecourt.

There is now a road crossing across the narrow gauge track, and the section to the left of the crossing is now finished.

But as you can see, still more work to do at the front of the station.

The shops and houses in the left of this picture will also be rebuilt when time allows.

 

 

One minor disadvantage of the New Narrow Gauge Loco is that it is a lot longer than the old locos (and has more wheels) and some of the curves in the track were too sharp for it.

So the Narrow Gauge track by the station has now had to move:

I was never very happy with this section, so this is an opportunity to redo it from scratch…

The Narrow Gauge track in the tunnels and the “hidden” loop in the store also needed a bit of easing for the larger loco:

However, the loco now runs well around the loop. There is still other related scenic finishing off to be done (as always!).

Point 14 (which used to be Point 51) is the only point on the Narrow Gauge track, and until today was the only one still driven by a solenoid type point motor.

With some trimming, I’ve managed to fit the same type of point motor that’s used on the rest of the layout. This was an interesting challenge as there is limited accessibility under this part of the layout!

You can just see the thick wire heading to the underside of the layout; it’s this that moves the point.

Finally, after a wait of nearly 5 years, I’ve been able to buy a sensible ready to run loco for the narrow gauge track. This is a Bachman Baldwin, or more precisely, a “Baldwin Class 10-12-D 4-6-0T in Welsh Highland Railway Black”.

It’s the correct scale for a narrow gauge loco, but looks very small compared to the standard gauge wagons behind.

It’s also a bit bigger than my previous narrow gauge locos, so there will need to be a bit of track adjustment to come…