Layout No.3

[PhilH]

I would have liked a garden railway but the problem is I don't have a suitable garden, so the best I could do outdoors is a back yard railway.

Phase 1: It was intended originally to run American O Scale on DC track power, and to fit the available space the layout simply comprises an oval with end curves of approximately 8 feet radius connected by 8 feet long straights each side, one of which goes through a shed. Its elevated by a height varying from 3'-2" to 3'-6" above the paved surface.

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Baseboards are 3/4" marine ply on 3" x 1" horizontal timbers and covered with roofing felt. Supports are single 4" square posts in the flower bed and double 2" square posts on the paved area. Track and turnouts are American Atlas except for two turnouts by Marcway. The double track section was intended as a loop capable of stabling long freight trains although it was never actually used as such.

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Access to the inside of the layout is provided by a hinged flap


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A sprung pin pops up when the flap is raised to prevent any mishaps


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[PhilH]

Kadee couplers were fitted to all stock and magnets in most of the sidings, so a certain amount of shunting could be carried out as well as watching the trains go round and round, and round, and round...........zzzzzz (good cure for insomnia !)

D&RGW M64 4-8-4 on passenger and M75 4-8-2 on freight.
An additional siding was later provided in the background.




A Santa Fe 2-8-0 emerges from the rear of the shed.




US Hobbies UP 2-8-0 with the only item of "scenery" - an Atlas switch tower.

with a few more cars the loco would reappear before the caboose left the scene !
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This was all very jolly for a while, but the chore of cleaning the track and carrying locos (some very heavy) and rolling stock into and out of the house, up and down stairs for every operating session caused the enthusiasm to wear a bit thin at times.

An introduction to live steam by a friend and membership of the local group of the 16mm Association prompted a rethink - so on to Phase 2.

tbc

 

[PhilH]

Phase 2: Something completely different - 16mm scale narrow gauge..

To accommodate the coarser wheel standards of 16mm stock all the Atlas turnouts were removed from the main circuit and the two remaining Marcway turnouts modified by adjusting the check rails.

Bearing in mind the introduction in the first post of my "Moving Coal" thread, the choice of the first 16mm scale live steam locomotive was fairly obvious - The Roundhouse Penrhyn Railway CHARLES.

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Overall I am pleased with the Roundhouse model although the dimensions have been adjusted, mainly the width, to allow operation on both 32mm and 45mm gauge track. There were a few items I thought could be improved, particularly the chimney and the buffers. The new chimney was constructed in three sections - the barrel, with its lower end threaded to suit the existing fixing nut; the cap, heat shrunk onto the top of the barrel, and the base.

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The new chimney in place on the smokebox with the original Roundhouse chimney on the right.
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Replacing the buffers required new buffer beams and these were machined from 1.5mm thick brass plate. The Roundhouse buffer beams are rather wider than the prototype like the rest of the model to accommodate 45mm gauge, and also rather deeper. So the buffers and other details on the buffer beams were increased in scale to keep the proportions the same.




The buffer beams and buffers before painting. The front buffer beam bolts have plain round heads while the rear buffer beam has a combination of hexagonal bolt heads, nuts and rivets. The buffer beams were fixed in place with 8BA cheesehead bolts with the heads reduced in size to match the other dummy fixings. The buffers are bolted to angle brackets fixed to the rear of the buffer beams.

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The new front buffer beam fitted in place. The sand bucket supplied with the loco was fixed in position with a 10BA screw through the base and provided with a lid.

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The brass injector pipework was replaced with thick copper wire and the cranked reverser rod replaced with a more correct straight one. The nameplates on the prototype were fitted lower down the tank side when it received a new welded tank to replace the riveted one in 1942.
The model was expertly lined by Geoff Munday of Lightline, after which it received a coat of satin varnish. The chimney and smokebox were finished with Rust-oleum heat resistant paint.

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with a rake of Slaters Festiniog slate wagons





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With the prototype CHARLES at Penrhyn Castle. The model was operating at the museum on a portable layout at a special event in 2016.


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[PhilH]

The next 16mm loco was an Accucraft Baldwin 4-6-0, supplied ready fitted with radio control like the CHARLES. Apart from fitting plates no modifications have been done to this loco.

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Pictured here with a couple of Slaters WD bogie wagons, a further two have been constructed since then.
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This has all been very jolly for a while (haven't we been here before ?) but the Atlas track hasn't weathered particularly well, so the question arose whether to stick with 32mm gauge and relay with Peco SM-32 track or something else. The work of lifting the old track hasn't been started yet and the felt will probably require replacing at the same time so it will be quite a big job. The new track has been bought ready to lay, and it won't be SM-32, it will be something else. So on to Phase 3.

tbc

 

[AdeMoore]

Enjoyed phase 2 and the mods to Charles looks a lovely little loco that.
Cheers

 

[Jordan]

Now't wrong with Phase 1 if you ask me... although I was thinking that 8ft radius curves were mighty generous, until I saw your motive power steamers do require rather more generous radii than diesel, but then the wider the radius the better anyway generally.
The other thing that struck me was how deep the ties are on the Atlas track that would take up some ballast!! And how fine the molded spike heads are!

 

[PhilH]

Now't wrong with Phase 1 if you ask me...

Plenty of freight cars available for sale if you like it so much !

 

[PhilH]

Phase 3 will be similar to Phase 2, but bigger - 7/8" scale on 45mm gauge.

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Starting with the same prototype theme as the previous phase, the first two locos are Accucraft Penrhyn Large Quarry Hunslets, representing prototype locos HUGH NAPIER and EDWARD SHOLTO.

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The first step after acquisition was to provide the missing coal bunker on the left hand side of the cab.
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The chimneys were replaced on both locos with something nearer to the real thing, although I did manage to reuse the original chimney bases.
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Both locos have radio control on both regulator and reverser, the required work being carried out by Dave Mees of Abbeybach Engineering, Llanrwst. The receiver is at the front of the bunker on the left hand side with the regulator servo below (in the photo), both normally hidden by the coal load. The servo operates the regulator handle via an angle crank on the footplate. The reverser servo is on the right hand side connected directly to the existing reversing lever. Rechargeable batteries to power the installation are situated out of sight under the cab and between the frames. The handbrake serves as the control valve for the gas burner.

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The lining is by means of transfers from David Bailey, after which they received a coat of satin varnish with the smokebox and chimney in heat resistant paint.

While they are still awaiting the relaying of their home line they have had many outings on other layouts of fellow members of the local area group of the 16mm Association.

 

[PhilH]

So far 12 wagons have been constructed from limited edition kits of Penrhyn prototypes produced by David Bailey.

Right to Left are a steel coal wagon with end door, fullersite wagon and two slate wagons.




Construction of the wagons was described here: Penrhyn Railway wagons in 7/8" scale




The slate wagons are built from a single brass etching, soldered and riveted together










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[LarryG]

I'm looking forward to Phil laying the big track for the live steam but, with three layouts to attend to, these things take time. Like many senior cit'z, we talk about the things we did like yesterday and then count the years!

 

[PhilH]

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A battery powered model of a Ruston & Hornsby diesel loco has been constructed from a kit produced by IP Engineering. Its actually nearer 1" to the foot scale than 7/8" but it goes reasonably well with the other rolling stock. Its a rather odd concoction of MDF inner frame with brass wheel bearings, plastikard outer frame and white metal castings for bonnet, gearbox and buffers.

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Underside view. The front axle (right) is fixed and the rear axle has a tilting centre bearing giving 3-point suspension. Drive is by worm gearing to the front axle with a vertically mounted motor, then chain drive to the rear axle via an intermediate shaft. This shaft is approximately where the drive on the prototype would come from the gearbox and it incorporates provision for a small amount of up and down movement to tension the chains. The socket top right allows for recharging the battery and the two switches on the left are for the sound unit and motor on/off.

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The radio receiver is hidden in the toolbox (left) with a fuse on the right.


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[Jordan]

Plenty of freight cars available for sale if you like it so much !

40-footers with roofwalks, far too early for my Era, sorry.

 

[Scale7JB]

I could really fancy some of the IP engineering items.. Slippery slope and all that..

JB.

 

[PhilH]

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Relaying of the outdoor 32mm line to 45mm gauge has now been completed. It comprises an oval with a passing loop and 4 sidings. Track is all Peco G45 fixed down with brass nails. I decided to replace the existing felt, but forgot I'd glued it down, so that took a while longer than anticipated. It may be ballasted later if I can find some suitable 4mm size stone chippings.​

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The "bin sidings" may get some form of quarry hoppers or other wagon loading arrangements.
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The holes in the shed had to be made somewhat larger. Here the Ruston diesel enters the rear of the shed on a train of skip wagons. The wagons are LGB with the frames modified and fitted with Slaters wheels and Talisman brass Hudson axleboxes and couplings

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Its quite a change from this....​

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....to this !​

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When trains weren't running next door's cats seemed to think it was a suitable place for a nap, whether they'll find the higher G45 track just as comfortable remains to be seen.

 

[daifly]

I can recommend these.
Dave