JimG
Western Thunderer
This is the basis for my sort of scattergun although I'm still in the same scale, the same era and the same railway company. So that hardly counts as scattergun in this forum. After last year's Yate exhibition, I was looking for an S scale layout to appear at this year's show in February and I couldn't get one, so I decided to build a "quickie" to supply the need. We had had Maurice Hopper's "St.Juliot" layout at last year's exhibition and I thought I might aim for something similar - about twelve feet long , very portable and which sits on two tables. Maurice's layout is designed to pack up into a small and portable pack for carrying around on public transport but I didn't want to go to that length, and set my aim at small and portable enough to fit in your average car.
So the following plan evolved - just under twelve feet long on four baseboards...
...a dock layout which gives an excuse for all types of freight traffic, no passenger facilities and no need for more than one or two small locomotives. Work was started on the track and baseboards, and this was the reason for starting the Caledonian dock tank last year.
The baseboards were made from a sheet of 4mm ply left over from the Banavie Road baseboards and built in the same way using hot glue followed by bandage on the joints, but using much shallower support parts - now 70mm deep.
The track was also built off the board, using PCB sleepering and Code 80 FB rail salvaged from an old S scale dog track made many years ago. This was the main formation under construction.
All the track will be inset in cobbles, so all the sleepering is rather sparse since it will never be seen. There is continuous check rail on everything.
However, around about summertime, I realised that I would never get the layout into an exhibitable state by the beginning of February, so the work stopped with all the track and baseboards built, and we didn't have an S scale layout for this year's exhibition.
However, fellow club member - TimC of this parish - suggested that the layout might be a suitable project for the club, so the baseboards and track were dug out and dusted down, and work started on them again to get the track laid on them and get fittings like locating dowels fitted.
Jump forward to the present, and the four baseboards were set up in the club last week with all the track laid and ready for testing.
I have used 1/8" cork as a base and the track is held down by plenty of No.2 brass CSK wood screws through the sleepers. The intention is to cover the whole area of the cork with cobbles and I'm giving a fair bit of thought to how we are going to achieve that (note the plural "we" for a start ) . I will be powering the pointwork with servos and I'm waiting to get some MERG servo boards to control them before getting on with track testing.
It was not practical to set up two tables at the club to support the layout, so I cobbled up a spine for it to sit on, supported by two cheap B&Q trestles.
The beam is about nine feet long and consists of three, hinged parts so that it folds up into a rectangle about three feet long by a foot wide so that it will fit easily in a car. You can see one of the hinged joints between the trestle and the baseboard. At present the baseboards just sit on the beam, but they will be screwed or clamped at the ends of the beam.
Tim has started work on the buildings and his building research has given the layout a name. He dug up some very early Scottish industrial architecture at Speir's Wharf in Port Dundas in Glasgow. This was ideal since the buildings could be reduced proportionally to fit a small layout without losing their distinctive character. Here is a URL to a picture of buildings at Port Dundas - the ones in the centre distance are similar to the ones Tim is modelling.
http://www.theglasgowstory.com/imageview.php?inum=TGSE01388
The NLS also has the city OS maps of Glasgow online and the following one covers a part of Speir's Wharf (top left) and shows some of the railway trackage in the area.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/74416680
Port Dundas was the the main centre of industry in the city in the early part of the nineteenth century and the port was on the Forth & Clyde and Monkland canals. The canals were the main method of transport to and from the city until the advent of the railways, and the Clyde was opened up for the navigation of large ships to Glasgow.
A closer shot of Tim's building work showing his plywood shells for the buildings. These shells will be covered with a thin layer of DAS and a representation of Scottish industrial sandstone impressed and scraped on to it.
Jim.
So the following plan evolved - just under twelve feet long on four baseboards...
...a dock layout which gives an excuse for all types of freight traffic, no passenger facilities and no need for more than one or two small locomotives. Work was started on the track and baseboards, and this was the reason for starting the Caledonian dock tank last year.
The baseboards were made from a sheet of 4mm ply left over from the Banavie Road baseboards and built in the same way using hot glue followed by bandage on the joints, but using much shallower support parts - now 70mm deep.
The track was also built off the board, using PCB sleepering and Code 80 FB rail salvaged from an old S scale dog track made many years ago. This was the main formation under construction.
All the track will be inset in cobbles, so all the sleepering is rather sparse since it will never be seen. There is continuous check rail on everything.
However, around about summertime, I realised that I would never get the layout into an exhibitable state by the beginning of February, so the work stopped with all the track and baseboards built, and we didn't have an S scale layout for this year's exhibition.
However, fellow club member - TimC of this parish - suggested that the layout might be a suitable project for the club, so the baseboards and track were dug out and dusted down, and work started on them again to get the track laid on them and get fittings like locating dowels fitted.
Jump forward to the present, and the four baseboards were set up in the club last week with all the track laid and ready for testing.
I have used 1/8" cork as a base and the track is held down by plenty of No.2 brass CSK wood screws through the sleepers. The intention is to cover the whole area of the cork with cobbles and I'm giving a fair bit of thought to how we are going to achieve that (note the plural "we" for a start ) . I will be powering the pointwork with servos and I'm waiting to get some MERG servo boards to control them before getting on with track testing.
It was not practical to set up two tables at the club to support the layout, so I cobbled up a spine for it to sit on, supported by two cheap B&Q trestles.
The beam is about nine feet long and consists of three, hinged parts so that it folds up into a rectangle about three feet long by a foot wide so that it will fit easily in a car. You can see one of the hinged joints between the trestle and the baseboard. At present the baseboards just sit on the beam, but they will be screwed or clamped at the ends of the beam.
Tim has started work on the buildings and his building research has given the layout a name. He dug up some very early Scottish industrial architecture at Speir's Wharf in Port Dundas in Glasgow. This was ideal since the buildings could be reduced proportionally to fit a small layout without losing their distinctive character. Here is a URL to a picture of buildings at Port Dundas - the ones in the centre distance are similar to the ones Tim is modelling.
http://www.theglasgowstory.com/imageview.php?inum=TGSE01388
The NLS also has the city OS maps of Glasgow online and the following one covers a part of Speir's Wharf (top left) and shows some of the railway trackage in the area.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/74416680
Port Dundas was the the main centre of industry in the city in the early part of the nineteenth century and the port was on the Forth & Clyde and Monkland canals. The canals were the main method of transport to and from the city until the advent of the railways, and the Clyde was opened up for the navigation of large ships to Glasgow.
A closer shot of Tim's building work showing his plywood shells for the buildings. These shells will be covered with a thin layer of DAS and a representation of Scottish industrial sandstone impressed and scraped on to it.
Jim.