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| Hasbury Hill in the Making Photos below show the model as it progresses, with the top photo showing its current state and the bottom one the early beginnings. (Returning visitors may notice that things have changed - for the original model please click here). Comments applicable to the photograph are shown, detailing how I achieved certain things and where I came by my advice. My way of doing things is reading up various procedures then choosing the method I like the sound of best. If I don't get on with it, then I'll try another method. Works for me. The model is now in one piece, with detachable control panel, measuring three feet by just over six so can be man (or woman) handled by two people and will fit through doorways upright. However, it weighs a ton (or just under). |
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23rd October 2008 Track is now layed (not without frustration) from the fiddle yard up to the start of the hidden spare tracks. The upper level has been fixed in place and the panel box is ready to start some wiring. Am looking forward to actually running a train all the way round without crocodile clips getting in the way. The fiddle yard has a couple of tracks layed now so it's possible to change a train from the up to down lines. |
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15th October 2008 View of the layout with track laying drawing pins removed where track is permanently fixed. Only the nearside track is fixed, the other is just for show. Next job is fixing the upper level. |
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Track Laying How hard can track laying be? All you do is stick a couple of little rail joiners on and join the rails. Simple. Yeah right. What you actually do is spend over an hour trying to do this, swear and shout and nearly throw the whole layout out of the window. This layout is my third attempt at building a model railway because the previous attempts have driven me insane because of my difficulty in joining together two little pieces of track. I would find it easier to join a worm to a lump of jelly. However, this time, edged on by watching countless YouTube model rail videos and visiting the Plymouth Model Railway Exhibition, I am determined to succeed. South Downs Railway has some great advice on track laying and if you read that, you'll see that I've used some of their advice, hence the drawing pins. Thanks to them, my track is actually now going down reasonably well and a train can actually run round at full pelt quite safely so running at normal speeds should be OK. |
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10th October 2008 Overall view of the layout showing the front beach area, the incline and the main fiddle yard. |
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Main Fiddle Yard Not huge but on a layout this size you're limited to how much room a fiddle yard can take up. Even so, it should help give a fairly varied operation. There's also going to be hidden spare tracks on the way to and from Hasbury Hill and a hidden track for storing a freight train. |
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Sea Wall Photo shows sea wall and the end position of Addlesford beach station. The lower level in front of the platform is the beach and to the left in front of the tunnel entrance is going to be a pub with gardens etc. |
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Addlesford beach station area and footpath The left hand side of this photo shows the area where the lower station (Addlesford Beach) is going to be situated, the two tunnel entrances and the beach itself. The upright board represents the cliffs which are going to be modelled (well, sort of) on the red cliffs found along the South Devon coast between Dawlish and Teignmouth. I've also drawn inspiration for the beach-side footpath from the same stretch. Also visible is the hidden incline up to Hasbury Hill station. |
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Early beginings Photo shows the open plan construction.I decided on an open plan construction as most of the layout is going to be above sea level anyway. This method is extremely easy to build, with most of the work done in one afternoon (and that was with having to saw all the wood by hand). My advice on how to build an open plan layout was found at How I make a Model Railroad by Paul Templar. It's also extremely strong and has the added benefit of easy access underneath which is going to be a Godsend when wiring etc later on. A good deal of the board seen here has since been removed to save weight and gain easier access to the underside of the upper level. |
