Tuesday 2 January 2024

Timber work complete

 Timber work including back boards complete

Over the last few days I have managed to cut the ply for the 2 new sections of the layout and paint them before they were installed. This included setting the grade for the new return section above staging from the peninsula to the side wall.

I then completed installing the final few back boards in the centre section. A few of the back board joins need to be glued to keep them together but they fit fairly snugly. The backboards are attached to the layout and not the shed walls. The layout is not fixed to the walls. Only a few select legs are screwed to the floor.

Here are a few pics of the final install















The last remaining task from a timber point of view is to open up the portal on 2 tunels that run through the back board and to build the drop bridge across the doorway.

There are 2 more sections of the old layout being the old helix and upper staging that need to be diassembled and the track recovered from.


Friday 29 December 2023

Legs and back boards

 Now back in the shape it should be.

After a few days work over the Christmas break, the layout is now back on its legs in the new shed. I have added the new backboards as I go as I did not want to paint the steel walls.

I have added the sub frame for staging and installed staging on it. I have also installed the new sub frame for the right hand side just inside the door.






I ran out of the 6mm MDF for the center dividing piece.

Off to bunnings to get another sheet then paint it before I install it.

Sunday 3 December 2023

New shed build

 Let there be light

Well its has been a while. Certainly not my usual pace for building stuff.

Other things such as Lilys soccer and the Mustang have taken my focus for the last 18 months.

Over the last week I finally got back into the new shed to finish the install of the ceiling and then install the lights.

I still have 1 more row to go at the far end and need to replace a few blown or nearly gone fluro's.

The layout is still in bits.

I removed the old steel internal ceiling so I could add more insulation and MDF ceiling so I could install lights.







Next step to make the new legs for the layout.

Here is the revised design of the layout.

Lower stanging will stay where it always was with 5 tracks.

Im looking at how I can add more staging under the paper mill.





 Stay tuned for more..

Tuesday 19 April 2022

Layout relocation

 All good things come to an end or is it just a change of location!

As per my last post. As per my usual process. I got up to the doing the scenery and stopped / stalled.

Then Michelle got a new car and was getting sick of getting wet or getting into a hot car. 

So the RR needed to move as the Mustang needs to stay in the garage. So the only thing to do was to move the layout.

Here are the progress pictures of the layout being disassembled and then moved into the new shed. Then the dismantle of the room within the garage.

First to go was the skirting, fascia and ceiling valance.

Then the centre wall.







Then the top level was removed

Then the helix


Then the town of Fairhaven


Then lower staging



Then the wall cladding, both internal and external.


Then the centre island and the main yard of Whtehall.


Layout completely removed.


Then the false ceiling and walls.

The layout is now is pieces in the new shed.


I now need to build shelves in the garage and then start work on rebuilding the layout..

The layout build will take a while I expect. I still need to add lighting and power to the shed.

Well that's the end of the B&H Version 4.0.

The new location will host the D&H V 4.1. I will reuse the full lower section with some minor changes.

The main yard will be single ended due to the door location. The layout will be single level with a lower staging.

Stay tuned.


 

Wednesday 30 March 2022

Time for a change - relocation of layout

The great clash of hobbies drives change

Its been a while since I updated this blog. Since my last update I added a hobby to my already packed schedule in a 1972 Mach 1 Mustang. 


This has taken up a heap of time over the last 12 months in getting it roadworthy etc and therefore the Model Railway hobby has taken a back seat. I also struggled to get my head around a schedule / time table and car cards etc so lost a bit of interest for a while.

Adding to this Sam turned 18 this month and therefore, he is now using Michelle's 14yr old Hyundai i30 and this lead to the need to get Michelle a new car. This has then had a knock on effect in that garage space has become a premium where the Mustang MUST live in the garage to minimise rust issues for the 50yr old Mustang and Michelle wants to be able to store her new car in the garage and not get hot in the summer and her to get wet in the winter when using it.

As the railway room was built in half the garage, I have made the decision to move the layout out of the garage and reclaim the space for cars. This then lead to a search for a shed that I can install the layout. As the current layout uses 6m x 3m of the garage, I needed to find a similar size space to be able to reuse as much of the current layout as I can.

I found a solution. A moveable building / box that is insulated. This way, if we move in the future, I can just pick up the layout and building a move it.

The cost of building a garage and then fitting it out was going to be prohibitive. In terms of council, I found that moveable buildings that are not used as habitable space can be installed with out a permit as long as they don't have footings etc. The council also does not allow for containers to be installed in residential areas for longer than 3 months, so that was out of the question also.

Here is the solution.








Here is the shed being transported on a tilt tray.

The walls are fully insulated as is the roof.
While the top and bottom corners have eyelets like a container to pick it up etc, it is not a container or a converted container.

I do not want to drill holes in the steel / aluminium walls so plan on moving from a double deck to a single deck approach for the layout.
Here is a revised design for the layout.
The location of the duck under / drop bridge needs to move.

I have started to disassemble the layout by removing the fascia, signals and buildings.
Next to get the saw out and do some cutting once I have added power to the new shed.

Stay tuned..