Monks Ferry: a layout for the Grandchildren.

jonte

Western Thunderer
Matters other than modelling have made demands of my time of late; to be frank, when the odd window has presented itself, I’ve made excuses to avoid the trek to the model room, such is my reluctance to deal with this aspect of the build.

Thankfully, albeit in piecemeal fashion, the task made at least glacial progress, with the groundswell of today bringing it to a close.

What am I on about?

Deciding on the final lie of sidings and such, and the final fit of the cut sections of track to make this a true, joined-up roundy-roun………sorry Roger, ‘circuitous configuration’ in true trainset fashion ;)

Here’s where I’m up to.

The track down but not fixed, and boards marked for fitment of feeds/droppers:

IMG_2788.jpeg

Resembling something from the layout plan book of Hornby Dublo three rail from old with its return loop, It will be noted that each section of track has been numbered with a corresponding number alongside so I know where it goes. There’s just so much of it I’d easily get lost.

Sleepers either side of point (represented by broken green line) where droppers will be soldered, and marked with red and blue acrylic paint so I know where each coloured dropper will be fixed (hopefully will save on shorts……):

IMG_2789.jpeg

Like its creator, the procedure is long winded, but as my attention span is shorter than the longevity of a newly promoted Championship side in the Prem, it saves on cursing and swearing.

Holes cut for feeds and point motors were next on the list, but as our glorious weather of late is due to change for the worst, I’ve decided to make use of the last couple of fine days for the purposes of soldering outside in the garden.

Cheers for now,

jonte
 
D

Deleted member 1839

Guest
Matters other than modelling have made demands of my time of late; to be frank, when the odd window has presented itself, I’ve made excuses to avoid the trek to the model room, such is my reluctance to deal with this aspect of the build.

Thankfully, albeit in piecemeal fashion, the task made at least glacial progress, with the groundswell of today bringing it to a close.

What am I on about?

Deciding on the final lie of sidings and such, and the final fit of the cut sections of track to make this a true, joined-up roundy-roun………sorry Roger, ‘circuitous configuration’ in true trainset fashion ;)

Here’s where I’m up to.

The track down but not fixed, and boards marked for fitment of feeds/droppers:

View attachment 240796

Resembling something from the layout plan book of Hornby Dublo three rail from old with its return loop, It will be noted that each section of track has been numbered with a corresponding number alongside so I know where it goes. There’s just so much of it I’d easily get lost.

Sleepers either side of point (represented by broken green line) where droppers will be soldered, and marked with red and blue acrylic paint so I know where each coloured dropper will be fixed (hopefully will save on shorts……):

View attachment 240795

Like its creator, the procedure is long winded, but as my attention span is shorter than the longevity of a newly promoted Championship side in the Prem, it saves on cursing and swearing.

Holes cut for feeds and point motors were next on the list, but as our glorious weather of late is due to change for the worst, I’ve decided to make use of the last couple of fine days for the purposes of soldering outside in the garden.

Cheers for now,

jonte
Really great work Jonte!
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Ah, the plan has changed @jonte - I thought you'd originally considered the tracks diving down to a low level return loop under the station.

However, there does now appear to be space under the upper level to add a tube line..... :) (EFE 1962 tube stock calling :eek: )
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Matters other than modelling have made demands of my time of late; to be frank, when the odd window has presented itself, I’ve made excuses to avoid the trek to the model room, such is my reluctance to deal with this aspect of the build.

Thankfully, albeit in piecemeal fashion, the task made at least glacial progress, with the groundswell of today bringing it to a close.

What am I on about?

Deciding on the final lie of sidings and such, and the final fit of the cut sections of track to make this a true, joined-up roundy-roun………sorry Roger, ‘circuitous configuration’ in true trainset fashion ;)

Here’s where I’m up to.

The track down but not fixed, and boards marked for fitment of feeds/droppers:

View attachment 240796

Resembling something from the layout plan book of Hornby Dublo three rail from old with its return loop, It will be noted that each section of track has been numbered with a corresponding number alongside so I know where it goes. There’s just so much of it I’d easily get lost.

Sleepers either side of point (represented by broken green line) where droppers will be soldered, and marked with red and blue acrylic paint so I know where each coloured dropper will be fixed (hopefully will save on shorts……):

View attachment 240795

Like its creator, the procedure is long winded, but as my attention span is shorter than the longevity of a newly promoted Championship side in the Prem, it saves on cursing and swearing.

Holes cut for feeds and point motors were next on the list, but as our glorious weather of late is due to change for the worst, I’ve decided to make use of the last couple of fine days for the purposes of soldering outside in the garden.

Cheers for now,

jonte
This looks b….y fantastic!
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Ah, the plan has changed @jonte - I thought you'd originally considered the tracks diving down to a low level return loop under the station.

However, there does now appear to be space under the upper level to add a tube line..... :) (EFE 1962 tube stock calling :eek: )

Indeed, Dave, it has.

Another item of frustration on my long list of moans from memory, was trains slipping and labouring up slopes, which put paid to that idea. In the end, I’ve ended up with such an extended length and the shortest of trains, due to restrictions of width, I might have well have just stuck with the plan as any of the aforementioned angst would have been negligible……..

As for tube trains, it’s taken me long enough to get this far and with a deadline of Christmas 2026 seemingly around the corner, I’ll be lucky to finish the ballasting!

Thanks for your interest, Dave.

Jon
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Well, I’ve made the most of the last of the dry weather over the last couple of days, and am pleased to report that a total of nineteen points and two crossings have been successfully wired and tested, and rendered DCC friendly:

IMG_2791.jpeg

I took @Simond’s kind advice and bonded adjacent rails with thinner wire made by separating out four strands of thin wire from the core, before soldering them together to make a single wire that looked a little more discrete than my first attempt. Thanks, Simon:


IMG_0066.jpegIMG_0067.jpeg

The good thing about Hornby points is that they’re robust enough to withstand a fool waving a rotary tool…..

Here’s a couple of the diamonds (thankfully no bonding required here!). Apologies for the intrusion of my elderly pins (and as usual, I’m not sure whether my tortoise friend Olive is help or a hinderance):

IMG_0068.jpegIMG_0069.jpegIMG_2790.jpeg

Just the plain track to wire now, and I’m hoping there’ll be the benefit of both a domestic and a weather window over the weekend to see this part of the build completed, before moving on to cutting and drilling holes in the baseboard (oh, and attaching some point motors).

Thanks for your interest.

jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Not a lot to report due to time and weather constraints of late, however I’m pleased to report that due to the odd hour or so snatched here and there, cutouts for point motors and holes for droppers (all oversize to allow for wiggle room when joining tracks) have been sorted:

IMG_2793.jpegIMG_2792.jpeg

Now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

As will be evident, I’ve opted for the traditional method of attaching the motors directly to the points, which will save messing around under the boards trying to line everything up. It also allowed me to take advantage of some bargain priced used Peco motors on EBay to supplement the few I had in stock.

Boards will have to be disassembled, I’m afraid, and carted outside to conduct a full clean up of the saw dust created, but like the rest of the track soldering, will have to wait until the next spell of good weather, hopefully next week.

Cheers for now.

jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Right now the Liver Birds are clinging on for dear life, so its a bit blowy…. Hope you get a good weather window soon.

John

Thanks, John.

At least the temperature of the blow is mild, but the threat of rain remains ever present.

Mention of ‘the birds’ always brings Ken Dodd’s witty explanation of their origin to mind: ‘half eagle, half cormorant and half budgie’.

Jon
 
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