New Japanese N gauge exhibition layout.

[sunbeam]

Hi,

 

Yes the bridges are (were) Tomix. I actually kit bashed 5 bridges to make the two. I then made one master suport, made a rubber mould of it and cast the 5. I pulled out the Tomix rail and replaced it with Peco code 55 so the fish plates were hidden.

 

There is still much more work, but I should have three running loops working by the end of the day.

 

The whole lot is being displayed at the Fairbourne Railway his weekend as a 'Railway Under Construction,.

 

:-)

[sunbeam]

The other bridge on the left side of the railway :-)

[ToniBabelony]

Looking great! I'm sure this will make a great impact once the scenery is done. Then again, the groundwork already is looking impressive.

[sunbeam]

I rejoined the N Gauge society the other day, so now feel I'm OK to make the layouts 'Headboard'. The Logo is about 185mm square and will clip over the middle of the layouts roof support. I was kinda going for the type of headboard the Japanese Royal Train has :)

[sunbeam]

OK, so it's not the most glamorous of venues, a tent at the far end of the Fairbourne Railway, but it's here and running, all be it without the Shinkansen lines in place!

Edited May 29, 2017 by sunbeam

[kvp]

Do you have a trackplan we could see? I did get the two cape gauge mainline tracks and the meandering branchline below, but can't really figure out the whole picture, especially where do you plan to put the shinkansens...

[sunbeam]

Hopefully these pics will help :-)

[sunbeam]

:-)

[sunbeam]

:-)

[sunbeam]

Obviously nothing is finished and there is still much to do.

[sunbeam]

The Shinkansen will be a third stack above the existing two.

[kvp]

The Shinkansen will be a third stack above the existing two.

Thanks. I still wonder where do you plan to put the shinkansen curves as there doesn't seem to be enough space on top for a minimal curve radius of 280mm. Or it will only be a back and forth shuttle between two scenic barriers?

[sunbeam]

There will be a third curve ontop of the existing railway curves. The curves are still yet to be made (as is all the Shinkansen). As I make it, I will post and all will become very clear :-)

Edited May 29, 2017 by sunbeam

[ianlaw]

Looking forward to seeing some scenery. Why don't you post a simple track plan to give us the general idea. :)  The bridge is already looking good.

[sunbeam]

The railway is being scrapped!

It was always to big, and packing it away today proved it!

So back to the drawing board :-(

[Kiha66]

Bummer it didnt work out, amazing job on the current one though!  Cant wait to see what you come up with next!

[cteno4]

Bummer sunbeam! Show layout though does run the rigors of storage and transport. We have evolved over the years with our club layout to get svelte and svelter for both these as the limits of transport and storage have strained the club resources...

 

Good luck on the rethink, but better to rethink before a huge investment in it I guess.

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Pity, this already had a real presence and would have made a great addition to the exhibition circuit. That said, I fully understand the challenges of setting up and breaking down larger layouts, so whilst a shame, it's probably best you decide this with layout in its current state.

 

Wait with interest for the revised plan.

[sunbeam]

It wasn't a total waste of time. The show went well, everything kept running and people liked seeing it. I also learnt some lessons.

 

This railway was an expansion of one side of the original 'U' I had in mind months ago.

 

I'm very much thinking of going back to my original 'U' design, but a little smaller. There are quite a few small changes that will make the whole layout easier to live with.

 

It's all good really, if I can work out a layout that works well, it will be shown much more and I won't dread taking it out !

 

I'll be back soon with Mk3 pics :-)

Edited May 30, 2017 by sunbeam

[velotrain]

The railway is being scrapped!

It was always to big, and packing it away today proved it!

 

 

I'm surprised you would only discover this when packing it away from the exhibition, and not when dismantling it to load in your vehicle for the exhibition and/or setting it up at the exhibition.  In some ways, you were lucky to be located in an isolated tent, instead of the middle of a crowded hall ;-)

 

I trust you did have some help with the above tasks, as it's definitely too much weight and work for a one-man-band.  Something of this size could be manageable with a 3-4 person crew.

 

I've always admired Christopher Payne's proscenium arch viewing approach, although you're clearly going after running trains vs. scripted operations.

 

I have a suggestion - having built the two main sections, don't completely trash them.  Consider using just one of them, and maybe include the end curves within that module, vs. needing to deal with the separate end sections.

 

Perhaps downplay the entire layout theme, rather than the original grand "wedding cake" approach.  You could have a folded loop, for a longer run on a single line - perhaps climbing away from the river's edge to the higher elevation, although you'd need to introduce a gradient to the roadbed.

 

Or - you could keep one of the modules as is, with or without the end sections, if that would make enough of a difference in your enthusiasm.  It would be less spectacular, but could still be a very impressive exhibition layout.  You could complete one section for now, with the possible option of adding the second later - if you can recruit a larger crew to assist?

 

My own take is that the Shinkansen line at the top only serves to emphasize the overly strong horizontal theme, and using that area for more varied scenery would create a more pleasing visual effect.  Adding grades to the lower lines would also aid in this, and they could even be angled in opposite directions - if the nature of the landscape supports this.

[kvp]

I always wondered how you operate an enclosed layout like this with a fiddle yard at the back. You can't see what is happening on the other side.

 

For moving a layout, i think the best module size is one you can lift yourself, if possible with one hand. Also you should be able to get it standing without help.

[sunbeam]

Just for the peope that think I can't move the layout, store it, move it, set it up or take it down on my own, you are all wrong.

 

Seeing what is going on on the front is done by a camera and screen set into the layout. You only need to see the passing loop. The rest of time while locos are running, your standing along side.

 

I need a smaller layout as I never have help at any point and is simply to much for one person, but Not impossible!

 

I'm going to make the layout I had planed first. It's small enough to be moved in the car if needed.

[cteno4]

Different layouts for different folks. Many exhibition layouts are this design, especially in The UK. Doug Coster's very famous Japanese layouts used the rear fiddle yard like this to great effect. Once you bring a train out thenits just running it in a loop and you don't stand in the back except when putting away or bringing out a train. Way to focus the scene and hide the yard w.o making it a big piece. We have always had our yards hanging off the ends of the club layouts which works well to use to display the trains but takes up a lot of footprint space.

 

I had a large double 3' deep ntrak module planned out as a Shinkansen station on the n Ttrak rails and then the rest of the module 2" lower with a nice 2 track ground layout over the 8'x3' area. Way to show off Japanese trains on ntrak and have a little operating layout w.in ntrak modules. Then designer out two 180 custom modules and a rear fiddle yard double module for the ntrak tracks (pulling it down to double track) so the whole thing could work on its own. Mocked it mostly in with track and it really was fun and could potentially pack into one case that could just fit in the hatchback. It really was fun and by splitting the yard off it gave it a fun thing to have to walk all around to see the whole thing. But then our club formed about then and I got distracted on those layouts.

 

Jeff

[inobu]

Sunbeam,

 

Plan on 2 or 3 builds as it takes experience to truly learn the nuances of building a modular layout. If you look at your design is more of a uni-body design on one side and open on the other. Over time it will lose it integrity.

 

Take a trip to a cabinet maker or check out their youtube videos. My trip gave me a lot of insights. As strange as it seems there's structure engineering principles used in cabinet making as well. In any case you got it done. Go after version 2.0 and make it better.

 

Being in Wales and the RH being high you have to glue and treat the wood as you build. 

 

Good luck and keep doing.

 

Inobu

[sunbeam]

Inobu,

 

Your comments are just about as offensive and patronising as they could possibly be to me!!!!

 

This is at least my 10th layout and I actually AM a fully trained AND time served cabinet maker, trained by just about the best company in Wales!!!! I'm also a professional model maker and have worked for two of the biggest diecast model companies in the UK!

 

I am now self employed making models that I personally make by my own hand! I built a very successful 22 foot Japanese layout called JR Coast that was show at the 35th N Gauge show!

 

You have absolutely NO idea of how I've made the layout, and absolutely NO understanding of why it was made. You also clearly know NOTHING about me or my ability! This was simply a fail and will be chalked down to experience, simple.

 

I was simply telling people on this forum not to expect any more as I'm changing direction before I get in to deep!

 

Why do I even bother with forums ??

 

Offended doesn't come close!

Edited May 30, 2017 by sunbeam