But as we get older those endless days of hot summer days complete with its stinking humidity are no longer welcomed. Each afternoon as I work on the layout if it is a fine day the roller door will go up and I can bathe in the warm winters rays with a seat on the end of the layout. Today I assembled a Grandt line O scale tool shed. Magic stuff, not a hint of humidity. No my preference is now winter time thank you.
When working on the layout I have chosen to start at one end and work my way down the board until I get to the transfer shed and the livestock loading point, then Eden will be complete.
Two dead end sidings are provided in the goods yard one will have a goods shed and the other just for storage. The smaller right hand side siding will be able to hold three bogie cars and the other around four. The tubing for the rods can be seen below and will eventually be covered as work progresses.
Goods yard ready for the dirt. |
The next photo will show the sidings which have had some "weeds" put down amongst the track. I am happy at how these sidings have turned out.
One of the hardest things to achieve in setting up a layout is working out how much space all the elements will take up. How many times have we done sketches on paper only to find out it doesn't fit in real life on the layout? When I was laying out the track for Eden I made plenty of photocopy templates for the points. At least these were actual size and I could work out if it would all fit.
Once the track layout is set then comes the fitting in of the "other pieces" such as buildings and scenery etc. Eden was limited to the size of the former baseboards I had from South Coast Rail. So I had to squeeze in everything onto the 3.6m length. It turned out very compact and will only have the railway side of things modelled. There will be no town as there is no room to fit it. The goods yard is one of those places where I need to fit everything in. It will be divided by a level crossing in the middle. At the terminus end will be the transfer shed and at the other end will be the goods shed. I am sacrificing yard space for track space as I need to accommodate a growing wagon fleet.
There will be a goods shed (maybe not the one in the photo) and I was thinking I would maybe like a weighbridge to add some interest. I had a plan of a NSW weighbridge in imperial measurements and modelling in 1:48 or 1/4 to the foot, I reduced the size on the computer screen until it was exact scale. After printing the two sides off I cut it out and then made up a full size paper cutout. It was a bit rough but it accurately showed what its footprint would be straight away. I can squeeze the shed in OK but I have to work out how much space the actual weigh platform will take up. If it works out too squeezy then it will go in at another station. I was also able to print out the plan for a one shed loco building. Again it will fit but will be tight clearances. The beauty of reducing these plans to O scale is the ability to direct measure off the plan to construct the buildings.
Cheap as chips paper buildings |
The switches were given a blast of spraypaint to help hide them. They need hiding underneath the bushes so to speak and I have used some foilage to hide the first one down near the loco escape road.
What micro switch? |
Loco area |
Two NA's on the loco shed track |