15th February 2011
…starts with a single step, as the old saying goes, and the same is true of improving a model railway layout. By a process of continual evolution you can not only improve the quality of a layout but also gain more enjoyment for what may be a comparatively small financial outlay – an important point in these times of economic crisis.
Let’s take my Hatton Parkway layout as an example which was a Hornby Magazine project layout – its construction was featured in HM37 – 41.
DCC
The first, and biggest change, is that it has been converted to DCC control. Experience at a couple of exhibitions showed that it was too easy to operate the wrong section switch, or operate the right one the wrong way, leading to unscheduled stops and departures. For ease of use the layout is normally controlled by a Bachmann E-Z controller and an E-Z Command Companion as a second controller. Whilst this combination only allows nine locomotive addresses that is sufficient, just, for a full complement of trains.
With all the disconnected wires I was able to remove one of the two 25-way D-connectors from each baseboard and the corresponding three D-connectors from the control panel along with nineteen panel switches and their associated wiring.
The overall cost of this exercise, including fitting decoders in the locomotives and multiple units used on the layout was between £250 and £300. Not a small amount, but a long term investment. The two analogue controllers that have been replaced could be sold on to defray some of the cost – and it would have been even better financially to have installed DCC from the start, saving on switches, plugs, sockets, lots of wire and hours of time. The layout is now easier to operate.
Time For Tree
For about thirty years I have been meaning to get around to making a tree from twisted wire and I have finally got around to it. The tree is vaguely Oak-like but is only about half the height that it should be. The extra height wouldn’t have been a problem, but the spread would have been.
The basic structure was made from different thicknesses of copper wire twisted together. The wires were then spread out and twisted to make branches. I covered the trunk with some paste from Green Scene and painted it a dark grey colour. The foliage was made from well-teased Woodland Scenics foliage mat attached with PVA. The tree was then given a quick blast of Spray-mount adhesive from an aerosol and a selection of scatter was sprinkled over it to give some variation in colour.
On the ground I spread some PVA and water mix and sprinkled some earth-coloured scatter followed by a second thin coat of the original field colour. This has given a shadow effect under the tree. Final planting was by making a hole in the baseboard, putting a little brown coloured plaster around the base and fixing the tree in place with neat PVA.
The Spray-mount caused some of the strands of foliage mat to go white which has rather spoilt the effect in photographs, although it is not really noticeable in reality.
Most of the bits came from stock – cost about £3 for a small tub of tree bark (which will make lots more trees).
Gerry The Builder
All of the buildings in the town area of the layout were from the Hornby Lyddle End range. This was for both speed and convenience; however with the publication deadline past I have taken the opportunity to start to replace them with more individual structures. The first to fall foul of the redevelopment was the pub. This has been replaced by one built from the Scalescenes country pub kit.
Total cost – around £5 for the pub kit, card, ink, glue, etc..
Image Makeover
Finally the station has had a makeover and has gained some platform lamps, non-working white metal castings from Knightwing Models, and some London Midland corporate image running-in boards. These were produced using the station signs download provided on the f1p.co.uk website. This allows you to enter your own station name and provides sheets for many different operators. The signs are generated for 4mm scale but were resized from the printer’s set up window.
Cost – about £5 for the lamps.
The Cast
Green Scene
60 Holly Mount, Worcester, WR4 9SF
www.green-scene.co.uk
GS402 Flexi-Bark
Knightwing International
Malham Works, 33 Almondbury Bank, Huddersfield, HD5 8HE
www.knightwing.co.uk
A020 Station Lamps
Scalescenes
www.scalescenes.com
T011 Country Pub, T034 Roads and Pavements
www.f1p.co.uk
Downloadable customisable station signs
