Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:46 am Post subject: Ridley, USA
Had a bit of a doodle while watching telly last night (well, what else can you do? Actually WATCH the thing?) and came up with this as a plan for my Z gauge. I think 'Ridley, USA' has a certain ring to it...
I'm going to use the 'paddle store' model from the site Pol found which I'll rescale and have sitting next to the dock...
Cheers Pol - that's brilliant. I'll try and make the layout station have the same 'feel' (not necessarily exactly like it) as the real one.
Useful detail there as well... thanks. _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
The truss bridge featured on the page is just the type I had in mind when I drew my sketch - that's definitely going on the layout! _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:42 pm Post subject: Re: Ridley, USA
Even older tom wrote:
Had a bit of a doodle while watching telly last night (well, what else can you do? Actually WATCH the thing?)
My Deb always falls asleep while watching telly
I like the plan , how about making it into a coffee table ? then you can watch that in front of the telly _________________ Experience is something you don' t get until just after you need it .
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject: Re: Ridley, USA
Teleman wrote:
how about making it into a coffee table ? then you can watch that in front of the telly
That's in the back of my mind Pete. I built an oak occasional table a couple of years ago which is perfect for modification. I'll see how heavy the layout ends up and take it from there. _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
Looks really nice (after I imported the drawing and enhanced it!).
I'm not that experienced; however, some points to make as requested.
Scenically, it looks really good though I would tone down the hight of the mountains a bit is you are going to put it into a coffee table. Are there cuttings a both ends? 'Ware of including a tunnel as you will need access to it and, again, if this is a coffee table model people will see it from all sides. Also access may be difficult. You can guarantee that someone will bump into it and knock the train off the track. (At my first exhibition, while I was having lunch, someone bashed my table and derailed all the trains!) How about offsetting the river entry and exit. A very short distance (1", say, between the end of the bridge and the entry to the cutting/tunnel could look good) and have the outflow from the lake at the other end of the board.
I am using MDF for my layout and I wish I hadn't. Probably OK if you are gluing the track but driving pins into it is a pain, even using a pin pusher.
Make sure, when you assemble the track, to check every joint by running a finger over each rail in both directions. I could have sworn that all mine were OK and found three where the rail had ridden over the fishplate but I couldn't see it. (My eyes aren't 20/20.)
I don't know what set you have bought but unless you are using 220mm radius track (assuming you are using proprietary track) long cars will look a bit silly on the curves. [I have put all my long coaches on eBay because of that.] You could use all Peco track for it except that the sleeper spacing is for UK not US tracks. MTL will give you the US spacing.
Get a good magnifying headband - I cannot work without mine!
Thanks Will and Joe - let's hope it lives up to expectations
And even more thanks to Chris!
The sketch wasn't to scale (the mountains looked like baby Alps!) but I take the point about height. I was thinking of having a sliding top (like you get on ice cream freezers in shops) which might be a pain to put a coffee on, but there you go - my trains or your coffee. what's most important?
Thanks for the tip about pinning, I'll go for the glue option.
The river exit is actually a road but the idea of moving the bridge to one side really appeals.
Point taken about track assembly - I guess my eyes are in as good a shape as yours!
As far as track radius, long carriages and tunnels go, it's all in cuttings and that bit of the layout is not too important as long as the train stays on the track . _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
I was thinking of having a sliding top (like you get on ice cream freezers in shops) which might be a pain to put a coffee on, but there you go - my trains or your coffee. what's most important? :lol:
Possibly a better answer would be to have a single sheet of glass with a wooden surround and piano hinged on one side and with two fine chains to stop it flipping right over. That way you don't risk someone adding an extra waterfall. Hot brown water just does not look right on a model railway (or a computer keyboard!!).
Have you thought of using insulation board for the base on top of the MDF a 4FT X 2FT sheet would cover your board, stuff i use is called xtratherm and comes with a backing silver paper either side easily peeled off .... i would make it quieter and you can carve any features into it really easily ... if you choose to use it its messy but gives good results ... see my layout morganth for proof
about £4.75 + vat for a 2 inch thick sheet
Z is 1.4mm/ft, OO is 4mm/ft, or 1:220 and 1:76. Which is extremely, very roughly (and probably wrong) about 1/3 the size of OO. _________________ Get off the line Bobby!
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t184/Poliss_album/
I especially like Stepney Station from the American site - looks like norman Bates should be peeking out the windows!
Just how small is Z scale compared to OO?
Hi Hugh,
Here is a pic of the gauges Z,N,OO,O
That picture makes 0 guage look absolutely Huge! Its funny though, the track spacings look very different between scales (I Knoiw that sounds stupid but you know what I mean) _________________ Please visit
www.freewebs.com/stockdaleonsea
Updated Regularly so Please keep checking.
Thanks
Do you mean sleeper spacing rather than the track spacing Joe? If so, the Z gauge uses German spacing, the N and HO (OO) is British but I think the O is narrow gauge in this instance. Confused? I am! _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
Timeout, please!
The rightmost train looks like it is LGB. That's not 0-gauge but rather IIm
(track spacing 45 mm, scale 1/22.5). This narrow gauge for II-Gauge.
So It is what 009 is to 00, ie narrow gauge for gauge 2?, And yes Tom I did mean sleeper spacing sorry, the Jargon has started to go to my head. LGB is still huge nontheless _________________ Please visit
www.freewebs.com/stockdaleonsea
Updated Regularly so Please keep checking.
Thanks
I got a bit deeper into planning the construction of the layout and I think I can build the whole thing for free!
Having sorted the garage and shed out and found some interesting stuff, I realised I could use the following:
Base = Solid pine from an Ikea shelf unit.
Foam topping = A very dense foam from an old bedroll.
Mountains = Card and garden wire frame covered with newspaper and 1/2 packet of wallpaper paste that I found.
Lake = From an old tin of gloss varnish.
Colouring = Loads of nearly empty matt white emulsion and I've already got more tubes of acrylic paint than you could shake a stick at!
Ballast = Hornby 'gravel' which scales up to 'chippings' on Z scale
Trees and ground cover = got a drawer full of odd Woodland Scenics stuff and loads of wire to make the armatures.
Buildings = Free card models scaled to suit
I've even found a full bottle of scenic adhesive which I didn't use when building Ridley!
Figures and cars could be a problem but I'll see if I can get any cheap off fleebay.
Anything else you can think of that I've missed? If so, please suggest a way to make whatever it is for free - this is now a QUEST.... _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
Do what I've been doing - join your local freecycle.org and get stuff from there. You need to offer something up first, but I'm sure you can find something to give away. Then you can post wanteds for what you need.
So far I've got: -
21mm MDF for the table top
2 layouts (both too big, but I have taken the track off. Some of the track I've freecycled on)
Assorted old coaches and wagons
A gaugemaster series e controller
2 Hornby controllers, one of which I freecycled on)
A Hornby 3rd rail set with the Duchess of Montorse loco, tender, some coaches and wagons (must! clean the track up)
50 copies of Steam Rail magazine and various Model Railway mags
All for free and all from local freecyclers! That's not including toys and books for the little chap, a breadmaker, coffee maker etc etc! _________________ The Thing (aka Hugh)
Thanks Hugh I'm already a member but our local one is just full of c++p, to be honest.
OH, and while I'm here, I forgot the trestle bridge - no problem because I have loads of spare strip-wood from my ship models. _________________ OK, so now what do I do?
You can go a bit further afield as well. I belong to Mole Valley and Sutton (which is the next one over from me). Sutton is a bit more densely populated so tends to get more posts. Mole Valley is full of older people so you get more train orientated stuff.
I forgot to add that I got the Zero one controller off freecycle too! _________________ The Thing (aka Hugh)
Look out for old wooden pallets too. Come in very handy for bracing etc. Got any rubbish dumps near? I don't mean the landfill ones. You can get some very nice stuff at the junk ones. Picked up a copy of the Dalek World there once.
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