Model Railways
Last Updated - 30.4.02
Welcome my Model Railways Page. On this page you will find all of the information about my model railways and the progress of current projects.
The Original layout
The New layout
Alton - A project of Alton Model Railway Group
The Original Layout
This layout is my first model railway/train set. I built it with my Dad's assistance about 3 years ago. It is a simple double track loop with a station, sidings and an engine shed. Because it is designed to be stored flat it has no scenery. It is laid using PECO SetTrack on top of PECO foam ballast underlay. The baseboards are 2, 6' x 4' (Am I actually allowed to use these measurements any more) solid chipboard boards with edging strip around the edges. It is reliable and works quite well. However it became boring and I wanted to build a new layout. Therefore the old layout was passed on to a school model railway club.e-mail me.
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The new layout, (As yet unnamed).
This is an attempt at serious railway modelling. Instead of being a loop it is an end to end layout. It is only in the construction stage at the moment. Currently, all the track has been laid and wired up, point motors have been fitted and wired up. The turntable and sector plate have been installed and the mechanism for the sector plate has been built. The remaining tasks are to design and build a mechanism to drive the turntable and then to build a control panel.
The baseboards are plywood on a 2 x 1 frame. The track is PECO streamline laid on cork. The layout is 3m long by 1/2m wide. It is a small station with a run-round loop, locomotive depot and turntable. It is set in the steam era but can really run any sort of stock. To save space I have used a couple of sliding pieces of track, one between the main layout and the fiddle yard and another at the end of the platform.
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Alton (a.k.a The Layout of Doom)
This is a club project of the
Alton Model Railway Group of which I am a member. This is the club's newest OO club layout. It is Alton Station as it is today. However as the Mid Hants Railway runs into one end and South West Trains run into the other it is possible to use steam locomotives, heritage and modern diesel locomotives and multiple units, and also any 3rd rail electric units therefore allowing most of the members' stock to be run.
The layout uses Peco trackwork and points laid on card underlay. The baseboards consist of 4 x 4' by 2' boards with plywood on a 2 x 1 frame.
The Alton team
Adrian Allum - Layout Co-ordinator
Leon Smith
Daniel Hill - Me
Matthew Collins
Peter Starr
Lisa Starr - Peter's daughter
Alton on 23rd January
Photo by Adrian Allum
PROGRESS REPORT!! 10/3/01
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to update this site much lately, due to college pressure. Since then, many changes have occured on the Alton layout. The first major change was the complete replacement of the trackwork with PECO streamline track donated by Adrian. This was due to major problems arising with the handbuilt track, primarily that the points weren't working.
Work is progressing slowly on other areas. The pointmotors are currently in the process of being refitted, using a different drive mechanism and it has been decided to get the layout functioning electrically before starting on scenery.
PROGRESS REPORT!! 3/5/00
All the track has been laid and wired to terminal blocks underneath the board. All the available point motors have been installed and we are waiting for more to arrive. The motor contacts and polarity switches have also been wired to the terminal blocks.
All of the sleepers have now been painted but this may need redoing as some of the paint has been scraped off during the wiring process. Also the parts have just arrived to allow us to begin installation of the 3rd rail in the Railtrack platforms.
PROGRESS REPORT 19/6/00
We have continued working on the trackwork, doing repairs and tweaks to make it more fit for running. Also, the rest of the point-motors are due to arrive next week and this will allow us to wire up and test the remaining points.
We have now installed the 750V 3rd rail on the two SWT platforms, we tried using the PECO system using Code 60 rail and plastic insulators but eventually made a decision just to solder some of the Code 100(ish) rail down instead.
It has been decided that we need to repaint the sleepers with enamel paints.
Rumour has it that the control panel is under way and won't take that long to build.
There has even been commencement on scenic work. Matthew and Leon have built between them a couple of platelayers' huts, a grounded van body and Matthew has began work on the footbridge. We have also began to install the platforms. Most of the edging is now in place but is only temporarily glued down while we await the extra materials to finish the platforms.
PROGRESS REPORT 12/10/00
We have finally finished repainting the sleepers with enamel paint. There are a few small sections that require touching up, but overall, the result is better than with the enamel
Work has also been carried out ont the wiring. All the point motors have now been installed and wired up to terminal blocks.
The control panel has not advanced much further, but the lever frame for pooints and signalling is under construction
Decisions have finally been made about scenery, ballast is being acquired and we will ballast the track on the AMRG open day on 21st of October.
The fiddle yard boards have also been built and the cassettes are now under construction
The photo below shows the layout under construction in late 1998 on display at the AMRG clubroom.
If you want to know more about any of these layouts then please
e-mail me.
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