This section of the BLOG will feature my thinking about the experiences I have gained in my first railway model layout for around 50 years and certainly the first ever N gauge layout I have worked on. I will start by writing random thoughts and subsequently these will be sorted into some kind of structure.
Model Setting: It seems that modellers go down two distinct routes when deciding what to construct: a recreation of a specific location that they are attached to; or a completely fictitious setting. I chose the former category for personal reasons stated elsewhere. When attempting to recreate a location then you need to obtain a lot of reference material – so do your research early and be sure you understand the constraints you will be under when trying to fulfil your dream layout.
Outdoor Location: The layout had to be constructed in our detached garage; there was no suitable space within our home to house it. This decision has meant that work on the layout needed to cease over the winter months. However, that time can be used beneficially by bringing certain types of work indoors. In particular, scenery construction can progress very well in the warm – as long as you use glues that do not generate noxious fumes!
Outdoor Location: It never occurred to me that the garage concrete floor was not level. I expended a lot of effort constructing the baseboard supporting structure so that the legs were all the same length. It was only after several months of track laying that I was able to run trains around the whole circuit to identify their ability to race down slopes only to be matched by their struggles to get up the inclines. The issues have been rectified by placing appropriate numbers of hardboard mats under each support leg.
Outdoor Location: It also never occurred to me that things can get too hot with an outside layout. Last summer we experienced some very high temperatures – with a few consecutive days being about 30degC. During this period I found a couple of sections of track through the GWR station were severely buckled! I had unpinned these sections to perform some minor adjustment and had not re-pinned them. Hence, they suffered heat expansion and, because both ends of the sections were fixed to the baseboard, the expansion caused the buckling. It was fairly simple to remedy but I had to issue station announcements to apologise for the delays in service…
Laying Track: This was my first experience of laying track for several decades and certainly my first at this scale (N gauge). Advice on the Internet seemed split between tacking the track to the baseboard and gluing it down. I am glad I chose to use track pins rather than glue because there have been many occasions when I have needed to unpin sections and relay them. Sometimes this has been needed when the track alignment was not as good as it needed to be (which was revealed only when running rolling stock along it) and other times when the rail joiners were not correctly fitted (at this scale it can be tricky to tell if the rails are firmly held in the groves of rail joiners or just underneath them. Another case where track relaying has been necessary was when testing the electrical operation of sections of track connected to points. The polarity of upstream rails connected to Peco electrofrog points are affected by the operation of the points, and although I thought I understood the concept it did sometimes catch me out – causing short-circuits around the system.
Laying Track: Some Internet advice led me to the conclusion that the sequence of track laying should be to position the points as a first priority and to then join them with the other track. I could understand the logic of this sequencing and I have generally followed it. Where it becomes difficult is at places where many points are positioned close together. It this case it is better to connect the points with track and then pin them to the baseboard.
Motorised Points: I have used Peco point motors wherever I have wanted to automate the operation of the points. Point motors can be fitted in two positions: slung directly under the points; or screwed under the baseboard. The former method is simpler but requires a large hole to be cut in the baseboard to accommodate the motor; the latter method is a lot more awkward but requires only a small hole in the baseboard (and so is not as visible). I have used the under board point motors for those sections of track designed to be visible at the front of the layout, and the other type in the fiddle yard (which is not intended to be visible).
N Gauge: The scale of this gauge is a challenge to the eyesight and the fingers. When constructing models for the scenery you may be convinced you have made a good attempt – until you take photographs of the result and subsequently enlarge the images. That is when you get to see every little inaccuracy. I would recommend using digital images of your work to improve your modelling techniques if you are attempting to reach a high standard of modelling. I remain a complete amateur – but then my layout is not intended to be closely scrutinised at exhibitions.
Senery Sequencing: You do learn to complete the central portion of a layout before tackling the outsides – particularly after you knock things over when reaching across into the centre. This layout is only 3.5 feet wide but even that width can be a challenge once you start installing rolling stock on the layout and have to reach over carriages and wagons. Early positioning of trees on the layout can enhance the look of the scenery, but beware of the need to continue working on the areas around them: the trees on this layout have been positioned but not permanently fixed.
Model of 1960s Leamington Stations 