Model Railway Forum

Lovely work Steve
Dont think I would have liked to climb up to the top though. Just my luck to have done so and found the needed left handed widget turning spanner is still in the depot

That’s it, Shaddeholme has left the building.
This weekend I found out just what a cr@ppy job I did when I built the baseboards - all sorts of odd offcuts making dismantling a bit of a challenge. I have saved the harbour and the main station but I had to take a sabresaw to the engine yard.

The next job, before I start on the new layout, is to build a new support frame for Low Ghyll to keep it straight and level. I intend to build this from plywood I beams with similar cross bracing that actually matches up with the shelf supports. The frame will be a permanent structure while the modular baseboards will ‘float’ on top. It will also serve as a trial run as I intend to use the same method on the new layout, just a bit bigger and hopefully stronger.

2021-03-07_02-04-10 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

This is going to be something to look forward to - can't wait

Remarkable architecture, but it must be a special misery to have to disassemble so much work. None the less, it is a good thing that Low Ghyll shall continue forward.

Strangely enough Chops it was no issue at all - yes there are a couple of (very) small sections that I will keep but as a whole I just wasn’t feeling the love for the layout any more. Apart from my aching joints this morning, it didn’t hurt at all.

Low Ghyll is pretty much finished so this is an ideal opportunity to put it on a firm and level foundation while I have the room to do it. The problem I created with the layout was that the support frame had to be extended as the layout grew the result being that it always ran out of true which did cause a few running issues across the board joints. They were originally lined up on a level workbench but were able to flex slightly on the frame. And I was, perhaps not as fastidious as I should have been when I created the through holes to bolt the sections together.

Hopefully I will get this aspect right with the new layout. I have a name - ‘West Orton’ - but as usual I’m lost with a trackplan. I don’t even know if there will be a station or not. I am aiming for a valley and bridge on one of the short boards at the end of the shed and I will be trying to avoid the ‘flat earth’ look. Apart from that I haven’t a clue.

Spent the day on two tasks; the first was to see what, if anything was worth saving from the old layout. I ended up cutting out the harbour scene, with a short loop of rail which could in time be resurrected as a small shunting diorama.
I also sliced the main station board along the line of the double track mainline to save a narrow space for track and the canal scene, which looks better viewed from the other side. I’ve also saved the helix (probably to be sold) and a traversed which may find its way onto the new layout.
Then this afternoon I transformed an 8x4 sheet of ply into nine 64mm I beams - they seem to be quite strong and stable but I suspect I shall use a different method for the new layout.

Nearly there with the new support frame - it’s strong, so much so that the weakest link is now the shelf brackets themselves.
I just have the fiddly bit near the door to finish off then a light sanding and a coat of paint. I have tried to place the stretchers between the outer rails at the board joints which should help with access to the joining bolts and the underboard electrics.
The frame will also provide a solid base for new lighting for the layout to be built at the lower level.

2021-03-09_01-02-58 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

2021-03-09_01-03-11 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Very neat. Too neat. It’s just not fair. R-

Roger we could go over and sabotage it.

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:02 pm Roger we could go over and sabotage it.

I’ll put the kettle on.