It has occurred to me that I haven't yet done a topic on this forum (or any other) about my latest layout 'Pont Gelert'.
I could have sworn I had but it appears not, and now with 6 exhibitions under it's belt and approaching something like completion (is a layout ever finished?) I thought I'd better start writing.
Pont Gelert is a development of my previous layout Draig Goch, and many similarities are apparent. As such the fictional history and reasoning for the line are also very similar.
Pont Gelert was designed from the outset to be easily transported in the back of a small car, to be easily and quickly erected and knocked down by being completely bolt free (I failed in this respect as there is one bolt), to be scenically more interesting and to have more operating scope than Draig Goch.
The L shape with the fiddle yard forming the short leg of the L gave an extra 25% of scenic area compared to Draig Goch (a full 5ft) and the opportunity to include features such as the bridges and level crossing without increasing the overall footprint of the layout.
Like Draig Goch, Pont Gelert is the upper terminus station of a fictional 2 foot gauge railway somewhere in North Wales.
The general idea is that in the late 1880
Darren
I enjoyed seeing the layout at Jarrow Members day. One thing that I meant to ask you about was the tufts of long grass in some of the sidings. Just the positioning of them made me wonder if they were some devious type of uncoupler or was it just that the sun got to me that day?
Malcolm
Nicely done but why not hook it up to Draig Goch for an extended layout?
Mal.
Quote from: Malcolm on September 20, 2014, 19:15
Darren
I enjoyed seeing the layout at Jarrow Members day. One thing that I meant to ask you about was the tufts of long grass in some of the sidings. Just the positioning of them made me wonder if they were some devious type of uncoupler or was it just that the sun got to me that day?
Malcolm
Hi Malcolm.
Glad you enjoyed Pont Gelert.
Yes the tufts of long grass are uncouplers. they are still at the experimental stage but but seem to have potential.
Regards,
Darren.
Quote from: WALLSHIRTS on September 20, 2014, 22:03
Nicely done but why not hook it up to Draig Goch for an extended layout?
Mal.
That would have been an idea but I didn't think of it at the time.
They wouldn't work together now as they are both left to right layouts (if looking from the front) meaning the fiddle yard is at the same end on both layouts. I never envisaged Pont Gelert being an extension of Draig Goch, merely a replacement. Short sightedness on my part.
Regards,
Darren.
Pont Gelert - part 2
Scenery part 1
The coarse of the stream was cut out and bridge supports of softwood fitted prior to track laying.
The basic shell for the scenery was built up using my usual method of large chunks of expanded polystyrene and foam insulation board left over from baseboard construction carved to a rough shape and covered in plaster soaked bandage.
Once the plaster was dry the areas that were intended to be vegetation were painted with brown emulsion paint.
At this point the long and laborious process of building the retaining walls and bridge abutments was started. This was done by laying 100's (possibly 1000's) of small pieces of card in varying thickness in an attempt to replicate the look of slate slab construction. When finished the walls and abutments were painted with a blue/grey which I mixed myself using various Vallejo acrylics. Once dry individual slates were picked out using various shades of grey, brown, blues, greens, and white all mixed in various ratios to give very subtle variations in color. Once done the whole area was given a light misting of the blue/grey used as the basecoat to tone things down and blend everything in.
Thats all for now.
Regards,
Darren.
Darren,
Nice photos of your layout but could you and others put some photos of your fiddle yard as well. I am sure other members would appreciate for ideas and info.
Roger
How do you fix the baseboards together without bolt? Perhaps some photos of the baseboards from the underside would help.
David (in Victoria BC CA)
Quote from: Krizzy on October 05, 2014, 17:24
Darren,
Nice photos of your layout but could you and others put some photos of your fiddle yard as well. I am sure other members would appreciate for ideas and info.
Roger
Hi Roger.
The only known photo of the fiddleyard was taken by Mick T at Barton le Clay this year.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Mick6126/BedsBucksNGModellersMembersOpenDayBartonLeClay26January2014#slideshow/5997395305772875922
As soon as I get chance I'll take a few shots and post them here.
Regards,
Darren.
Quote from: theelliotts on October 05, 2014, 17:41
How do you fix the baseboards together without bolt? Perhaps some photos of the baseboards from the underside would help.
David (in Victoria BC CA)
Hi David.
I use cabinet makers dowels for consistent and accurate baseboard alignment
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5598/15427025696_9a917d0f93.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pvexgE)WP_20141005_18_58_55_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pvexgE) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
and toggle catches to fasten the boards together.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/15263391520_f9c4c6038c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pfLSwL)WP_20141005_19_00_31_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pfLSwL) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
Here are the dowels fitted into the profile board on one baseboard, you can see a toggle catch to the right.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/15450115125_72a9d3516b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pxgSXg)WP_20141005_18_57_23_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pxgSXg) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
Heres a toggle catch holding the end plate in place when crated up for transport.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/15263502658_0ce5d73c87.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pfMryW)WP_20141005_18_51_12_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pfMryW) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
And here it is crated up
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5598/15449730292_6370488e46.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pxeUyd)WP_20141005_19_08_01_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pxeUyd) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
Regards,
Darren.
Roger.
Here is an overhead view of the fiddle yard.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2947/15427015326_6d216b7277.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pveubS)WP_20141005_19_02_38_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pveubS) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
And one showing the plywood frame and ball bearing drawer slides used as runners for the traverser.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2947/15263513437_e9a5bdd971.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pfMuLM)WP_20141005_19_05_00_Pro (https://flic.kr/p/pfMuLM) by Darren J Hedges (https://www.flickr.com/people/60513212@N04/), on Flickr
Regards,
Darren.
Thanks Darren. I hope the others who post photos of their layouts take note.
Roger
I also built the fiddle yards for the South Yorkshire Group modular layout along similar lines.
Regards,
Darren.
Thanks for the photos of the baseboards and fiddle yard. It's good to see self explanatory details.
David (Victoria BC)
Quote from: theelliotts on October 06, 2014, 00:48
Thanks for the photos of the baseboards and fiddle yard. It's good to see self explanatory details.
David (Victoria BC)
No problem, always happy to help.
Regards,
Darren.