Fablewood (Coed Y Chwedlau)

David Hennessey · January 26, 2015, 19:57

Greetings to all members of the 009 Society (both on and off the forums). I am David Hennessey, a 30 year old modeller hailing from St Helens in Merseyside.

I have recently decided to start work on a 4ft by 2ft 009 gauge layout, with a fictitious small station on the outskirts of a North Wales village in mind. I call this layout, Fablewood (or Prenchedwl in Welsh). It is to follow no particular prototype, but will have shades of Ffestiniog, Lynton & Barnstaple and a few others. The era is to be set in the present day, with tourists being the main source of traffic (supplemented by the odd demonstration goods now and again).

I've got started on paper, by using some software called Anyrail5; quite a handy tool for layout planning. I've been tweaking and coming up with various ideas, including the one attached to this thread. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I am welcome to replies.

I am delighted to be a part of this prestigious organisation, and I look forward to making conversation with some of you fellow members, to work a great deal on my new layout, and to picking up hints and tips as I go along.

Frank · January 27, 2015, 08:46

Hi David, and welcome to the forum.

There is quite a bit of 009 activity and other NG formats in the North West, as you may be aware if you have been to some local exhibitions. The AGM at Rainford in April would be well worth a visit, and there are others too in the Events Diary. Good opportunities to meet people, have a chat, and see some inspiring modelling.

Frank

David Hennessey · January 27, 2015, 10:43

Quote from: Frank on January 27, 2015, 08:46
Hi David, and welcome to the forum.

There is quite a bit of 009 activity and other NG formats in the North West, as you may be aware if you have been to some local exhibitions. The AGM at Rainford in April would be well worth a visit, and there are others too in the Events Diary. Good opportunities to meet people, have a chat, and see some inspiring modelling.

Frank

Thanks Frank. I'm already contemplating attending the Rainford show in April (since it's just up the road from St Helens), so some good opportunities to get some inspiration in.

Krizzy · January 27, 2015, 11:26

David, be sure to look in the 'General' section of this forum for updates by Stan Williams regarding the forthcoming AGM. Stan and I will be exhibiting at Rainhill Village Hall in March this year, come along and introduce yourself.

Roger

David Hennessey · January 27, 2015, 11:33

Quote from: Krizzy on January 27, 2015, 11:26
David, be sure to look in the 'General' section of this forum for updates by Stan Williams regarding the forthcoming AGM. Stan and I will be exhibiting at Rainhill Village Hall in March this year, come along and introduce yourself.

Roger

Hello Roger! Good to see you here. Yes, I've finally decided to take the plunge and find out what all this is about... ( ;D )

Looking forward to seeing you and Stan at Rainhill once again in March, and hopefully the AGM/Exhibition at Rainford.

Stan Williams · January 27, 2015, 12:32

Hello David,
Welcome to the Forum and I hope you find some useful tips on here.

As Roger and Frank have mentioned, plenty going on in this neck of the woods.

You are welcome to come along and play trains at Rainhill on the 6th/7th March and on the 18th April we have the 009 Society AGM
and NG Show in Rainford, lots of layouts and trade stands.

If you get that board built and lay the track, you are welcome to bring it to our Members Day in Rainhill on the 28th November 2015.
Just let me know.

There will also be 009 layouts at Wigan and Warrington in October 2015.

Stan.

David Hennessey · January 27, 2015, 13:52

Quote from: Stan Williams on January 27, 2015, 12:32
Hello David,
Welcome to the Forum and I hope you find some useful tips on here.

As Roger and Frank have mentioned, plenty going on in this neck of the woods.

You are welcome to come along and play trains at Rainhill on the 6th/7th March and on the 18th April we have the 009 Society AGM
and NG Show in Rainford, lots of layouts and trade stands.

If you get that board built and lay the track, you are welcome to bring it to our Members Day in Rainhill on the 28th November 2015.
Just let me know.

There will also be 009 layouts at Wigan and Warrington in October 2015.

Stan.

Hello Stan, and thank you for the welcome. Good to see you on here too. Will be sure to catch you at Rainhill and Rainford soon!

David Hennessey · February 04, 2015, 21:59

04/02/2015

With the trackplan now finalised, preliminary work on Prenchedwl (or Fablewood) is now underway with the baseboard being the first thing to be assembled. This takes the form of a 4ft by 2ft Exterior 12mm Plywood board, supported by cut-to-size plane smooth whitewood supports. My dad cut the latter parts, glued them to the sides of the baseboard with Unibond 'No More Nail's, before screwing down the baseboard. Like so:

Meanwhile, a dry run with the track laying is in the process of being carried out. The plan more or less transpires onto the baseboard (keeping away from the top and bottom edges anyway), but is subject to alteration. There is a left-hand turnout for the fiddle yard awaiting acquisition, some cork has yet to be glued down, spots marked for the point motors and holes to be drilled to thread them through. Other than this, work on Prenchedwl is more or less underway!

More on the progress as it unfolds. Comments welcomed.

gtmspyder · February 05, 2015, 09:20

Hello David and welcome to the forum.

With regards to your baseboard, whilst 12mm plywood is very strong, it might over time start to bow down its centre line, this would be mitigated by affixing a horizontal along each end, with a couple more spaced between.

You could leave the two middle ones out for now until you have finished track laying, and decided what and how you want your scenery etc. to lay, so the two central supports don't get in the way of any point motors or rivers you might want to cut into the baseboard.

Before finally gluing them into place, drill a couple of holes through them for your future wiring.

Good luck with the modelling and keep us posted on your progress.

Kind regards,

BrianT.

David Hennessey · February 05, 2015, 10:41

Quote from: gtmspyder on February 05, 2015, 09:20
Hello David and welcome to the forum.

With regards to your baseboard, whilst 12mm plywood is very strong, it might over time start to bow down its centre line, this would be mitigated by affixing a horizontal along each end, with a couple more spaced between.

You could leave the two middle ones out for now until you have finished track laying, and decided what and how you want your scenery etc. to lay, so the two central supports don't get in the way of any point motors or rivers you might want to cut into the baseboard.

Before finally gluing them into place, drill a couple of holes through them for your future wiring.

Good luck with the modelling and keep us posted on your progress.

Kind regards,

BrianT.

Thank you kindly Brian! I will remember to add crossmembers in the centre, but will have to be careful as I intend to use Peco PL-10 point motors for the pointwork.

This was merely a dry run to see how the plan I had on paper, would transpire onto the baseboard. Also, I still need to paint the wood to seal it and protect it from plaster, lay cork on the top, mark spots to drill holes to thread the point motors through, and put up a backboard to put up the backscene.

Other than that, the work is officially underway!

B.Meldon · February 05, 2015, 14:24

Perhaps it would be better if the two sidings had a right hand point closer to the point in the loop and not a left?

It would make the sidings longer and remove the reverse curve.

For ease of operation it would be a good idea to try to make the sidings the same length as the loops.

Brian Meldon

David Hennessey · February 05, 2015, 14:45

Quote from: B.Meldon on February 05, 2015, 14:24
Perhaps it would be better if the two sidings had a right hand point closer to the point in the loop and not a left?

It would make the sidings longer and remove the reverse curve.

For ease of operation it would be a good idea to try to make the sidings the same length as the loops.

Brian Meldon

Thank you Brian.

With regard to the sidings near the loop on the left, I was actually using a Y-turnout which does seem to look like a left-hand turnout from a distance, but I see your point (excuse the pun!). I wasn't planning on having long sidings, as these are only going to accommodate one or two small wagons (and possibly one long wagon). I may however take up on the idea of moving the turnout closer to the loop, providing the space allows it. This was merely a dry run anyway; I've yet to do a bit more work on the baseboard before proceeding any further with the track laying.

Thanks for the hints Brian!

David Hennessey · February 08, 2015, 13:59

06/02/2015 and 07/02/2015

The evening of Friday 6th February 2015 saw me painting the baseboard ready for the tracklaying. The colour I used is a temporary beige-ish colour, but will be painted over in a more appropriate scheme in good time. This is how I did it:

Next day (Saturday 7th February 2015) saw the first pieces of track laid down, starting with the fiddle yard. As you will notice, an N gauge left-hand turnout was sourced from my own modelling bits. Whist this doesn't look practical, it's going to be in the fiddle yard anyway, so I might just get away with it!

Anyway, the first thing to do was to cut and trim the appropriate pieces of cork underlay (1/16mm thickness) for the curves, pointwork and some straight pieces. The cork pieces for the pointwork had holes cut in them, to give a guide for the 10mm diameter holes I will require for the point motors.

The honour of being the first piece of track laid for Prenchedwl, was given to this curve:

A view of the nearly completed fiddleyard:

The cork sheets for the pointwork glued into place:

More on the progress as it unfolds. Comments welcomed.

Krizzy · February 08, 2015, 15:50

Did you remember to put the cross bracing under the base ply?

Roger

David Hennessey · February 08, 2015, 15:55

Quote from: Krizzy on February 08, 2015, 15:50
Did you remember to put the cross bracing under the base ply?

Roger

Not yet Roger. I've got to install the point motors first (following the drilling of the 10mm diameter holes), then see what space there is to put at least one cross bracing over. Then there's the wiring for power and isolation to consider as well. I'll be sure to get some help with it though.

Thanks for the comment!