Testing

Hi all,

Another update from the mancave. Cleaned up the SCT sidings so decided to give them a rollingstock test, and everything went to plan which was great to see. Was asked to provide a diagram by a person on facebook however haven't managed to do one yet however hopefully I'll have one soon. Couple of happy snaps: 

A shed will cover the 4 roads on the right, with the middle two roads allowing access for the Greater Freighters. The container wagons are sitting in the container loading road (has a set of points up both ends in case a run-around is required). 

Up the other end of the yard we have the headshunt on the right, two storage roads in the middle and the loco depot on the left. Depot will have a shed plus refueling facilities. As you can see the train just fits, so a couple of refrigerated wagons will complete the train.

Another look at the storage sidings underneath. Main thing down here is to ensure theres no derailments as it will be a PITA to get something that's derailed in the back roads!

Looking down the mirror.

Last photo of the day. This is a cheap way to keep your track clean, a tip we picked up from the guy who runs EFD Simply Glues at the Sydney exhibition last year. Using your standard track cleaning rubber is good to get the gritty stuff off the track however it leaves a residue which can cause poor electrical pickup as well as dirty wheels. All this is is a cheap disposable razor (buy them in packs of 50 from the $2 shop) and a piece of felt that has a sticky side (bought in long strips and then cut to size, sticks straight on). Then pour some of the EFD Track cleaning fluid on and away you go! Haven't had any troubles with this method so far. If anyone else has some track cleaning tips or tricks please share! 

Working Around

Hi all,

Some more cleaning has been done in the past few weeks and we are now about 60-70% of the way around. Decided to do some testing while we were at it as a few sidings have been modified from the original plan. Here's the Apex pulling out of the siding (an operation which blocks all lines, as is in real life).

Finally we can see some track! This photo shows the SCT sidings on the right. Gap in the BG is for a station.

Bit of work has been done in the 'scenic' section, supports for the track now in place permanently.

Showing the Apex siding on the left, station on the right and a creek up the middle.

Till next time!

Clean Up Time

Hi All,

Clean up has begun in the last few weeks, starting on the right hand side of the layout and eventually working our way around the whole thing. Tidying up loose ends is also apart of this, such as finishing off the fascia, finishing off all sidings and fixing up anything that's gone array. This first photo shows nearly the whole right hand side of the layout cleaned up and ready to go. Unfortunately due to the dust caused by sweeping the floor and drilling holes has cause the track to get quite dirty, which will be a big job once everythings cleared to get the track up to scratch.

The turntable and roundhouse have finally been completed. Still yet to add the roof as we're not sure if we will be putting any detail inside. 

The pass yards and branch back platform have also been completed. The 3 roads closest to the camera will be for Locos, vans and any other misc. passenger rollingstock. The longest road in the middle is the shunt road to head back towards the storage yards on the right. The 3 roads above this will be the 'shed' roads (Something like Spencer Streets shed). The last road next to the mainline will be the 'wash' road.

The back platform road has also been completed. Not sure whether to have a platform for both roads yet (most likely will as the SG platform will extend down this far). The trailing road will be the fuel point for railmotors.

Till next time!

Major Update

Hi All,

Been a long time since I've done any updates on the shed, hopefully now will become more regular as I've moved all of my old posts from Victrainz onto this new blog, and will hopefully get out to a wider audience. A lot has happened since the last update. All major mainline trackwork has been laid (with the exception of a few yards as well as the main container/steel terminal) and all wiring has been completed. Have also hooked up all of the Digitrax UP4's. Turntable has been put in place, still yet to fit the tracks to it. The bridge section across the door has finally been completed (a section Dad was having trouble with, thinking about how to achieve what he wanted and getting the right angle). Now onto the photos. 20 to get through today, please excuse the mess! Starting to clean and finish up sections at a time so we can finally complete the maiden run.

Showing the Command Station. 5amp with an 8amp booster. Zephyr will be purely for programming, the Vector box is for point motors and auxiliary's (lights etc.).

Bridge section in front of the door, showing the angle it had to be on. Points and crossover (Have to buy a new one, old one causing shorts) to get onto the arrivals/departure road for the container/steel sidings (Dual Gauge)

Further around. Container/Steel yards where the junk is behind.

Had room for a small mill so thought why not. Points for the Pac Nat loco depot and Container/Steel yards on the last track.

Container/Steel yards head shunt. SCT sidings at the back.

SCT sidings. There's a lot of track under there somewhere!

Sugar siding on the left, crossovers for the Apex siding and the storage yards underneath. 

Cabinet made out of spare wood lying around. Lot of trains in there!

Drop track to staging yards in the middle, Apex siding/loop on the left, SG and then the two BG tracks on the RHS of the drop.

Apex siding on the left. Will have a creek running along the middle. Station on the RHS where the piece of timber juts out.

One of the scenic sections! Will have embankments either side.

Showing where the river will run. BG tracks running over an old bridge, SG on new alignment and new bridge.

Sadliers Siding. 

Pass yards will be closest to the camera. The start of the branch line can be seen above the BG tracks. Will rise up as it goes around the corner and eventually cross the SG and then continue to climb around the layout. Long way off that though. SG loop at the back.

Main station and more pass yards. Dock for the branch line and a bidirectional run through road for the BG in case passengers are holding up the pass'!

Start of the main loco depot.

8216 doing some testing. This photo shows the main loco depot in the background (DG). Sidings in the foreground will be for Fuel, plus another loop yet to be installed for the cement sidings.

Further around.

Other side of the bridge section. This shows off the SG ballast/maintenance sidings. Any rollingstock that needs fixing or has been fixed is placed in the two sidings on the right which are right next to the door for easy access. Also shows where the cement and fuel sidings come off the BG. 

The bridge connected. Still room for the Maintenance siding headshunt to go. Plug is on the left hand side and needs to be in to give power to the bridge and the section on the left hand side. This stops any potential accidents from occurring in case the bridge has been forgotten. RHS does not require this safety measure as when the bridge drops down there is a lip which the kadees will hit and stop the train. Broken kadee is cheaper than a loco!

So as you can see a lot of work has been completed, but theres a lot of work still to go. Hopefully will have the mainline up and running in a few weeks. 

Last of the old VicTrainz posts

Hi all,

Lots more progress to show with the main junction now almost complete.

Shows where one of the stations will be located (in the gap on the left), SCT sidings and SG loop to the right.

T333 and R707 doing some testing in the SCT siding/loop road.

Main junction showing the intricate point work plus the sugar siding on the left.

The Main junction signal box/diagram, Apex siding crosses over the SG. (Concrete is the SG mainline, has to go through the high speed points).

The drop down to the storage yards underneath.

This last photo shows how the line to the storage yards will be hidden.

Everything shown is now wired up (including point motors) and everything works to plan which is a good sign for everything else electronically. The 3rd photo shows the electrical work on the left including where the bus wire will run through (easy access).