HARDYARD - A G Scale Indoor Layout

[Gizzy]

Recently I was asked by Beancounter, if I would like a G Scale Display layout that he had started building, for the East Anglian Group of the G Scale Society.

He had put it up for sale on GSC, but there were no takers.

As the 'Group Captain', I accepted his generous offer, and we met one day in Newmarket for the official handover.

First picture is a track plan. I drew this using Anyrail, before exporting to Paint....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

I have been allowed to take this project to my MRC, thanks to the Chairman, John.

He helped me set it up in the clubroom so that I could start work on the scenic details.

Beancounter had done an excellent job of constructing the baseboards and laying the track, but had made no further progress, due to work commitments....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

The layout has 2 modules. The main board and the fiddleyard/sector plate as shown here.

The layout is wired up, but there was no controller. I've since been given an LGB controller, thanks to Pugwash....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

First thing then was to get the track ballasted. I was originally going to ballast the curved part of the track, and the straight track was going to be 'tramway' style as a loading area.

I decided to 'borrow' Mel's (Yb281) idea and use the same ballast as he used for his Portable Diorama. (In fact, credit due, as this is the inspiration for this project.) Mel kindly gave me the details of the supplier, and having spoken to the nice lady at the shop on the 'phone, I eventually ordered 2 bags of O gauge ballast, which has turned out to be more than enough to do all the track on the scenic board.

So I made a start on the curved track. The scenic break will be a iron plate bridge and I've cut some thick plasticard material that Paul at the MRC obtained from a Laura Ashley display to represent this....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

As Mel found out with this Modeller's mate ballast, it takes an age to dry if you spread it on thick! Having done the first part of the ballasting with help from my Uncle Ian on the Thursday, I found it still hadn't set by the following Wednesday.

The clubroom was quite cold though, and Mike at the MRC noticed that the special heaters that we installed to keep off the chill had been switched off. So hopefully, this will dry with the warmer weather and the heating back on by next week!

I completed the ballasting before going on shift one Wednesday. The buffer stops are Peco, cut down to match the buffer height of LGB stock. I had a couple in the spares box and Parker400 kindly sent me another....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

I'm also making a low relief building from the same Laura Ashley card and some doors, windows and brick and tile paper, from Jackson's Buildings, again, thanks to Parker400.

Ian, my Uncle, will do the back scene, as he does this sort of thing for the local Am Dram society, and he is currently having a think on what we will do. I think a viaduct will be the plan, as you see in London. We envisage that the yard will be in a cramped location typical of a city centre. I'll keep it simple so that it could be either a goods yard or a loco depot....

 

[Bram]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

That looks cracking matey, should be a fair bit of operational interest there

 

[Steve]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Looking very good Gizzy

 

[beancounter]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

It's great to see the layout being developed - it's looking good already, Gizzy.

Please Sir, can I play with it when it's finished? :admire:

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

It's great to see the layout being developed - it's looking good already, Gizzy.

Please Sir, can I play with it when it's finished? :admire:

Of course you can mate!

Technically, it's still your trainset....

 

[yb281]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Looking brill Giz. Don't worry about the ballast, mine took WEEKS to dry, but it'll be fine in the end.

 

[yb281]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Here's another idea for those Hartland wagons that look perfect for that railway Gizzy. I recently built these on Hartland chassis using coffee stirrers -

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Here's another idea for those Hartland wagons that look perfect for that railway Gizzy. I recently built these on Hartland chassis using coffee stirrers -

Hmmm, I was going to use the coffee stirrers I've recently 'acquired' from Sheringham Station Buffet, (Best cup of tea in town and great value food too. And a great excuse to visit and watch trains on the Poppy Line!) for a picket fence behind the buffer stops? :thinking:

Oh well, I'm sure we'll be visiting the NNR again soon!

Those wagons are really neat Mel....

 

[pugwash]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

The Gizzy mobile layout really is looking the part, hope to see it in action some fine day.
I would keep quiet about the Laura Ashley aspect or we'll never hear the end of it from the girlies. Not that we ever hear an end from them anyway
Anyway, will you lot give over about the coffee stirrers bit, I mean I have way more than your average household's kitchen drawer full of the things, but how do I make a wagon from them?

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

The Laura Ashley card is great for this diorama. Plenty of it, light but strong, and best of all, free!

Once it's sprayed up or covered in brick paper, you wouldn't know of its girlie origins.

Today I brought some Plastruct strip for the proposed plate bridge, which acts as the scenic break. The bridge crosses the tracks at an angle of about 70 degrees and the inspiration is the one at Sheringham Station on the Poppy Line, the North Norfolk Railway.

Here's the view from a DMU....

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

I will be making up the bridge, which is again low relief, when I'm next at the MRC on a Thursday night.

Here's a photo of the same bridge from the platform, and the other side from that shown previously from the DMU....

 

[pugwash]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

The Laura Ashley card is great for this diorama. Plenty of it, light but strong, and best of all, free!
Once it's sprayed up or covered in brick paper, you wouldn't know of its girlie origins.

Cor, thank the Lord for that. Hang on, is the Mistress monitoring this thread?

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Did some more work on the bridge which acts as the scenic break last night.

I added some plastruct strips to the Laura Ashley card, to give it some relief, and make it look more like an iron plate bridge.

The buttresses were covered in Jackson's Buildings brickpaper, and a wooden supporting block was disguised by covering it in some lichen.

The brickpaper swells when pasted, but from experience this will eventually shrink and be flat.

The bridge will need some more painting to enchance the overall look. A little rust and dirt weathering is called for to make it look the part....

 

[Doug]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Only time i've used brickpaper, i've used cowgum to stick it down. Dries very quickly though!

 

[Gizzy]

Reroject for a Rainy Day - A G Scale Diorama

Only time i've used brickpaper, i've used cowgum to stick it down. Dries very quickly though!

There was some ready mixed border adhesive at my MRC workshop, so I've used that.

Looks like a PVA but thicker, rather than a paste.

Used it for the low relief building on the same brick (and tile) paper, and it's been fine Doug....