Midsomer

[madharry]

Continuing.........

The third magnet's position is determined before a hole is cut into the baseboard.

All the three magnets are on just one of the boards. I flipped it over and covered the holes to the hold the magnets. I found a piece of Wills plastic scenic material was just the right size when cut into three. I glued these to the bottom of the baseboard using a contact adhesive - Thixofix.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing........

As the boards are apart for the above exercise, I thought I would show a picture of the male and female brass dowels that align the boards together.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing............

The boards have been joined again using the dowels to align them and then bolts and wing nuts are used to keep them together.

As I am about to start laying track I have inserted two pieces of 1mm plasticard between the boards. The tracks will be laid across the join in the boards and then cut with a slitting disc. Once the plasticard is removed the gap in the tracks will be closer together.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing.......

I decided to test the magnets first before laying the track. A Hornby coach was retrofitted with a Kadee #18 coupler and run over the buried magnet. Everything works fine!

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing...........

Time to lay the track. First the two turnouts leading to the goods shed and loco release.

I soldered two sets of wires under the small section of straight track which is going to be the loco release. I drilled holes through the baseboard and carefully treaded the wires through. I used small sections of double sided tape to hold the track in place . This will suffice until it is ballasted.

Because the ties on the C&L Finescale track are thinner than the Peco ties I placed 1mm cardboard under the C&L trackage to bring it to the same level.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing..........

I added the goods shed track and I could not resist posing my LSWR Adams Radial and a beer wagon (what else?) on the newly laid tracks.

Mike

[madharry]

A slight hiatus on the layout while I await two turning loops to arrive from the Netherlands.

I have decided to incorporate a Magnorail scale road system into the layout.

Magnorail uses a plastic chain in channelling powered by a 12volt DC motor equipped with earth magnets. The magnets circulate within the chain below a road surface. their speed and direction can be controlled by a transformer.

Here is a picture of the chain and motor.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing...

Here is my fleet of Oxford 1930's British cars - a blue Morris 8, a maroon Jaguar SS and Austin 7 "Lipton Teas" van. Also pictured is a Magnorail cyclist which has working legs as he pedals along the street.

All the cars and the pedalling cyclist will be used as they move along a street scene behind the railway station area.

Mike

[ACL1504]

Mike,

I missed this thread while recovering from surgery. Great thread and very informative. Thanks for taking the time to explain all the steps.

I love the Midsomer Murder series. Great show.

Tom

[madharry]

Thanks Tom you were sorely missed. I have a friend who went in yesterday for the same op. I'm glad you are back.

Kindest regards
Mike

[jbvb]

I've been following along, but want to thank you for mentioning Magnorail - it appears to offer much more flexibility regarding vehicles than the self-propelled wire-guided systems I've seen here and in the Netherlands.  But doing business with them from outside the EU might be complicated...

[madharry]

James, I agree the models are far more controllable using this system. I get mine direct from Holland. They accept paypal and their website will compute mailing charges to the US. You can also pay by the normal credit cards. I intend using the system on three layouts i am building.

www.magnorail.com

Mike

[madharry]

CONTINUING...........

The best laid plans.........I decided to add a third board to my little empire specifically as a "fiddle-yard". I have a used board but I found the prefitted dowels did not line up with my new boards. The only way I could fit it was to reverse the trackplan. So I had to take up the track, turnouts and magnets I had already laid and plug the holes. I then relaid them in the reverse direction.............ouch!

That is now done and the next stage is to lay the track across the board joints using copperclad. I have cut the long strip into tie lengths as I need 16.

Mike

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice Mike. I really enjoy the how to aspect.

[madharry]

Thanks Curt,

I am intending to show the complete build all the way through to a finished exhibition layout ready for the British Model Railway shows circuit.

Some of the steps may be mundane but I am always learning something new from other modellers. So............

Mike