West Tilgate
[Society Layout]
West Tilgate is the new N gauge layout recently constructed by Crawley Model Railway Society. It occupies a space 20' x 3' in an elongated oval format with the fiddle yard located behind the scenic section.
The scenic area is 20' x 2' depicting a double track mainline passing through open scenery with a double track secondary line diverging from it. A station is provided to allow connection between services using both lines in addition to terminating branch trains. Alongside the station is a goods yard with limited facilities for the transfer of local agricultural products and goods for nearby commerce and industry. The architecture and general appearance is based on the Southern style of the late 50s, although on club evenings members will run stock according to their preferences.
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At present all the woodwork is now complete, the baseboards and subframe being constructed from ply and softwood, both of a quick assembly design for easy setup at exhibitions.
The trackwork, which is Peco code 55 utilising large radius points on the main running lines, is now all fixed in place. The ballasting will follow the electrical installation and a testing period.
On the electrical front the layout is to have three control positions, two covering the main running lines, and a third operator for the yard. We have used TortoiseTM point motors to operate points and LEDs will indicate route and section switching. Some preparation has already been made in the form of the baseboard jumper cables, track feed dropper wires and point motor connectors. The control panel is well underway and our attention is now being focused on the baseboard wiring.
Buildings, which are now starting to appear, will be largely scratchbuilt, with some modified proprietary where necessary and scenic materials will be from a variety of suppliers. Construction started in February 2005, with completion in time for the club’s golden anniversary exhibition in April 2008.
Progress Update
After a lot of hard work we have achieved a major milestone. On Friday 15th June we had a train running round the outer main line and partial use of the inner main line. This coincided with a discussion evening for the group to discuss current progress and future development, particularly for the scenery.
The following week, after a short amount of troubleshooting, the inner main line was also available and two trains were run simultaneously.
In addition to the advances in the wiring, we also have an expanding collection of buildings and structures appearing for the layout - see the images below:
If you're interested in N-gauge and fancy helping us to build or operate West Tilgate then do contact us.
More Pictures
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Copyright © 2002-2008, Crawley Model Railway Society
Page last updated on Sun, 26th Oct 2008 @ 11:31 GMT