Sheffield Park
| Construction and Landscaping
I had read about various methods for laying down the foundations of a model railway but decided to use locally available and economic, if somewhat oversized, 2"x4" and 2"x2" Hemlock framing topped off with ½" good-one-side plywood. This frame isn't fixed in place to the walls of the room but the fit is so snug it isn't going anywhere soon. To provide some relief, on top of this basic frame, I applied thin sheets of Styrofoam, glued together one layer on top of another, carved into shape to produce a contoured effect and smoothed over with drywall mud. This proved to very easy to do, somewhat messy but quite heavy; however, the end effect is very realistic. I then covered this all in appropriate sprinkle-on landscaping material held in place with diluted white glue. |
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An aerial view of north end of both platforms with the N Class awaiting to depart on its journey. |
| An aerial view of main station arrangements. |  |
| The code 75 Peco track outside of the main station area is laid on sponge foam tapered base pieces, in what I understand is a typical fashion, which in turn are glued directly onto the plywood. However, the lines and points throughout the station area are laid directly onto ¼" thick foam core board as a simple means of keeping everything flat and in an effort to dampen any noise from running trains. It certainly has kept the track flat, but it has not dampened any noise (thought for another layout!). All points are operated remotely by piano wire through bicycle brake sleeve material. This works for the most part, but I have learned that once fixed in place it is very difficult to clean or tweak for better operation. |
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The coaling stage with crane, E2, IOW Terrier, and N Class all waiting. |
| Detail of inside modified coal truck at coaling stage. |  |
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View from the south. |
| I have also included a short section of 009 narrow gauge track
that leads to a model of the original milking stage. The Mid Sussex Dairy
survived just south of Sheffield Park station until 1933. It would dispatch a
hand pulled cart up the incline once a day to the station, with one churn going
to Buckingham Palace.
The few fences that separate track from open field areas, or which separate field from field, are all hand made using scale profile spruce and piano wire. The trees are also hand built, but not all by me. As these fences and trees were some of the first items built from scratch, it is quite easy to see how today's skills could improve upon the outcome. |
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This page was last updated 17 March 2006
