Gare De Hulot My French SNCF model railway réseau

pont viaduc ! Auhagen kit # 11 344

2012-01-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

Salut,

Well I've started my first structure kit for the railway, Auhagen kit # 11 344
pont viaduc ~ stone arch viaduct bridge. I will have to combine 3 kits to make a
double track viaduct, and also extend the length of it to 2 feet (609mm).

Auhagen plastic kits go together very well, with just a little preparation work, sanding etc...
The viaduct kit is very easy to modify to my needs, as it is broken into 8" (203mm) sections, so very simple task of extending length to the desired 24" (609mm) length. Hope to have the first section installed by the end of the month ! Location of viaduct.

First Test Run + Youtube Video No.1

2012-01-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

Bonjour,

Well I've finally finished installing the mainline trackage, hooked up a couple wires, and ran a couple trains to test out the track on standard dc.

I'm happy to report that all was successful ! I'm very happy with how it has come out, especially the super-elevated curves which improves the appearance no end. My first youtube video, more progress to follow, the goods sidings and locomotive terminal tracks are next along with the Fleischmann turntable ! apology for low light in first video, will be improved in time along with picture quality.
au revoir ~

Mainline Track installed !

2011-12-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, along time has gone since the last blog post, but I'm happy to report that a lot has been accomplished in that time. First is the Mainline trackage forming the loop has been installed ! Enfin enfin terminé !!

The trackbed base of the layout with the lowered scenery - coastline was built up from recycled Styrofoam pieces I saved from my work. To assist with track laying, I used tracksetta templates for the curves, using 21" 24", and 30" radius (533, 609, 762mm). They really help with getting the curves just right. Just insert them inside the rails to get correct radius.

Roadbed is from Vinylbed, I highly recommend it, easy to bend curves and glue with little effort. Trackwork is straight forward. The curves are all super-elevated with Evergreen styrene strips 0.010" to 0.050" thickness glued to bottom of track on the outside of curve, has a really nice effect, improves the look and the running characteristics.

Some photos of installation, hope you enjoy them. Youtube video reports are coming soon ! youtube channel : goldcoastrailway
profiter, jusqu'à la prochaine fois, au revoir

Final Track Plan (again)

2011-11-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay here it is, finally !!!! After some revisions, including shorter platforms, a smoother transition for the mainline crossing over the terminal station tracks, and also an extra siding for goods arrival / unloading at the terminal station.

It also features a 10" addition to the back of the plan so the mainline crossing the viaduct can have a nice arched curve instead of dead straight track, and increases the minimum radius to 28" from 24" ! Now onto track / roadbed installation ! Merci

Track Plan Revisions

2011-10-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is my "final complete" plan, well as near as I can get anyway. Some things always change when you get to the construction stage, and this is my first project in HO scale, so I'm sure I'll need to make little (hopefully) changes as I go.

Little changes you might notice is a change in location for the viaduct from the curved single track to the double track, and also an addition of a branch line to the main terminus station heading under the elevated city scene towards the back. This will allow me additional operational potential, and also storage. Other changes are small positions of trackage in the truck trailer ramp siding, and an addition of a small petrol siding for tankcars.

Benchwork complète !

2011-08-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

Finally complète ! Well mostly. Benchwork is standard frame broken into 2' x 4' (60.9cm x 121.9cm) long sections, incase I need to break it down for moving I can at least save the sections for a future layout.

The top / base will be 2" (50mm) insulation foam, which I've used to great satisfaction on my other layout.

Next is the raising of the track level over the lowered benchwork for the curved viaduct, and steel bridge ! Until next time ~ Ciao

Background / Track plan

2011-08-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Bienvenue !

I hope to share with you my experience in building an HO scale model railway, techniques and tips. We can both learn together.

Well its taken me awhile to get started but I've finally decided on a track plan, and some other major decisions.

Le plan : I'm really interested in the steam era, transition era of the railways in Europe, especially France (SNCF), and Italy (FS). So my time period is going to be around 1950-1970s, no real modern rolling stock will be on the layout.

The location is fictitious, but is based on the French / Italian border on the Mediterranean coast, a place I was lucky to visit and really enjoyed !

The benefit of this is first its my favorite location, and second, it will give me an excuse to have both French and Italian equipment on the layout, no matter how un-prototypical it might have been in real life.

The name of the station is : "Gare de Hulot" why ? its my own location, and one of my favorite French film characters is Monsieur Hulot, played by the great Jacques Tati !

The space for the layout is pretty small, but large enough for what I want to do. I wanted to construct something manageable, and not become a huge nightmare of maintenance. Something I've learned from the great track planner Ian Rice.

Okay now onto other standards.

Layout Size : 13.5' long x 6' wide (4.11m x 1.82m)
Layout height : 52 " (1.32m)
Track : Peco Code 100
Turnout control : Peco point motors
Control system : Digital DCC (I've grown to love the sound !)
Minimum Radius curve : 24" mainline (609mm)
Layout Design type : End to End with mainline loop
Location : Mediterranean Coast / French-Italian border
Time Period : 1950s to middle 1970s
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On to the track plan itself, this is just a sketch roughly to scale, but will give you some idea of the plan. Its basicly a stop station, with continious loop for the mainline running, and then it ends at a nice port which is based on the one that was featured in Continental modeller just a few months ago, Dieppe. I believe it is important to have at least 1 or 2 end points to give the layout a real purpose.
-until next time - au revoir