Swiss N-Gauge layout under construction.

[DSY011]

John, how is the Swiss 'N' gauge model of yours coming along? It's almost 9 months since you last posted any photos of it. A track plan would also be good to see.
I am still waiting to start my '00' layout. I retire in April 2012 and hope to have found a new house with a railway room by then.
There are a lot of other models that were being built out there. An update on them would be good.

[swisstrains]

Hi Syd,
The layout is coming along slowly. Although all the track has been down for ages I am still plucking up the courage to complete the ballasting (not my favourite job) I seem to have spent most of the time building kits recently. I will post some pics and a trackplan soon.

[DSY011]

Thank you John. How about the other modelers out there. Any progress since your last model posts.

[swisstrains]

I haven't got round to drawing up a proper trackplan yet but these are the track diagrams used on the layout control panels. The lines shown in BOLD are visible whilst the FAINT lines are hidden from view. The different colours are the individually switched isolating sections.
The first diagram shows the terminus station (Engelboden). This is the highest point on the layout (except for the mountains ) and is 9" higher than the lower station.
Terminus_trackplan.jpg
After Engelboden there is a level section to a small country station (as yet unnamed) before the line starts to descend at a gradient of about 1 in 36 through a series of tunnels and tight curves.
upperlevel_plan.gif
The line eventually reaches the lower board where the valley station (Primelbach) is situated.
lowerlevel_plan.jpg
After passing through Primelbach trains can either enter the hidden storage sidings or be routed around the reversing loop ready to climb back up to the higher level. There is also a continuous loop on the lower level that can be used for testing or just watching the trains go by.

[swisstrains]

Here's a few photos that I took last night.
The first photo shows the hotel and station building at Engelboden. Still lots of work to do including track ballasting, platform painting and finally the overhead catenary.
engelboden02.jpg
Another shot of Engelboden station showing the Postal facilities built over one of the tracks. This is actually two Kato Japanese kits cobbled together and mounted on concrete pillars.
engelboden04.jpg
The mountain village. The surrounding rockfaces are virtually complete but there is still a lot of foliage, trees and grass to be added. I have yet to construct two station buildings for the cable-car in the background. The white areas are not snow but unpainted plaster bandage.
village01.jpg
A photo showing two of the three bridges spanning the valley. Like the other areas it is far from complete. The car-carrying train is descending to the lower level.
bridges01.jpg

[6678bjm]

It's looking like a great project John, very impressed with the standard of modelling you have acieved so far. The bridges look superb and Layout looks to provide many operating possibilties. Well done, I look forward to seeing future updates.
Regards

[DSY011]

Thank You for the track plan and the photos John. I'm very impressed with your work. The mountains are very impressive, but I see what you mean about ballasting. What is the footprint of the layout? With hidden sidings and loops it must be quite big.

[swisstrains]

Thanks for the kind comments chaps.
The layout is roughly "U" shaped and measures 7' 6" x 9' 0" x 9' 0". It varies in depth between 2' and 3'.
Apologies for the Imperial measurements but I only use those Metric thingies for really small items

[swisstrains]

A few photos of parts of the layout not covered previously.
The first shot shows the hidden storage sidings which are located underneath the terminus station. The storage siding pointwork is mainly manually operated but some of the harder to reach ones are electric.
storage_sidings.jpg
The next photo shows the sharp curve running around the back of the castle. Because access is required to a window this has to be the narrowest part of the layout and although it requires a 12" radius curve I don't have any problems with my stock. I haven't yet decided what to use for the water in the river.
castle.jpg
The final shot shows a train (left) descending from the upper level and about to join the continuous lower-level loop around which a container train is passing. The factory is a Vollmer kit modified to represent a dried-milk factory. The chimney is made from a firework rocket tube found on one of our walks
factory02.jpg

[John H-T]

Looks fantastic John. Like the rock face!

Best wishes,

John H-T.