Toshalt - 2mm (1:152)

Toshalt is a small freelance layout designed to develop my track building skills and give me somewhere to test and run my 2mm stock.  The standard gauge track arrangement is loosely based on Montacute on the line from Durston to Yeovil, although I have moved the goods shed from the run-around loop to a siding behind the station platform, omitted the cattle pens, and added additional sidings for operational interest.   To add further operational interest I have added a small narrow gauge line called the Hill Wood Light Railway (HWLR).  The HWLR will also give me somewhere to run my narrow gauge stock.  I conceived the idea for this layout after attending the first Australasian 2mm meeting in Sydney in August, 2014.  The weekend was very inspirational and got a few of us thinking that it would be good to have a small 'test plank' where we could run 2mm locos and rolling stock.  As I had a couple of spare boards available I thought that it would be a good idea to use these to build a small layout and have it to a point where 2mm locos could be run when the second Australasian meeting took place in August 2015.

The rational (albeit a little far fetched) for the existence of Toshalt dates back several hundred years when the main road to the coast was joined by a road from the mountains nearby where several outlying communities existed. This junction was a miles from a well established and vibrant village.  Over time two small halts developed very close to the junction (one on each road) where travelers could rest and find water. The area became known as Two Halts which eventually got shortened to 'Toshalt'.  The main railway line ended up passing through here.  The HWLR was built to service the outlying communities further up in the mountains.  Well that's my excuse for the existence of Toshalt!

The following sketch shows the final plan.  The layout started as two boards measuring 300mm x 900mm but has since had another 300mm x 600mm board added, giving a total length of 2.4m.  The whole lot is stored and transported in two custom built boxes which are easily managed by one person.

I am building the standard gauge track using the 2mm SA Easitrac system and the narrow gauge track will be soldered code 40 track on PCB board, also purchased from the 2mm SA.

The layout is controlled using an NCE Power Cab digital control system.  The standard gauge track can also be switched to analogue control so that DC locos can be run.  The narrow gauge track will be DCC only.  All the points are wired for DCC operation using the Octopus III system purchased from Tam Valley Depot.  Micro switches are used to change the frog polarity on the standard gauge track (to allow for DC operation) and frog juicers for the narrow gauge track. All the points will be powered by a SwitchWright Switch Machine also from Tam Valley Depot.

April 2015

Most of the standard gauge track and three of the four points have now been installed, wired and tested, although some fettling still needs to be done on all the points!  I have built the points with Easitrac components, the first point tackled using one of the Association's milled bases.  Although this has turned out OK and rolling stock does go through it, I continue to have some issues with the blades closing correctly mainly due to to how I have setup the TOU.  This one will definitely need further work.  The other points were all built using paper templates.  I have added a copper clad sleeper to the third point to add extra strength and rigidity.  After reading the Association's Track book (well worth purchasing), I have used several copper clad sleepers on the last point which has resulted in a better finish.  I have decided to use servos instead of the wire-in-tube method (which may be more appropriate for a small layout) mainly to 'give it a go'.  My TOUs are constructed based on an article in the magazine and various discussions on the VAG.  The first two TOUs use a piece of wire to transmit the servo movement to the actuating arm, however, I have turned the servo upside down on the third and connected the servo directly to the actuating arm.  The next job will be installing the last point and getting the back scenes in place so that I can progress the scenery.  I have also started building the small station 'North Toshalt' on the HWLR using a Scalescenes kit.  I have also built and installed a small bridge, also built using a Scalescenes kit. One valuable lesson I have learned from this kit was that I really need to seal the kit before construction starts (I must read instructions more carefully!).

June 2015

As can be seen from the photo below, one backboard is in place and a start has been made on the scenery.  I have also installed a section of narrow gauge track and the station, North Toshalt, which serves the HWLR.  Unfortunately I'm still to finish the last standard gauge point, however the servo is in place and wired.

The first finescale loco has finally run from one end of the layout to the other and successfully traversed two of the points. As I still don't have a working 2mm loco Kevin has kindly loaned me one of his Class 24s with The Associations drop-in wheel-sets.  He has also kindly loaned me some rolling stock.

August 2015

Below is a photo of the layout setup for the first time at the August Area Group meeting.  Still a long way to go!

May 2016

It has been a while since I last wrote anything and much has transpired.  I presented Toshalt at the second Australasian 2mm Meeting despite the fact that very little of the scenery was completed and the fiddle yards were just a simple piece of track.  As noted back in April 2015, the first point that I installed did not operate as smoothly as I would have liked despite several attempts at improving it's operation. During the meet we all decided that the best course of action is to replaced it at some stage.  I have also extended the length of the layout by another 600mm which has allowed me to increase the length of the main line and the passing loop. This has also given me the opportunity to construct a Dairy serviced by both the standard and narrow gauge lines and given me more space for the narrow gauge yard area. The back boards have been installed and all the standard gauge points finished, although now that I have more space I will be moving two points and installing two additional points.  I am going to try to have all the standard gauge (Easitrac) points completed for the third Australasian 2mm Meeting at the end of September.  Hopefully some more of the scenery and track for the HWLR will also be further progressed by then. Time will tell!

June 2016

This Month hasn't seen as much work carried out on Toshalt as I would have hoped.  However, I have started building a turnout to replace the faulty one using one of the 2mm Associations new pegged turnout kits.  I have decided to try one of these kits to see how it compares to the points I have already built.  You can see how it is going here.  I have also made good progress on laying track for the HWLR goods yard, although, I haven't yet started any points.  I am trying something new and gluing the sleepers onto the sub-base and then soldering the track onto the sleepers.  I will also be attempting to build the points in situ on interlaced sleepers.  Time will tell if this is going to be a wise decision.

August 2016

The last couple of months has seen me remove two points, re-build one of them and build two additional points, and install all four of them (yes, it does add up!).  This has given me a longer run-around loop and the opportunity to add two sidings, one servicing Toshalt goods yard and the other serving the HWLR goods yard as an interchange siding.  This has taken longer than expected mainly due to one of the relocated points being put over a board cross beam.  I'm not sure how I managed this, but at least it made me think outside the square when trying finding a solution to installing the point motor.  Ballasting is the next job and will be closely followed by some basic scenery to try and make it look half decent.  I am hoping to have this body of work completed by the end of September for the Australasian 2mm Gathering (fingers are definitely crossed!).  A fellow N Gauge modeler has kindly offered to build some of the buildings that I need, including the station, signal box, a small goods store for the HWLR goods yard and a couple of other small sheds.  This has helped immensely as I am very time poor at the moment.  In addition Kevin has designed and printed an engine shed for the HWLR.  I have clad it using Scalescenes and Metcalfe sheets.  You can read more here.

September 2016

I have finally managed to get some ballasting and scenery work done.  None too soon as the 2mm Super Meet is on the doorstep!  Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  Although all the points worked, the polarity of the frogs are a little hit and miss and still don't work at all in DC mode - all to be investigated!  It also looks like I will have to replace one of the re-built points as it has a bad mis-alignment (I think I've been here before!) and a dip which can't be easily remedied, something that can be tackled after the Super Meet.  It has also become apparent that I will need to electrically separate the track from the accessories (i.e. create districts) to help guard against electrical shorts. Plenty to keep me going!