Agia Aikaterini HO Project

[GEORGE LARISSA]

Good evening to all forum friends!

I'm opening this topic to first show you the design of the layout I've started building in a storage space at my house and then I'll post photos of the construction phases.

The name "Saint Catherine" comes from the fact that I dedicated it to my wife so that she wouldn't complain that I would be there early in the night and that I would free up a lot of space for her by taking the models out of the house.

However, and because I don't like to hide, my inspiration came from Rapsani station, and the station area of the model I would like to have a flavor of that location.

The layout will be made by building modules around the walls of the room and the external dimensions will be 332x269, also I would like to mention that the door of the room opens to the outside.

Looking at the design in the photos and to orient you, let's assume the upper side is north.

The south side is the station area with a 71cm wide module and will have a station building, toilet, warehouse with ramp and canopy, accommodation for staff, line workers, two water towers, a small winery that will be served by the line and in the future will be added others that will be placed south of the road you see in the plan.

Going southwest you will see the turntable with two pits and a small engine start while the west side is 60cm wide and is the transition to the mountain mass of the northwest module with a tunnel.

Next is the north side which module is 58cm wide and is 11cm lower than the rest of the model to form a small valley between mountains with two railway bridges. Here I would like to mention that the outer line will have an elevation towards the north side of the model with a 2.8% slope and ends at +6cm, so in the area of the bridge and if we consider that the module there is at -11cm we have a height difference of 17cm , while the inner line is flush with the rest of the layout.

The corner module of the north-east side will be tilting with a hinge because it is the access point to the room, the door is on its east side and opens outwards and then we end up on the narrow east side of 25cm which leads to the entrance of the station area.
The lines that will be used are peco 75 and I will analyze the grammar in the next post.

I hope I was as informative as possible in explaining the design.

The first phase of construction has already started and I will be back with more information and photos!

[JohnP]

George this design looks very impressive and I look forward to seeing how the project develops. It will be so lovely to see a Greek themed layout running through the scenes that you are planning. I wish you every success!

[GEORGE LARISSA]

Thank you very much John!
I too can't wait to see how the project will develop because it is my first attempt at building a layout.

[fire_grisu]

Hi George,

That will be a fine layout. I think you wold be ready before my Larissa will be finished. But lets have a look how hot the summer will become.

FR
Manfred

[GEORGE LARISSA]

Hello FR

Thank you very much!
Are you actually making a layout from the Larissa area or did I misunderstand?
If so, post a photo so we can have some fun!

[fire_grisu]

I will bring them up, I need to search the pictures.
But I only have the frame witch cams from the ceiling and an idea how I want to build them up.

[GEORGE LARISSA]

Good evening to all!

In the area of the layout there are some details left and then painting in blue sky color, but in the previous days I had bought the wood of the layout (12mm birch plywood) and started the construction of the modules in my work area.

The layout will consist of six modules, one of which will be 11cm lower than the others and one more which will be hinged for access.

I bought the lumber from the lumber store in the dimensions I wanted and laid it out on the floor, drew the internal lines and curves with a caliper and then made the cuts.

I also took 5cm strips of the same material from the lumber store for the bottom counters and started cutting them to the desired dimensions of the modules.

I started the assembly using rakoll wood glue (not crystallized, slightly yellow but strong) and wood screws every 15cm.

After I finished making them, I predrilled, screwed and unscrewed each module with its neighbor so that they were ready to be installed.

What remains is the construction of the metal wall supports of the model.

[fire_grisu]

Thats a rally nice job and a nice workshop too!
I am really glad to see them installed!

[BarbaPanagos]

Hi George, I really like your plan! Great idea to base it on the Rapsani station!
Even better and wise idea to "dedicate" it to the wife!!! I should consider it!

We are looking forward to see the progress!

[GEORGE LARISSA]

Good evening to all!

Finally after so long I managed to make a neglected warehouse start to look like a layout space.

The works carried out were as follows:

1) Change of iron water supply pipes with multilayer ones.
2) Changing iron frames with aluminum ones and changing the direction of the door to the outside.
3) Electrical installation with four outlets and ceiling RGB lighting strip.
4) Laying floor tiles.
5) Plastering and painting walls.
6) Construction of metal wall bases of the modules.
7) Placing the modules.

The next tasks are as follows:

1) Construction of a hinged wall frame to make the module in front of the door tilt down.
2) Backdrop construction.