Further down the road
Entry posted by Huggy
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Part three of today's frantic bloggery should get me pretty much up to date with my little rookie railway modelling project. The track laying and first bit of ballasting on the scenic side of the layout went reasonably well, with just a little wailing and gnashing of teeth at having to take some up again here and there. Track is Peco 100 Setrack; the simple reason is, the finer scale track doesn't have turnouts that aren't too big for the room I have. Some flexi-track, second radius curves and No 2 points have been used though, and with what locos and units I've run so far, the dead frogs haven't been a problem if the track is kept clean, easy enough to do on a layout this size. The track is on cork bed throughout, the reason for doing it on the non-scenic side was simply so it lined up better at the baseboard joint. On reflection though, laying the track and THEN snipping through it at the joint with the cutters wasn't the best plan! Naturally, it kind of didn't really line up after that....... Track is stuck to the cork with Deluxe Adhesives excellent Speedbond super PVA; not too much is needed and it dries fast, and clear.
Wiring is simple, for DC control. I put feeds in at four places on the oval, two on each board, and an extra one, not yet connected in, on the goods yard siding branch, in case it's needed later. At last buying a decent soldering iron (Antex) meant I got the job done along with a couple of connector blocks, and one for where my simple little Bachmann 5 controller plugs in. Points will be operated by the Great Hand in the Sky, at least for now. I have now decided that, to operate with just three sets of rolling stock at a time, the rear fiddle siding that goes to the right will eventually be cassette fed, for goods train marshalling mainly (Tillingham will have an invisible chalk quarry just down the line - it's located somewhere on the Kent/Sussex/Surrey borders near the North Downs by the way), and I need another short siding to the left just long enough to park up a one-coach motor train, the other longer one to accommodate the DMU set, which admirable and nice running though it is, seems to shed small details like horns if handled too much... Dart Castings items have been purchased for replacements. The extra siding will be laid when I pluck up courage to lever up the track that exists on that side.
I have decided that 00 scale ballast is actually too big, this view reinforced by visiting a couple of decent exhibitions, so will probably use N gauge variety to complete the job. The Goods Yard will need a rough textured surface - advice on what sort of plaster/filler would be best for such a task, meanwhile the raised section that the town perches on has it's basics in place, and I've built part of the access road down to the station, and made a start on raising a bit of landform behind the platform, using 10mm medium high density foam panels, there will be a few slopes and retaining walls here and there to do, and the foam will form the basis over which I will lay some plaster bandage ground, and I've just acquired a static grass applicator for when it gets that far, but its a way off yet. I'm also anticipating delivery of a fairly basic airbrush set-up, with which to practice some stock and building weathering, as I've found there's only so much you can do with brushes. A likely victim on the loco front for a bit of dirtying up will be my Hornby M7 0-4-4T that's subbing for the H class that should arrive in the autumn. It was cheap enough for me not to worry about making a mess of things! I have also have a bash at weathering some old mineral wagons, and enjoy this side of it a lot, just one of the various things I'm having to learn at the end of my first year and a bit in the hobby. As I said before, all comments, tips and ideas gratefully received, and I'm finding other peoples blogs as well as RM and other magazines very inspirational indeed.
I've decided 00 size ballast is a bit big, but I've only done between the rails so far, so can change the rest. At least I've found more than one colour of the stuff. Rail weathering soon .... 
The old M7 is likely to be the victim for my first loco weathering bash.... So is the goods shed, much too clean for 1960-ish BR!
The access road down to the station starts here on the "hill", weathering a bit too enthusiastic perhaps?
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