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Ropley - DAS Yard, the sequel!

TomE

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21SEP12-001a_zps9d42aa11.jpg

A lazy Summer afternoon at Ropley.

 

Hi all.

 

Recent progress on Ropley has been limited to work in the yard area, and it hasn't been as straight forward as I would have liked. Getting engines to run through the inset DAS 'muck & oil' is proving to be a challenge, and whilst one engine will quite happily crawl along, another simply refuses to budge, so I foresee much sanding and tweeking to get things running smoothly. Still, we're getting there!

 

The most challenging area to tackle was the the point which lies within the inset area. Not clogging up the workings with DAS would be a problem, however after going back to the photos of the real place I noticed that there appears to be a metal plate covering the mechanism, so I cut a piece of plastic and used this to cover the tiebar area instead.

21SEP12-002a_zpsb268da35.jpg

Slow progress in the yard.

 

You'll notice in the photo above that there are a couple of puddles in the middle of the line. After seeing cactustrain's superb article about creating puddles in the September BRM, I decided to try and emulate the method in N Gauge. They were formed by inserting a strip of clear plastic, painted grey on the reverse, before the DAS was applied. Before painting they will be masked with Maskol and then if necessary blended into the surrounding area with some weathering powders.

 

The area already painted was done as a test to prove the method and with a couple of tweeks here and there I'm quite pleased with the effect.

 

The next area to be tackled will be the strip between the ash pit and the first siding, which involves the level change between the two and rather interesting assortment of old sleepers as a small retaining wall!

 

Cheers all,

 

Tom.

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Atso

Hi Tom,

 

That does look good. If it wasn't for the thickness of the locomotive driving wheels I would be fooled into thinking this was a much larger scale! Inspirational for us N gaugers!

 

Looking at the yard area it almost seems a shame to cover all that lovely scale trackwork. Do you think that a rtr track system (does Atlas do code 40 track?) would look as effective if then combined with easy track for the rest of the layout?

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bcnPete
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Looking good Tom...

 

That first picture especially so... :yes:

 

I sympathise on the loco sticking issues...got three of those T-shirts ;)

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TomE
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Looking at the yard area it almost seems a shame to cover all that lovely scale trackwork. Do you think that a rtr track system (does Atlas do code 40 track?) would look as effective if then combined with easy track for the rest of the layout?

 

Thanks Atso! I could probably have used RTR track in the yard area, but I suspect the transition may have cause a few issues. I'm also not sure there would be any advantage in running qualities, and some work with the wet & dry paper along the inner edges of the rail seems to be improving things. The only loco I have issues with is the Farish Black 5, but I think thats more down to the fact it only picks up off about 3 wheels! The newer models with pick up bushes now seem to be fine, as does the Dapol Brit.

 

 

Looking good Tom...

 

That first picture especially so... :yes:

 

I sympathise on the loco sticking issues...got three of those T-shirts ;)

 

Thanks Pete! Luckily I haven't had your cracking issues, otherwise I think the aerodynamic properties of the layout would have been put to the test!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom.

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queensquare
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Looking great Tom. I had similar problems with the colliery yard after I buried it in gunge - you just have to keep cleaning and scraping and polishing until its clean. If it ran well before then it will do so again.

 

Jerry

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Ian Smith

Tom,

 

Looking good. If I didn't know better I would have put money on that first image being of something somewhat larger than N gauge!! Very inspirational stuff.

 

Ian

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TomE
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That's looking superb!

 

Thanks James!

 

 

Looking great Tom. I had similar problems with the colliery yard after I buried it in gunge - you just have to keep cleaning and scraping and polishing until its clean. If it ran well before then it will do so again.

 

Jerry

 

Thanks Jerry! I think I'm about there now, at least until it's painted anyway when all the track will need cleaning again!

 

 

Tom,

 

Looking good. If I didn't know better I would have put money on that first image being of something somewhat larger than N gauge!! Very inspirational stuff.

 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian! I think its a testament to the latest models that N gauge now needs a second look to make sure it is actually N gauge!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom.

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SNCF stephen

As always Tom, your work is an inspiration and I will be trying to emulate your results (if I get it looking anywhere near half as good as yours I think it will be a success).

 

Is there a reason why you chose the Terra Cotta type of DAS clay over the white?

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TomE
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Is there a reason why you chose the Terra Cotta type of DAS clay over the white?

 

Thanks Stephen!

 

Not particularly, it's just what I had in the drawer at the time!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom.

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