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Beginners OO 1950's Banff


aardvark
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Can you crush that ballast with something, to make it smaller and dustier? That way it would look more like the low grade ash ballast that tended to be used on these lines....

 

Andy g

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Without checking photos I'm not certain, but its likely that when built, if anything, only the "passenger carrying" track would have had ballast in the traditional sense, with sidings etc (as said above),having ash/cinders (an early form of industrial recycling presumably), so these areas would be predominantly a dark, dirty grey colour, ash & cinders being much finer than ballast too - more the consistency of gravel which is well illustrated in your photo. Chris Nevard (ModelRail magazine) uses DAS (iirc) modelling clay pressed between the sleepers and then painted to achieve this look and it is very effective. However Woodland Scenics do "fine Cinders" in their ballast range which although a little coarse - being available in the same grades as their other ballast products - does look fairly effective, and is a good colour match. Fine beach sand, suitably coloured, might be another alternative.

 

Just my thoughts of course. Studying good photos should help in finding the appropriate look to aim for.

Martyn.

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...

 

 

...

 

Thanks Andy & Martyn for your comments and company.  Nice to have friends.

 

So, I should have gone with fine cinders instead of medium buff?  Thought as much.  I think I was trying to convince myself that what I had would work.  One of the downsides of using TrackLay underlay is that you have to have the ballast sorted before you can lay any track, and after nearly 2½ years of not doing much beyond exervising the credit card, I guess I am getting itchy to do something.

 

Sometime, this hobby can be quite disappointing.  You have an image in your head, select a product carefully, wait weeks for it to be delivered by mail, and when you get it, it is what you ordered but not what you have in mind.

 

Poop.

 

Anyone want to buy a shaker of medium buff?  Opened but not used ...

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My vague recollection of the Woodland Scenics "Cinders" is of still quite large particles and all about the same size, as the picture above . 

 

Do you have any scope to source real coal ash?  Have previously sieved this to gain appropriately sized material (a messy job!).  That then can't be stuck down as the usual granite ballast as it floats.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/110691393@N07/36572898815/in/album-72157638437955544/ would seem to suggest ash ballast, everywhere within the station at least.

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Do you have any scope to source real coal ash?

 

Nope - coal is pretty much out of favour here, except to the politicians who continue to push coal-fired power.

 

In a few months when winter winds up I can get my hands on some wood ash.

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A quick look at a couple of ashy ballasts. First of all, my "main line"  type, a mix of Greenscenes 2 and 4mm black ash ballast, as used on my layout.

 

post-2642-0-84334700-1524787057.jpg

 

This dates from 2012, when I built the layout, and the next pic. with the 2mm version only, is a different shade - this was bought fairly recently, so perhaps the dying has changed a bit.

 

Then, a scattering of the same type, but 2mm only, scattered over a piece of track to give an idea of the effect.

 

post-2642-0-09791200-1524787070.jpg

 

 

Peco have recently improved their range of ballasts and here is their Ash and Cinders fine Grade offering.

 

post-2642-0-22266500-1524787103.jpg

post-2642-0-58858300-1524787116.jpg

 

Lastly, some Chinchilla dust, that some use as a fine ballast. I can't say I'm terribly impressed with it - it gives off a dust, funnily enough, and would need painted but might be of use as a scatter over cork or similar as a between track infill to continue the ash finish, but a fine builders sand will so the same thing.

 

post-2642-0-65409700-1524787084.jpg

 

Anyway, perhaps these are something to consider.

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...

 

In addition to the conventional "Like" and "Thanks" buttons, this forum needs an "That's awesome" button!

 

To my eye, the 2mm Greenscenes and Peco offerings look much of a muchness.  Is that also the case in real life?

 

Edit: for any Australians out there following my footsteps:

  • Greenscenes ballast is not available anywhere in Australia; and
  • Peco ballast is available in theory (it's listed by a distributor), but I've yet to find a retailer that stocks it.
Edited by aardvark
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I took the photos last night on the phone and on my small workshop desk on the layout,in the shade, so I have taken now  the two side by side in light. The Greenscenes has a browny tinge, and to my mind is better as track ballast, where as the Peco version would suit a shed area better.

 

post-2642-0-28037400-1524866353_thumb.jpg

 

The Greenscene ballast in a bit more light.

 

post-2642-0-21001900-1524866366_thumb.jpg

 

HTH.

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  • 1 month later...

Not much happening while I await delivery of the preferred GreenScenes ballast.  Seems I have also lost interest in pushing plywood through the saw, so baseboard construction has also ground to a halt mid-way through baseboard #3.  Instead, I've been planning ahead to get in before the potential curtailing of eBay activities in Australia from July 1 *.

 

After consideration, I'm going with Arduinos and servos for turnout actuation and other fanciness.  Some readers may well be rolling their eyes about now, but having been trained as an electrical engineer and having spent many years writing software for a living, I'm comfortable with both hardware and software.

 

Bouquets to Ian of dccinterface.com.  Ian convinced me that I would be paying for features that I wouldn't use with the ISE DCC shield, so I purchased a couple of his own instead.  Anyone comfortable with soldering iron might also consider the ArCoMoRa DCC shield.  Ian also steered me to PCA9685 PWM modules for driving up to 16 servos each.  I also really like that:

  • they're cheap;
  • they interface through the Arduino Two Wire Interface (TWI, also called I2C), thereby only requiring two of the Arduino pins;
  • they directly support use of a separate power supply for the servos (not from the limited supply provided by the Arduino);
  • the servos plug straight in without the need for additional wiring harnesses;
  • up to 64 modules can be chained to drive a total of 64*16=1024 servos per Arduino

I've also settled on the use of solid-state relay modules for frog electrification, and have found that these too can be driven from the PWM modules.  The solid-state relays are silent, and have a much lower current draw when activated than conventional mechanical relays.

 

To add icing to the cake, I've discovered that the NCE CAB bus is really just an old-fashioned RS485 serial connection, so with the use of an RS485 shield, I should be able to craft my own USB interface and auxiliary input units.

 

Finally, ebay.com.au (at least) is currently offering 10% off everything (1 transaction per person), so the writing is on the wall for a large-ish shopping trolley of electronic goodies.

 

 

* As previously mentioned, from July 1, the Australian Government will begin collecting GST (our VAT) on all imports, although it is unclear how they can force international companies to charge, collect & remit GST in their name.  In response, eBay has threatened that it may block Australian buyers from non-Australian sellers, thereby avoiding any obligations the government thinks it has.

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LOL!

 

My darling wife, bless her socks, returned from a trip to the local Vinnies with the following:

 

IMG_20180601_140727640.jpg.692b0efd313da9038ca6209f3f37ebd7.jpg

 

8 LPs of steam engine sounds (some UK, some Australian) for A$4.

 

All I need is a turntable ...

 

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Great pick up there by your wife Dean.  I collect steam LPs like those and have most of those with the exception of the Gresley Beat one.  The Last of the 38s is an excellent LP, some top notch recordings of one of Australia's great sounding locos.  If you need any of them converted to digital, just sing out.  I have a turntable with USB connection here.

 

With your ballast, I ended up using a mix of ground down real loco ash and Woodland Scenics cinders.  Sing out if you need any of the loco ash, I think I've got a spare bag or two.

 

Cheers

Tony

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Great pick up there by your wife Dean.  I collect steam LPs like those and have most of those with the exception of the Gresley Beat one.  The Last of the 38s is an excellent LP, some top notch recordings of one of Australia's great sounding locos.  If you need any of them converted to digital, just sing out.  I have a turntable with USB connection here.

 

With your ballast, I ended up using a mix of ground down real loco ash and Woodland Scenics cinders.  Sing out if you need any of the loco ash, I think I've got a spare bag or two.

 

Cheers

Tony

 

Thanks Tony.  I may well take you up on both offers.  I would be delighted to donate the Gresley Beat to your collection.  I will keep you posted when I am likely to be in your area next.

 

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/64/292/

 

New image at rails cot added yesterday. Hope of help.

 

Thanks 26power.  I think this one is new to me.  Taken from quite a low position!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Many thanks to my friend Bob, for a couple of hours this morning with him, his 70's record player, and my fledgling collection of steam LPs.

 

Bob's not on RMWeb, and his interests are more with steam traction engines than steam locomotives, but despite that he was full of interesting commentary to enliven the playing of the LP's.  Apparently, Australia ordered 50 Garratts, took deliver of 42, cancelled 2 (due to the end of steam in Australia), with the balance coming in parts as spares.

 

My mind boggles over the prospect of 42 Garratts in one yard  :O :locomotive:

 

Although, of course, the only yard that they would all have been found in at the same time would have been the breaker's yard  : :cry: 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Baseboard #3 complete.  The small lower level on the left is sea-level, while the roadway sweeps around the future site of the goods yard above.  The top level is where the trains go, with the Banff hills in the background.

 

P1130711.JPG.226dfc315937cc4a97993e7a7d761b32.JPG

 

The baseboard will gain a fascia, but this will be added once all baseboards are complete.

 

Onwards to the 4th and final scenic baseboard.

 

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  • 4 months later...

The fourth and final scenic baseboard.  As before, the small lower level on the right is sea-level, while the roadway sweeps around the future site of the station above.  The top level is where the trains go, with the Banff hills in the background.

 

post-27387-0-65600400-1541132862_thumb.jpg

 

Hard to believe it's taken 4 months to build this.  Well, not really.  Some of the time has gone into despondency over the lack of progress.  Let's not do anything because I'm upset over not doing anything.  Certifiably insane.  Oh well.  Despite being semi-retired, there always seem to be things that have to be done, and precious little spare time for a pastime.

 

I do have renewed admiration for John Mortimer as an astute observer of the human condition.  SWMBO indeed.  And also for my father-in-law, who had a SWMBO of his own.  When I met him, he had a 40-year-plan (things to be done in the next 40 years).  The day he died, he still had a 40-year-plan, with many things having been added to and completed from the list in between.  A most excellent arrangement, since clearly all the things that have to be done don't have to be done today, or even this year.

 

The original plan included 2 fiddle-yard baseboards, but I'm getting a bit bored of this plywood lark, preferring to see some trains run sooner rather than later, so I think the fiddle-yard can go on hold.  The next step will be legs and a fascia, both of which I had also thought to skip, but second thoughts suggest it would be better to tackle them next while the baseboards are unencumbered by fragile trackwork.

 

I've made a start on the legs (upper left in the photo), so hopefully they will be done in less than 4 months.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Today was a milestone, sort of.  Work on the legs has progressed enough to allow me to setup the four baseboards for the first time (overall length is 4.8m without fiddleyard).  Not exactly ground-breaking, but a milestone that's been 3 years in the making.

 

P1130768.JPG.5550fcccab11a4a7550603f1e61b8f47.JPG

 

Each leg is 42x42mm, assembled in pairs, that slots into sockets formed in each corner of each baseboard, and each leg has an adjustable (screw in/out) foot.  There are five pairs of legs for four baseboards.  My plan was for the legs to make a tight fit into the socket to avoid overall rickety-ness, yet be loose enough to be installed and removed with relative ease.  I now realise these are conflicting requirements, so further work is required to ease setup.

 

Setting up the four baseboards has also shown how this is really a two-person job: not at all what I had in mind.  This is especially the case with the two 800mm wide boards which will be too cumbersome for a single person once they have track and paper-mache hills in place.  It's obvious now that I should have made the boards smaller or of a lighter construction, but what would a beginner know about such things?

 

Perhaps now is a good opportunity to review what I am doing and why - maybe there's a better way.

 

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