Guest Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 (edited) Progress (of sorts). I'm in a bit of a panic about getting the catenary masts positioned correctly. Not having done this before, I can imagine it being all too easy to get wrong so I'm taking my time. Cue much measuring, positioning, trial & error etc etc. The clearances weren't working for me on the previous track plan so it made much more sense for me to begin again. The track plan is essentially the same, but with a few tweaks. One extra DMU siding, the very end of a headshunt (just for visual interest) and I've decided to mask the scenic break at the left hand end with a road bridge. Basic plan below. As it's a contemporary layout, I spent some time looking at existing road bridges either side of Benidorm, thanks Google. Modern bridges are rather stark-looking and devoid of anything decorative, but I think they look rather purposeful. It will look something like these two... Whilst looking for something in the spare junk room on the top floor, I pulled the dust sheet off a traverser that I'd built for another layout. This will be re-purposed and attached to the left hand end of the plan above. It's a wee bit bigger than I need at 6ft x 2ft, but I don't want to start hacking at it. A little "infill" board will be made up to align the 4 exit tracks at 90 degrees. For the single track exit on the right hand side, a single cassette will be ample. Track is down and weathered, hole for inspection pit cut etc. I really need to get the platform edging in place and then I'll take some pictures of The Plank Mk2. Edited November 17, 2018 by Pete 75C 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Whilst looking for something in the spare junk room on the top floor, I pulled the dust sheet off a traverser that I'd built for another layout. This will be re-purposed and attached to the left hand end of the plan above. It's a wee bit bigger than I need at 6ft x 2ft, but I don't want to start hacking at it. A little "infill" board will be made up to align the 4 exit tracks at 90 degrees. For the single track exit on the right hand side, a single cassette will be ample. post-17811-0-88900000-1464415852.jpg post-17811-0-11806100-1464415854.jpg post-17811-0-11479600-1464415855.jpg Track is down and weathered, hole for inspection pit cut etc. I really need to get the platform edging in place and then I'll take some pictures of The Plank Mk2. Pete, that woodwork on that traverser is a work of art, absolutely fantastic! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Pete, that woodwork on that traverser is a work of art, absolutely fantastic! Thanks Simon. When it became redundant, you have no idea how close it came to being burnt or thrown in a skip. Way too big for this layout, but I might use if for Kings X too. Certainly glad I kept it now. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) About time for a proper update with some progress photos. If I'm honest, it doesn't really look much different but the rebuild was necessary for a number of reasons, not least the position of the masts. Most obvious is the additional siding for DMU storage. Slightly less obvious is the headshunt which will just be seen sticking out from under the eventual road bridge at the left hand end. I shamelessly nicked this idea from Pete Harvey's Peters Street layout which I first saw a number of years ago and have long admired. It strikes me from the first photo how compact the whole layout is - I shouldn't be surprised... thinking back, that was exactly what I wanted when starting on the Mark 1 version. To date, the track is down and partially ballasted, the platform edging is in position and the new roadway has been laid and marked. I've never bothered with trying to replicate a camber on a model roadway, always thinking it was unnecessary. I was very wrong. Although hard to tell from a distance, the scale camber does make for a huge visual improvement. The very next jobs are to fit the pavements and then I can ballast right up to the crossing. The layout will then be flipped over and the wiring finished/point motors added etc. Once that's done and everything is tested, I can add fascias/backscenes etc. After that, it's pure scenics. Very modern, very urban. As much as I dislike graffiti, I may have to add some to the concrete overbridge supports. In case anyone's wondering, the train shown at the main platform in the photos is my version of Renfe's "tren historico", or at least the short set as seen in this Flickr image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/marianoalvaro/27319928699/in/photostream/ I've always had a soft spot for the loco and the carriages make for a colourful spectacle. More soon. Edit: Apologies for the picture quality... to my eyes, the photos look out of focus and a little dull... I'll have a fiddle with the camera settings and try harder next time! Edited December 12, 2018 by Pete 75C 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucasluckydelux Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Lovely stuff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Lovely stuff Thanks. Hopefully it will be when it's a bit more "finished". With Christmas and various domestic issues playing havoc with modelling time, I haven't been able to do much lately. I have a goal in my head of getting the layout back to what it was (before I began relaying everything) by about Easter. I have relaid the roadway at a slight angle across the railway line, simply because I think it looks a bit more interesting that way. Also I've made up a rolling road that can be used to run in locos on DC before chipping and can also be used as a programming track with the Piko SmartControl DCC system that I've bought (steep learning curve with this one). The latest toys to go on the rolling road are these and I must confess to becoming a bit hooked on sound. The 333 in particular sounds like a complete monster... I'll be sure to take some pictures when things have moved on a bit. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbb Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Shaping nicely Pete. The ballast looks very tidy, as it is now in Spain from what I saw of it around Seville last year, but how did you do yours exactly? regards Paul 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) ...but how did you do yours exactly? I have an odd and very time-consuming way of ballasting, Paul. I absolutely HATE stray ballast on sleeper-tops and stuck to the inside and outside of the rail. Once the track is in place, I use one of those little fine-tip glue bottles and add neat PVA to the spaces between sleepers and around the ballast shoulder. Takes an absolute age but you can be very precise, no chance at all of any stray ballast. You need to do no more than about 6 inches at a time or the PVA will tend to form a skin before you're ready to sprinkle on the ballast. Hoover any excess off immediately. Downsides - time-consuming and fiddly. Upsides - precise, and no chance of gumming up point blades. Usually I use Green Scenes fine ballast but I've used medium grey granite this time for a change. You are absolutely right - from what I've seen in Spain, ballast is very neat with zero weed growth although I'm sure there are exceptions. I will dirty things down a little on this layout as it's supposed to be a secondary line, still urban, but maybe due an upgrade. Edited January 12, 2019 by Pete 75C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbb Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Thanks for that. Would it be quicker to spread the glue on the trackbed (except where point blades are) and then lay the track on top and then scatter ballast lightly on top? When all is dry then shake/vacuum off the non gluey bits. Spanish mainlines look like they have just been freshly ballasted...not a weed in sight, and some of the embankments look very tidy, like ours used to look. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Yeah, it would be an awful lot quicker to spread the PVA and then lay the track. My problem is that I tend to take ages getting the alignment right - I'm never happy with it first go! I also prefer to paint and 80% weather the track before ballasting, so the "lay track, ballast later" method suits me I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 A quick update ... As I think I mentioned, the road has been relaid at a slight angle across the railway. For no reason other than I think it adds a little interest. The road surface and kerbs are in place and a white plasticard base has been added ready for the pavement tiles. You can just make out a few square holes in the pavement sub-base. These are for tree protection grids which are very common in Spain (and no doubt elsewhere). Scale Model Scenery do a pack of laser-cut grids and I'm hugely impressed with the fine detail and I'm sure they'll go a long way towards adding some life to the layout. Lots to do and I'm lamenting the fact that I'm only able to spend a couple of hours a week working on the layout. I need to up my game. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Nothing to do with "The Plank", but rather a test post to confirm that my RMWeb identity is alive and kicking, but it had to be dragged back into existence kicking and screaming. Since the forum upgrade, which I have to say I rather like, I was unable to log-in as normal. Other users had the same issue, but sod's law dictates that my issue ran deeper and was not easy to sort. Huge thanks to Andy Y for getting everything sorted, which involved me having to sign up as a new user and him having to try and "merge" all my old content. Some of my posts show "Guest" rather than "Pete 75C" and even though my posting history goes back 6-odd years, I've only been a member since yesterday! Ah well, I'm just happy to be back. Work on The Plank or "Cap Llevant" will continue but I have a new distraction which is consuming 80% of my day, Meet Eleven Wong. Yes, that is her name. No Chinese jokes please... She's a 16-wk-old Swiss Shepherd and is a bit of a handful. A big dog she will be. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted February 5, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2019 Welcome back Pete. Don't tell Boris you had to sign up anew, or he will be along with his old "every new member has to buy Boris a pint" scam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 On 05/02/2019 at 09:19, colin penfold said: Welcome back Pete. Don't tell Boris you had to sign up anew, or he will be along with his old "every new member has to buy Boris a pint" scam I think he's hibernating Colin. I haven't seen him recently. I can imagine him curled up amongst a load of twigs and moss. It should be around April before he comes searching for fresh warm newbie flesh. In non-Boris related news, I'm pondering whether to add graffiti to the road bridge piers at the left-hand end of the layout. I've got some laser-cut transfers that look suitably European. I personally don't like it, but it is a fact of modern life. I might try one pier with and one pier without and then go with my gut instinct. A lot of Spanish rolling stock has suffered the graffiti-blight, but I've no intention of going that far... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted February 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2019 Boris is actually about, posting progress on Whitby MRCs new layout. Re graffiti I'd say its your train set, if you don't like it don't have it. My experience of Mediterranean countries is the graffiti tends to be slogans rather than "tags" but then I mostly go to tourist areas. The middle ground might be to have "painted out" graffiti - put it on then paint over it with a slightly thinned version of the wall colour so you can see a hint of what was there? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 49 minutes ago, colin penfold said: Re graffiti I'd say its your train set, if you don't like it don't have it. My experience of Mediterranean countries is the graffiti tends to be slogans rather than "tags" but then I mostly go to tourist areas. The middle ground might be to have "painted out" graffiti - put it on then paint over it with a slightly thinned version of the wall colour so you can see a hint of what was there? I think the tags are pretty common off the tourist trail, see below. These road bridges border the Finestrat - Benidorm section of the FGV tram line and aren't particularly accessible unless you have local knowledge. You're right about the slogans elsewhere though. I spotted a particularly poignant piece of graffiti on the wall of a residential complex at the back of Benidorm, something along the lines of "€50 reward to find who is killing our cats", written in English too. Not really a slogan, more of a statement. I guess graffiti has many faces. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neils WRX Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Re the Graffiti, something a bit like this? (The bridge still needs a bit more scenic work) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 8 hours ago, Neils WRX said: Re the Graffiti, something a bit like this? (The bridge still needs a bit more scenic work) Yeah - pretty much exactly that. I want the road bridge to look virtually brand new, as in the photos above, and I think the odd spot of graffiti might make it look a little less stark and very contemporary. Graffiti being graffiti, it might make the road bridge look even more stark - I think I'll just have to try it and see what I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbb Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Hello Pete . Not heard from you for a while...is this layout still progressing? Shaping up nicely too.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted August 20, 2019 Author Share Posted August 20, 2019 Hi Paul. The layout lives but is not progressing. A while back, there was a sudden but not entirely unexpected domestic upheaval, which has left me with enough room for a layout about the size of an ironing board. The Plank, while small, is not that small so it's hibernating. Watch this space. No don't actually, it might be a while! Speaking of ironing boards, a new small layout 4' x 1' is part-complete. I think I'd go insane if I wasn't building something. East Anglia, 1990-2000ish. Not Spain, but it gives me something to do. I should really start a thread on here, but it seems like every time I start something, I'm cursed with not being able to finish it and that becomes really bl00dy annoying after a while... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekstuart Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 On 05/02/2019 at 07:19, Pete 75C said: Nothing to do with "The Plank", but rather a test post to confirm that my RMWeb identity is alive and kicking, but it had to be dragged back into existence kicking and screaming. Since the forum upgrade, which I have to say I rather like, I was unable to log-in as normal. Other users had the same issue, but sod's law dictates that my issue ran deeper and was not easy to sort. Huge thanks to Andy Y for getting everything sorted, which involved me having to sign up as a new user and him having to try and "merge" all my old content. Some of my posts show "Guest" rather than "Pete 75C" and even though my posting history goes back 6-odd years, I've only been a member since yesterday! Ah well, I'm just happy to be back. Well I'm pleased to see that, Pete. I have not long been back 'here' and going through the site catching up- only to see you had disappeared. I've learned a lot from your posts so I was quite glad to see you hadn't disappeared after all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now