PLD Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 The next big thing to do is the overbridge, my plan for that is to do a modern kind of tram way, the kind you get through sheffield etc, i think this would add a little more interest than just your basic road. The problem with this idea is sourcing the parts and trams etc, my knowledge on trams is weak to say the least so if any one acan help that would be great. The only UK outline modern tram available ready to run is the Manchester Bombardier M5000. See this thread in the Tramways group for information on sources etc. If you are looking specifically for Sheffield Supertram, there isn't anything currently available but a few options for modeling it were discussed in this thread. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 thats fantastic paul thank you very much, plenty of sites to research and plenty of prices to sift through, hopefully get to a decision of what im going to go for. thanks again paul for the tips and help Cheeres Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Are you planning on a working tram then Neil or just a static? Perhaps in a station? Cav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 hi mate, yeah its going to be static, never thought about a station, which is a great idea, would give an option for lighting the tram and the station and give more viable night shots, plus give some light at that end of the layout which will give it another dimension Cheers Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 hi all, well finally got my laptop up and running, so now down to putting some proper updates and pics on here. ok were was i from my last update, arr yes, the road overbridge, this has given me a head ache to be honest, my original plan was to do a portion of a static tram way line, after a little consultation and ideas from other people i decided against this, purely because of the cost of doing just a small section. So i decided to do a small length of railway, detail it with bushes and relay boxes and trunking and use this to display locos and rolling stock that has been detailed for the layout ( most of the locos being done by myself or RBE of this site ) i think that this has turned out well and looks better than the tram line would have done and can constantly be changed with each piece of rolling stock displayed on it. the other updates to the layout are the lighting to the depot building and an exceptional plaza yard light from kytes lights, this is a fantastic bit of kit that comes ready build and wired and works a treat. also i have nearly finished the factory building on the upper level, adding a light which will illuminate the signage and painting and weathering the outer walls and fiiting the roof which is yet to be traeted to a paint job and weathering. i also had a slight dialema of what to do with the rear right hand corner, i decided to scratch build some offices that spaned the corner but looked a little run down with a little attempt by the owners to modernise it., also i have added to entrance gates one next to the p/way yard and one just to the rear of the depot which accesses the carpark at the front of the layout. there is still a little work to do on the ground cover in front of the depot offices and a lot of small details to, ie depot personal, cars, cctv cameras, a bird and a rabbit as requested by my 8 year old daughter and tools and wire bins, barrels and bins here are a few of the locos and stock that can been seen in and out of Deeping Lane, at the moment i am in the process of chipping and weathering the current batch while in the process of getting new locos, most of the weathering work will be done by RBE of this site, the 47368 is the Heljan unbranded version and is my first attempt at buffer beam detail and actually really researching a loco and numbering it, this still needs the BR silver arrows. Well thats all for now, progress is a little slow at the moment mainly due to me being on crutches for another 5 weeks, and waiting for the postman to deliver some bits. But as always please give your honest opinion about my work so far and please feel free to add any comments Cheers Neil 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh474 Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 like it nice mix of locos you got. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 thanks srh474, i do have a very varied mix of locos, im trying to nail down an era but finding it hard at the moment, im trying to go for triple grey sectorisation and railfreight but nailing it to a specific year is hard hahahah thanks for the comment cheers neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemoon-jon Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 looking really good, its coming together very quickly! IMHO i think the mix of stock is good, enables you to run many different eras! cheers Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I do like the offices in the corner, nice touch. where did you get all the transfers and warning signs from that adorn it? I especially like the black door that is the fire escape with all its signs and handle etc. Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 Hi jon and guy, thanks for your great comments Jon- this project seems like its taking ages, but iv just looked back through my archives and i started it in april after the mansfield show, i has come together very quickly, i thought it wouldnt be done till at least december. i know enables me to run different reas, i just wanna get away from running them all at the same time Guy - i didnt think anyone would notice my door the door was a bodge job to be honest, when i was building the carcass from foam board i left i cut out for the door and completly forgot about it till right till the end, i then got a dodgy ragged piece of offcut black plasticard, glued it to the rear of the foam board, stuck a bit of offcut metal wire on it for the exit bar and chucked some signs on it, really glad you like it and it came out well. as for the signs they came from ten commandments ( www.cast-in-stone.co.uk) the code for them on there site is L96 loco depot signs, for £2.50 a pack you get a hell of alot for your money and alsorts of different health n safety and hazard signs, great value. Cheers Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Guy - i didnt think anyone would notice my door the door was a bodge job to be honest, when i was building the carcass from foam board i left i cut out for the door and completly forgot about it till right till the end, i then got a dodgy ragged piece of offcut black plasticard, glued it to the rear of the foam board, stuck a bit of offcut metal wire on it for the exit bar and chucked some signs on it, really glad you like it and it came out well. Cheers Neil excellent layout, lots of detail not wanting to get too picky, but the fire escape would open outwards and the bar would be on the INSIDE!!! love the lighting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thanks for the kind comments, i thought i would have got away with the fire door and the way it opens, it was a last minute detail addition, im just glad the detail stood out and it was noticed, i will inform the fire safety officer and get it investigated im glad the lighting has come out well, i think with lights on a layout, you can sometimes go to far and put way to much on and it ends up looking like blackpool illuminations. just noticed ess1uk that your in peterborough, whereabouts as im in deeping st james, think the name may have given it away Cheers Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragtag Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I think the fire door looks good, and I've seen examples with the bar on both sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Cheers ragtag, i thought it would bug me now i know its there, but you have eased my mind Cheers Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Hi all, iv done a little work today in front of the offices at the rear of the depot, this has been to lay the brown gravel as in the carpark in front of the offices and some fine grey slate directly behind the depot building, just a bit of foliage and weeds to add around the edges of the building and buffer stops at the rear of the depot. I should have some small dustbins coming tomorrow and some cctv cameras for the office and factory building. I have also been pondering the legs situation, i want to have some trestles made for when the layout goes to exhibitions, the layout is currently on some temporary legs that were made to stand the boards on when we moved house, as good as these have been they wont support the layout in a freestanding role in an exhibition situation, the dilema is what height??? The layout currently stands about 900mm off the floor, but its hard for everyone including kids to see the layout, and after standing with Charlie street last year at mansfield for 2 days which stood at just over 1mtr id like to operate the layout sitting down, or on a stool at least and still be able to reach over the layout, so i was thinking around 750mm from floor to baseboard, can anyone think of any constraints this will cause that iv not considered at all Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think the fire door looks good, and I've seen examples with the bar on both sides. Sorry to disagree but as a designer in the construction industry I have to design fire exits etc all the time and push bars are exactly that push bars. They enable fast exit in case of fire. Hit the bar and the door opens. It can only be on the inside, and only on the side that allows the door to push away from you. If it was on both sides one side wouldn't work as you'd be pushing the door shut. Pulling to open it would just engage the lock more. Still great detail though Neil and not something you would necessarily notice as wrong unless you stood and thought about it. Cheers Cav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hey Cav, cheers for clearing the fire door issue, i didnt actually think about it at the time it was just one of those spur of the moment detail blunders, but like you say, its not noticable unless you know its there Glad you like the detail, cant wait to get the dynamis on here, just got some more decoders delivered today so a few more locos buzzing around and i have been looking at the small details and what i can add, i have already looked at GEM models great range of tooloing like lathes and piller drills which will look cool and i have been weathering some dustbins that should go on tomorrow,and the search for new stock carries on Cheers mate Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Well done Neil, What a cracking little Depot. Yes it is a very good track plan and your Buildings and weathering is first class. Mind you a 33 always helps! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragtag Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Sorry to disagree but as a designer in the construction industry I have to design fire exits etc all the time and push bars are exactly that push bars. They enable fast exit in case of fire. Hit the bar and the door opens. It can only be on the inside, and only on the side that allows the door to push away from you. If it was on both sides one side wouldn't work as you'd be pushing the door shut. Pulling to open it would just engage the lock more. While I won't doubt your expertise in that that is how it should be done Cav, I do have to disagree. At my old place of employment the fire door doubled as a staff entrance. The hinges allowed it to open both inwards and outwards - outwards requiring only the push bar in case of fire, inwards requiring the push bar and an electronic key code entered on a wall-mounted pad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemoon-jon Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 what stuff has you used to ballast it? it look slike a good mixture of greens as well as grey... cheers, Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thats very unusual as fire doors need to be kept closed at all times (other than going through it of course) even when doubleing as a staff door. I door that opens both ways cant really be guaranteed to close and lock after use. I suspect that there weren't many fire safety inspections made at your old place!! i wonder if its still like that now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi all , wow so many comments and were to start, and i think a debate about the fire door has started too Hi andrew p, thanks for the great comments, i have to say i love your layout and the scenic work you have done, i liked th track plan purely because its simple and easy to manage. all the buildings i have scratch built myself, and i have to confess i havent used any prototype plans or drawings just a few measurements of brick courses and observations of buildings in my area, the depot building started off as being inspired by peterborough but i kinda went away from that. I cant take credit for the weathering of my locos, there down to Cav ( RBE ) with his great work, although i can take credit for the 33 which was my effort, more 33s are on the books to come too. Hi there jon, thanks for the cmments, the ballast is a mix of javis extra fine light grey chippings, light sand ( which i got from the building site on my estate in a coffee jar ) and some dark green scatter, but just a light sprinkle. i pile it all in a coffee jar and give it a good shake, and try not to do impressions of tom cruise in cocktail, i then sprinkle the ballast in the track, brush it in with a very fine bristled brush, my girlfriend found me a pack of makeup brushes from avon, perfect, different sizes and shapes and all in a little wallet, great for weathering too, anyway then its just the time old pva, water and washing up liquid practice, as its drying i sprinkle a light green scatter ligthly over the ballast and thats it nt rocket science Hi mickey, thanks for the praise, the low relief trees are simply branches from the trees across from my house, PVa glued to the backscene then dark and green flock built up around it, i still think there a little flat so i may bulk them up a little more. thank you all for the positive comments, from my point of view its nice because its a sense of acheivment and makes me feel proud of the work i have done and also how far i have come in my modelling skilld since building pilot road 3 years ago, still lots more to do though. Cheers Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Its all coming together well now and I like the fact you scratch build everything as afterall we're modellers right! Question though which chaps have you used for your depot staff as I'm gonna want a few kicking about on my extension for Outon Road around the road entrance to the main off scene yard. Also do you know of any manufacturers of builders that I can use for a building site scene? Cheers Cav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi mate, the depot chap is a preiser one, you can pick them up single or in packs of 5 or 6, i found ebay to be the best, they are a little pricey compared to the Bachmann ones but the quality shows. as for builders i think preiser again, they have a wide range and i think you could probably get builders tools etc from them and noch I still need to get a few friends for the depot chap yet, just looking over my ebay and he came from mikronmodelrailways on ebay, he has the single figures and his website has the packs. Cheers mate Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Still looking great!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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