Guest 40-something Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Really lovely layout you have there Simon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonseasider Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Polpendra will be appearing in the December issue of Railway Modeller Simon and "in the flesh" at the Thorncombe exhibition on November 5th. See calendar entry or thread in Exhibitions section for full details. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 Looking forward to it as well, should be a great show! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thorncombe show yesterday was a most excellent day, mega congrats to all involved!! Thursday issues of Railway Modeller for Polpendra article, sounds like it will be worth it, I have been told that the photos are most excellent! As for the layout, I have rebuilt the area above the road bridge to widen the road as I have not been happy with how narrow it is for a long time, a bus actually fits along there now. I may well look at along the front of the cottages on the hill as well to widen it along there as well to match. I am Seriously considering an era change for the layout over the winter, I am still very frustrated with the slow running qualities of many of the steam locos available and am considering changing from 1958-62 to the earl diesel only era, maybe 1966 - 1970. Still loads of variation but being all diesel any running issues are likely to be very rare, no more hands from the sky!! This would mean loco wise - class 03. 08, and the hydraulics - class 14, D6300, hymek, warship and maybe a class 25. in a variation of greens and blues. I am aware that the freight side of things may be less but I am sure options can be developed, maybe an opportunity to rebuild the cattle dock as disused, althoug the elephant will need to have a new home. Anyway let me know what you think!! By the way, somebody picked me up on having an elephant as a fantasy for the layout, saying that he has seen photographic evidence of a pair of eleohants in the cattle dock at Axminster, He thinks that they had been transported there for collection by Billy Smarts circus people!! Not as excentric as i thought I was!! Best wishes Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-CRS Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Sounds good, could you post a list of exhibitions this layout will be attending? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Yeah, Nailsea 12-13th March and Cheltenham 14-15th April are the only 2012 exhibitions booked so far Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Congrats on the Railway Modeller inclusion. Out of interest and reading your issues about slow running capabilites of older kettles I was wondering what controller you have. I know Russ is a great one for controller related debates, so was wondering what you use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold D9020 Nimbus Posted November 10, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 10, 2011 This would mean loco wise - class 03. 08, and the hydraulics - class 14, D6300, hymek, warship and maybe a class 25. in a variation of greens and blues. Anyway let me know what you think!! The only problem is that class 03s 08s and 14s are unlikely to be significantly better runners than steam (eg Farish Panniers); the Hymek was very rare in Cornwall and the class 14s were never used further west than Taunton--if they even made it that far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Congrats on the Railway Modeller inclusion. Out of interest and reading your issues about slow running capabilites of older kettles I was wondering what controller you have. I know Russ is a great one for controller related debates, so was wondering what you use. Well the toddler is out and I am delighted with the pictures, they are GREAT!!! I use a Gaugemaster hand held controller so should be ok. D9020 Nimbus, I agree with what you are saying which is why it is such as difficult decision, much more limited operation but much better running, very difficult one to call. Shame I cannot afford to just get enough stock to run both eras but it would mean selling the kettles to buy the tin boxes! Anyway am still not sure what to do but appreciate your comments, very useful to have other peoples ideas. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Well the toddler is out and I am delighted with the pictures, they are GREAT!!! I use a Gaugemaster hand held controller so should be ok. D9020 Nimbus, I agree with what you are saying which is why it is such as difficult decision, much more limited operation but much better running, very difficult one to call. Shame I cannot afford to just get enough stock to run both eras but it would mean selling the kettles to buy the tin boxes! Anyway am still not sure what to do but appreciate your comments, very useful to have other peoples ideas. Simon Toddler picked up this morning while doing the Tesco rounds, haven't had a good look yet but will later. I think you ought to speak to Russ regarding controllers, I believe there are better slow speed running controllers than the gaugemaster. Drop him a line, but be prepared its a subject in its own right!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just came back to this. Can you share a little more about your scenic work please? How you did the ground cover and the greenery? You have managed to capture the feeling of landscape in a very small space and I am eager to learn some tips. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Just came back to this. Can you share a little more about your scenic work please? How you did the ground cover and the greenery? You have managed to capture the feeling of landscape in a very small space and I am eager to learn some tips. Mega apologies for not replying, very bad form on my part!! Thank you for your kind comments though! I knew that I wanted to be careful how I presented the layout, the original plan from Iain Rice, in one of his books, had a water meadown at the front, so the scenery dropping away but I remember standing on a hill looking down into the valley above Llangollen to photograph a train passing and thinking how great the view was, I then chose to go the other way so you, the viewer, are almost looking down throguht he trees etc at the station nestled in the valley. Ok, the scenic work on Polpendra started off with layers of 1" polystyrene sheeting acquired form our local DIY place, Wickes I think, which was shaped with a saw/knife/hoover and lots of getting shouted at by my wife for the mess but worth it. I prefer polystyrene as it gives a solid foundation and then when it comes to planting trees, telegraph poles etc, you have something to fix them into. After this, a layout of boring common plaster was added and sanded smooth when dry with a watered down coating of green paint to colour it all greenish. The green stuff is the fine woodland scenics scatters but ensuring that I use several different shades keeping attention on where in the real world you have different colours of grass, think about slopes, drainage, shade and the time of year you are modelling. I am very aware of how large fields can be and from seeing other layout with lots of tiny fields, it looks totally wrong so at an early point in time I realised that it would need to be doen more carefiully, hence the corner of a field and the rough area into the woodland. The walling is from Javis, carefully glued down and the gaps between sections filled before painting. The trees of Polpendra are all ready to plant, lazy but they are better than I think I could do! There are trees from Bachmann, Graham Avis (4D models) among others and although pricey, I bought in spall batches so the woodland has developed over the years. With the ever expanding range of Oxford diecast vehicles in N, the roads and car parks are more busy than they should really but each time a new model is released I cannot resist then have difficulties choosing which to put out! The layout also has a Dapol signal fitted now, which worked really well for the first half of a recent show then stopped workign, must try and get it sorted! Anyway, any other info or specific questions i would be delighted in trying to answer, quicker this time!! By the way, I have a few shows booked which I will add as they arrive, the next is a small show in North Petherton on November 18th in the community centre. Best wishes Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwinewt Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I think I'm going to have to use this as inspiration (read: copy track plan and do my own twist) It looks like it's small enough to hold my attention long enough to get done... whilst being able to keep it safe from the kids and SWMBO! I can only hope to get it halfway as good at this looks... *very* well done! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshepe Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 What a fantastic small layout. I always say that the massive layouts are not always the best. You have managed to get so much atmosphere into this model without overcrowding. Very difficult to pull off successfully but you have managed it! This is the sort of layout that I look for when visiting exhibitions, not the large tail chasers. Oh.. and I am a north based LMS fan! We have Ray Slack's Bodmin at our small show next month, another great GWR layout. If a model is good, it is worth looking at regardless of region or scale and you have inspired me to have a go at modelling Bridport (where my grandad lived) which I have been thinking about for some time. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Thnaks to both of you, I appreciate your comments and am delighted that you find my work good enough to inspire you to go for it. I totally agree that there are many most excelletn layouts that some people may miss because they are 'noth the scla eI model in' I find that inspirational model making and great layout can give you ideas irrispective of scale, era, region as well as obviously looking at the real thing, possibly the most important. As I said, I spent a lot of time in the plannign stage and then have not rushed to construction, this layout was started around 15 years ago, not that it haas taken that long, just that it has been a project for a few minutes here and there rather than a more intensive process. It has been on the exhibition circuit for 3 years now and is still evolving a little at a time, replacement trees, new signal, new stock items etc to is still a very fluid project I get a lot of enjoyment out of. Best wishes for your own projects, my best piece of advice for anyone is to keep learning, nobody knows it all!! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshepe Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Simon, just reading back through these mailings and I noted something that concerns me! Your reference to the Dapol model signal failing. I have one exactly the same and having already filed down the base to bed it neatly into my existing ballasted track area, it cannot be sent back. I am an electrical engineer and have found that there is no output from the chip inside the signal base. My input voltage is correct and within the Dapol specs and the switched input is also fine. However there is no voltage output from the internal chip and the LED does not light. I used the two signals for a whole weekend at Wigan then found one to be dead on the next club meeting. We have our own small show this weekend and therefore |I have replaced the faulty signal. At over £20 a shot I hope that this is not a common fault. Both the present signals are working well. Once our show is over I shall check the chip number and find the reference drawing on the Rapid Electronics website so that I can see what this IC actually does, then I will try replacing it. If this works I will use the old signal on our other club layout, Millom. Can you please let me know if you found any fault with your bad signal and whether you returned it? Dave Jones of Dapol is exhibiting at our show and I will discuss this with him, so it would be handy to know your findings. regards, Pete Chesher MBE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 I really ought to check my topic regulraly, mega apologies for not replying. My signal has started working again, am thinking that there may have been a loose connection somewhere, thought I checked the chocolate block connections properly but with the wire Dapol use so thin, the opportunity for issues is quite high! Hope you had success with your signals, as you say, at £20 each they should eb perfect!! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1059 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) Hi Simon Finally got around to checking out your thread. Nice layout - has it been in the N Gauge Society Journal - seem to remember it from there ? A question about your MBD couplings. How did you attach them to the Dapol Hymek and the bogie coaching stock ? On the body or the bogie - either way any chance of some pics as I need to tackle mine shortly ? Just doing my Class 14 which is a doddle - just chop the coupling boxes off the keeper plate and glue the coupling to the notch on the chassis that results. Thanks STEVE Edited January 7, 2013 by D1059 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 I have fitted the MBD couplings into the coupling pockets on the Dapol Hymek, glued to the top of the inside of the pocket, just trying to take a piccie. As for coaches, again just trying some piccies but they are fitted to the bogies some on top and some into the coupling boxes. Seems that the different manufacturers have slightly varying heights of their boxes. Will add piccies if they come out in a mo. By the way, for anyone in the area, Polpendra will be on tour this year - Monmouth on the 12th Feb Swindon on the 9th March Nailsea on the 16-17th March Bideford on the 26th May Isle of Wight on the 2-3rd November With a couple of others not yet confirmed!! Hope to see you there. Best wishes Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hopefully these will come out ok - Hymek - Coaches - First a Grafar Mk1 - Now a Dapol B-Sub - Hope these help Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1059 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Hopefully these will come out ok - Hope these help Simon Thanks - thats a great help. How did you manage the loop end couplings when stock has little body overhang (such as the Hymek above) as the tail protudes back under the mounting plate ? Either you end up with a huge gap between vehicles or it has to be body mounted with the coupling pocket sliced off Thanks STEVE STEVE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgiesimon Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 With stock with little overhang, I curved the coupling dropper to use as much of the available space as possible. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1059 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 With stock with little overhang, I curved the coupling dropper to use as much of the available space as possible. Simon Thanks - I'm mounting mine higher up on the body. I can get away with it as I have no significant curves on my layout other than points. I will see if bending the dropper round is feasible, especially for the Warships. STEVE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1059 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Done it I mounted it in the NEM 'slot' same as the Hymek, but on my Warship I bent the mounting plate into an S with 2 90 degree turns to get the required height. The dropper is bent straight down as there is no room behind the loop pivot. This makes the uncoupling point a little behind the magnet rather than over it, but it works. It also means it doesn't stick out too far. Thanks STEVE Edited January 31, 2013 by D1059 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles2 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 That's a good list of exhibitions you have there Simon and the layout is looking good. Best of luck with your busy year, may catch up with you at one or more of those shows. Geoff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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