Also something i’ve spent time on is getting weathering right for my hoppers. I’ve been experimenting a lot on the Dapol 21T hoppers before I move onto the Accurascale, Bachmann and other (more expensive) types and i’m now happy with the results.
Basically it’s a tried and tested method well documents here and elsewhere - burnt umber and a lighter rust coat on first. Hairspray. Maslow dabbed on with a ragged sponge. Let it dry for 30 minutes. Coat of light grey (all Vallejo acrylics
As I haven’t posted since RMWeb changed it’s format which is quite a while now I thought it’s time for a quick update. Still very busy with everything non layout related so progress is slow. However the track is now virtually all down, not all wired up though. BDL168 / DAC 20 boards are all wired and in place, so it should need a week of solid work to get it all powered up and ready to test properly.
This weekend the stars were aligned, the wife was away, I had a light week travelling and managed to get work finished for the week by Thursday evening. Tidied the railway room up and had a plan. Basically not to get distracted and ONLY lay track. This is the result. The station area is now basically laid. There are some bits to finish off in the loco servicing are (on the right) and i'm thinking about an ADM turntable (haven't done much research beyond check out the price and pictures.
Wife's gone away to help out with little ones, leaving her other infant alone in the railway room. Attention turns to the Shinohara Double Crossover, Code 100, No.6. I bought this recently from Scalelink and it fits the purpose of the Northern Bay Crossover nicely. Peco quality it is not, however with some experimenting i've got it do do what I want. The option of butchering 4 points and a crossover would have just been too time consuming and fiddly, and probably no cheaper.
The first t
Some progress laying the south bays and also trackwork on the up lines. Droppers soldered and dropped, points doctored for DCC, "throw" mechanism taken out as i'm using Cobalts, and the sides of the points also streamlined to cosmetically improve them.
Got the bays nice and straight with my metal rule. Also the centre to centre measurement is 50mm. When I cut out the baseboards I misjudged the width so i'm going to add some extra width on the the western side of the neck. Also as the Co
I haven't posted for most of 2017, not a great year and frequent unplanned trips back for parents, extensive work etc. Although not much more track went down I have made the following progress:
Airbrush out and lots of experimenting with weathering. Lots of trial and error, lots of blocked nozzles, but now at least i've got the hang of the right consistencies, my preferred media depending on the job at hand (enamel / acrylic) and have settled on Vallejo & Tamiya (acrylic), Humbrol (ename
It's a public holiday in Germany today and the wife is away so this afforded me two rare luxuries i) cook bacon ii) spend almost the whole day pottering around with the soldering iron and drill. This electronics saga has been going on for quite a while (months) but apart from wiring up a few network cables (run out of RJ12 connectors) the job's finished and although not perfect by any means, it's a big improvement on the boards I had before.
So here are all five of the BDL168 occupancy detec
Lots been happening here, but not a lot of visible progress. Nearly 200 locos have been "audited" and put into an excel inventory with information on which which DCC decoder socket, or decoder chip and all tested. A few issues after up to 12 years in boxes but mostly running smoothly after a little run round.
I travel a fair bit and have built up quite a few ESU Loksound decoders which i've bought out and about. So i've been busy uploading Legomanbiffo sounds (diesels) and Howes (steam). Als
It's been ages since my last update, there has been some work but nothing much that looks like it's moved forward so I haven't posted. First loop (up lines) finished and today I added all the up loops, (Fast, Slow, Goods and Siding) through the station and a few lines in the storage / marshalling area. Cobalts all wired up and so are the PM42 Power Districts and 2 x BDL168 occupancy detectors. It all works with Train Controller but I haven't yet wired up the point motors to the DAC20.
One year ago, just as I was getting myself organised to make progress on the layout I was given a big work project. So work on Leicester has been intermittent to say the least. Travelling a lot is always good for scouring the online shops, Youtube, (Fle)Ebay. But i'm a little ashamed as I look back over the year on actual physical progress! A few weeks ago I decided that if I don't have the big blocks of time I need to get up in the railway room and actually start soldering, re-reading Digitrax
Long time no post, mostly spurred on by the arrival of the Locomotion APT-E Sound which luckily was delivered to the UK while I was there and brought straight back to Germany I have been rushing to get the first full loop of track (approx 60 feet in total) and wired up with DCC so I can try it out!
Points and track are down and the rotten job of fitting the point motors lots of working under the baseboards, but the work is getting quicker. Gave up with the German glue and brought lots of Cop
Well it's been a while, New Year now out of the way I set about redoing the baseboard supports on the main station section. Hadn't wanted to do it but i'd noticed that cross bracing on which the 8mm plywood trackbed rested had created a rolling road in the sense that coaches did a 1:76 scale Mexican Wave as they rolled along. My free wheeling Roco coaches which I always use to check track just wouldn't stay still. Anyway not acceptable. So I decided some while ago to redo it, not a job I was loo
Back here after a few months - basically i've not posted due to not having done anything. Simple as that - however with a few days of R&R due I shall be having a crack at it all again - notwithstanding a new year's party looming with seven Ethnic German Russians, (or are they ethnic Russian Germans?) long story. Long night, day after the hangover I dare say mojo will be reinstated and work shall recommence.
Big stumbling block was that the baseboards in the station area are not really ev
A long time ago I experimented with making PECO Code 100 track look better. At the time I ordered lots of it (at least 6 years ago) so i'm sticking with it. Back then I cut the webbing out from between each sleeper and spaced them out. I tried the same thing again today - it takes ages to do this, but it's only in the scenic part of the layout. I think the extra time will pay off.
Out of the box the sleeper the gap between sleepers is 4mm. I did a little research and found that a more app
After waiting for the 15m x 1m roll of cork to arrive, running out of my Pattex Classic rubbery glue on a Saturday evening after the shops shut (nothing's open on a Sunday), and getting rather sidetracked building my first modest "shed" out of plasticard and trying out some painting techniques, plus tea, and some work in between, and relaxing after such an exhausting schedule, I finally added some more supports and laid the cork.
Now the track baseboards are all complete ready to start
I heard about this method on the RMWeb just after I read the advice about not making a building until you have sourced the windows so you know the size. Sound advice.
However the results here (on my first scratchbuilding and first dry brushing painting effort), although still in need of refinement, have given me some ideas to simplify and improve the process...
First I measured the window dimensions and created squares in Adobe Illustrator in the approximate colour required, the re
I'm still waiting for the cork roll to be delivered so this weekend I thought i'd try my first ever effort at scratch building something. I have been scouring my books and the aerial photos to get views of the various small buildings by the turntable and sidings at the southern end of the station. I thought for my first effort i'd keep it simple. So I chose the small brick structure at the left of this picture.
I've used photoshop before but never Illustrator, in the past week or so
A few weeks since my last update due to work and travel, but finally I have finished off the baseboards at the running level. All the trackwork has been printed off or penciled on just to make sure everything's going to work well. A few adjustments and basically i'm happy with it. The only two elements which will need a bit more thought are some curves at both narrow ends of the room which I have not allowed enough clearance on the track plan and the wooden base is slightly too narrow. So they'l
I've been travelling in the UK this week away from home, so no work on the layout, only more research and picking up some shopping (the wife didn't spot that the big suitcase was empty as I left the house.
I have been absorbed by the signalling at Leicester Central. The plan was always to have working signalling that, as much as my modelling skills would permit, would be as representative of the real thing as possible. I've now taken delivery of a few more books on the GCR as well as my firs
The worst job so far is done, marking out and cutting plywood baseboards for the raised section, wood chips & dust everywhere. Now they're all in place, at the right height and level. Today is the first day i've really been able to see just how good a tool Anyrail is as I stuck the trackplan onto the new baseboards and it all fitted perfectly. Below you can start to visualise the south end of the station and the viaducts.
The boards are not screwed down, i'll keep them loose until t
Just a quick update, being Sunday and Germany we're not allowed to make noise. Well drilling, sawing will get the non PG Tips drinking locals in a fluster, they won't do anything much as they're all nice folk. But when in Germany, do as the locals.
This evening I am uploading some of the aerial photos i've stitched together from www.britainfromabove.org.uk. It's in the gallery section.
So on the menu today was printing out the track plan in 1:1 scale (well 1:76). Then sticking 76 pieces
Pleased to report that I found some PG Tips in Edeka. So suitably fortified set about finishing the baseboard base right around the room. Joining up the two ends over the staircase I achieved a level join, it was a bit like the Channel tunnel joining in the middle with millimeter precision, except rather than champagne, I had a nice strong cup of tea.
The supports on the right in front of the staircase is ground level, so the viaduct and whole station will be 8.5cm above this. I tempora
Here in Frankfurt the weather's been hot and humid, not good for two reasons...1) when it's sunny I have to go to the local open air swimming pool and "get out the house while the weather's nice" 2) by the time I get back in the house it's usually to hot and sticky to run around sawing wood, measuring everything twice, drilling and running up and down the stairs for cups of tea. To make matters worse i've run out of PG tips so I have had to make do with putting 2 x German "breakfast tea" teabags
A little bit of actual progress to show. But mainly I have taken the track plan and accurately measured everything out. The best thing is that now I can mock up the actual height of the running lines and then measured, I gain space for another 2 x storage sidings.
The "duck under" for the cupboard is more a diplomatic gesture to the wife as one of the conditions of using this rooms was that I didn't rip out the built in cupboard. I'll use it for storing things I never use, like instruct
Since last weekend i've been travelling around Germany. Cologne then Magdeburg then back to Frankfurt. Today i've been upstairs adding more to the baseboards. Putting in the joists to be the foundation for the risers and then baseboards.
I've finished now as i've run out of some of the wood I need to continue. Nice and sturdy, looks like i've overdone it on the sturdy factor, but it's done now and at least I can run 2.7m with legs at each end on no supports in the middle.
It's
