Hi all.
well, it's been a bit quiet here recently!
Progress on Ropley has been frustratingly so this year, for a variety of reasons. Whilst work on the layout has continued, the infrequent nature of it hasn't really been conducive to a blog entry of any substance.
To that end, I have decided to start a thread in the layouts section here on RMweb. This will allow me to make shorter but more frequent updates which would otherwise not really be worth a full blog post.
The blog w
Hi all.
Following on from the last entry detailing the GFB Designs IMP Servo Driver, Ropley now has it's first working Signal!
This ended up being more in-depth than I original anticipated, but only due to me deciding I wasn't very happy with the first version of the Up Starter built a while back. Specifically, the signal simply had a length of wire running through the base plate which was not particularly robust, and had no means of preventing over movement. This was rectified by using
Hi All.
Modelling focus since the last entry has focused on the small collection of huts/sheds/cabins that reside on top of the embankment at Ropley. The first two of these are complete bar a few minor details, and can be seen in the photo above. The rather battered appearance of the portacabin type was created using weathering powders & dry brushing after first being sprayed the light yellowish brown colour seen where paint has fallen away. Humbrol Maskol was used to recreated these ar
Hi All.
Blimey, was it really September the last time I updated the blog!
To be honest, Ropley has had something of an early winter hibernation, but the last week has seen some progress made with the embankment and groundwork on top of it. Those who know the real Ropley will have seen the recent landscaping which has taken place here, with the removal of the miniature railway and the regrading and resurfacing of the upper car park. As this work happened just before the scenic 'cut off'
Hi again all.
In the previous blog entry WillJ commented on the weathering carried out to a couple of the engines used on Ropley during RMweb Live.
Weathering is a subject I have been pondering for sometime, since it is a totally different proposition when modelling a preserved railway to any other era. As can be seen from the top image, steam locos on heritage railways tend to be kept in top link condition, with polished boiler cladding & shiny brasswork. This goes almost totally
Hi All.
As a break from mass tree production for the embankment, the last couple of days have seen attention turn to point rodding.
The original intention was to use the 2mm Scale Association etch for the rodding, however having received a fret a while ago I felt it was a little too thin when compared with the appearance of the real thing. After seeing Julia's rodding for Highclere, I purchased some of the same .4mm square section from MSE and although intended for 4mm scale, I don't t
Hi all.
After a few months of working on the fiddle yards, track laying and getting Ropley to the stage where it could be operational in time for RMweb Live, it's time to turn back to the scenics side of the layout.
A few entries ago I was experimenting with producing trees using the methods described here. Since then I have also found this gentleman's work, which is simply amazing. They appear to broadly follow the same method, and I have tried to use a similar one for the trees on Ro
All set up and ready for the show!
Hi all.
Well, its over! Ropley's public debut has been and gone and currently the layout is sat in the van whilst I summon the enthusiasm to lug it up 4 flights of stairs.
Ok thats not quite true, there is a lift in my block, but it will still need several trips too and from the van and after the weekend the beer siting on the desk next to me is a far more attractive proposition right now!
I'd like to begin this entry by thanking all those w
Hi all.
Another quick update on the way to getting Ropley ready for its public debut!
Whilst steady progress is being made on track laying in the fiddle yards, I have been giving some thought to lighting the layout. Having had the opportunity to operate Jerry Clifford's excellent Highbury Colliery, and his latest exhibition layout Tucking Mill, I was always impressed by how the lighting of these layouts really shows them off at their best. The setup on these layouts is simply under cabi
Hi all.
Just a quick entry this evening to show a little more progress.
Work the last few days has focused on finishing the backscene whilst I wait for a fresh delivery of track components and the locking, folding brackets for the fiddle yard legs.
I always intended the backscene to be a fairly simple affair, essentially representing a lovely sunny Hampshire day (he types, as it's grey & wet outside!) To get the effect I was looking for, the whole backscene was first sprayed wi
Hi all.
Another day of good progress getting Ropley ready for its debut at RMweb Live!
The second fiddle yard attachments have been made and fixed in place on the main board allowing the current full length of the layout to be assembled. I say current full length as the intention is to eventually include the full station area as well as the yard. Seeing the whole thing together like this makes all the effort seem worth it!
I have hit a small snag in that I have run out of rail, so
Hi All
A little more progress on the way to getting the layout fully operational before RMweb Live.
Work over the last couple of days has focused on getting the join between scenic and fiddle yard complete. Unfortunately this ended up being more work than anticipated due to a flaw in the original plan. I had attached two strips of 5mm sqaure wood across each end of the board, with the intention that this would provide a solid edge and something rigid to hold the rail ends in place. When
Hi All.
Something of a milestone today. The first fiddle yard has been joined to the main scenic board for the first time, and it fits!! In fact, the fit is just a fraction too tight as the fiddle yard left some black paint on the end of the other board, but i'm not complaining about that!
In the run up to RMweb live, work on the layout will focus on getting the thing operational, and presentable, in that order. The second fiddle yard is now largely complete so I hope to have this conne
Ropley now has a place to fiddle.
Hi All.
What is that saying about best laid plans.......!
In the run up to RMweb Live! and Ropley's first public appearance, I had hoped to increase the frequency of these blog entries to show some of the work being done to get the layout ready. It was always going to be exhibited as a work in progress, but events have somewhat overtaken the layout of late.
Sadly, last weekend we lost Dad after a 3 1/2 year battle with Myelofibrosis and latterly A
A slightly cruel comparison between real and model. I couldn't quite get the camera into the right position on the model!
Looks like I need a 2mm scale pigeon...
Hi all.
Some more small steps on Ropley. The water tower is heading toward completion and now has steps and a few other little details added. Still some more to go but they are quite delicate so will probably be left off until the tower is ready to be installed permanently. The interior tank details were added with th
Watering at Ropley just got easier!
Hi All.
A very brief entry today to show a little bit of progress in finishing some loose ends. The watertower has long needed it's downpipe making, and so armed with some brass tube and a hammer I set to work. The whole pipe is one section of tube bent to shape, and one end flattend out to represent the rubber shroud. I had pondered how to approach this aspect for a little while, not really liking the use of elastic fabric as supplied in the Rati
Somewhere to store N gauge things.
Hi all.
Well, as usual things down at 2mm scale Ropley have been moving at a glacial pace! Quite the opposite from the real world location it seems.
As many of you will now know, Ropley will be making its first ever public appearance at RMweb live in September.
Gulp.
This will very much be as a work in progress, however I have drawn up a (short!) list of things I would like to have done by the time the show comes around. This is mo
Two blog entries in two days! This must be some sort of record!
Regular readers of my ramblings will know that when this project first started, all those many eons ago, the only footbridge at Ropley was at the far Western end of the station. In the last 3 years however, significant changes have taken place in and around the yard, the most visual of which is the installation of the footbridge formally located at Kings Cross Station.
Acquired in order to improve accessibility to the boile
A visiting 3F pauses to take on water as another service enters the station.
Hello all.
A short entry today, but I wanted to show some of the new fence that has been specially made for Ropley. Those familiar with the site will know it is festooned with this green, loop top fencing which is made on site by the railway. After measuring up a section a while ago, all of the information was sent to Pete Harvey at PHD designs who then worked his magic and produced the fencing you can see i
A rare view of Ropley, not4 one which will be easily seen once the layout is complete.
Hello all.
Embarrassingly little progress to show on Ropley, however there has been some. Mostly this has consisted of a few scenic touches in areas where all major landscaping or other works are complete or will not interfere!
The observant amongst you may have noticed a brown fence appeared between the yard and the wheel drop line in photos on the last blog entry. In reality this is a somew
A green and pleasant land.
Greetings all, Happy new year!
Well progress on Ropley rumbles on at glacial speed, but there has been some in recent weeks.
For a while now I've been looking at methods for recreating the overgrown grass on the embankment along the rear of the main running line and station. This varies from quite dense overgrowth to very thin cover where the platform extension was built several years ago. My original plan was to use static grass, but having produced a
Waiting for the trains at Ropley
Hi all.
Firstly I must apologise for the recent quietness on the blog front, I know I say that every entry but a house move and a busy period at work have left very little time for any modelling to take place recently. However hopefully now the move is complete and everything is more or less settled I can get back to progressing the layout along. A small amount of work has been done in the last week, namely a start on the low sleeper wall separating the
Landscaping for the rear embankment is now complete.
Hi All.
Things are moving slowing down at small scale Ropley at the moment, significantly slower than at the real location it seems! You may remember a while back that I was considering whether to keep up with the changing scene at Ropley and model the ex Kings Cross footbridge which is now in the final stages of being installed across the yard. It now seems that some significant tree clearance is taking place along the top of the
Ropley overview. Visible progress is being made with the embankment to the left now in place.
Happy New Year all!
Well, the first blog post of 2013 and I finally have some visible progress with the layout to show! Over the New Year period, a few days off work have seen several major steps forward made which have totally transformed the look of the model. Firstly though we'll briefly go back to signals.
The last blog entry showed the first stages of the Up Starter signal, and thi
Many a singed finger later.............
In the last entry you caught a glimpse of a lattice signal post, the first of two required for the layout. Since that entry I have been working on a second signal with the intention of make it work. Whilst that might not seem such a challenge on the face of it, remember that I much prefer working with plastic than brass, and the soldering iron is something that lurks at the back of the modelling cupboard out of sight and out of mind! Unfortunately
