So after last nights failed attempt with the new 'Ballast Magic' product, tonight I started again.
To recap, late last night I was feeling hopeful, after the board and its ballast survived 'the lift' onto its end from the lounge floor. This morning though I touched a patch of supposedly fixed ballast, only for it to come away instantly.
A quick hoover dealt with most of what had been laid last night, though a couple of sections were stuck fast, offering some encouragement (picture below)
Tonight has seen the first real tangible progress on the layout - although there isn't a lot to show for it.
What I have done is to print out the XtrkCad plan in 1.1 scale, and tape it on the board. Now that I've worked out that the gap in the middle was down to the printer rather than any fault of mine, I'm pretty pleased with it - the layout flows nicely, with something that I had previously only seen on screen now taking physical shape.
This though is the easy part - what comes next is some
As mentioned in the last post, I'm still fiddling with the trackplan. '3' was definatley my favourite - until I considered changing the orientation of the bottom set of points;
That resulted in this - 'Version 3B'
Whilst fiddling with that one, however, and having a re-read of the A.C Elliott 'Cuckoo Line' book, I noticed from the plan of Hailsham that the Cattle Dock was behind the platform. I still liked the idea of the Engine Shed as a view block though, so after much moving arou
So after the last two plans I've been continuing to play around, and re-reading the excellent 'An Approach to Model Railway Layout Design - Finescale in Small Spaces' book which has given me so much inspiration for this project.
With that in mind, and a nagging 'is it the best use of space' thought in the back of my head regarding 'V2', see Version 3 below.
This borrows shamelessly from Iain Rice's 'Witheridge' plan in the aforementioned tome (Page 44, and sadly I can say that witho
Like taxes, death and failing to win the lottery, ballasting is something of a required inevitably.
Its also something I've never been very good at. For the sidings, I plan to use DAS clay as per Chris Nevard's methods; http://nevardmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/creating-effect-of-ash-ballast.html
For the main line though, and given that shingle extraction is in my history as a purpose of the line, I wanted to give the impression of shingle ballast. As this isn't available out of the pack
Isfield
The Cuckmere Valley Line began at Isfield, with services departing from Platform 3. Facilities at Isfield were shared with the Wealden (Lewes-Uckfield) Line Station, with A.E Lavender the local coal merchant, also involved with sand, granite and the shingle extracted from Cuckmere Haven. Whilst most passenger trains terminated at Isfield, a few ran onto the Wealden Line, pausing at Platform 1 before continuing towards Uckfield, Eridge (for connections to Hailsham and Polegate via th
In the last update I talked about a scenic identity, and mentioned the common use of flint in Sussex for building and construction.
I'm off this week, and whilst I planned to spend a lot of time on the layout real life has somewhat got in the way, although having said that it has been a lovely few days so far with another couple to go.
One thing I've long wanted to make a start on is the retaining wall, as it will be a clearly visible feature, and it needs to go in first before I can sta
Tonight has seen a productive session on the layout, after a frustrating evening with the soldering iron on Sunday. Soldering is one of those things I cannot seem to get to grips with (that's blown any pretensions of being a Finescale modeller!) and after some soul-searching, I have decided to go with the Peco pre-wired fishplates, at least initially. If I somehow develop the ability to connect a piece of wire to a piece of track using hot metal in the future, I will change it.
These though
The Baseboards have been on the back burner since the last update, because the weather has not tended to be at the best when I have had the time (and it isn't late enough to annoy the neighbours) . It's not a problem - I'm in no mood to rush things for the sake of it, and anyway, I have been reconsidering my reasons for going with the jigsaw method.
Originally, I wanted to do this because I felt it would be an easy way of making the layout portable - which still applies. However, three 4' lo
From my previous posts not-so-subtle hint, you may guess that I have selected Ripe as the new area of the line to receive my attention.
My previous posts, setting out my history for the Cuckmere Valley Railway, have barely mentioned Ripe, as a small hamlet (both historically and at the present time), a station here would be pushing the boundaries a bit, but there are plenty of real locations which barely merited a station and had one (in some cases more than one!), so Rule 1 applies here!
Well that's not bad, it's only been about 9 months this hiatus, unlike the year one previously...
So, what's been going on in that time?
In all honesty, not a lot. The embankment had the 'soil layer' installed and painted late last March, before progress ground to something of a halt. There was a reason for what was fully intended as a temporary pause, possibly needing some static grass and a holiday, but whatever it was, it is lost in the mists of time, and ever since, the layout has be
So after my ballasting issues, and a much needed - and enjoyed - four nights away with the family, I have now moved on, and have begun putting the basic landscaping in.
A picture tells a thousand words, so;
This shows what I've done so far - I have used screwed up newspaper (the Friday-Ad comes in useful for all sorts!) underneath, stuck down with PVA then covered in strips of the same. There is still a fair bit to go in, and more strips will be needed to cover the paper fixed onto
And Build a Baseboard.
Not how they tell you to do it in the magazines, but when I saw the above offered for free on Facebook, my thrifty side couldn't resist.
It is (or was!) an Argos 'Cubes' TV Unit - link here; http://www.argos.co.uk/beta/static/Product/partNumber/6090746.htm, and, no doubt, did that job very well. It was described as 'Free to collector, has some marks on top', and was outside waiting for me when I picked it up yesterday evening, but the short spell out in the cold se
Progress has continued with some more additions and work on the Ripe layout/cameo.
After screwing the various pieces together (angle brackets and a couple of mending plates from Screwfix, and some 19mm screws from Wickes), I used some spare Fablon/Sticky Back Plastic purchased from Poundland ages ago for one of Charlie's homework projects to neaten the front up, as there were a few marks and chips from the process of screwing it all together. This neatens the front of the layout up nicely. I
The Cuckmere Valley Railway had a curious history - born from the aspirations of Victorian entrepreneurs in the trying circumstances of the 1860's and the battles between two companies, and ended, like so many rural routes, by the ex-Technical Director of ICI.
The story begins some 20 years earlier. The Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway built a line from Brighton to Lewes which opened in June 1846. Three years later, this was extended to serve Eastbourne, with the line opening on the 14th
Work has continued on the Ripe layout since the last update, with some significant progress on the 'boring bits', with all track now laid and wiring to be tidied up tomorrow, once the glue holding it down has had plenty of time to set.
Going back a little though, this was the scene a few nights ago. Excuse the snapshot again, which has been taken on my phone and edited for size.
As you can see, the pointwork has changed, which I have salvaged from the previous Litlington board, as I
Its been something of a fraught week in the household as, after a rough weekend, our eldest broke out in the very visible symptoms of chickenpox on Monday.
In between applying calamine lotion and trying to prevent the inevitable scratching, I have been working on a few bits and have now started on the second building. Again referring to the Cuckoo Line book for inspiration, and with the knowledge that there was one in Litlington in the early part of the last century, I have decided to add a
Now that the layout plan is finally complete, I have spent a most enjoyable evening browsing various websites looking for scenic inspiration. Something which I have been keen to do since coming up with the idea is to keep a real 'Sussex feel' with regard to the scenics and the structures. As well as buildings, that also encompasses local building materials - I've even found myself looking quizzically at trees on my travels, thinking "I wonder if I could do justice to you and fit you somewhere".
So after posting last nights update I was feeling pretty pleased with myself - I had a nice, flat and solid baseboard which looked good.
Impatience, however, then took over - I was keen to fix the end pieces to the boards, so took out a couple of the screws as the sides seemed to be secure. Of course, allowing a couple of hours rather than the 24 recommended on the tube of Gripfill was too soon, and I quickly found I had to put them back. Luckily, no damage occurred and this morning I was ab
After the diversions caused by the slight alterations to the plan, the weekend landed today and with it the chance for me to properly begin Litlington (again!)
As mentioned I have decided to go along the foam board route, and this afternoon purchased the required parts. The foam board itself is Knauf Space Board Eco - which I recently found out is now discontinued in the UK, however fortunately our local Wickes still had some in stock. They now have two less!
General consensus is to add
Is of course, not money, not beer, but Google.
In my last post, I mentioned the runaround.
All was well and good. I then had an idle moment at work (we have had some IT issues over the past couple of days where our system has stopped working at times!) on Thursday and googled 'run round in goods yard' to see if any inspirational, real-life examples came up. The eighth link was to these virtual hallowed halls, where member jamest of this parish asked for a critique of a layout plan.
You c
Over the last week I've been mostly working on some rolling stock, but today have been able to put together the first of the baseboards.
As has been explained previously, I intend to use the 'Jigsaw' method of construction. This has been giving me headaches over the past few days, but today I bit the bullet and got on with it.
The first board is below;
Click image to enlarge
The result? - Not half bad, especially the slabs underneath (photo taken in the garden for natural ligh
OK, so first things first (at risk of boring my regular readers and contributors to tears!) - another plan.
Combining the best bits from previous ones - reintroducing the river which guides the eye, a bridge over said river - and keeping the shed and station building as a view block. I've also 'flipped' the layout - whilst I liked the idea of passenger trains traversing the length of the layout before pulling into the station, it would have produced an issue with operation, in that the loco
Now that I've written the history and dreamt up the rationale, it's now time to think about the layout.
Attached is the first draft of Litlington, my chosen station. I am hoping to draw up a nice 'pen and ink' plan, but wanted to make sure everything 'fits' properly.
It is pretty much as per the 'Route Guide' published recently, except I've decided that the brewery entrance would be better 'offstage' - it just seems to suit the open feel of the place a little more. There is room for
