Called in at my Tauranga Hobby shop here in NZ for supplies and came across ‘Just Plug’ LED nano lights to my delight! I’ve been looking out for Pico LED’s sold locally until I spotted them thanks to the shop owner.
Some time back I got and made a Ratio 470 LMS home signal in the hopes of using a servo for its operation and of course it needed to be lit as well. Although the Nano is a size up from the Pico it was as close as I could obtain.
The signal lamp needed modifying which proved
OK not quite but getting on with it. Been involved with looking after my wife after her hospital operation that was supposed to be a fortnight ordeal unfortunately turned into a years recovery saga for her and is still ongoing.
Have had some spare time to myself lately and have got my enthusiasm for modelling back.
Garsdale station workers Cottages have had their back yards mostly completed as much as one can go. Matching the walls to the adjacent cottages was a mission (about 3
Hi all, I’ve just been able to get back into some modelling of my version of Garsdale on the S & C line after a lot of other challenges since last December 2019. Nothing to do with Covid 19 though.
With a lot to keep me busy, I am now ‘learning to fly’ and getting to grips with the layout servo wiring control system that I had put aside before I could get back into modelling.
Having opted for using a simple server / ESC tester (see my pictures below) connected to a server to
As you might appreciate, there are other things going on with this project around the same time such as track work painting, platform mods and wiring etc., etc. Too many to write about just yet, so I’ll do my best to keep information coming.
While the two station modules are joined I have commenced building the stone walls with a little help from my GWRM club member. Harry was one of our clubs’ founding members and by sheer coincidence built similar dry stone walls numerous years ear
The sequence of constructing a layout can be deceiving, as you may think one may have thought of everything, but not well enough in my case apparently!
Putting the platforms down before I had completed track ballasting may have made it more awkward than anything else. However I’m going to persevere and may need to use old pieces of card strip against the sides and mask up the top of the platform to prevent any ballast and paint getting on the platform sides. The platform top surfaces ended
Grazing in the grass is a gas, baby,can you dig it: from The Friends of Distinction was going to be my other title as I’ve been laying down quite a bit of Woodland Scenics fine turf as my base before I get into more detail using static grass to build up my diorama.
On my first module it was by pure luck it went so well, but some time had past since I’d completed it and I had to relearn the technique used then ‘cause I’d forgotten it!
Therefore for my own edification I thought be
Still working on the terrain around the station end of my module two. After I took another look behind the down line signal box and the Carlisle waiting room it was obvious that the access road level was below the platform and not up level with it.
So out came the contract filler and poly offcuts to remedy the situation which meant that the water supply tower for the railway cottages and station buildings needed to be built while raising the existing embankment height.
As there’
So far so good! As you see the formed terrain plus the use of Contract Filler (spack) in filling up most of the holes in the poly due some of my over exuberance with the rasp and hacksaw blade.
Finally the diorama has been given two coats of ordinary acrylic house paint to seal the polystyrene and provide for a stronger top surface and edging.
I may have some more fettling to do at the module joint to ensure the diorama is a good match.
Firstly I needed to assemble the 1 &a
Three Dog Night sang the title and also Cliff Richard sang a a similar song ‘In the country’, so here I am up to my ears as it were in country diorama modelling. Having laid off cut polystyrene as a foundation base, I’m now going to enjoy myself sculpturing in the foreground for the next few blogs. Incidentally the photos in my last blog were a disaster as I tried to reduce their size to comply with the 10 MB limit, and as a consequence the text shrunk as well. Fewer photos needed or more progra
Under way at last, another portable baseboard module (no. 2) i. This allows completion of the platforms and accommodate the station proper. The module is interlocked with the 1st module to ensure that the railway tracks are kept aligned in both the horizontal and vertical planes. With the construction completed I wanted to concentrate on the SAC Bridge 116 which is an occupational access for the farmers sheep or stock.
The Eastern portal was slightly difficult as mostly there are no
Well then, another portable baseboard module (no. 2) is under way at last. This allows completion of the platforms and accommodate the station proper. The module is interlocked with the 1st module to ensure that the railway tracks are kept aligned in both the horizontal and vertical planes. With the construction completed I wanted to concentrate on the SAC Bridge 116 which is an occupational access for the farmers sheep or stock.
The steep rise from the Eastern portal was difficult t
Despite my GWRM involvement then getting the 60 day coughing flu I have been busy building up my control mimic panel box and servo switching arrangement units for my own layout requirements. The control panel features an acrylic fascia with 3mm embedded LEDs and DPDT point switches. The control box size is 625 x 240 x 80 mm constructed from 12 mm thick ply and two 40 x 18 mm dressed timber that is piano hinged between at the front for internal access.
The layout mimic panel consists
We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue like Eddie Grant and get serious about track control and
electrics! At this point in time I am preparing a track mimic panel with point control based on the actual Garsdale signal box lever frame control. The AnyRail reduced track plan will be printed onto a plastic sheet, then fitted out and wired into the control box.
I’ve tested my servo point motor system which is essentially like a solenoid one but without a CDU. The servos
My last post on the new format web page posting pictures caught me out slightly. The acrylic mounting and index plate has ensured good servo to point alignment Further progress has been made with 3.0 mm cork to raise the track for drainage detailing later on between the platforms. DCC track dropper wiring and point bonding to stock rails is being done to provide for future development because at this stage a DC operated layout will be my starting point. The track is now pinned ready for ballast,
Mark Knoflers song The Bug played in my mind as I finally got to grips with the back scene come storage support arrangement that will keep all the modules together for transport purposes.
Basically they just slide top of each other, then become four 1.2m high x 1.0m wide x 1.8m long stacks.
The side panels are ply on one side with clear panels on the other. I eventually decided that this arrangement would be more practicable for both viewing and transporting the layout. As a result how
Well hello to my first attempt to post my scratch built Version of Garsdale Junction Station and its associated buildings. I have been inspired by the many RM Web contributors and offer an insight into my 3.0mm foam board efforts. From this To this
It has taken me a while to regain some of the skills in modelling that I had when I was 16 or so, but now old age only affects one's physical abilities to accomplish what seems a challenge to model in OO Scale. I had started planning for this pro
A lot of tasks to complete with the above under way. The idea if successful will provide a texture once sanded with a suitable 120 grit or other, to the roads on this 1st module. I will also try a timber matt grey acrylic paint to cover over the shaped graphite polystyrene after a trial test. This may help to avoid disaster and make the rest of the diorama construction less involved as opposed to using other methods. Its worth a try in my view. Speaking of which there’s a few photos for you foll
Well spring has sprung here down under and with the weather and winter colds fading away hopefully, I now get to catch up on gardening chores after a 4 month break. So while trimming down the hedges I found that an asparagus fern had grown through and being an observant ######, I remembered having seen an article by Bill McClanahan in a Kalmbach book I bought back in the early 70’s called ‘scenery for model railroads’ in which fir trees were made using wooden dowels that had finely drilled holes
Well not exactly but very close! A while back, (well ages ago) I started to test out Luke Towan’s method of making wire trees. That was until I was 3 way point obsessed, but now having reviewed where I was up to I needed finish the trees so that they are ready to complete the Garsdale diorama. I started with a rough sketch to map the aerial view of their positions and sizes and found I really needed quite a few! Before I decided to use the wire method, I had thought that the use of natural eve
It's a busy time of year. Someone mad in a red suit is rushing around, or rather in this hot weather going red in 30°C rushing around! Just time for some progress pics.
With the Workers Railway Cottages virtually completed some of you may have noticed that the porch bargeboards are arranged differently from the previous trackside terrace cottages in as much as they are recessed under the roof tiles. I may return to make the remaining four cottages. This will depend on a possible diorama width decision and how well the landscape back scene can be devised to blend with the physical buildings. A 3D composite may have to be devised somehow, but that would be someti
As before these are pre cut using Evergreen#103/122 styrene strips for the window sides and rails. Working through all 47 windows takes time and certainly patience, so to break the repetition another one was started! Same thing but different. The window assemblies did take time but I thought it was worth it as these workers cottages at Garsdale Head are, apart from scenery are some of the outstanding features as you approach the station from the South. My quandary is … should I extend the dioram
With the windows completed and the roof in place a ‘topping off’ ceremony has been held by yours truly by way of a brown ale or two before tackling the chimney stacks and painting them. I have previously used balsa wood for each of the station waiting room chimneys with moderate success, but I found detailing the stonework awkward, as the wood was too soft to maintain any close definition.
Now however using a foamboard core and then overlaying it with clear styrene detailed pieces with the s
After the initial assembly of the box, it was obvious to me that from the operator/visitor view point that the interior would need to be furnished. The current lever and frame at the box is 33 levers in a forty frame, and I believe the Northallerton line through Hawes in Wensleydale will be achievable one day. Therefore on my layout of Garsdale Junction this is reflected and gives me more operational value.
I came across Steve Hewitt’s fine Semaphore signal work here on RM Web (before I join
Tennessee Ernie Ford might have been a handy help for roofing the original prototype building, but 16 tons is just my guess anyway. Now for a different approach than the way I used to fabricate the roofs on the smaller station buildings I made earlier. Because of the slight bow that occurred with them, (the roofs had to be massaged gently back straight), so this time I kept both roof halves separate whilst I glued the cut cardboard slate tile strips to the vanilla (paper still on) foam board.
