The weekend GWRM Exhibition at Cambridge was well supported and all members contributed to its success. I've included photos showing our ever evolving Layout. Being a work in progress there is of course a lot more to be done modifying and improving it, but visitors are always interested in how our modellers scratch build and make our module dioramas.We encourage many to have a go at one of the five controllers of the DC layout and gain new members as a consequence.
Back to building next time
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
I have flat surfaces that need some character and I’m using 50mm thick polystyrene off cuts of flooring insulation that are glued down with exterior PVA to create it. The outline of the access path to Platform one and road to the terrace railway cottages were drawn in with a permanent marker pen after studying many photos and determining a plan view. Then using a small flexible handsaw and a Surform rasp these are then carved out and shaped to simulate the embankments and general sloping terrain
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
Having built bridge 115 and before contemplating undertaking the construction of Dandy Mire viaduct, a start on the baseboard modules needs to be started. This is so I can prefit the bridge for the station approach and the stepped railway cottages to suit the diorama needed for future development.
Having read horror stories about baseboard warping and woodworm destroying hours of workmanship and even deconstruction when a relocation of residence has been undertaken, I determined from the sta
I’ve been slowly working through my first third of a forest of wire wound trees and like making slate roofing for my Garsdale buildings I found myself, forgive the pun, wound up! You do get much better at it when making several trees at a time and it’s amazing how every tree turns out to be an individual. The spruce tree on platform one, opposite the railway workers cottages I found slightly more challenging due to its shape and small size and now version three appears to be on the right track.
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
The single most enjoyment I get is discovering that patience overcomes most obstacles. That’s what drives me to invest my time in making a model railway. I can not stress the importance of taking on a challenge and completing it whether it be with others or solving it yourself. So with that in mind I’ve built myself a Static Grass Applicator as the need to build up the grass texture at Garsdale Station is paramount. My SGA is a hybrid between using the well known fly swat and Luke Towan’s des
Progress has slowed down mainly due illness and to my other commitments, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking on the Garsdale project. It has always been my intention to have stackable modules for storage and transport and so to this end I have been working through different ideas to achieve this. Having gained experience working on the GWRM exchange yard and return loop for our exhibition layout and the need for it to be transportable in a limited allocated space, we developed a removable
I’m slowly working through the process it seems to complete this part of my diorama. Lately other issues have been slowing me down somewhat. With constructing the many sized trees from small bushes 25 mm = 2 m to the the tallest 180 mm = 13.716 in OO Scale the wire lengths needed ranged from 45 mm to 1280 mm. The Gedeo latex I found needed to be watered down by 10% of its consistency for ease of application. I used a teaspoon full in a small plastic shot glass with a small amount of water and
The railway cottages block retaining wall to the Carlisle down line platform above has been an interesting undertaking due to correlating the Google earth image with the few others taken at ground level. It also affected the position of the rail side cottages to include the access road and enable a better baseboard/diorama joint for the next adjoining module two. The extra 50 mm for the above had resulted in revising SAC Bridge 115 being positioned closer to the South end of module one than o
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
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
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
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
Got to pay your dues if you want to play with choos (really?) I wonder if Ringo has ever sung those words around his own layout? Having great fun laying down gravel access roading around the Railway Cottages. I started out putting a thin film of filler where the roads were, but then noticed the stepped cottages would need to move slightly for clearance of the backscene board and a 3.0 mm height adjustment to realign the cottage entrances with the road level. As I said earlier, the first four
The stepped cottages chimney stacks and pots are now completed. I checked for older images of the cottages on the Internet and came across my own, which was disconcerting, as I hadn’t placed them there! Then I resorted to look for video images using You Tube. These old videos at the time were taken using film and VHS technology; most reveal the loss of the number and types of pots since the 1950’s.They do however reveal the grime around the chimney stack roof tiles and the barge boards when comp
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
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
Well now the railings have been revisited. I am now using a brand new 0.71mm 60/40 solder and a Rosin soldering flux paste to see if the previous result can be improved. The styrene solution for the rails is an option of last resort for me.
The reason why I am persisting with this is because I really do need to sharpen my soldering skills as I contemplate the Dandry Mire Viaduct safety railing and kit building the semaphore signals and the Network Rail radio link tower, not to mention the la
Well welcome to 2018. Much of my time has been family orientated with time spent at our clubs museum layout and meeting visitors from Rugby and Dorset in the UK along with many other nationalities. My need to build as close to the prototype as possible meant the scalpel came out yet again and suitable adjustments were made to the plate girder bridge sides without destroying my previous efforts. The camera is certainly not kind! A general tidy up by using contract filler and nail files, I swiped
