Jump to content
 
  • entries
    9
  • comments
    40
  • views
    1,788

About this blog

00 lockdown modelling on a budget!

Entries in this blog

8. Grass-ias

Static Grass. Is now all over the flat... I’m chasing after myself with the hoover before I get told off!   A short update today with some work in progress. I wanted to share some photo’s of my first attempt at serious landscapin’... I’ve gone for my own take on Simon George’s method of static grass application (thanks MW for the links!) and I think it works rather well! See Simon’s Heaton Lodge Junction thread here, where I found much inspiration:     As all of

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

9. A Touch of History

YouTube   It’s a wonderful thing. I stumbled upon this 8mm cinefilm home video from the 60’s, just as the Clevedon branch’s working life was drawing to a close.     This line is the inspiration for my layout, and I am trying to distill the general feel of it while giving it my own twist. (I wasn’t around to see the real thing, after all!)   1:30 > 2:15 in this video is all footage of the real Kingston Bridge, 5 minutes walk from my childhood home.

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

7. DCC for Starters

Change   All my previous forays into railway modelling had been both temporary and analogue, but Kingston Bridge has been the launchpad from which I can explore Digital Command Control. The choices are mind boggling - there as many options as there are methods of modelling railways. I preface this by saying that these are the choices I made that suit my needs, but I'm certain they will not be to everyone's taste. So lets have a little ramble about the DCC products I've really

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

1. Beginnings

Furloughed. But its not all bad, I’ve been allocated a corner in our 2 bed London flat to embark on a model railway project to pass the time. HURRAH!   I thought I’d start a blog about this adventure and this first post details the progress so far.     Scheming.   I'm a Theatre Production Sound Engineer in London, who grew up in North Somerset.  Ghosts of old branch lines that snaked around and through the villages near my childhood home have always been a pote

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

6. Delayed

Well, it's been a while!   I've been back to work, furloughed, back to work again, furloughed. The railway had to find a corner and wait a while. There has, however, been progress. I'll keep this post as concise as possible and give you an idea of what's been happening.   NCE DCC.   I took the plunge and bought myself an NCE PowerCab starter set for christmas. Really impressed, after a lot of research I can see why NCE repeatedly comes out on top as a great entry sy

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

2. Ballast off

Progress. I’ve started from the bridge end of the layout and roughly a third of the track is now stuck down, including 6 of the 8 points. I’m happy with my wire-in-tube point control, I’m waiting for some more glue gun sticks to tidy up around the slide witches. No idea why I didn’t group all the switches In this section together... hindsight is 20/20, but perhaps this will make them easier to disguise in amongst the foreground scenery.  Since there are no decouplers to be installed here (more o

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

3. Kadee's Man

Kadee Couplings! For those that don’t know, they’re a more realistic looking coupling for model railways than the usual bulky tension lock ones we get on most models in the UK. They are made by an American company called Kadee (pronounced Kay-Dee as in K & D). Kadee just look more like something you’d expect to see on a train, and allow coaches and wagons to run closer together.   I ordered a selection of Kadee’s for NEM pockets from Hattons, along with the rod magnets I’d ordered

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

4. Doin' the Run Around

Copper vs Steel   One of the point control wires I installed last week has broken where it bends 90º through the point bar, which I think tells me all I need to know about my copper vs steel wire conundrum...  Oh well, no going back now. So I‘ve reinforced it with an L pin made from 1.2mm wire through the point bar and soldered it back onto the existing control wire for now. Meanwhile, new 0.4mm stainless steel wire has arrived, (thank you Wires.co.uk)  which means I can

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

5. Electric Dreams

Splicing.   This... ...has turned into this... ...and it all works! (So far!)   These quick splice crimps (from CPC of course) have been great - they clip onto the main bus wire, the dropper wire slots into the second hole and butts up against an end stop, then the blade contact is crimped across both conductors using pliers. The insulating lid is then folded down and clips into place. It can get a bit tough on the hands after 50 splices as you need to e

GWL

GWL in Kingston Bridge

×
×
  • Create New...