Les1952
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Posts posted by Les1952
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Trying to omit what the other manufacturers might do-
A new K3 (as BachFar have said it isn't on the cards) or a K1 instead- a K1 could possibly share drive with an L1 tank.......
A decent proper LNER tank loco- J72 preferred but could live with a J69 or J50.
- oh, and some celerestory roofed stock when finances allow for it.........
All the very best
Les
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Another week- a few more grains of ballast.
A lot of time spent this week discussing how the Top Valley Goods board was to interact with the three Rise Park boards. We think we may have got that figured out at last.
Alf decided to start by vacuuming the ballast, then got carried away with the pointwork and the lifted crossover imprint, so we didn't get the layout upended to do the underside. That looks likely to be a fortnight away as part of the morning was spent making a shopping list of bits for the Gaugemaster stand at Warley.
Still, the finished areas of ballast don't look too bad- even Alf thought so, though his glasses weren't on his nose at the time.
Geoff brought the hall back for further consideration. I've not managed to find an internet picture of the prototype, though a search for Watson Fothergill in google images does find a picture of Geoff's model and of Trevor's warehouse front, which might suggest Google reads this thread even if nobody else does.......
All the very best
Les
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Getting there Les. . . Grassy banks looking good.! ! ! !
Thanks for the compliment- always appreciated.
HOT NEWS. Hawthorn Dene has been booked to appear at Grantham Railshow on September 6th to 7th 2014.
No excuse for not getting on with things!
All the very best
Les
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Thanks Dave - worth playing with some Farish Mk1s perhaps to see the problem - they are guided by the bogies, but only at curve extremes, so the couplers don't align well. Not a great problem in fixed rakes, but can be for coupling a loco up.
Cheers,
Alan
Dr Al has probably understated the Farish Mark 1 problem- nearer a nightmare trying to keep them coupled to other stock of any make on a curve, even to other types of Farish coach. The couplers not only don't track the next vehicle but don't track bogie-mounted couplers either, so you have the worst of both worlds.....
All the very best
Les
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What a difference a sky makes.
Made a start on getting the sky backscene done this morning. One or two wrinkles I want to cover up and a 0.5mm gap (I measured it) that looks wider, but the difference even with these defects is amazing. I need another three house backs to continue the road with the start of another block. A knightwing kit I built is too small and looks wrong.
I also need another pack of sky- the sheets are about 6 inches too short at one end and 4 inches too short at the other. Still, they'll give me some bits to cover gaps and a bad wrinkle at the Hawthorns end. I'll have to see gaugemaster as well as P.D.Marsh when I go to warley on Sunday week.
Lemberg crosses the underbridge with an express as 12011 is still on loan to the NCB on the top level.
The difference to the view of the shed is clear- even unfinished there is beginning to be some life....
Enough for now.
Les
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Les . Thats looking lovely.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Jack
Very many thanks. Progress is a little erratic but beginning to get there....
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Weekend progress- slow.
A weekend involving a trip to Braunstone show has meant only two slow days of modelling- and those have been interrupted by two chip failures (both cheap Bachmann ones and both in newish Farish locos) and trying to find a correct number for a late crest J39. The only one available is 64840, which definitely had a repaint in 1960. What an Ardsley loco would be doing on the Durham coast I don't know- I'll keep it on fast goods.
The other two areas of progress are the pit yard base and the carcass of the overbridge. For these cat pouch boxes have provided a suitably thick medium- rather than balsa on the pit yard floor, and plasticard for the bridge.
The bridge pic also shows the two rows of hawthorn trees that hide the holes in the backscene, and the cottages placed in their final position so I can build the road and track to the overbridge.
Next jobs are to use either brick plasticard or brick paper to face the bridge, and finish the yard and measure up for the screening house. Trevor's low relief building for behind the shed will either be the granary from West Allotment sidings or the castellated screening house from Backworth B pit- there was a similar one on the Lambton system but I haven't yet got a picture good enough for Trevor to build from.
Must get on. No building now until Friday.
All the very best
Les
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Be aware- when I wanted to add my new shed (16X10) to the house insurance I was left in no doubt that if I connected the shed to the house by ANY means that did not involve a compliance certificate issued by a qualified electrical engineer not only would it invalidate the insurance on the shed but also that on the house.
£906 is a lot of money- I paid about £800 two years ago, but before accepting insurance on my layout the insurance company had a copy of the certificate faxed to them.
Mine involved a new consumer unit (there was no spare circuit in the old one despite it only being 15 years old, a cable about 30 metres long by the time it had gone the long way round to the far end of the garden, and a consumer unit in the shed with three circuits- power, lights and PIR lamp- the security system has its own separate power supply.
All the very best
Les
(who can't afford half-a-million to rebuild his house after a major disaster)
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Plastering and other bits
I started the day vacuuming the loose scatter off the layout - this time not saving for reuse as there is too much stray ballast in the sweepings. Next job was to get out the ModRoc and make the flat surface the terrace and road will sit on.
Once this dries- probably Sunday- it will get a base colour coat, after which the cloud layer of the backscene can go on. In the meantime I'm going to do a bit on the ground surface at the pit end.
This arrived in the post today- one of Davfen Miniatures allotments- I need something that will lift out to hide the board joint at the bridge. This needs backdating a little- the metal mesh and the conifer will have to go, and the ladder needs to be painted wood colour, but it is a start. I'll get one of his other shapes to see if I can make that one fit the space better, and maybe keep this one up by the terrace at the back.
Enough ramblings for now...
Les
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Progress and arranging.
Digitrains rang up on Monday- the Geisl Austerity is now chipped but the Peckett doesn't have a removable cab roof so is proving more difficult to do. In the meantime diesel 12011 is on loan from BR to the NCB to handle traffic- must remove "Merthyr" from the sides of the hoppers. In the distance the new terraced houses have arrived and I'm trying different positions for them before putting them on the bench to customise.
The terrace is the new Lilliput Lane one- it is too fancy on the front, but terrace backs were pretty generic. The road will cut the corner beyond the terrace with a track coming from it down to the beach. I've also now got a clearer idea of how much space there is for allotments or similar to the right of the terrace. If the allotments are up here I'll have to rethink the flat space to the right of the bridge in the foreground.
Trying out some of the small buildings at the back of the shed. The clips on the backscene are holding it together while glue sets. Trevor has decided to build me a low relief building to hide the join in the backscene- I'm thinking of a brick and corrugated iron structure- I remember something corrugated iron by the locoshed (it may even have been the locoshed) at South Hetton, and there was plenty of the stuff at Doxford's shipyard.
Last but not least, D5013 gets a turn on a mixed rake of 16-tonners, probably on their way to customers South of York from one of the collieries along the North bank of the Wear.
Much to think about.
Les
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Almost November- haven't this lot been working?
Oddly enough, yes. The panels are taking a little longer than expected, so we've decided to start the ballasting while the electrics are proceeding above the baseboard.
This shows the anticlockwise panel nearly wired up. There will be no signal or point wires to go in this one, so once all connections are finished (about three left to do at this point) it will be connected to the socket for the hand-held controller. The dowel is to act as a guide for wires passing between the switches in the lid and the tag strip in the base of the panel. When the lid is opened the dowel allows the wires to move smoothly and helps prevent any tangling that could lead to breakage. Design by mechanical engineer Alf.
This one shows the platform being installed. Each half (it crosses a board join) was drilled and countersunk to allow the holding screw to sit with its head low enough for a flush surface to be added above. Meanwhile at the far end Geoff is cutting plasticard lengths for filler sleepers at the rail joins and on the left Alf and Jim continue wiring.
At the far end of the clubroom Phoenix Park is worked on by some of the Orribly Oversize mob. Apart from the usual coffee making and tidying I spent this morning seiving small ballast so that anything more suitable for OO gauge didn't make it to the ballasting team. A nice low-stress job.
Towards the end of the morning ballasting begins. Note that Trevor and Geoff are both experts with small brushes. Not one stone is allowed to be in the wrong place before wetting with photo wetting agent and having the usual 1:1 mixture of PVA and water applied- in this case brought pre-mixed from home by Trevor.
Next week, more ballasting and more wiring.
Les
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The Peckett isn't exactly scale either although mechanically it's a delight - for some reason that little four wheel Arnold chassis runs beautifully compared to many much bigger locos.
No recommendations on fitting - I tend to do my own for most stuff. Youchoos do lots of CT stuff so maybe they would be worth asking ?
The fitting is basically
top of motor
insulating tape
tiny decoder
insulating tape
roof
with not a vast amount of air space
Thanks for that- Digitrains rang this morning about the Peckett 0-6-0ST, so I picked their brains. The Hunslet will go there later this week. My Peckett is a rasonable representation of Lord Salisbury on a J94 chassis. The query was that the cab roof doesn't come off. However the little Hunslet tank has its cab roof detached at the moment after being dropped, which apparently makes it easier to do.
Today's progress was all about getting the layout onto its legs and getting the PowerCab to talk to the entire layout. The controller pocket has been drilled out so that it can belifted off for transport. All parts of the track are now talking to the PowerCab- time for a little playing while scenics dry.....
All the very best
Les
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What chassis. If its the little Arnold chassis of old then you can get DCC in them if you use the really tiny decoders you can now get. I've got an 0-4-0 Peco Peckett here fitted with DCC squashed in between motor and cab roof using a tiny CT decoder.
They are the Arnold chassis- the Hunslet 0-4-0 side tank is the one I'd really like done- any idea which fitting service would be the best to use? I'm too ham-fisted (RSI and dyspraxia) to do hardwired decoders.
The Manning Wardle is vastly overscale so I'll probably do up to make it respectable and send it off to eBay.
All the very best
Les
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Layout boxed.
Pic as promised to show the two halves of the layout boxed together for transport. Cropped a bit close because the image had to be cut small enough to upload.
I've fitted the two UTP sockets I have, and the NTP? socket. The latter is daisychained to the first of the UTP sockets as a permanent connection. The third and fourth sockets are on the bridge board (master and first UTP are on the colliery board.
I've also acquired some matt black paint to do the insides of the ends before the lids are attached. The ends are quite open so no access holes will need to be cut in the end panels. I'll do that tomorrow once the wind drops enough for me to be sure I'm not going to get a shed full of apple tree.
Loco developments. 65726 has come back from Wickness models having been chipped with 65860 the next to go. I've started to renumber the Farish J39/2 as 64843 which was a Sunderland engine in its final two years and which did get a late crest (unlike the Farish model of 64838 which had its last repaint 8 months before the first late lions appeared.....)
Plernty still to do, hatches to batten down etc.
All the very best
Les
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The second photo shows the bottom of office street, to the right was the colliery offices(hence ofice street) and further right was the pit yard.
The area between you and the street was allotments and colliery sidings.
cheers
John
Thanks for that- I'd figured the colliery sidings but didn't know about the allotments. As Hawthorn Dene is a ficticious colliery in the area I'm going to put allotments on the flat area at the front right and at the top of the bank to the left, with a row of four houses facing the backscene. The pigeon lofts (probably about half-a-dozen including the van conversion will mostly be along here also.
The layout now has its end boards fitted for transport (photo to follow) and I've fitted the UTP sockets for the Powercab (or at least two of them- the third I'll get when I pick up the two 0-6-0STs from Digitrains.
These two- sadly there isn't anywhere to put decoders in either of the 0-4-0s. A pair of WD saddletanks from DJ Models will fill the colliery roster. These will be able to shunt the screens without a runner wagon to convert the couplers.
Time to go and get on with wiring adjustments.
All the very best
Les
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No Les, I don't even think you can see it from the village church. . . but there again. . . . modellers licence and all that . . . . . .
cheers
John
Very many thanks for that.
No intention of applying modeller's licence to put Penshaw Hill in the background if it isn't there- though it would have been a different matter if it WAS visible. The photos I have looking inland don't show a lot of detail I can't add either from photos or generically- there didn't seem to be a lot that was too distinctive, thank goodness.
Anything I do add will be on a layer of backscene about 1mm in front of the sky.
the layout is now waiting transport to Trevor Webster's tomorrow to have slots cut in the frame for the controllers and a pair of ends making to hold the halves together for transport. Then home again for a little adjustment to the wiring and scenic detailing can begin in earnets- (earnest even..........)
All the very best
Les
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Just to show the effect of replacing the UM tender on the D20 and J25 with the smaller UM Midland tender then adding coal rails (in my case not very well as I'm ham-fisted).
Posed on Furtwangen Ost.
The lower picture was taken on my Hawthorn Dene layout (under construction). The J25 is off for chipping.
All the very best
Les
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Quick question
Hopefully someone will know the answer and save me a 250-mile round trip to check..
Can Penshaw Hill be seen from Easington Colliery or is the hill in the way?
This is on the basis that if it can be seen it has to be on the backscene somewhere.....
All the very best
Les
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First layer of grass.
Small jar of diluted PVA and paintbrush at the ready, and with Gaugemaster puffer bottle filled with scatter it was with trepidation I tackled a trial area of the bank yesterday. The results are seen in the photos.
The difference between the left side of the bridge cutting, which is done, and the right side which I've yet to start, is quite something. It still needs a lot of detail adding but the signs aren't bad so far. I was surprised to find some black bits in the scatter- ballast picked up with the minivac and returned to the mixing box. I like the effect and will add a lot more to the slopes below the washery and landsale yard.
A trip to the BRM show at Peterborough today was fruitful. Three Bachmann decoders to do more locos, and a trio of backscenes from Gaugemaster- two plain cloudy sky and an open country field to do the front layer. I'll stand the middle ground (from some photos of the real area) off the sky by about half a millimetre and put the open fields another half millimetre in front- rather like I did on Furtwangen Ost, but hopefully without the mistakes.
Talking to PD Marsh their conveyor kit is to be released at Warley- and the first parts to be ready are the ones I need, so the holes at the North End of the backscene can be plugged by the end of the year.
The loco in Picture 2 was previously LNER 2000 used on Trevor Webster's Parnhams. Now he is selling the layout this J25, plus a K3 and a D20 have gone into BR black, with a J26 and a pair of J27s on decision- I already have BR versions of these.
One Union Mills J39 is now chipped, and other UM lopcos will go off as I can afford them. Digitrains will get the Geisl Austerity tank to do sometime next week.
Must finish now- cat feeding time....
Les
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Don't forget a couple of push bikes with full coal sacks slung over the cross bars being pushed up from the beach.
I lost the will to live painting P.D. Marsh pushbikes for Furtwangen Ost, but a couple resting against the parapet of the overbridge at the South end, with sacks over the crossbars and a pair of shady characters mopping their brows, that I like..........
All the very best
Les
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I was only joking but very good. . . . on a more serious note, the steps are about 400 yards south of Hawthorn dene viaduct between Beacon hill on the west and Shippersea bay on the right.(looking north). .Grew up in Easington. . .
Cheers
John
Further North than I managed on my field trip - the persistent mizzle and not taking a coat with me did for that- it was warm and sunny when I set off from Newark...... You can make out something when looking at the area on Google Earth. I'm aiming for an impression rather than reality (which I just haven't room for), so there will be steps down the bank below the landsale drops, but it isn't a full cutting at that point. At the other end I've had to invent an overbridge to hide the fiddle yard exit, though it will be about 4 inches in from the backscene holes and there will be a double row of hawthorn trees to hide the hole. The overbridge will just carry a track (rather like the one just North of the underbridge by the colliery site.
All the very best
Les
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And divn't forget a fully loaded beach wagon with a couple of beach shovels! ! !
The tipper wagons I've got are American in origin, so one will be full of sea coal heading up the track under the bridge- with the cab away from the punter so you can't make out it isn't a Bedford QL.......
All the very best
Les
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re The Durham coastal pigeon cree. . .I remember one or two ex railway wagons converted to a cree... landing shelf in front of the window ....
pailings along the front of the roof.... painted in makem stripes. . . . . .
Now that sounds like a good idea for a different cree. Time to look through the box of dead wagons for a suitable body.....
many thanks for the idea.
All the very best.
Les
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8th October- still doing panel wiring.
At least with the new clubroom we can work on more than one job at the same time. With me sorting wires and tags, and keeping an overview of the plan, Jim and Alf have been doing the upleads to the panel from below the board, working on both sides at once. Meanwhile Geoff has started installing the point motors for the three points at the front of the board. Trevor is cruising the Black Sea with SAGA.
A closer look at the wiring going on top and bottom of the board simultaneously- achieved by using a screw eye on the outside of the back wall of the bench and a luggage cord taken fron there and wrapped round the legs to keep it upright.
Meanwhile having taken the cable labels home for use on Hawthorn Dene, I forgot to bring them back this week. Luckily Jim had these in his toolbox.
We now have 2 point motors installed and wired back to the tag strips, and both panels wired to their tag strips with the first set of switch jumpers done, again on both panels. Hopefully next week the panels will be completely wired for power, and Trevor will be back just in time to cut the underboard webbing for the third point motor.... He will also need to bring his thing-for-drilling-big-holes so we can wire in the main power cable and the hand-helds.
All the very best
Les
Hawthorn Dene
in Layout topics
Posted · Edited by Les1952
Binned the bridge....
I've looked again at the bridge I've been building (4th November post) and it has gone in the bin- or rather two thirds of it has! The front abutment is salvageable but the back one and top will have to be re-done. The problem is that the real thing looks like this-
- and there was I thinking I didn't have a picture of it and the sides were brick. At least I'd not got as far as cladding it. Back to the drawing board.... Good news is that it slopes down towards the sea- which is what I want the model one to do.
I'm also thinking that the banks should be left grassed rather than trying to build steep allotments onto them. I'll keep the allotments on the top, and have the pigeon creels near the top also. I've looked for a suitably ancient van body and haven't got one. The N-gauge Society do a kit of an outside-framed van so I'll get one at Warley.
The two 0-6-0 saddle tanks are now back- the Geisl WD has had a brass overlay added to the cab back and looks more like a WD from the back. Once I've got it coaled and dirtied I'll post a picture of it.
I've also bogged up the last of the sky sheets adding it to the sharp corner of the backscene- fortunately the grot bit will have the screening house abutting right up to it.
Still plenty to do.
All the best.
Les