thegreenhowards

March 31

Looks the biz! Will she be ready for Kempton Park? Do I need to fit a decoder?

Andy

March 30

I think I’m calling the signal box finished for now.

Rob’s trick for spacing out the letters in word worked well. Thanks. It was difficult to find - I had to right click then go onto ‘advanced’, but got there in the end. I went for a more buff colour for the corner post. And I found a Sankey scenics sign in my ‘might come in useful box’. It’s not got the top bit, but it’s close enough and was free!

Now onto the station building. I’ve mixed up two pots of the right colours so I keep them consistent.

Andy

March 28

My experience of Tortoises is that you can pick up second hand ones for between £5 & £10 .

March 26

Why they should work in the fiddle yard but not on the scenic section is a complete mystery. They were obviously getting traction current to keep moving, but not receiving the DCC commands. I can only put it down to the ‘sir’ effect. It’s well known that all locos, layouts etc. misbehave when you have been invited to view them!

Andy

March 24

13 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

Andy

Just worked through your thread and was especially impressed with the results of your "weedifying" of certain baseboards - they look most impressive.

This is a major project which I shall follow with great interest.

Tony

Thanks Tony,

You certainly read through it all pretty quickly - I noticed your progress with the ‘likes’ coming through. My weed skills are down to excellent tuition from our club expert, Rob - @woko on RMWeb. He took my rather uniform static grass and showed me how to mess it up by ‘scrunching’ it. He also did a club ‘masterclass’ on making weeds using astilbe and sedum from the garden.

If you want a hand with weeding C&SM give me a shout.

Andy

March 23

A few derailments are not a problem. They make me feel less bad about my own layout and allow me to be useful as your gofor!

It always seems worse when it’s your own layout.

Andy

March 23

Tony,

Thanks again for your hospitality yesterday. I enjoyed seeing Churminster & Stowe Magna again. Your ‘NASA spaceship ‘ control desk is truly awe inspiring and I’d forgotten how good the trains look disappearing into the distance past your wonderful signals.

Andy

March 22

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

The two greens look spot on, Andy. The corner post looks a bit pale on my screen, rather creamy-coloured rather than khaki green.

Hope that helps.

I see what you mean, but I wouldn’t have called it khaki green! I wonder whether it’s an undercoat.

March 21

I’m back to painting my signal box today. I’m basing it on this picture, in which the steps are still dark green. I think I’ve also seen them in yellow green and white. But this is roughly the right era for my main focus of early ‘80s. It

Here’s my attempt. I mixed a bit more hello into the yellow green mix and added a bit of white to both as suggested by @03060. I think I’m happy with the colours now, but I’d welcome comment from those less colours blind than me!

I’ve also had a go at printing the signal box sign. I think the letters are slightly too big and need to be spaced wider (anyone know how to do that in word?). But the colour seems OK. Again, comments welcome.

Anyone know where I can source the ‘passengers must not cross the line’ sign? Sankey scenics do the lower half with ‘Warning….£200’ but I can’t find the upper bit anywhere.

Andy

March 21

Personally the only sports I bother watching on telly are F1, tennis and my beloved QPR. I find the commentary excellent in all three, but particularly for football where it now seems to be possible to have dedicated commentary for your own football team, certainly in the Championship - I can’t speak for the money pit division above us! I rather enjoy the combination of a commentator who’s also a fan paired up with a former player, in our case, Andy Sinton. The scream when a goal goes in is worth the money alone!

Andy

March 17

18 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I have rarely been convinced by attempts to have working loading and unloading facilities. Most hopper systems involve lots of noise and great clouds of dust, which you just don't get on models. Plus, you often have a scene where the figures are in static poses, when in real life they would be moving around. The best we can really do is to create a scene that looks realistic when photographed. When it is a moving 3D scene, we need lots of imagination to complete the gaps in the movement. The loading, unloading and movement of people in my imagination works just fine. Making one part of the action really happen without the other parts doesn't convince me, although I can be impressed by the work done to make it happen.

I think this is a classic case of the ‘ best being the enemy of the good’. Personally I find attempts to model coal or aggregates being unloaded are fascinating and really add something to the model. They’re not perfect for all the reasons that Tony states, but that doesn’t mean they’re not an improvement on not trying.

I say well done to those who have the skill and determination to try.

Andy

March 17

30 minutes ago, young37215 said:

The Mallaig run round was very informative as well, having seen a number of pictures of the BLS tour I am now regretting that I did not book on it. Interesting to see the dog box on the back of the 2 car unit crossing Glenfinnan, I thought these were intended for Oban trains only.

Yes, the tour was very good apart from the safety b……s about not standing by the window. The 37 was audible through the a/c, but rather muted compared with fresh air stock.

The dog box was a surprise to me. RTT didn’t have it in advance, so I think it was an on the day adjustment.

Andy

March 17

I answered some questions during my visit to Glenfinnan. The first was, that the water tank has no top.

I think the grp tanks postdate my era, so it would have been open and full of water. I gather the local kids used to swim and fish in it! I now have to consider scratchbuilding it. Those curved tops look challenging. Any suggestions as to how to proceed?

Andy

March 17

5 hours ago, 03060 said:

Thanks for that Andy, I'm almost ready to start putting track down on a 'Mallaig Line' inspired N gauge layout which will feature one of the viaducts as it's main feature and whilst it will probably be Loch-nan-Uamh I still haven't ruled out changing this to either Morar (pre road bypass, Grrrrrr !) or Arnabol depending on which 'looks right' in the space and layout plan that I'm considering, so your video is very useful and timely to me, thanks for posting it.

Regards,

Ian.

Arnobol is very hemmed in by trees and is quite a rough hike to get to it. Probably why it doesn’t feature in train photos more often. Borrodale is even more hemmed in, although I could have done better if I’d left myself more time!

March 16

After the tour I spent a few days staying in Morar with some hill walking friends. And then on Thursday they all went home and I had a day mainly spent on a Glenfinnan site visit. I took loads of photos and some will trot out over the next few weeks as I continue detailing the layout. But I also spent some time checking out other iconic locations on the West Highland Extension in case I get the opportunity to include any around the garden.

I’ve put this video together as inspiration.

I hope you enjoy it. Sorry it’s only got sprinters in, but if there’d been decent trains out, I’d have been in them!

Andy

March 10

Back to the run round loop at Mallaig. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a real train to Mallaig today.

This was load 7 Mk 2F (mk 1 RU) and I can report that the run round loop is big enough for seven vehicles … but only just!

It was this tight at both ends.

This shows the loco having run round.

Andy

March 7

Coming back to the subject of colours, I’ve bitten the bullet and tried some new colours on my signal box.

Only one coat and it hasn’t covered particularly well, but I think you get enough of an idea of the colours. I’m trying to replicate the ones shown in my first post on this subject here.

I decided not to buy the Tamiya paints because a) I’m not convinced the colours weren’t spot on, at least for the faded state at Glenfinnan, b) I prefer enamels, and c) I have inherited (almost) unlimited supplies of Humbrol enamels from an estate.

So I went with.

1) Humbrol 101 (mid green) with a tiny amount of Humbrol 104 (Oxford blue) for the darker green;

2) 3 parts Humbrol 120 (light green) to one part precision signal yellow for the yellow green; and

3) Humbrol HR 103 (cream) for the cream.

I think the cream is a bit too yellow, so I may switch to BR coach cream for that. The others I’m quite pleased with, but I’d welcome comments as I know my colour perception isn’t the best.

Andy

March 6

Never mind the B1, that’s a lovely steel 5 set behind the tender!

March 4

10 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

The article relates to #5 couplers being used as prototypical frame-mounted buckeyes in P4.

I'd think success will be extremely radius-dependent.

This is pretty standard in O gauge for Mk1s. Both the main manufacturers use a form of Buckeye. Darstead actually use Kadees, while Lionheart/ Dapol use their own version - annoyingly at a different height to Darstead. The other manufacturer of Mk 1s, Heljan, still use screw links but they’re nigh in impossible to couple up under corridor connectors, so I’ve replaced all mine with Kadees.

March 4

3 hours ago, MJI said:

And sound is alreadt expensive, and with custom sounds and the like, it seems sensible, even if to stop me commenting to an owner that my 1970s Flying Scotsman with sandpaper tender sounds as good.

If you really believe that then you’re deluded!

March 4

8 minutes ago, MJI said:

Why is chuff rate not controlled like the ignition on a 70s car with a hall sensor (as found in the distributors)?

2 lumps for a 2 or 4, 3 for a 3, 4 for a Lord Nelson.

Probably because that would be an unnecessary extra cost and complication.

March 4

2 hours ago, young37215 said:

It's just too easy to keep running so I decided I had to break things up. Yesterday I broke down the fixed rakes of passenger stock to weather a number of coaches. All 5 of the BSOT conversions need their roof's weathering and the 2 new ones their chassis. Additionally there are several other coaches where more weathering is required and the same for a number of new wagons. All in all enough work to justify the getting the airbrush out and the cleaning that a session with this entails.

Most of the service trains on WHL4 are booked for class 37's so it is an effort at times to utilise the 20's and 27's in the fleet. 27105 did get a recent outing for the CMEE department and is seen on its way south at Ardlui with a rake of Grampus loaded with spoil.

Always nice to see a 27…although I wouldn’t have said that back in the day!

March 4

On 02/03/2024 at 18:30, LNER4479 said:

I wouldn't normally get involved in such a discussion, as I am resolutely in the Dinosaur Control camp. However, I'm asking for a friend ...

Irrespective of pitch / tone considerations, two fundamentals need to be met for steam sound to even start to be realistic:

1) The 'chuff' to accelerate in time with the loco (not go up in discontinuous steps), with the correct chuffs to the revolution (4 per rev for a 2/4 cyl. loco; and 6 per rev for a 3 cyl. loco)

2) The 'chuffs' to stop altogether when the locomotive is slowing to a stand. This should NOT require the input of the operator(!) - the system should sense the load on the motor (or equivalent) and adjust the sound accordingly.

Are there any steam sound systems out there that achieve both of these? I might have heard No.1 but not - to date - No.2.

As I say - asking for a friend.

(FWIW, we do have two sound diseasels on Shap - that work on DC - and it's reasonably acceptable)

If I can weigh in on this too, then I would say 1) is possible, but often not achieved; and 2) nearly always.

The ‘Chuff rate’ is programmable on modern chips, certainly the more expensive ones. However many people just fit and forget rather than taking the time to change one CV (CV 267 on Zimo) to get the correct rate. It needs to be finessed because different locos will have different gearing etc. On my O gauge locos this is particularly important as the chuff rate is normally roughly set for 00 and the larger diameter wheels mean they chuff far too frequently.

As for coasting, there all decent modern chips will do this, but early DCC sound didn’t do this and maybe some current cheaper ones still don’t. I particularly like ‘active drive’ available on Zimo and ESU (maybe others) where shutting off means the loco coasts with just some clanking and slows down very slowly (just like on the real thing) and one applies a separate button to brake (with appropriate noises).

Andy

March 2

13 hours ago, GWR57xx said:

Hi Andy,

I don’t think that would do the job here.

How will you fix it down to the supports and to the turntable top? It appears to rely on suction cups?

Even if it can be firmly bolted down to both surfaces it will only cover the central circle (shown in red on my diagram).
I know it quotes some huge load bearing capacity but that is only in a vertical direction (I.e. compression). When your turntable is even slightly unbalanced there will be potentially considerable turning moments in the vertical plane that the lazy Susan isn’t designed to cope with.

I hope I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t want to rely on it.

Best wishes,

Peter

Thanks Peter,

I will interrogate G&H on the subject of rollers.

Andy

March 2

11 hours ago, young37215 said:

Nice work, this really looks the part with the point rodding blending in a treat. I'd be interested in a list of the products that you have used to achieve the look.

Thanks Rob,

The base is chicken wire covered with plaster bandage and painted to seal it. Then I use layers of static grass from WWS, starting with 2mm and then different colours of 4mm and 6mm grass. These are scrunched up with my fingers between layers to give the rough look. Between each layer I spray with cheap hairspray.

The rhodendendron is woodland scenics tree armatures bent out fairly flat. Then dark green clump material from woodland scenics. The pinky purple blossom is made from kids wax crayon put in the freezer overnight then grated with a cheese grater (when my wife is out!). This is attached to the trees with scenic cement sprayed on.

The gorse is light green clump material with yellow crayon.

Most of the trees are from a ‘Forest in a box’ which is a large pack of sea foam. These are soaked to make them pliable the sprayed with scenic cement and covered with a mid green flock. I put several stems in a hole on the side nearer the camera to represent Sycamore coppice which seemed to be prevalent here. The bigger trees are stems made from Hebe in the garden with smaller bits of seafoam attached with hobby tac.

The bramble is rubberised horse hair with ‘bramble’ flock over the top.

The other shrubby weeds are small dead heads of sedum and astilbe from the garden, dipped in Modge Podge Matt medium and covered with different flocks.

The fence, which is a bit more wonky than I’d like, is cocktail sticks and cotton with the corner posts from firework rocket stems.

I hope that’s useful - is there anything I’ve missed?

Andy

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