[Dusting off the workbench]

Hi Alan, The dioramas look great.

 

Will any of them work for the Big Four era? (Steam at it's zenith rather than steam in decline?)

 

[1. Beginnings]

Hi again,

 

You have everything under control, by the sound of it.

 

I just stood a small prairie on a Peco Small Radius turnout to get an idea of your release spur and, yes, it will fit fine. I misjudged the length in your plan photo above.

 

If you have insulated the frog rails, even leading into your sidings then, yes, that's exactly what you need to do for DCC.

 

Good luck. I will follow with interest!

 

Phil

[1. Beginnings]

Hi GWL,

• Code 75 track is a good choice IFF you intend to run modern stock on it. Older stock may have larger wheel flanges that may bump along the chairs.
• The loco release spur is worryingly short. Are you sure your largest intended loco will clear the points?
• The sidings are all very short.
• I'm sure you've got insulating joiners in the relevant places for DC. That will basically be fine for DCC too but with DCC you may want to keep sidings powered up while the points are against them and in that case you may need more insulated joints. If you haven't allowed for this don't worry, you can always slit the rails later on.
• Is your station at the end of a single or double track line? If single, like Clevedon was of course, then the plan suggests that the run round loop extends off scene and so why is the central crossover needed?
• The throw distance of the slider switch is probably not exactly the same as the throw of the points. So without an "omega loop" you may find that either the blades don't move properly or the wire-in-tube is under pressure from the switch, leading to potential mechanical failure in the future.

Hope that's useful.

 

[A Matter of Colour]

Hi Mike,

For your varnish simulation I suggest you set the transparency "Blend mode" of your overlay to "Multiply".

 

[A Matter of Colour]

Don't forget the effects of the varnish that was applied in multiple coats. It's not clear whether the sources include that or are describing the base colour.

 

The underlying colour may well have been one of the more saturated colours you;ve described but there were probably at least 5 coats of varnish on top in your period, each one giving a slightly brownish tinge to everything underneath it, including lining.

 

And to make things more complicated the effects of heat on the varnish would cause it to become slightly cloudy.

 

It's possible to simulate these effects by overlaying semi-transparent layers in your favourite drawing/painting software. That might be informative and is probably easier than trying to mix a representative colour "by hand".

 

[Update No1]

Hi kitpw,

 

This looks wonderfully evocative of time and place. Very clever idea to have scenery below the railway. Beautifully drawn track plan.

 

You pointed out that Uxbridge Vine Street only had one passenger platform but your plan above appears to have two or three. Can you explain a bit more and how it, or they, will be operated?

 

[Secrets of the Drawing Office (1)]

Brilliant! And educational!

 

Somewhat tangentially I am reminded of Trumpton and Miss Lovelace in particular:

 

Have you thought about animation? Netflix might come a-knocking...

 

[Polarity tenderness]

I checked and double-checked that there really was a polarity crossover between loco and tender then, feeling like a bomb-disposal expert, I cut the red and black wires in the tender between DCC header and loco connection plug.

 

Stripped them and soldered red to black and black to red, slid heatshrink sleeves around the joins, pushed everything back into place and plugged in a new decoder.

 

Success! Tintagel Castle runs smooth and slow. I can't give it a proper run-out yet because I'm waiting for some track glue to set after my cat ripped up another section...

[DCC No thanks !]

I agree with Haymarket47. You can't blame the technology unless you've investigated what actually went wrong and why.

[Sproston - Pannier on the parcels, Prairie on the shed......]

Hi Steve,

 

I remembered that that signal was temporary, I just hadn't twigged before that it was upper quadrant! Funny what you notice and what you don't.

 

Yes, no problem updating the signal box diagram when the time comes.

[Sproston - Pannier on the parcels, Prairie on the shed......]

It's looking great, Steve!

 

I like all the signalling details and the working signals - how are they operated?

 

I've just noticed that the Down Home bracket signals are all upper quadrant, unlike most (all?) of the others. Erm...

[Open frame test track baseboard Pt5]

Thanks David,

 

Do you mean diagonals inside some of the "cells"?

[Test track baseboard construction pt2]

Thanks Steve!

 

I justified buying the table saw combi machine on the basis that I've got lots of joinery still to do in the house. It was a bit of a luxury (and it took a huge effort to get it up the the shed) but I think it is proving it's worth. (Especially on railway things!)

 

The mitre saw was another difficult-to-justify purchase at the time but, oh boy, does it make life easier! Cutting is so much faster and more accurate than doing it by hand.

 

My Grandad was a carpenter and when I'm working in the shed I often wonder what he'd make of the fantastic tools available to us today.

[Llanglydwen vintage photos]

I omitted to mention that this compact area also contains: the signal box, which is just at the end of the short platform, a goods siding and the Pen-y-bont Inn just behind the level crossing.

 

This beautiful little place was made to be modelled.

[Quote from C J Freezer]

I take it to mean that every modeller has the right to decide for him/herself where he or she draws the line between making things and buying things.

 

In fact, that could be seen as one of the "Rules", and might be useful in defusing a few arguments!