The Yorkshire Pud

Thanks for this mate ...... looks just the job, got one ordered already

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but I have a question I'm hoping someone can help with. I've tried searching for the answer to this specific question but to no avail so I'll ask the forum ..... hopefully some kind bod can steer me in the right direction. Recently I've acquired a Gaugemaster PM10D point motor, and was thinking of using it on a Peco electrofrog point on a smallish 3x1ft (DCC) OO gauge module I'm just starting, to get me going again after time off the hobby. It's just going to be a simple through line with wayside halt and a single siding, hopefully to be expanded on in the future. Now the PM10D point motor has a built in DCC decoder and CDU, can be switched using my DCC controller, and only needs the two wires from the bus for power, all simple enough so far ..... My question is this ...... can this motor be wired to change the frog polarity of the electrofrog point as it comes in the box, not at all, or is something else required to do the switching ? I noticed that Gaugemaster make the GM500 Universal Relay Switch. Could this be the "something else" maybe, or is it not compatible with this DCC version of the point motor? Hopefully someone can help me with this, as I'd like to use the motor with my electrofrog point if it's at all possible. Thanks in advance for any help.

Just seeing the new page format with the ads on the right. I'm on a 17.3 inch laptop using windows 10, and the ads take up one third of the screen width, reducing the posts size considerably. Most of the ad area is a blank white strip though which seems like an awful waste of your screen area. I've also got an ad at the bottom of the page, which I would prefer …. i.e. the top ad bottom ad format. Seems a tad too squashed up now. I can appreciate the need for ads on this type of free to use forum, but hopefully you could "tweak" them to be less obtrusive. Cheers for the great forum !!

Hi everyone Finally got time today to make the liner for the tunnel ...... as I mentioned before, I was thinking of maybe using card, or even part of a plastic bottle. Well, I tried both of these options out, but decided against using them, as the card seemed too flimsy, and the plastic bottles were a tad thin and brittle feeling. In the end, I opted to try using part of one of the blue foam blocks I bought for the hill itself. Firstly I used the tunnel mouth as a template for the shape, drawing round it on the foam, then I made the rear of the hole about 8mm bigger all round to open it out a bit. This gives more access inside the back of the hill for track cleaning, and in case of derailments. I then carefully used a thin coping saw to cut out the shape in the foam, as shown here ..... It cut pretty well considering the soft nature of the foam, and only needed a bit of cleaning up with a small scalpel blade afterwards. Here's how it looks on the layout ...... I left the block long at the top, to allow for shaping the hill as it rises behind the tunnel mouth. Probably will need to make another piece to go behind this one, mainly just for the view up inside the tunnel to the back of the track, so a simple block will do the job I reckon rather than the full tunnel shape. After that, a bit of painting up inside with the old emulsion match pots, and I can start building the hill up around it with the foam blocks I have. Also, I need to dirty up the ballasting a tad inside the tunnel, to show the years of grime and damp that would accumulate. Cheers !! Simon

Fantastic standard of modelling ...... I can just imagine standing at the side of that track "watching the trains chuff by"

Hi everyone .... So, I've managed to get the track under the tunnel ballasted today. After a bit of mixing I think I've settled on a ballast colour I like ..... Surprisingly, in the end, rather than using more Buff than Brown, it's ended up the other way round ..... 5 parts Brown to 3 parts Buff. Turned out the Buff, being very light coloured, overpowered the Brown in small quantities, so I ended up using a lot more Brown than I originally thought I would. That's ok though, as I eventually ended up with the kind of ballast colour I had in mind. I know that I didn't have to ballast all the track under the hill but it was good practice anyhoo !! Here's the section completed ..... With it being such a small gauge track, I prefer to paint pva glue around the sleepers with a small brush, in sections of about 2 inches at a time, then sprinkle on the ballast. Afterwards, a quick vacuum whilst brushing lightly with a small brush gets all the loose stuff up. Here it is again with a Class 20 for effect ..... So far so good ..... I painted the cork around the ballast with the same acrylic brown I used on the sleepers .....it makes the ballast stand out a bit better from the cork too. I'm just thinking that the sleepers might be a tad dark, so for the rest of the layout I might just lighten the brown a bit ... only subtly. I guess it's a personal thing, but to my eye it stands out. Here's the tunnel mouth in place ..... And again, with the Class 20 emerging from the tunnel ...... I'll see if I can fashion a tunnel liner tomorrow, either from a thin plastic bottle, or maybe from card, and paint it up with the tunnel colours. Then I can make a start on the hill ...... hussar !! Cheers !! Simon.

Evening all ...... bit more progress tonight I've finally got the ballast I was after (thanks to Hattons prompt service) ..... I'm using Woodland Scenics fine Buff and fine Brown, seeing as I have a little experience using this make before. I reckon predominantly Buff, but with a slight brownish mix here and there to add a bit of variety will be just about right. The sleepers and rail sides are to be painted with a Burnt Umber acrylic paint that I picked up from The Range art section .... it brushes on well, and looks just the right dark, dirty colour. I made a start this evening, painting from the tunnel mouth through to the back of the hill as you can see here ..... Its a tad wet still in the pics, so still a bit shiny, but the colour looks good to my eye. Here's what the tunnel mouth looks like in place ..... the way the track bends as it enters the tunnel hides the hole in the end of the layout perfectly. I also still need to sort out a tunnel liner ....... just another job on the (ever growing) list !! I'm only painting and ballasting this small section for now, as I want to get the tunnel and hill (which sits over it) built up next. Here you can see the ballast colours I have ...... they match the tunnel pretty good too, which has worked out well ..... should all blend very nicely. Hoping to make a start ballasting tomorrow .... Simon.

Me and the missus visited today .... have to say our favourite was Karolina Falls. What a brilliant layout ..... American narrow gauge, offering loads of interesting cameos on the layout ..... featuring an excellent, old style raised trestle wooden bridge, straight out of the old west, and REAL running water on the layout to finish it all off. The operator seemed a nice chap, and we had a good chat about various aspects of his layout.

Thanks for that mate !! I was surprised when I actually looked hard at weathered stonework, just how many different shades and tones there actually are in real life. I used 6 different shades all told, but still have to dirty it up and weather it yet, so I'll probably be able to get a few more in there. Simon.

Very nice work Steve ..... amazing what a "big" scene you can create in N gauge with such a smallish layout. Top marks !! Simon.

Interesting idea for a layout !! I'm currently building a fictitious Cement Plant layout in N gauge, based "somewhere in the Dales" My ideas have changed back and forth along the way, but originally I had a small wayside halt served by a preservation railway in mind on the layout .... an idea which I have now gone back to. Seeing the above pic of the station halt you have posted gives me food for thought as to how my own might eventually look. I need to research more on the types of halt used by railways though before I decide how to proceed. I greatly look forward to following your layout and seeing how you progress. Simon.

Hello again ..... I've painted up the capstones in a darker brown today, and also I picked out a few of the stone blocks in the same colour to add a bit more variety. I think I'll leave it alone for now until I get the tunnel built....... I want to dirty it up a lot, and weather it too, but until I get the feel of the colours actually in the layout I don't want to jump the gun. Here it is again on the layout with a class 37 coming through for effect ...... Pretty chuffed with how it's turned out so far ........ I'm on the scout for ballast for the trackwork now, as I need to get the tunnel entrance ballasted before the tunnel and hill go down permanently. That's all for now ...... Simon.

Evening all ...... I've started painting my Peco tunnel mouth today, as I need to get this job done before I can proceed making the tunnel. Luckily the cricket was on TV from Headingley, so I spent a nice relaxing afternoon all told !! First task was to prime the tunnel with a Tamiya Sky Grey colour, which would also serve as the odd bit of mortar showing between the various stone blocks of the tunnel. I'd decided to paint the stonework with various shades of creams and browns ..... using emulsion match pots which I've collected over the past few years. I think they have a nice flat quality which probably lends itself well for stonework, so I'll see how it turns out. Here's how it looked after the first light stone colour was applied randomly ....... Various colours/shades later, and here's how far I have got today ...... hoping to get it finished tomorrow. Its a slow business which takes time and a bit of patience ( and can send you cross eyed after a while if you're not careful !!) ..... hence the watching the cricket at the same time !! I like the way it's going so far ..... it's a tad "fresh" looking for a railway tunnel I know, but with some dirtying up and weathering should look quite good when finished. Here's how it looks on the layout ...... I'll post up more pics as I finish it. Cheers !! Simon

Definitely a fluid design !! ...... I'm just going where my imagination takes me

Nice work so far mate ...... an unusual subject not too often modelled. I look forward to seeing how this develops. Simon