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

Just a small update today ..... As I mentioned yesterday evening, I wanted to shorten the large building to the very left of the layout, as I felt it was a tad too tall and overpowering. After reducing the height, and then adding a brick base, its now about 20mm shorter, which I think looks better to the balance of the structures. I also turned the structure on top around by 90 degrees as it wasn't glued down yet ....... again I like the side on look of it better rather than how it was. Here's how the building looks now ..... Well , that's all for this post. Cheers !!

Looking forward to seeing this develop mate

Evening everyone I had mentioned in an earlier post that I'd tweaked the cement plant buildings in the middle of the layout, but that I wasn't 100% sure this would be the final look ..... For the past couple of days I've been trying out various combinations of buildings, seeing what would work, and what I could physically fit into the space I have available. Bearing in mind that I want it to "look right" i.e. not too overdone and cluttered, and I came to the conclusion that I was trying to fit too much into the available space. The plant started almost next to the tunnel, and was very spread out, which made me remember what my original ideas were for the layout. I originally intended to incorporate a small wayside halt type station ..... maybe used by a preservation railway as well as local sprinter type services. This would increase the operational interest on the layout too, and force me to be more creative and "compact" in my cement plant design. To this end I have now gone back to my original idea for Wortley Dale Cement ....... like I've said before, I like to keep trying ideas rather than have a fixed rigid plan. Using my imagination is all part of the fun for me, and now I can incorporate a lot more scenery along the back of the layout leading from the tunnel. I have had a bit of a rethink regarding the cement plant buildings, and now the whole of the plant, albeit a lot more compact, sits on the left of the layout. The rear siding serves loading of PCA's and Presflo types depending on era modelled, which leaves the front siding free and open for storage or shunting stock around. Here's a couple of pics of my new ideas for the Cement Plant ...... I have scratch built the couple of small sheds behind the brick building, and a conveyor now feeds from these to the PCA loading facility on the right. The white holding tanks on the right hand side have also been shortened by one tank, which again, makes for a more compact look. The large building to the left needs to be lowered about 20mm still, and a brick base fitted like I did with the sheds. I think though that the amount of structures is now just about right ...... it's largely detailing that remains to be done I reckon. The small boiler house building in front of the chimneys (behind the white tanks) also needs a brick base fitting yet. Suddenly by removing the big clutter of buildings in the middle, the layout looks and feels a lot longer again, and the flow of the curves of the track from the tunnel is a lot more visible. Definitely ..... finally ..... maybe ..... this could be the one ..... hehe ....... Cheers !!

I've been thinking about adding a lighting pelmet at the front of the layout, maybe with some led strip lights. The small room I have the layout in is not overly bright, so I wanted to have consistent lighting both for modelling and operating the layout. I was wondering if this would give balanced,adequate lighting, or are there better alternative light sources for a layout ? Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated .....

Well, the verdict is in, and I am now a DAS clay convert I've just spent a very enjoyable couple of hours this afternoon making a start on the various humps and bumps that will make up the ground work of the layout. For a while now I've pondered over using some kind of lightweight filler to do this, or maybe plaster, but in the end decided using DAS air drying clay instead. The various efforts of Chris Nevard over the years using DAS on his fantastic layouts swung it for me in the end, so I bought three packets last week from The Range to try out. Following Chris's advice on applying the clay, I first spread a thin layer of PVA glue over the areas to be covered, to help the clay stick to the board better. This also helps the clay to spread smoothly as it adds a touch of "wetting" here and there when needed. The clay is surprisingly easy to use and seems to contain a touch of some kind of fibrous material, which I presume helps to stop the clay from cracking too much as it dries. I have read that Humbrol clay can be prone to this problem sometimes. I took a few pics from slightly different angles to show the subtle humps, bumps and hollows I have tried to work into the ground ...... trying also to blend it smoothly into the track level, so when I start ballasting I can run it over the edge of the clay a little. The area covered is using just one of the smaller packs of clay, so quite a good amount of coverage, considering the depth at the front. I was pleased also how thinly you can work it when you blend into the track, and I found that it helps if you use a small damp paint brush to achieve this. The clay is a terracotta colour, and I also believe it comes in white, but I was not fussed at this stage, seeing as I am going to paint over it all when it dries with a light emulsion paint, Really chuffed how easy this stuff is to use, and its not that messy either. The only thing I found was that a thin film of clay builds up on your fingers every so often, and starts to dry out. It pays to wash it off now and then or you start sticking to the bit you are trying to put down, and keep lifting it back up, particularly if its a thin layer near the track. That's about the only problem I encountered though, so I'll see how it dries now. If any small cracks appear I reckon a damp finger will smooth them over again. 10/10 for air clay so far ...... I'll post up some more pics as I lay more down. Cheers !! Simon.

Evening all, here's the latest update. Last week I made a card mock up of the front facing of the layout, as I wanted to work out the various subtle ground levels, particularly the hill profile behind the tunnel on the right. Here you can see the end result, loosely attached to the front with sticky tape. I then made the real thing out of 8mm MDF, and glued it on with pva adhesive. Some of the lumps and bumps were then lowered a tad to fine tune them in relation to the trackwork behind. Another consequence of this was a bare, unpainted strip of MDF running vertically at each end in the blue sky section, so a spot of repainting would be necessary. I was never fully happy with the sky colour to be honest, as, on reflection, it looked a tad cold and stark to my eye. A quick look at my local DIY shop found a nicer shade of light duck egg blue, so I spent this afternoon repainting. It took three coats, but I reckon now its a lot better on the eye ...... subtle I know, but in the flesh its very noticeable. I have also opened up the hole in the right hand end, where the trains enter the layout. This is so I can get my hand inside the tunnel, in case of derailments. This next pic shows this, also the sky after two coats of the new paint. Here's how the layout looks now ...... the three coats of new sky paint are on, plus, I have painted the new front facing with a Mocha colour, also three coats. I think it sets the scene nicely now ....... you may notice also that I have simplified the buildings on the left a tad, as I felt it was a bit too much. The middle buildings have been tweaked a bit too, although I am still not 100% sure this will be the final look ..... it pays to live with it for a while I reckon before you finally decide. Finally, here's a closer view of the left hand end showing the simpler buildings ..... again, a lot of detailing work to do yet. Also, here's the right hand end showing the tunnel position, and the outline shape of the hillside behind. I have some small blue Styrofoam boards to make up the hill and tunnel, but not before I first paint up the Peco tunnel mouth stonework. My next job tomorrow will be to create a lot of the lumps and bumps that make up the groundwork, in and around the track. For this I will use some DAS air drying clay ..... never tried this before, but should be interesting. I am also toying with the idea of creating a small water filled depression at the back of the layout in between the two sets of buildings. In my mind, this Cement Plant is set in and around a gravel pit, where, amongst the piles of quarried gravel, you might find such water filled hollows. This extra level to the layout will be yet another way of introducing more 3D into the scene. More about this later ...... Well, that's all for now ..... I'll try and post again tomorrow, depending on how the DAS clay goes down !! Simon.

Thanks mate ...... yeah, you get a lot of layout in N gauge when space is a factor.

Fantastic layout mate

Evening everyone Apologies for the gap between updates, but I am finally moving again with the layout, and I thought it time to post some new pics. I've been mulling over various ideas for the cement plant buildings, and as you can see, a few more structures have been built ...... again, mainly from Walthers kits. The buildings at the left hand end of the layout are now for bagged cement only, and I have incorporated a gravel crusher building with loading hopper on the side, feeding up to a mixing tank attached to the complex. I intend building a loading platform coming off the front of the (former) Scalescenes engine shed, and also a ramp at the rear to facilitate gravel loading directly into open wagons in the rear siding. The main cement plant buildings in the centre of the layout are for loading of tank wagons, and are still being tweaked ..... a lot more detailing still to be done yet. I have flip flopped for a while over the scenic break at the right hand end ..... tunnel or buildings, tunnel or buildings ...... Finally I have decided on a tunnel to allow for a more scenic end to the layout, as I reckon I have a nice balance now building wise and don't want to over egg the pudding (so to speak ) Here's another shot from the right hand end ....... And another a tad more from the front ...... Finally here's a view of the whole layout ...... I'm pleased with the look of the buildings now, so I reckon things should start to move a bit quicker. Cheers !!

Thanks Mick ..... just taken some new pics to update on my progress. Things have been moving a tad slow, as I kept changing things around, but I've pretty much settled on a final idea for the cement plant. hope you enjoy them mate