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jamest

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Everything posted by jamest

  1. You've done a top job there - I remember the sad circumstances in which you acquired the basics - I'm sure the previous owner would have been more than happy with this. Looking forward to your next project! Regards, James
  2. Hi, Fantastic layout - I'm planning, and re-planning.....and re-planning..... a continuous run in my garage at the moment as a glorified running in line for my locos and stock to stretch its legs. I only have marginally more length than you (14') to use for OO so I haven't got a hope of creating the wide open space feel you have - but I like the simple track plan and I think it could adapt well - perhaps with a river crossing on a lower bridge in place of your magnificent viaduct. I will watch with interest. Sorry if you've already mentioned this, but do you plan do exhibit? I'd like to think I could see this one day in the flesh. Regards, James
  3. Hi Rob, Good to hear the show went well - looking forward to seeing it at barnstaple in July. Can I ask where you get your point levers from (in the last picture above)? I'd like a couple for Bratton Lane, and they look nice. regards, James
  4. Hi, Really like this - very atmospheric and must be nice to have in the corner ready to go when you feel like it. Can I ask if you have added the yard light we can see in the second to last photo in post #33? I'd love one or two for Bratton Lane. Regards, James
  5. I was thinking the same thing! There is something great about individual buildings on a layout that you will not have seen before - even if you do think they are simple and 'non-specific' - its a great skill to have and one I must practice more! Some great looking pictures above, thanks for sharing. Regards, james
  6. I remember you mentioning being at Pecorama the day earlier, but you would have never known you'd had a tough weekend - we had a nice chat, which was good, as it was one of my earliest exhibitions since re-joining the hobby. I very much enjoy building layouts of this size, and pallet lane influenced my Braybridge layout heavily - even though it might not be obvious to some. Look forward to chatting again in July. cheers, James
  7. Really nice layout - I also liked Pallet Lane and was lucky enough to see it at Taunton a few years ago. I've just noticed you are coming to Barnstaple in July - Thats excellent news for me! Regards, James
  8. Hi David, I've encountered the same problem with filling in sleepers in OO and N. I tend to cut the chairs off and carefully create a u shape recess where the rail sits. But I have pinned my track before, not glued it, and this probably allows the track to flex up as I push the sleepers under. Regards, James
  9. All that fun in such a small box! Really like this layout - still really impressed with the point operation - good job you played tested the layout fully before you hid the point wires and tubes. It sounds obvious but I'm sure a lot of us have pressed on beyond the point (no pun intended) of in-expensive return! All the best, James
  10. Hi, I really enjoyed following Exchange Square and this looks equally impressive. Also a great thing to do given the sad circumstances of its early life. I will enjoy watching your progress - one question - what is the red tubing you use to house your piano wire? - It looks a really neat solution, and seems able to operate through quite an impressive 90 degree bend. All the best, James
  11. Hi Andy, You must have seen the link to this one in my signature! This one hasn't moved on much recently and is currently gathering dust under my sons bed. I might have confused you with some of my threads measurements - there are two scenic boards each 48" x 18" so the approach (with engine shed) is on one board and the station on the other. Realistically you can only really fit a loco and two coaches in the platform. Cheers, James
  12. Hi again, Thanks for the advice - I'm definitely going to the show now! I've already looked into the GOG and was hoping to speak to them at the show with a view to joining. I plan to start small and build up from there - I do have a bit of OO stock and some of it could be trimmed to fund other projects - but I'll definitely keep most of it, you never know! I'm still relatively young (although my kids wouldn't agree) so I hopefully have time to build a collection. I must admit I was not expecting those second hand prices - thats better than OO! But I suppose there is a bigger market for OO second hand stuff. I was keeping an eye on the 08 that Dapol plan to release and planned some sort of inglenook arrangement that allowed me to build, bodge or buy my wagons as I go. Its funny you should mention the 35 though - I really like those and these 'smaller' diesels are what really interest me. I'm still learning about the 'real' railway - the interesting side of the Barnstaple branch line disappeared before my interest was sparked in railways. I certainly don't know enough about engines and their historical details and 'rivet' positions. But my modelling skills are ok and growing and I really like the detail levels you can get to with O gauge. I'm not afraid of a challenge and I realise you've got to make a few mistakes along the way to your modelling standard. And best of all this forum is a great way to get advice and inspiration - thanks for the kind offers of help. Thanks again, and have a good Xmas, James
  13. Hi, I remeber seeing your original posts before and I've just caught up with the rest of your posts today. I've only scanned through but I'm following now and plan to read through in more detail later. I have to say this is one of the best things I've seen on the forum. There are a number of impressive efforts on here but I'll bet most people would gladly trade in a body part for this layout, and your obvious skill. I have modelled in OO for a while but have always been tempted by O gauge. I am a little put off by the cost but I'm sure if I was a bit more focussed with my spend it would not be too more expensive over OO. I plan to go to the Bristol show in January to suss things out, but do you have any advice for someone planning to start out in O gauge? Thats probably an unfair question with a very long answer, but I'd value your opinion. By the way, I'm interested in the same period as you. All the best, James
  14. Hi, Very nice - how big is it roughly? I echo all the positive comments above - and you have finished it off well with the 'picture frame' too. I think that is the advantage of small layouts like this - its basically a three dimensional picture. Thanks for sharing it. Regards, James
  15. Hi all, Back again with a small update on the scenic progress. I've added the walls on the station approach board - they are scalescenes brick papers which, if you've followed my other layouts, is my preferred method. I probably need to invest in some other colours - but for now red brick it is. I packed behind the wall and applied plaster bandage to create a shallow bank behind the wall: I've also added a raised bank in the foreground that will help break the scenes and disguise the baseboard join. This is plaster bandage covered polystyrene against a 3mm mdf front fascia contoured to suit. I've painted one side brown from a Wicks tester pot as a base for static grass, the other side will follow when fully dry: I've decided to put a raised station car park behind the bay platform with a staircase down to the platform. I felt this better matched the wall coming over from the approach board and solved the problem I thought I would have if I left this area at track level. It will look better with walling and greenery: Looking at this I need to tidy up the ballasting around the base of the platform walls - One disadvantage of the scalescenes stuff is that it does not mix well with diluted pva! Cheers for now, James
  16. Hi all, I'm back with Greenwood again after Braybridge's only exhibition of 2014. I have several ideas in my head for other layouts, but my son is badgering me to get back to this, and I must say after an afternoon of mucking about with it my mojo for it has returned. But I have a question on the goods facilities. I have a cattle dock that I'd like to use but I'm unsure of the best location. I want to plant it properly but before I do I'd like to get an opinion on the best place. Shall I place it in the loop: Or in the goods line behind the goods shed? I've placed the entry brick arch in place and plan to run a short wall along the track from it. I will then have a grass embankment angling up to the back scene. This will blend to the cattle dock, or maybe the signal box. I've started to paint the area around the track with green scene textured 'yard filth' which will be weeded and weathered after the wall is in place. I've also filled the plain internal walls of my loco shed with scalescenes papers: Cheers, James
  17. Hi all, I've finished the platform surface and I'm very pleased with the results. I've always had a bit of trouble with surface imperfections/bubbles when using large areas of Scalescenes prints before but this time I stuck with 'prikstick' style adhesive and it is mush more forgiving than brushed PVA. But Scalescenes do recommend that type of adhesive to glue to the card so I suppose I should have listened! Because my platforms are slightly higher with the wood underneath there is a gap at the bottom of the side walls but that will be filled with PVA and ballasted to hide it. The pictures show some of the furniture I've acquired - I liked the 'Blue Anchor' Bachmann station building and so I've also bought the signal box too. I have a GWR pagoda shelter too, but its buried in the garage at the moment! Regards, James
  18. Hi all, I've ballasted the station board and made some purchases on the buildings front. But I still haven't put the two boards together to ballast the join yet - that can wait! I've been debating on the best way to do the platforms and decided to go the scalescenes way. But because I want to use resin buildings I decided to use wood as a support as opposed to the card ribs. First I made a paper pattern of the surface using a coach and a pencil: I then laid out my offcuts of 18mm thick softwood to provide support to the platform surface: Before I took them up to use the pattern to cut out the surface I numbered them to make sure they went back in the same order! I then cut the surface out of a piece of 2mm mountboard - unfortunately I could quite fit the pattern on one piece so the bay surface will have to be separate: Now the wood is screwed down and I am in the process of adding the platform surface to the mountboard. I have planned an overlap of the surface so that I can add the brick facing attached to a 1mm thick piece of card. Roket card glue is essential for this as it fixes quickly and effectively. Hopefully I will post pictures of the completed platform soon. Regards, James
  19. Cheers gents - some good advice there. The kids might learn a few new words if I glue the boards together! Regards, James
  20. Hi Richard, Thanks for the tip - I haven't gone right to the edge, so I could still try that. Regards, james
  21. Hi all, Bit of time this afternoon so I decided to take advantage of the warmth of the conservatory and do some ballasting. As I mentioned in my first post I have airbrushed the track with sleeper grime and now I'm going to apply my preferred fine grey ballast. This will be toned down later with muck and oil. I've also painted the back-scene on both boards with a basic light blue sky colour. I plan to have a signal box against the back-scene at the station end of this board and a engine shed in the siding. Along the back scene I plan to run an embankment with bushes, static grass and the odd tree. I've ordered the Bachmann Scenecraft 'Blue Anchor' waiting room and signal box. I also purchased a corrugated GWR style goods shed and a cattle dock at my local shop yesterday. So the buildings will be mostly 'ready to plant' but I hope to give them tweaks to make them more worn and individual. Here is the ballasting drying nicely in the sun: Cheers, James
  22. Hi Richard, This looks really interesting - the pictures above start to give me an idea of the viewing concept. I will watch with interest. Regards, James
  23. Not at this stage - lets see how we go! The scenic sections are two boards 48" long by 18" wide giving me 8 feet of scenic board. The fiddle yard is basic at the moment and is 40" ish long. Thanks for looking Regards, James
  24. Hi all, My son and I have embarked on a new layout. I started with an idea of a 48"x18" yard scene and then decided I need a run of track to show off my new steam locos! Some of my efforts in the planning stage can be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75783-branch-line-terminusgoods-yard-advice/ The last plan is not quite what I have laid out as I have decided to do away with the industry on the second board and move the loco shed to this position. So I have ended up with a scenic section double the original size with a three foot fiddle yard. The scenic section is split into two boards, both 48"x18" which have been recycled from my previous attempts at Barnstaple Junction. There is some compromise on the platform length, but with operational interest in mind. When the layout was a yard with four points they were all to be electrofrog - as a learning curve for my wiring skills and a step forward in slow running quality. But when the layout expanded I chose to utilise two insulfrog points from the spares box. The track will be code 100 as I have a lot of that around me left over from various projects and when it is ballasted and painted I think it can look pretty good. Perhaps the next step will be finer scale track on the next layout as I seem to have used my stock of code 100 up for now! The back scene will be low so that one board will store under my sons bed - and it will be better to operate from behind and still be able to see the trains. My exhibition layout Braybridge (if it can be called that after one exhibition!) has a nicely blending high back-scene but this is not as friendly in the home environment. The layout will be based in the late crest era so we can run steam and green diesels. I'm not as worried about location for now but I have purchased a GWR themed loco shed. So here are the first pictures with the track pinned and kadee magnets in place - I've also placed a few buildings around to show my ideas for each siding but its only temporary - the goods shed in particular doesn't really look the part. Station board: Scenic board (loco shed in siding): And both together: On the scenic board I have some room behind to store locos - which will be served by the rotary table in the fiddle yard. I hope to get two lines in there: I have a basic control panel (stud and probe) and the connections have been made between boards electrically: So far we have a black Bachmann 4MT, a green 3MT and a pannier tank. I already have a two tone green class 25 and 47. Since the photos were taken I have blown over the track with some sleeper grime ready for ballasting. Regards, James
  25. Hi Andy, Been following this with interest for a while and, as usual, like it a lot. I guess when you are talking decent money for each point you have to plan carefully! There is a lot of operational interest for only three actual points - the fiddle yard arrangement seems a crutial factor in keeping down the number of scenic points. Regards, James
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