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Jon Fitness

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  1. Jon Fitness

    Early Daze

    By Jon Fitness,

    We moved into our lockup in October and started with this.

    After a week or so Steve had painted the floor and found a bit of carpet

    and the place seemed quite homely.
    As work beckoned, I missed the next 10 days or so but imagine my surprise when I came in to offer a bit of help and this lot had appeared.

    The track was only placed just to see what would fit where, but it gave us an idea of what we could do. All the planning in the world won't really tell you what looks right until you physically try it out. (Unless of course, you're a designer by profession which we aren't)
    We had a plan of sorts but it was just one that said "we'll have a train running by christmas"
    Steve being Steve, of course had other ideas....
  2. Jon Fitness
    After seeing nothing move for quite a while we decided to up the pace a little (which with hindsight was a little ill advised). Much sawing, drilling and er...screwing went on into the wee small hours and after a week or so we were fastening the last bits of the main line baseboards. You can see how strong the boards are as Steve had to clamber into the corner to add the last bits!

    Another few days of painting tidying and track laying and our first train was trundling round. The honours went to the Stanier mogul and a mixed freight. very satisfying!...

  3. Jon Fitness

    Gradients and curves

    By Jon Fitness,

    Seeing the first train run gave us a bit of a boost and once the hidden loops were in it was time to start adding the upper station area. This will eventually be the WR station and will be the larger of the 2.

    The large board will be hinged for access until the lower area is proven to be ok then it will be fastened down with a removable front retaining wall for access.

    The turntable was rescued from Talacre and tried here but proved to be a little out of reach (more of which later!!)

    The LM station area was originally going to cross over the top of the main lines but this would have been a duck under too many.. the end of the station now ends abuptly on an overbridge but a feature will be made of this, combined with a ramp up from the road to the goods yard.Lots of Slaters embossed stone plasticard has been ordered!!

    The ramp up to the upper level proved to be a little steep and took some jiggling round to get the best alignment. As it's double track, it was found necessary to split it and "ease" the upward track to allow locos to actually pull something whilst climbing!
    Maybe in our haste to get something running, we'd lost a little foresight in the planning department.

  4. Jon Fitness

    Saltney, On Shed.

    By Jon Fitness,

    While I battled with the wiring, Steve next turned to adding more detail and atmosphere to the MPD, getting the turntable working well, making a control panel and wiring up some lights. More green lumpy stuff was applied and plenty of colour sprayed to blend it all in.

    To complete the scene, a Skytrex enginemans bothy was added and blended in after Steve worked his magic on it.

  5. Jon Fitness
    To fill a hole in a corner, Steve dug out some old bits of low relief buildings from "Talacre" and added a few walls (with support) to create a nice dank scene behind the signalbox. When it was completed (much to Steve's consternation)someone noticed the similarity to a scene from a certain grisly British film of the early 70's. A suitable street name was printed up and applied to complete the scene.
    (If you can't guess, you'll have to wait for a later post to see it )

    Meanwhile, a scenic break was suggested across the rather tight curve between the main junctions. I suggested an inclined bridge in a cutting a little like the one at Dent Station. Steve wanted a similar thing but stretched to make a short tunnel. Anything to seperate the junctions and make them look like the trains were going from place to place. Nothing too big or flashy. Les had other ideas
    What we ended up with was this...It looked horrible while it was being built (hence no in build pics) and caused a few "crossed words" but turned out ok in the end.
    The GW bracket signal was rescued from "Talacre" and is one of the few that can be used on the new layout. Of the 15 or so signals that were recovered, about 4 have been earmarked as useful, the rest will either be altered to fit or sold on.

    Meanwhile I got into a few other projects
    The bridge and underbridge station entrance for the LM station
    Based loosely on Walkden High Level Ex L&Y.with adverts on the bridge sides taken from the Bolton area. Magees was a Bolton brewery, taken over by Greenall's in 1958 and finally closed in the early 70's. More pictures of the bridge and station can be seen in the gallery attached to this blog.

    A co- acting LMS upper quad signal. Scatchbuilt from home produced parts, etched ladders(D&S) and a wooden stick retrieved from a bonfire night rocket.

    and the 2 control panels needed so far. The fun my puny brain had wiring up some form of cab control to those those peco electrofrog crossings.......There's probably far too much wire and switches involved. There must be an easier (non DCC) way.

  6. Jon Fitness
    After receiving an offer of 4 petrol tank wagons, Steve decided to squeeze a small petrol terminal in to the end of the LM station yard. Again, several bits and bobs were unearthed from boxes of stuff rescued from "Talacre" and fashioned into a representation of an unloading area. Although it's a "bitza" it began to look ok. We're not rivet counters here, it's more about having a bit of fun with the stock we have.

    This gave Les and Steve a chance to fill a bit of space with a roadway. This provides access to the terminal and also to the back of the locoshed. (Cue sleeper fences and a gate placed in such a way as to make bunking the engine shed difficult to do without being seen from the shedmasters office ) The road comes through a single file tunnel that will hopefully have working traffic lights eventually.

    Steady progress was made at the petrol terminal with lights and buildings soon being installed.

    Although not really in keeping with the LM region flavour of the station, my IOW 02 No22 Brading payed a call to shunt the yard. It ran well which was a tribute to Steves track laying as the loco only has pickups on the driving wheels. (Although a Ron Chaplin motor gearbox with flywheel helps)

    Anyone remember the film reference in the previous post? The film was 10, Rillington Place. Steve says now I've fixed a streetname to the house he's going to add a 7mm scale policeman peering down an open manhole cover. Anyone smell something

    An old controller with inertia and brake control, home made by persons unknown, was unearthed from a box, tested and found to be excellent. Duly fitted at the LM station it provides hours of fun, catching out those unfamiliar with its odd ways. Good job we have stout buffer stops!.

     
    Finally for this post, I made a bit more progress with the walling around the bridge and station entrance, thanks to Slaters chunky stone walling. I reckon I need about 25 sheets in all, to do all the various retaining walls in the LM station area!

    The next post should bring things up to date.
    I'll then decide whether to carry on with the blog, or switch over to a thread.
  7. Jon Fitness
    Ok here's a bit of an update. I can't currently include any pictures within the text due to what must be, to Andy and the dedicated admin team, frustating problems, but the link to the gallery should give you an idea of where we are now.
    Steve and Les are much faster and more regular workers on the layout and have for the most part, completed the major scenic work on the main lines and surrounding areas. I've plodded on with my little area by the LM station entrance when I can, but work and other commitments have kept me away a little.
    Hopefully in the next few weeks I can crack on with the rest of the stone walling while Steve and Les make a start on track laying on the upper (WR) level station.
    Now the ballasting is completed, I now have 3 or 4 signals waiting in the wings to be installed by the LM junction, including a sort of gantry on the approach to the Jc points. I say sort of, as it's design and construction would probably make a purist wince but it's a case of "waste not want not". Precious few of the signals from "talacre" can be re-used without modification and some may have to be sold on as not suitable for the track layout on the Saltney Railway. Shame.
     
    I think I'll leave any further updates until RMWeb is healthy and fully functioning again so...
    TTFN B)
  8. Jon Fitness
    Well not exactly all change, but Steve's Station (reputedly going to be called Upper Mill; doesn't sound very ex GW to me..) has already been changed before it's even reached the serious tracklaying stage.
     

     
    The original wide board which spanned all 4 storage roads and the hidden lines leading to the LM station is now only half it's original width and the retaining wall will be moved back to suit.
     

     
     
    This has now exposed the inbound and outbound lines to the LM station which run round the back of the loco shed. These have been moved apart wide enough for a small island platform to be installed, just below where the GW station will start to "fan out". Kenny is just suggesting he calls the station Lower Mill.......
     

     
    At least it's a change from painting stone walls...
  9. Jon Fitness
    As suggested, a new little station has appeared by the loco shed along with a signal that has mysteriously sprung up . Must be the time of year. . As Steve has named the GW high level station Upper Mill, me and Kenny reckon the new station is called Lower Mill.
    I think Steve will get back to me on that one...
     

     
    A nice Marcway curved point has also appeared near the junction. I think it was one of those "I've got one of these going spare/free if you can make any use of it Steve" things.
    Rude not to really
     

     
    Once the ballast is tidied up it will be toned down to match.
  10. Jon Fitness
    As Steve had started the water tower building for the loco shed (Made from some parts of a Kittle Hobby engine shed and some Foamex with rivet details added from a sheet) I thought it was time I had a go. Heres a few Work In Progress pics
     
    This is Steves tank
     

     

     
    And the startings of my goods shed for Slugworth. Its made from 3mm foamex and will be clad in Slaters stone plasticard.
     

     

  11. Jon Fitness
    Making a bit of progress with the goods shed for Slugworth.
    It's not a model of any particular goods shed but a conglomeration of odd pictures I've seen and a major influence is the 4mm scale Townstreet LNW style goods shed that "Coachman" has made in his Buildings blog (thanks for the inspiration Larry )
     

     

     

     
    I'll be using some resin window frames from Invertrain and yes I know it has different styles on each side. Couldn't decide which window shape I preferred so I used both.
    As this Foamex material I'm using won't accept "Plastic Weld" (a bit odd as the last offcuts Steve gave me would ) I'm using superglue to bond this lot together. Must remember not to drop it as it will probably drop to it's component parts.
    I've done the inner loading platform and the "shoulders" round the base of the walls (whatever the name for them is and cut some skylights in the roof. I'll be doing a little office to go on the end next.
  12. Jon Fitness
    Decided to stick at 5 trusses, which I think gives a full enough look without being too crowded.

    I've included an internal picture of Waverton goods shed (LNW wooden built, near Chester) as a comparison.

    I think Steve likes a few lights in the buildings so some level of internal details is necessary.
    Hopefully it's now time to start the "pretty" bits. Slaters stone walling and embossed slates.
    I'll probably need some detaily bits from Invertrain(windows, doors, chimneys gutters etc., Duncan Models (wall mounted crane, people etc.) and 10 Commandments (sacks boxes pallets etc)to finish it off.
    I'll be taking it round to the layout to see if it fits where it's meant to so watch out for more pics soon.
  13. Jon Fitness

    Saltney, It fits!

    By Jon Fitness,

    Took the goods shed round to the layout to see if it would fit in the 'ole Steve marked out for it.
     




     
    As it seems to, and doesn't look too bad, it's time to take it off again! (Then go away and finish it..)
     
    While progress has been slow in my workshop, Steve's finished off his water tower and re-started laying track on the high level station.
     




  14. Jon Fitness
    The goods shed at “Slugworth†(not convinced that name’ll stick) is now just about finished and in position.
     
    I’ve built an internal crane from wooden coffee stirrers and assorted bits of brass from the scrap box, fitted gutters & downpipes, LED lights and the windows in the office.
     

     
    The roof and canopy have been painted and weathered but there are still ridge tiles to fit and quite a bit more internal detail to add.
     

     
    Steve’s now added the island platform to the GW station. It’s a bit longer than the one at Slugworth, a point I’ll have to remember when making up passenger trains in the station!
     

     
    Steve’s latest building is Mousey’s garage , tucked down the side of “Rillington Place†and is ready to repair a now engineless F series Vauxhall Victor. The building is scratchbuilt and fitted with a vehicle lift and lights it really looks the part.
     

     
    Wonder if he does bodywork there? You know what those F series were like for rusting!!
     
     
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