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richbrummitt

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  1. I visited Littlemore recently to take some photographs of the site as it is today and better understand the topography. Here are just some of the pictures I took to help with the layout, along with some explanation to help make sense of them. The site of the station itself is now occupied by a fabricators. Here is how the approach looks today from the road: and the approach itself: The station buildings are long gone. The road is carried on an overbridge, mostly built up over the line, hence the slope down behind the station buildings and into the narrow yard. The ground here is generally falling towards the south. There is a shallow cutting of about seven feet on the north side of the line. A very poor vantage point, but the best I could get of the bridge without trespassing on the railway. Looking east from the road overbridge the station platform was on the right with the buildings at the end of the platform about where the first brick building is in todays scene: It is not clear from early photographs published whether the platform continued under the bridge or not. Plans suggest that it stopped short. The goods yard was beyond and eventually consisted a loop and an additional single siding, plus a loading dock. There were two cranes but never a goods shed despite it being one of the busiest stations on the line excepting Thame. The line in this direction passes through to Princes Risborough. From the bridge looking west the line passes towards Kennington Jcn. and then on to Oxford. There was a siding running alongside the branch on the right hand side for the length of the platform, under the bridge and on the right of this picture about 500 yards in the distance would have been the sand quarry. This siding seems to have often been used for stabling additional traffic that could not fit into the yard at the time according to photographs around 1920, the time period I eventually intend to represent. The line here seems to exist only to serve as far as Morris Cowley, whether it still serves the motor works there I do not know. Viewing inside the curve, as I intend the layout to be exhibited, the backdrop is formed of the buildings of the asylum. These buildings have now been refurbished and added to, being turned into flats and other housing. The hospital having been re-established across the road in 1998. This is one of the main buildings. Another building that will feature is the engineers buildings, which were built into the wall surrounding the asylum grounds The wall bounds the railway on the south side and there are semi-detached houses on the north that the railway seems to have been fitted between. This makes it an excellent proposition for a model because the baseboards can be quite narrow and have a reasonable goods yard to operate. Unfortunately the wall is about as far back as I can depict in three dimensions and these buildings must necessarily be incorporated on the backscene. Within the goods yard there was a turntable that allowed access through the walls for delivery of fuel into the asylum. I found the now bricked opening just along a footpath that seems to be in the direction of the technology park. There are a good number of things I learned from the visit, not limited to the wall changing to brick at this point, which I would not have otherwise realised.
  2. Good to see some more progress. I've got to reserve judgement until colours can be seen in person because the camera always lies Watch the tubes don't get too hot. In a previous employment I've seen these Encapsulite Safety Sleeves recommended for this kind of application where broken glass is a problem. I've only actually seen and used the coloured ones though.
  3. I thought I might get this far by April! On the positive I meet the requirements for GJLC entry now - just need to sort a few track gremlins and produce some cassettes. Sshhh. No, it was the first chassis I got working well (4th time lucky). Here's a naked pic:
  4. I fixed the last of the wires yesterday evening. The layout has been electrically finished, but untested, for about a week. I just had to finish boxing up the controls and transformer. The controller is a Malcolm's Miniatures Pictroller housed in a Maplins box of appropriate size. This is the closest thing I could find to a Pentroller without the uncertainty of supply. The only major difference as a user is that the brake is not continuous - it has a pot to set and then the brake can be applied in three stages (roughly equated to some, more, and ooh eck!). The box is quite deep and suits my somewhat lengthy fingers quite nicely. The connection to the layout is from underneath. I had not used the controller prior to last night, and then only in direct control mode, so cannot really comment any further on it. The power supply is by a gaugemaster transformer that I have had in the draw for quite some time. Again housed in a Maplins project box. I have used one of the 16V~ outputs solely for the controller with a 1A self resetting trip and the other will provide the oomph for the uncoupling magnets and lighting (when I get that far) At the moment the lid remains off because I reckon it would get sweaty in there if used for very long. I'm going to find a small AC fan to put in the lid to keep things cool and power this directly from the second winding with the magnets and lighting. Aside from a few PW issues that I am already aware of, and some others that I am sure to be lurking still, I can play trains Here are a couple of (poor quality) videos of the trains so far: http://www.flickr.co...57594126202068/ http://www.flickr.co...57594126202068/
  5. I've lost count of how much I've spent on wire, and yes it looks almost exactly like last time you saw it. It is however fully wired up. Unanswered questions still include: Why does it all take so long; and is it possible to make it neat? Here's a gratuitous picture from the other end of the layout. I have used 3PDT switches (a 4PDT in one case) to allow the track to be double isolated unless the correct route is set. This should, in theory anyway, work just like insulated turnouts - only better. When I built a previous layout with live crossings using just a SPDT switch for the polarity I regularly ran into a short circuit. The idea for the arrangement as described is to remove this as a possibility! The catch points are operated by a SPDT switch which knocks the feed out to one rail so you have to change these too. The cross baseboard connection is permanent (the boards are permanently connected. I made four four core cables up with lengths of heatshrink. Two for these and one each for the PSU and controller connections. The latter are plugged into DIN sockets on the underside of the small central piece with the middle legs on. Hopefully it will still fold up correctly!? I haven't tried it out yet, but am looking forward to playing trains on my own layout. Then it will be back into the garden for further woodwork, basic landscaping and some initial colouring.
  6. There haven't been any entries recently and this is not due to a lack of progress. My main focus is on getting the wiring complete. This always takes me far longer than I would like, looks disorganised, costs too much, and generally fails to work quite as well as I hoped - hence there are no images to accompany this entry. Perhaps tomorrow will be a fruitful day and the TOUs (revision - I've lost count) will be installed and working and attention can turn to a pair of locomotive chassis that need finishing. I can then reply to Nigel with a definite yes for Oxford in two months time knowing that something can run. Maybe the weather will be nice and I will go to Didcot for the end of the 175 celebrations. That said I could always hold out for the 200 celebrations when I'm 53?
  7. I'm still struggling with the reality that you have gone from bare boards to quite complete looking in approximately two days - good work.
  8. Not yet but I did have a productive weekend wiring up track. All the dropper wires bar the vees and wing rails are now in place and soldered up. I used up some stranded wire that looked small enough without being silly with flexible insulation. The wire (pre-tinned) is passed through a hole drilled adjacent to the rail on the operator side. The wire is bent towards and then parallel with the rail, fluxed and then helod underneath the rail whilst the soldering iron (with a small pointy tip) is introduced to make the join. You don't have to be super quick, but prolonged heating will require a couple of localised fixes to the sleepering. Apologies for the latter photograph where the focus is beyond the intended subject matter. Once painted and ballasted I think these will go unnoticed. Work was also started on getting the switch blades operative. I really wish I'd made these another way using a jig, but I am where I have got to. A trip to the model shop for some telescoping brass sections turned up a Farish Macaw B. This is a model I have eyed for a little while, but had been told by the man on the Bachman stand at Ally Pally that there would be a delay in supply whilst they made some more . I only managed to source one, but it is a nice model that compares well with the kit built Macaw (from an earlier diagram) I have. A quick swap of the bogies to 2mm SA association ones is made easy because the bogie retaining pieces just pull off, although the holes need opening out in the etched bogie stretcher to fit the chuncks on the bottom of the Farish moulding. The pockets for the stanchions on the outside of the wagon are a little thick when compared directly, and the tie down rings are also different, but it is a very nice model. I intend to produce a load like that depicted early in Russels Freight Wagons and Loads... There was a timber yard/saw mill at Wheatley and I suppose that sawn timbers could have feasably been transported this way.
  9. The top looks a bit yellow (probably the lighting). My experience is that ballast is always darker once laid. I'd definitely try to go about re-colouring by flooding the ballast with watered down paint.
  10. Dean was especially inconsiderate in this respect with the mounting of his bogies. Thank you. I keep having to re-fix them sometimes after handling. They stick out further than the fixing area is tall. What I should have done (and may still do) is have the hanger bend under the footboard and flatten it well in some pliers. That would require a locomotive. Watch this space.
  11. I found it was easier to do shorter lengths. My rail is off a coil and I was cutting 2-3 44'6" scale lengths. Fully de-burring the rail is paramount to easy chair threading. You have to make sure to get them the right way around too! (The fat part goes to the outside, the more sloped part inside.) I cut them from the sprue first and bagged them according to type so that I could have just the few chairs I needed for each piece of rail at once. I found that the easiest way to thread was to hold the chair down with a small file or the butt of a pair of tweezers on the base of the chair behind the chair jaws. That way it is held quite securely and you can ease the rail gently through the chair jaws up to the holding tool. After that it is easy to slide the chair down by hand and thread the next one. Probably quicker to solder, if you aren't scared Sleepers with chair plates are the same depth so I am told. I quite like the look of Easitrac compared to my previous soldered track. Don't worry. If you don't ask you may never know.
  12. I have another like this with a 6 wheel u/f. I think the remainder have the later (relatively speaking) grab handles that form a continuous circuit and these will probably be easier to do. The side stanchions are well formed on the frets that I have assembled and went in with a small amount of force. I could foresee that maybe these could be bent during assembly and opening up slots in etches is not so easy. I hate building chassis because I struggle to align the outer overlays once they do not locate on the bearings and they always seem to take me ages unless they are simple like the swan neck linkage with one side brake blocks so maybe I am not the best person to ask. They are not beyond your reach though. I think I would rate it maybe a seven. There is a lot to do, but it's quite achievable. The thin foot boards on the right hand van have been re-attached more times than I can count so I'd recommend you fit the L shaped ones.
  13. richbrummitt

    Dry Run

    I recall a photo in Stephen Williams Branch Line Modelling books that shows the inside of an engine shed. The lower part of the walls was whitewashed.
  14. richbrummitt

    Dry Run

    I think leaving the pillars suggests a much larger shed, otherwise it might be assumed that only the near wall is cut away (like you are viewing with your back to it). At the present time I personally prefer the viewing from inside the shed. With it's small size it might be best described as a working diorama. The amount of detail that one day will be present inside will probably be more interesting than the wagon movements! If you haven't read them already (or even just looked at the pictures) the GWR goods services books I think would be indispensable source material for you, especially part 2A. (I haven't bought part 2B yet)
  15. I mentioned working on Masterclass brake vans in a much earlier post. The kits go together very well but then there are the handrails. I've been doing some other things to give me a break from bending and cutting wire before *ping* and it's out of the tweezers goodness knows where! I think you have become a seasoned model maker when you can make a valiant attempt to recover the small parts based on the sound of what they land on or against? I must have half a set of handrails in the carpet somewhere because it's often easier to start again. After about three evenings work the handrails are fitted to the first pair of vans. (It would have been much longer too if it were not for David Eveleigh's little wire bending etch and a couple of other 'jigs' that I knocked up along the way.) They are 20' variants and one has later style foot boards (from a refurbishment) The roofs are placed on for now because I still need to fit the brake standard and stove pipe. There are also many other details to add, but these aren't included on the etch so I can file the spares and scraps away and clear something else off the bench too. I have some later styles and also a 6 wheeler to do, at a later date. For now this pair allow me to finish of a couple of goods trains in a proper manner.
  16. Haha. That's the tidy bit. I daren't show you my workbenches (just out of shot to the left). Andy, I didn't represent bridge rail in the sidings. Firstly because it's not available despite the fact large quantities could be used to construct fencing and cattle pens! Secondly after reading through source material again I suspect most of the yard was laid/re-laid after the conversion to standard gauge. Something will move soon Missy (and you can guess what ). I've boxed the controller and started wiring in anticipation.
  17. Actually that's a lie because although last night saw the wagon turntable installed it is permanently fixed in line with the main siding. The outer slots are from when the turntable would have been broad gauge. Information that I have been able to locate suggests that the castings that formed the outer ring were hacked on site when the gauge conversion was made. The wood deck is removable for the moment to facilitate painting. It also requires the planking scribed in. The eagle eyed will notice that the crossing beyond has lost all it's rails. That is due to me deciding that they would not have been check rails in such a diamond and ripping them out. I need to re-fix just the running rails through in both directions. I'm still awaiting new raile supplies, but there are just the two sidings to finish laying now. I've sorted the wiring diagram (I think), and have started drilling for dropper wires.
  18. After a frustrating Easter weekend trying in vain to produce TOUs to any design that might have the necessary pre-requisites I eventually figured something out. This has allowed me to get on with track laying. I'm not convinced that Easitrac is any quicker than soldered construction. It is undoubtably easier if you are scared of a soldering iron and will probably have improved appearance compared with solder blob chairs. However I am in no doubt that Versaline is the current daddy where appearance is paramount. This insight into the hobby room shows the mess as it currently stands. The project has consumed a whole 10m coil of bullhead rail and you will see there are still some areas needing rail. (The sand siding on the near left hand side, and the remainder of the back siding onto the near board). The whole of the main line is laid so wagons can indeed roll. Wiring and a control panel are next on the agenda whilst I await a delivery of rail.
  19. I think there's a reasonable chance of a sensible offer it you were to place a 'For Sale' sign on it.
  20. 150 assorted hair clips, Rolson branded, from Maplins. About £2.99. I know them as R-clips from a teenage flirt with R/C cars. They are widely used for securing the thin lexan body shells. The cross drilled pins that they fit into were made on the lathe at work.
  21. I now have the legs complete with stays and locking pins and I've had a clearout to allow the 'layout' to be installed in it's displayed state within the hobby room for work on the track and scenics. All the legs have adjustable feet on now too to compensate for uneven floors and my inability to cut eight legs to precisely the same length! I fitted a lower brace to the outer legs, improving stability, that meant the cassette ends had to be shortened a little. This was carefully calculated though and will still allow for cassettes with trains (a bit) longer than the platform to be accomodated. The legs for the cassette ends have to hinge in their centre to allow them to pass through between the outer leg bracing. Pictures should make much more sense: I am pleased with how stable the leg stays have made the structure. They are retained by R clips. There is a second set inside the legs that the stays are pinned to when folded. This shows the folding of the cassette leg. It has a locking hinge where it joins the cassette end. These are neat but have some play and despite being stiff I wouldn't recommend them as the sole means of leg fixing/bracing for a whole layout. You can also get an idea of the quantity of door catches that have been used to pin everything together when folded. A hinge in the cassette end leg allows it to fit within the folded assembly. The hinge on the left has had the pin cut out and replaced by an R clip to lock the leg straight. There are still no parts that require removal for transport other than the R clips, which are re-used when folded. Electromagnets (seep) have been fitted to the track sub-bed being careful to ensure that if needed they can be replaced. The track sub-bed has in turn been fitted to the folding frame. Current efforts are focussed on switch operation so that track laying can commence. Getting this far seems like a major point has been reached, but it makes you realise how much further there is to get in the next three months.
  22. It's the gwr type. I'm just finishing off another one that will be cut in half because it is the stop for the carriage shoot in the end of the platform where machinery and horses could be loaded.
  23. Yes. This meant adding the plain chairs either side of the centre uprights before soldering to the stock rails. The other chairs where the rails is three+ rails width are slide chairs with the inner chair cut off and then slid under.
  24. I haven't given up! This evening I've put together one of the new range of buffer stops available from the 2mm SA. The etch folds in half to make up double thickness portions. A Z-fold makes the alignment of the three 'rail' portions to be joined quick easy. A choice of wood (represented by six thickness' of etch) or rail cross beams are supplied on the fret, but nothing looks quite as good as wood as wood itself. Using wood for the cross beam also solves the problem of isolating one rail from the other had the etched parts been used.
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