Model Railway Restoration - Painting the Viaduct and Retaining Walls and Point Mods

[woodenhead]

Is he of the Jim Smith-Wright school of modelling, looks like it, that is a seriously good 31 he has made from a RR version.

[Chris64B]

Great thanks for the link Jaggz!

 

Will sit down and read it with a glass of wine when the kids are up in bed!

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[Chris64B]

Hi everyone - time for a short update....

 

Progress has been a little slow this last month with a busy few weeks of work, coughs and colds, etc but evenings have been spent focused on lifting and re-laying trackwork across the layout. Not the most exciting job I'm afraid but necessary and after a few destructive weeks tearing things up and scraping off old ballast and underlay things are now looking a little better and most of the layout is functioning again but there's still plenty to do....

 

Made a start by lifting the track and scraping off the old balast that I wanted to replace - I even had a little helper for some of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaned up the yard too:

 

 

 

 

Then work switched to cutting and glueing cork, creating some new point motor holes and re-positioning the track. I'm about halfway round the 'main line' now:

 

 

 

 

 

I've been using the technique described here to cover the point motor holes with cork - works well.

 

 

 

Will be nice to start doing more 'constructive' things soon rather than just making a mess!

 

Cheers,

Chris

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chris64B
Edited to repair broken images

[Jaggzuk]

Will be nice to start doing more 'constructive' things soon rather than just making a mess!

 

 

I don't know, I think things are looking so much neater already and having got rid of the horribly decomposed peco foam underlay has made such a difference.

 

I know how you feel on progress, I lost three weeks progress with a chest infection back in Feb and it has knocked my momentum. It did not help that the whole family succomed to various bug and things at the same time.

 

Great to see the progress .

Edited March 9, 2016 by Jaggzuk

[Chris64B]

Thanks Jaggz! Yes that's always the way with the little ones getting ill.

 

The solution would be to take early retirement I think, oh I can dream!

[RJS1977]

Well done so far!

 

I've been working on a similar project myself (with the assistance of 2nd Reading Boys' Brigade). The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway asked me to rebuild a layout that had been in their store shed for years. The track all needed replacing and so did the scenery. Still a bit to do, but it was sufficiently advanced to make its debut at the Kenavon show last month:

 

 

 

No prizes for identifying the classic (model) road van visible in these photos!

[Chris64B]

Thanks RJS! Neat little layout and great that you got them all involved. I think modelling is a brilliant thing for young people to do, I got so much out of it when I was younger and have enjoyed it ever since in a variety of forms.

 

It covers so many bases too - creativity, practical skills, research, observation, attention to detail, patience, etc, etc - not to mention getting them away from the dreaded screens (he says tapping away on a tablet and browsing RMWeb!!)

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

Edited March 10, 2016 by Chris64B

[Chris64B]

Hi everyone, hope you are all managing to find some time for modelling over the Easter Holidays?

 

I've made a bit more progress, mainly focused on cork/track laying...

 

First up, the yard is now cleared, re-laid with cork and track temporarily placed:

 

 

 

 

And more cork has been added elsewhere (I've only got the upper 'branch line' to do now, but I'm planning to re-model this somewhat):

 

 

 

In other news, I've also had a go at a quick test plank to try out some rail colours and ballasting techniques...as you can see, from left to right I've tried Revel 84 enamel, Humbrol 29 acrylic spray (I'm not quite sure how this can be described as 'dark brown'?!), Humbrol 98 enamel and a Royal Langnickel 149 acrylic.

 

Colours out of direct sunlight:

 

 

And in direct sunlight:

 

 

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on the rail colours particularly....I won't say which I favour just yet!

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chris64B
Edited to repair broken images

[ess1uk]

I'd be tempted to do patches of all the colours and blend them myself, oily looking bits where locos stand at stations etc.

That's just my thoughts.

Ballast and track is all sorts of colours in reality from personal experience of trudging up and down the stuff.

[fishytrains]

I also think a mixture would work well.

 

Mike

[Chris64B]

I'd be tempted to do patches of all the colours and blend them myself, oily looking bits where locos stand at stations etc.

That's just my thoughts.

Ballast and track is all sorts of colours in reality from personal experience of trudging up and down the stuff.

 

 

I also think a mixture would work well.

 

Mike

Thanks both, I agree - I pondered for a while expecting that I'd settle on one of the colours for a 'base' but the more I thought about it I realised that they each have a place (with the exception of the Humbrol 29 which I think is way too sandy coloured). The Revel 84 would be perfect for sidings and less used lines, the Humbrol 98 for the mainlines maybe and the darkest Royal Lang colour for oily sidings and the tracks through the stations where the locos wait.

 

Just got to face up to painting it all now....

[LongRail]

have you looked at  Phoenix Precision Paints Track Dirt

[Chris64B]

Hi LongRail,

 

Thanks might try that one (and some of their other range) - I stuggled to find a picture of the colour online so just stuck with what I had in the cupboard or could get from the local model shop for now and I'm not sure I can get Phoenix paints locally - maybe it's best to order direct from their website? I notice they also have it as a spray which might be good for a light dusting on the sleepers and ballast once that's down.

Cheers,

Chris

[LongRail]

Chris,

 

Model.railway exhibitions can be a good source of modelling materials including paint, alternatively eBay is a good source.

[class"66"]

Layout coming along well my mate

[Chris64B]

Hi again everyone,

Sorry there hasn't been much to report recently - I've been making progress in the evenings, it's just not that exciting! I've been mostly....

...painting rails:


(I've found a nice blend and variation which changes around different parts of the layout, so I'm pretty happy how this is turning out and surprised what a difference it makes, even to unballasted track.)

...and gluing down track:

This technique, to use copydex on only a couple of sleepers across the length of the point or track length seems to work really well. Better than the first method I tried which was covering all the sleepers with glue. This fixed the track too firmly and allowed a lot more noise transmission through the baseboard. With only a few sleepers covered the point or length of track is held firmly but still has a degree of 'float' which makes a big difference on the noise front.

 

On the curves, I've had a go at making a slight camber/super-elevation on the track after reading several informative posts on here - I'm surprised how it looks so much more 'right'! I put together some thin strips of cereal box card and played around with different thicknesses until I was happy and the effect was obvious enough and reasonably to scale. This pic shows the most camber/super-elevation on this particular curve - some of the others have a layer or two less cardboard so the tilt of a train is a bit more subtle but still noticeable.

 

 

Finally, I've also had a practice ballasting with a copydex/water mix and some different grades of ballast on my test plank - see what you think...

 

Woodland Scenics fine grey:

 

 

Cheltenham Model Centre fine granite:

 

 

And my preference, a mix of the two - I think this helps to fill the gaps in the coarser granite ballast and give it a finer look overall:

 

 

A comparison shot of all three:

 

 

I'm thinking of using the 'mix' for the main lines and the Woodland Scenics fine grey in the yard, weathered as appropriate (which I'll play around with on my plank in due course!).

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chris64B
Edited to repair broken images

[LongRail]

Chris size of ballast in the second photo is too large for 00 guage bestbtomuse N guage ballast much closer to the correct size

[fishytrains]

Good to see the progress you are making. I like the camber idea,it works well. I agree with LongRail about the use of the finer N gauge ballast.

 

Mike

[class"66"]

Coming along realy well Chris..

 

 

thanks neil.

[Chris64B]

Hi again everyone - sorry it's been a while!

 

There hasn't been too much to say recently and nothing very 'visual' - I've been plodding on rail painting and fixing and nearly there with that, including adding some isolating sections in the yard sidings so we can stable locos a bit more easily.

 

I've bought a few trackside detail bits like the Peco dummy point motors, the excellent Ten Commandments cable trunking and some Wills relay cabinets and have been playing with them as a bit of a break....

 

I started by cutting off the little pips on the points - before:

 

 

...and after:

 

 

 

Then I played around with the position of the point motors and trunking (there are some helpful posts on this forum about this):

 

 

 

 

In the last photo above, I wasn't quite sure if the first two points into the yard should be controlled by these 'motors' or by manual levers - my thinking was that the first one controls access to the headshunt and in effect acts as a trap point to protect the main line and the second controls access to the short bay platform used for parcels, so it seemed sensible that these would be 'automated' but I can't pretend to know anything about this subject really so no idea if this would be in any way prototypical (the other points in the yard will all be manual levers/ground frames) - any advice welcome!

 

Then I got a bit carried away adding detail to the point motors but quite pleased how it brings them to life a bit more:

 

 

 

 

Then I had a go at painting the trucking and point motors:

 

 

 

 

...and lightly weathering the relay cabinets:

 

 

 

With the idea that it will all look something like this when stuck to the layout!

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chris64B
Edited to repair broken images

[Jaggzuk]

Love the point motors and cable troughing Chris.  They certainly create the right feel trackside.

 

Depending upon how picky you want to be, watch the distance from the cabinets to the nearest running rail.  Currently with your doors parallel to the track (I assume this from the last photo) you do not want track workers getting squished from passing trains when working inside them.  So for cabinets that have to be close to the track they will be set perpendicular to it.  See my last photo http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106602-family-8x4-oo-layout-signalling-and-track-ballasting/?p=2367370

 

Looking forward to the next update.

 

Paul

[LongRail]

Chris,

 

Where you have the concrete troughing terminating it won't connect via orange pipe.

There will be an (UTX) under track crossing with a manhole either side of the track which the troughing connects to.

You would not put a UTX under a set of points it would be under plain line.

 

Orange pipe is only used to connect an item of equipment back to a troughing route.

 

If orange pipe formed part of a continuous cable containment system and it was damaged then you would have to relay whole cable lengths.

[Chris64B]

Love the point motors and cable troughing Chris.  They certainly create the right feel trackside.

 

Depending upon how picky you want to be, watch the distance from the cabinets to the nearest running rail.  Currently with your doors parallel to the track (I assume this from the last photo) you do not want track workers getting squished from passing trains when working inside them.  So for cabinets that have to be close to the track they will be set perpendicular to it.  See my last photo http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106602-family-8x4-oo-layout-signalling-and-track-ballasting/?p=2367370

 

Looking forward to the next update.

 

Paul

 

Thanks Paul that's helpful - I'll aim to position the cabinets further away from the track in that case where there's a bit more space - safety first and all that!

 

EDIT - saying that, I've been checking out Dave F's fantastic photos thread for inspiration and I've found a few examples of cabinets pretty close and parallel to the rail - for example see here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-12th-july/?p=2299705

 

...and here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-12th-july/?p=1585617 (Image No C5231)

 

Do you think having them perpendicular is more recent practice perhaps? My layout is set in the 80s if that helps.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Chris64B

[Chris64B]

Chris,

 

Where you have the concrete troughing terminating it won't connect via orange pipe.

There will be an (UTX) under track crossing with a manhole either side of the track which the troughing connects to.

You would not put a UTX under a set of points it would be under plain line.

 

Orange pipe is only used to connect an item of equipment back to a troughing route.

 

If orange pipe formed part of a continuous cable containment system and it was damaged then you would have to relay whole cable lengths.

 

Thanks Gary, again, that's really helpful advice. I had planned to cross the track with an orange pipe to 'join' the troughs so I can change this before it's too late - do you happen to have any photos or links of what these UTXs and the manholes look like so I can have a go at making something?

Cheers,

Chris

Edited July 13, 2016 by Chris64B

[Chris64B]

Further to the above - this is how I'd planned to lay out the trunking and orange pipe:

 

 

 

...but as you say Gary, perhaps this isnt the correct use of the orange pipe?

 

If anyone has got any photos or links of what an under track crossing (UTX) and the manholes look like that would be great! Are they concrete? Or do they have a metal cover like one in a road? What would they have been like in the '80s?

 

Thanks, Chris

Edited October 23, 2023 by Chris64B
Edited to repair broken images