Milton Quay

[lash]

This was my last , or at least latest post , on my Portsea Town topic:

 

 

It is nearly four years ago that I started work on Portsea Town and I am pleased with what I have done and certainly learnt a lot and improved my skills but progress is very very slow and some of the modelling quite demanding given my skill levels . Like most people I have demands on my time as well ,work ,family, more work and of course other interests but there are other factors .

 

Portsea is six feet by one and solid plus fiddle yard at four feet , quite heavy and unwieldy and I have had nowhere I can work on it easily and not have to put it away . Later this year I will be sorting out an attic room which will give a brilliant space but I would like a quick and easy ( ha ha and how naïve) well easier ,and more easily handled .

 

So what I plan is putting Portsea on hold ( no change there and no plan needed ) and build a lighter smaller and simpler project .

 

So the idea is :

• Lightweight and transportable

• No more than six foot in total and individual boards no more than four feet long

• Quickish to build ( six months )

• Simple structures and landscape and not too much of it

• Simple electrics

• Southern around 1960

• An opportunity to run passenger, parcels and goods

I'll start a new topic soon

 

 

And this is the new project which I have called Milton Quay. Nice solid name and here are at least two Miltons in Hampshire .

 

I really do want to do things differently from Portsea so let's start with lightweight and transportable. I have built the main scenic board . It is 42 inches by 12 inches with a cut out for a quayside . The fiddle yard /traverser board will be 30 inches by 12 inches . So the boards are smaller but even more important they are /will be constructed from 5mm laminated foamboard and balsa .

 

The surface is a three thickness laminate and the sides end and cross members two thickness laminate . The top is then surfaced with cork sheet . Joints are reinforced by balsa strips from a cheap packet of off cuts , I used A1 sheets of foamboard which I found at £7 for two and used four  in total . Glue is no more nails type . Tools used were a Stanley knife ,steel rule and set squares and a razor saw for the balsa . It took a few hours to build , appears to be solid and true and cost about £20 all in and it is very very light . Time will tell if it twists or warps and how it wears but all looks good so far .

 

The light weight and compact size makes working on it very easy . So far then my first two objectives are being achieved and work is reasonably brisk by my standards 

 

[lash]

I am pleased to say while it is nearly three month since I posted the first and only entry on Milton Quay there has been some real progress and I might just reach my target of a working layout in June .

 

Track is laid ,Peco 100 with dead frogs for simplicity , and there has been some trial running with temporary wiring and all seems ok.

 

I have worked on a low relief station building kitbashed from Peco brick country station, canopies from Wills and a platform level signal box based on a Wills Saxby and Farmer kit .

 

I have made a composite lightweight platfrom from three layers of 5mm foamboaed and balsa .

 

Here are a few pics and I'll post some more details soon.

 

[sb67]

Looking good so far, how's the baseboard holding up? I have thought of making one from foamboard myself.

[lash]

Looking good so far, how's the baseboard holding up? I have thought of making one from foamboard myself.

Very solid so far and no warping .

 

I'll post some pics of the underside and structure.

 

The platform warped a little after the balsa surface went on but I didn't weight it and a little gentle persuasion has sorted it .

 

Had a quick look at your goods yard thread . Very nice and I will do it justice with a detailed read, lots of ideas there.

[lash]

Well it's another classic bank holiday Monday here in not so sunny Staffordshire , although the sky is showing a few hints of blue as I type this . Managed a walk round Trentham earlier before the rain arrived in buckets ,at least it wasn’t that lovely mixture of hail and sleet we had last week .

 

Fortunately my modelling mojo, like Westerham Adrian's, has turned up so I’m making good use of the time on various jobs including starting the fiddle yard board . More on later but in the mean time here are two pics of the main board .

 

The first shows my delightful assistant holding up the whole thing with one had to show how light it is , quote “ Richard will you just get on and take the ###### photo and stop telling me how light it is because I’m going to drop it “. Anyway the point is she couldn't have done that with a conventional board ,or at least not with out ending up with a wrist brace .

 

The second shows the construction with laminated cross bracing and balsa reinforcement. It looks quite rough but is apparently robust and it was my first try so a lot of trial and error ,with a strong emphasis on error .

 

 

[lash]

Oh the naive optimism of youth ,well 59 not 60 anyway.

 

Quote... working layout in June [2016]....

 

So that didn't happen and no surprise there, but what has really changed is that I have created clear, clean and workable space in my attic room for modelling and since the start of 2017 things have been progressing with Milton Quay . It makes a huge difference and I have been enjoying modelling .

 

I have been working on the quayside , buildings and odds and ends  including some Wills point rodding .

 

So here are some pictures of progress and who knows maybe a working layout before June 2017 . Note I appear to be having a fit of the blues and it looks like I will be running 50s 60s and 70s on the completed layout.

 

Next jobs are more of the same really 

 

[lash]

Fun evening wiring up the layout ,cleaning track and test running .

 

Mostly good after attention with a Peco track rubber and Trackmagic but one sticky point pretty clearly as a result of over liberal spraying with olive drab acrylic , working better by the end of the session .

 

I discovered a badly made  join with one rail riding over the rail joiner . Annoying and it had to come up which destroyed a point in the process ,easily replaced and with luck a trip to the Hobby Goblin in Burslem should produce the necessary new point tomorrow . Inevitably  I have four spare right hand points and no lefts which is what I need .

 

Notwithstanding a bit of frustration was good to see some movement on the layout while I testedrunning my two 08s, green and blue Bachmann and  Hornby

[lash]

Just about ready to relay part of the track which was damaged so hopefully more test running soon.

 

Exciting items purchase on the interweb have arrived the first being a set of bicycle spokes to be used in with electrical connection blocks in a simple and cheap point control system, I've seen it done and can't remember where but it looked effective so worthgiving it a try . Milton Quay is supposed to be a fun learning exercise not the perfect layout of a life time .

 

The second is some pre-cut lengths of perspex to make the surface of the fiddle yard board and stock cassette . I wanted something slippery ,reasonably light and pretty rigid so I'm going to give the idea a go . Here is what arrived so you can probably guess what is planned .

 

 

 

I thought perspex would be a neat and cheap solution ,it may yet be neat but it's not cheap. However if it works the board can be re-used with other layouts . The board and cassettes are 30 inches long so that is a two coach push pull train or other two coach unit or formation , a short parcels or goods train. 

 

More progress and pics soon I hope

 

[sb67]

Looking good so far. I'm interested in seeing how you use  bicycle spokes as point control, started building something myself and I need to sort out how to operate the points.

The fiddle yard is intriguing to, keep up the good work.

Steve. 

[lash]

A merry evening spent replacing points and relaying track followed by some test running which of course really means playing trains .

 

Next job is painting the new track while avoiding gumming it up and point control using bicycle spokes ,choc blocks, toilet rolls and sticky-back-plastic.

 

Here is some evidence of the fun

 

[lash]

I've managed to loose the hard steel wire I bought at the Stafford show for the connections from bicycle spoke to point crossbar , must be somewhere but frustrating .

 

Some progress tidying up wiring and sticking balsa reinforcement to the underside of the baseboard for the choc block to be screwed and glued to .

 

For the cognoscente here is a pic of the underside of the baseboard in all its lightweight, laminated , composite ( all  true )  and precision laser cut ( total lie hacked ans botched more like ) glory.

 

[westerhamstation]

Hi Lash, best way to find it, is to buy some replacement wire. you will find it then. All the best Adrian.

[lash]

Hi Lash, best way to find it, is to buy some replacement wire. you will find it then. All the best Adrian.

Sound advice as ever ........

[lash]

Well the missing wires never have turned up in spite of the acquisition of replacements . Hey ho put my tablet down somewhere last week and lost it for 5 days and found it by accident . I'm sure its nothing to do with age  .

 

So equipped with wire ,spokes and connector blocks and with hope in my heart I have set about installing point control .

 

A few problems . The wire flexed far too much to work as the  vertical part of the system and so I got the idea to sheath all except the business end which goes through the tie bar in a brass tube and then put a 90 degree bend in it like these 

 

 

That sorted the small connector blocks were too small to take spoke and sheathed wire through the same connector and not strong enough to use adjacent connectors without terrible twisting  , however the inside of a 30 amp connector works fine and so here are some picks of he installed system which is now working splendidly, and so here are some pics.

 

 

[lash]

One lesson learnt is that keeping electrics very simple and in particular relying on point blades for power delivery and connection is not reliable . So many in this forum have said so and I chose not to follow their advice . So all of you, you were right and I need some practice soldering to sort it out . So far so pretty awful and melted plastic sleepers but I will persevere with practice on a spare bit of track .

 

To distract myself from the joys of electrics and soldering I have put together my perspex topped foamboard and balsa composite slidey topped fiddle yard board . It went together as easily as the main board using no more nails type adhesive and is now just hardening up but was firm enough for some before and after pics.

 

[lash]

It’s been a while.

 

New house in the Isle of Wight has been distracting but it has a lovely actic over a big brick and tile garage so long term facilities are interesting .

 

In the last few weeks I have managed a little modelling , mainly rolling stock kits but my attention is now back on the layout .

 

I have been working on the dock and created a trough for some Woodland Scenics water effect stuff with Peco Landform plaster bandage , never used it before but very easy and not too messy.

 

That was yesterday ,this evening I have been working on the harbour mud . Using various artists acrylics I have built up the desired industrial look , sort of sticky gunge with a hint of oil spill and raw sewerage , watch out for this in next years Farrow and Ball catalogue it’s bound to catch on.

[westerhamstation]

Hi Lash, good to see you back posting. Don't slip over in all that mud it looks like the smell would linger for weeks. All the best Adrian.

[lash]

Had time for some modelling at last

 

Worked on the quay ,bollards ,a ladder and detritus in the mud

 

[sb67]

The quay looks great Lash, like the oil drum, sleeper and bike in the mud.

Steve.

[lash]

Thanks Steve ,it was inspired by the visual delights of the the tidal mud underneath Portsmouth Harbour Station. I was tempted to do a bit more but I suspect this is a case of less is more .

 

Next steps are touching up the paint and then a shallow pour of Woodland Scenics water stuff with some suitably nasty colouring . Think I’m going for tide just coming in look with the bike etc nearly submerged but not quite .

[westerhamstation]

Hi Lash, that is going to look brilliant with some water on top. All the best Adrian.

[rob D2]

Looks great . Esp with BR blue !

[lash]

Big moment just poured Woodland Scenics water stuff with murky colouring in a thin layer , hope it dries ok ,I rather liked the bare mud but hopefully some shallow water with the incoming tide will make it even better, tomorrow will tell when it’s all cured without the milky look and hopefully a suitably unpleasant shade to complement the mud .

 

Here are a couple of pics with the job just done, nice blue 08 too for those that like that sort of thing ( I seem to be more and more )

 

 

 

[westerhamstation]

Who chucked my bike in the water, blooming hooligans. All the best Adrian.

[lash]

Who chucked my bike in the water, blooming hooligans. All the best Adrian.

I did say it was inspired by the mud under Portsmouth Harbour station ,given the locality could have been anyone but someone walked home from the dockyard that evening .