ECC Wheal Imogen / Rosevean Station: the expansion

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

absolute maximum length of one rod

330 yards as far as I am aware.

[The Fatadder]

7 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

330 yards as far as I am aware.

Thanks, that was along the lines of what I expected, might need a bit of a rethink. 
 

So I would say it’s much more likely to be a mechanical point machine controlled by the Goonbarrow box, which would also control the signals (I’m assuming a signal cable could be a lot longer than a point rod?)

 

[St Enodoc]

Just now, The Fatadder said:

Thanks, that was along the lines of what I expected, might need a bit of a rethink. 
 

So I would say it’s much more likely to be a mechanical point machine controlled by the Goonbarrow box, which would also control the signals (I’m assuming a signal cable could be a lot longer than a point rod?)

 

Yes, signal cables could be well over 100 yards.

 

It could be an electrically-operated point, powered by a hand generator in the signal box but by your era a proper electric point motor would probably be more likely. Alternatively, a ground frame? Let's ask @5BarVT.

[The Fatadder]

23 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Yes, signal cables could be well over 100 yards.

 

It could be an electrically-operated point, powered by a hand generator in the signal box but by your era a proper electric point motor would probably be more likely. Alternatively, a ground frame? Let's ask @5BarVT.

that certainly makes sense, doesn’t help most of my knowledge of this sort of thing developed for Brent…. Given the semaphore signalling and point rodding at Goonbarrow the concepts would be similar.  

[The Fatadder]

For the layout extension I want to make use of the last clay works building that was left over from my old Blackcombe Torr layout, (this will mean that once the extension is built pretty much everything from my first exhibition layout will have been rebuilt and repurposed as part of Wheal Imogen.)

 

This building is based on a structure at Goonbarrow, and has been in storage in the loft since Blackcombe was dismantled several years ago.  During that time it has suffered somewhat, with damage to the roof and ladders (with a side platform completely missing).

 

Looking at it closer something doesnt look quite right with the proportions of the building on the left in particular looking wrong (with too much of a gap in the middle between the two sets of windows.  I have separated the two halves of the model, to start investigating exactly how I am going to manage this, my thinking is to cut an inch, maybe two inches off the bottom, before redoing the windows (finally adding the missing window frames).

 

Other work will include scribing on the missing panel gaps, adding the contrasting perspex panels, gutters / lamps etc and of course some weathering.  It will also need a new roof and replacements for the missing platform and ladders.   I will be replacing all of the pipework for the two tanks with new 3d prints (along with adding the missing valves etc.)

 

The first step however will be returning to photos of the prototype at Goonbarrow to confirm the height of the main building.

Edited March 27 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

After shortening the left hand half of the building by 35mm, I think this gives a better proportion between the two halves.  I don’t know what the max single span ladder height would be under 1990s H&S rules, but comparing a CDA with the photo of the real thing along side a real CDA I think it’s getting there.  I may need to take maybe 10mm off the bottom of this side, but I’m half tempted to wait until I can see it on a baseboard before making the cut.  
At any rate something needs adjusting on the RH half as it’s not sitting flat anymore!

[The Fatadder]

After a bit of work this evening here is the left hand half of the building.

Window frames added, shortened the height of the metal sheeting in the right half, new shorter grill, window sills added, first weathering coat distressing the rendered finish, sliding door shifted to the end and a new exit door added to the front. 
 

it still needs gutters adding and a new roof. it will also need the windows weathering with a ton of clay dust 

 

 Moving on, I’ve started repairing the main structure of the other part of the building with the first two joints currently drying. 

[The Fatadder]

Next some work on the other side of the building, the raised area for the two tanks has been removed (the joint with the building had bowed upwards) and won’t be refitted until the building is in situ on the layout.

 

windows have been added along with another door, I decided to reduce the number of windows vs the original build as one was located pretty much where I wanted the ladder to go.   This was replaced using leftover evergreen sheet from the original build 16 years ago!

more leftover sheet was used for a repair where the original middle platform had broken off and for the end (where there was a big gap due to the lower second building).

a new platform and I beam support was added from plasticard, which of course still needs ladders and barriers adding (after painting).  The final job for now was to scribe on the panel lines in advance of painting and detailing.

 

As with the other building I want to rebuild the roof with a contrasting material (more rounded), though I still need to find something suitable.

 

its a big and imposing structure, the aim is to have quite a contrast between this and the more rural scene the other side do the tracks.

moving onto a new loco project, earlier in the week @Southwich directed me towards a cheap 2022 Kernow 37 body missing its ends.  Annoyingly it was a split box (given I have spares for a centre box) but I put in an opportunistic best offer and moments later owned another 37 project…

 

the intention is to use parts from my current 37057 to build an upgraded model.   Given the price I paid I’m not too worried about recovery of the old body which will be providing the nrn pod, plates, along with windscreens and roof grill for 902.

 

the model was stripped last night and rebuilt this morning.  Work included fitting the roof pod, plating over the boiler port (I used some half etched stainless from my scrap box and my rivet press to add the detail).   On my original 057 I had to fill a bodyside cutaway step on one sides tumblehome, on this one I needed to do the opposite and cut out the step on the other side!

 

it’s now primed and drying ready for a coat of EWS gold tomorrow weather permitting 

[The Fatadder]

Some successful spraying this afternoon, with 37057 now in ews gold and the GWT motorail van resprayed in a different (more accurate) shade of blue. 

the latter needs a bit of cleaning up along masking lines before I move on to the ends / roof masking.  I also need to touch in the curved corners to the white panel by hand.  A job I’d be doing now if I hadn’t left the paint in the garage!

[The Fatadder]

A little update on 37057, 

I managed to get out between the showers and spray the EWS red on the model over lunch today, annoyingly the Tamiya masking tape has been a bit of a failure leaving an imperfect edge.  So yesterday evening I set to work trying to save it, touching up a couple of the impacted areas by hand to deal with the bigger marks.   This was followed by taking a length of Tamiya tape and cutting along the centre line with a fresh scalpel blade, masking the damaged areas of the stripe and again cutting in with a 0000 brush.   Looking at the end result I think its done the job, (or at least based on past performance I think it will have once it has been given a coat of varnish to blend everything together.)  But before I can do that I need to order some transfers from Railtec

 

 

Edited April 3 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Yet more rework on 37057 this evening, followed by a coat of satin varnish to successfully blend it all together.  I am finding the EWS red is very easy to scratch (I’m assuming either I got the paint mix wrong or it’s too old paint). Either way it’s looking good now.  This was followed by fitting the nameplates (Extreme Etchings removed from the old body),  picking out the handrails in silver and the windscreen grommets in black.

 

I have now ordered the transfers for the numbers/ logos with the usual Railtec custom offering.  Thanks to @railtec-models for spotting the typo in my requested loco and letting me know so I didn’t end up with 37056!  I already have the Railtec OHLE and lower reflective stripe.

 

Next up work moved to the ends, the previous model was (too) heavily weathered to hide the mistake with the lower reflective stripe.  So the noses needed the majority of the weathering removing.  A cotton bud in IPA did the job nicely, leaving a little dirt around the detail.  For 1999 the roof and chassis were dirty but the side / ends were pretty clean. 

 

the final job this evening was to paint the black bars on the cab side windows in EWS red.  I have cheated a little here and used Vallejo burnt red, it’s pretty close to EWS red after a coat of clear and avoids the risk of damaging the glass (as the acrylic paint will just rub off the glazing)

 

 

[The Fatadder]

The current state of 37057 after a fair bit of time yesterday evening applying transfers for the OHLE stripe, bottom yellow stripe and the OHLE flashes.  Once the new transfers arrive for the numbers / EW&S logos it will be finished off in the week and can be reassembled.   

Edited April 6 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

finally got my new display case on the wall (all be it missing its door which needs regluing before it can be reattached)

 

nice to get a lot of the stock that’s either not dcc fitted (steam) or not period correct for Wheal Imogen.   

Edited April 6 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Today I received a delivery from British Finescale with the point kits for the Wheal Imogen extension, I had planned on saving these until Grange & Hodder deliver the baseboard.  But as the buildings require more materials before I can finish them off, working on track is the next best thing...

 

The first issue is the template, you need to print an A3 template of the point to assist with construction.  In particular this is critical for measuring things like the closure rails, and for getting other bits in the right position.  As I havent had an opportunity to print the template for the double slip, the plan was to build the RH B7 for which I already had a print out to hand.   Annoyingly checking the dimensions it appears that when my wife printed the template for me last year she didnt print it at 100% so it has stretched the image by about 5mm in the x axis (but almost correct in the y axis).   Back at the 2023 Swindon exhibition I built the point for the initial Wheal Imogen board at which I forgot this print out, instead using an ipad with the pdf scaled to fit.

 

A couple of hours later I have the first point ready to lay.  I did have one issue this time which I didnt experience on my first build last year, where the straight stock rail was not straight across the switch.  A little investigation showed that the stock rail was fouling on the tie bar (which was not moving freely).  I had noticed there was a some flash on the sleeper base which had not been present on my last purchase  (all of which was on the bottom and would be hidden by ballast), along with a lot of flash on the tiebar (which had been tidied up before fitting). A quick check with callipers showed the gap for the tie bar was almost 0.2mm too narrow, the solution being a combination of filing out the slot and thinning the tie bar.  Checking again afterwards not only was the tiebar now moving freely, but the stock rail was now straight.  Looking at the double slip the tie bars look to be in much better condition so hopefully it wont have the same issue.   I know I could have just sent the imperfect parts back and asked for a replacement, but as ever if I can fix something myself its a lot easier than sending something back for replacement....

 

This point now just needs the switch blades soldering to the tie bar and gluing the odd chair to secure the rail.  All of which can wait until the slip is built tomorrow...

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

The next step on 37057, which has now been fitted with custom Railtec transfers for the EW&S logos and numbers.  It just needs varnishing before it will be ready for reassembly.

 

 

 work on the double slip has now halted as there was an issue with the baseplate (British Finescale have been excellent in their resolution of this, but I need to wait for a replacement part before doing more work on it).  I had confirmation today that Grainge and Hodder have dispatched the baseboard kit and I should receive it early in the week.   The plan is to temporarily fit it up to the existing board to mark up the alignments, before getting the templot plan glued down. 

in the mean time I picked up a non running Hornby 153 from the classifieds.  The plan is to finish it as 153328 in the condition running as half a 150.   To this I needed to be able to properly control the lights, meaning they need converting from Hornby’s common negative to the standard dcc common positive.  For this I will junk the Hornby pcb and replace with my own board.   The lighting units are modified cutting across the centre as indicated in red, to brake the common negative.  Then soldering on a replacement wire (shown in white) and joining together the two positives.  This means the existing wiring from the cab at the dummy bogie end can be used to connect to the circuit board at the other end.

before refitting the lighting boards a dab of translucent orange paint was applied to tone down the overly  bright white lights.    I will also be fitting working cdl lights (so it will now need a 6 function decoder to work it all. Longer term I now plan to do the same modifications to my other 153 which will enable me to run 153s as a single, a pair or with the 158.  (The Bachmann 150 also has odd wiring and if I recall correctly is not possible to isolate the tail lights)

[The Fatadder]

Finally got round to showing the prospective names for the layout to no1 daughter.  So the station has now got a name, Rosevean, the real place located a little south of the line between Roche and Luxulyan.

 

 

[The Fatadder]

I had a delivery from Grange and Hodder waiting for me at lunchtime today containing the core of the baseboard for Rosevean, naturally i couldnt resist getting stuck in and building it (who needs to eat!)

 

Once the basic board was dry two additional cross braces needed fitting, so after taking approximate dimensions from the Wheal Imogen board templates were placed in position to check the tiebars were not overlapping any obstructions.   This required the removal of one arm of the cross member (hence the slightly odd arrangement in the below photo)

Its good to start to see how its all going to look, I am still a little unsure as to whether I will use the whole of the larger building or if I will use the smaller half and extend the rural scenery a little further.    One area that will need a little more thought is going to be the scenic exit  (more specifically how to hide it), given it will cut through the middle of the platform.  I am reluctant to add another bridge but it may end up being the only way.  It would at least give a set of stairs down to the platform (along the lines of another station on the branch).  

My original plan had been to have the track running past the end of the platform, this would have given enough space to fit a house (or at least part of a house) on the far end as a scenic brake).    This would have required adding an extra 12 inches or so to the baseboard, which would have made transport more difficult (as well as preventing setting the board up in the study.     If I do end up going for the  bridge approach to the scenic brake, I am tempted to build it on the fixed section of the fiddleyard rather than the scenic board (maximising the platform length).   Either way I will give it some more thought as the construction progresses, in particular to see what alternative approaches to hide the hole in the wall / abrupt end of the platform. 

 

I still need to buy some sheet ply from which I will add the backscene and build up the open frame section (100mm deep) that will fit to the front of the board where the river will be located.  This will then be filled with foam insulation profiled to the terrain (which hopefully will prevent leaks a bit better than last time!)    I've yet to mention to the wife that I will be needing to do another water pour on the kitchen floor.....   Sorting out some legs will also be a priority so I can get the two scenic boards set up together and get the track across the joint marked out.

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

A little more work on the cement rake, all of which have now had the repairs finished (mostly adding replacement handrails).  Along with fitting new couplings.

 

the bigger job was to remove all the printed numbers and replace with a set of Railtec transfers. 
 

Eventually I want to add another 4 or 5 wagons, but with the planned fiddleyard extension I should be able to add a cargowaggon onto the rear.

 

[The Fatadder]

A couple of other projects on the bench this evening.

 

first up 37057 has now been fitted with its glazing and will soon be reattached to its chassis.   This uses a detailed last gen chassis which has a broken frame with one bufferbeam not attached to the block.  This causes issues when you can’t screw it in place, for which my planned solution is to just glue it directly to the end.  

 

next up the 153,

Annoyingly this is a Hornby special with incorrect colours on the Regional Railways logos. Removing them left a mark in the paint which has been touched in with Phoenix Rail Grey which is a pretty close match.
 

I have also cut off the CDL lights ready for fitting working lights, and removed the moulded on handrails. I haven’t got any Regional Railways transfers so this will be stuck until I next need enough to place a Railtec order.

 

 Now to start on the wiring…

[The Fatadder]

A little more progress before work this morning on both the 153 and the 37.

 

37057 has now been fitted with its ends, and is now complete ready for weathering.    Looking at period photos the sides were pretty clean while the roof was filthy, so should be an interesting one to model.

 

On the 153 the cdl lights have now been fitted, and the rest of the wiring is now in place.  Of course it now needs a 5 function decoder so it’s going to have to wait (DCC Concepts do a suitable wired 6 function chip).  The model now needs transfers, new ploughs and a missing step adding on one side.   I will also try to do something to sort out the visible wiring through the window nearest to the motor.   It will also need a modified magnetic coupling adding along the lines of that in my other 153 in order to work with its partner half 150.   I’m still in two minds as to what to do with the latter as to whether or not to make it unpowered / a full interior.  

[The Fatadder]

A trio of repainted 2022 Bachmann 37s in EWS livery.  I now need to do some work on my last gen 37670 (with rebuilt windows) to get it fully to standard.  It needs a pair of my 3d printed one piece headcode boxes adding (along with respraying the noses.)

[The Fatadder]

A little bit of Seacow weathering this evening, finally sorting one of the last few unweathered rakes on the layout.   This uses the Bachmann and Hornby models with their original numbers (there are another ten awaiting renumbering before weathering).  Of the others several need partial repainting, either adding a black solbar or narrowing the yellow stripe on the Bachmann examples, along with a Hornby that will be converted to a stingray and finished in transrail all over grey.

 

the set of 5 also has a choice of Shark (again with the EWS example awaiting transfers).    Eventually the plan once the whole rake is finished there will be two outer wagons and pick a random 3 inners from the rest of the box.

 

Come to think of it, looking at the above I think I really need to extend the Newquay fiddleyard to match the length of the Par one allowing a 4ft train.

[The Fatadder]

The next seacow has now reached the workbench, this one had been partially graffitied (I can’t tell if they didn’t finish the job or it was partially cleaned off).  It also has a white on clear tops panel (yet to be added) and a grey solbar (I used Phoenix Silver Grey which was a pretty close match for the RTR grey) 

 

the printed tops panel and the dodgy H&S logos were removed before painting the solbar and graffiti, along with back dating the ohle flashes to match the photo and adding Mainline logos.   It now goes back in the box until I get on with the transfers.

 

the Seacow branding on the prototype was pretty faded out, so I’ve removed the top coat of the black which seems to have done the job.

 

looking again at the prototype all of the wagons need some rework on the chutes to add more white to the mix.

 

the next wagon in the list needs the yellow removing completely which is going to be a bit more involved.  Given the make up of the ends I’m reluctant to just dunk in ipa…

[The Fatadder]

This evening I’ve been looking at the remaining (lots) of Seacows that are awaiting work.  
 

The Hornby ones are pretty straight forward, a case of remove the old numbers, add new ones and in a few cases add Mainline logos then weather.   It’s just the plain grey Transrail that needs more work.  I tried sanding back the edge of the yellow to blend in before spraying grey, but the old stripe is still visible.  Now trying to strip just the side…..

Once painted this needs the electric lighting bits adding.

 

On the Bachmann model I haven’t found any photos matching the Bachmann release of 982483.   All those I’ve found with the deep yellow band have a black solbar so this needs repainting.  1 and a half of which are now done, with 3 yet to be started.   2 of these will need the sides and repainting to get a narrow yellow band (for this my plan is to try @James Makin‘s approach of removing the excess yellow with a knife.

one will need the lighting bits adding 

 

Most of the models also need the cut out on one side enlarging, and of course they all need new identities and weathering 

 

edit:  finally found a photo of 982473(the Bachman base model) which shows they got it wrong!  It should have a grey stripe on the yellow, and lights / box / end wiring 

 

another job to do…

Edited Sunday at 23:30 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

More Seacow work….

 

I am now up to 4.5 out of 6 Bachmann models with the underframe repainted. The yellow stripe on the 6th is proving a pain to remove.  However the wagon I’m modelling is in such a state hopefully it won’t matter too much.  
 

im working from a 1998 Tim Horn photo of 982684 on flickr

I can’t decide if the top is very faded yellow or grey and would welcome feedback.   Of course as a YGH I need to add the vacuum bits….

 

 

this was originally kept as the Bachmann number and weathered, now it’s awaiting  new number as 982808.  I only had the red triangle logo so I’ve repainted to black, the prototype photo (another of Tims from 2006) had a black rectangle where the Transrail logo is of about the same size and typical of where EWS painted out the old logos so I’ve assumed it still present in 99 for interest.

 

Transrail Stingray repainted from the Hornby welded seacow based on a Tim Rodger’s 1999 photo on Flickr.

 

  Steps have been removed for refitting in a more prototypical location.  Still needs the lights/cabinet/cables along with its new number and other transfers 

 

Bachmann 982473 based on an undated Tom Smith photo on Flickr, also still needs the lights/cabinet/cables.  Hopefully planning to get on with making them this evening to complete it so I can get on with the rest of the weathering. 

 

edit:  just checked some photos again, now realised it’s 3 seacow with lights and one stingray….   Which is actually pretty handy for splitting the available wagons into two sets, one fully fitted with lights and the other without 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by The Fatadder