ECC Wheal Imogen / Rosevean Station: the expansion

[The Fatadder]

I make no apologies for using this photo anthird time, particularly if it results in more people attending the Pendon courses.

 

The part of the diorama I produced that I am least happy with is the bushes at the back on the left hand side, I do think that the technique has real potential for the left hand track exit, with thick bushes to the same technique (just more random in shape and better coloured) will provide a very good scenic brake.

 

The grey of the farm track will also be very useful, while the flockit will be invaluable when it arrives. I should have bought it yesterday!

[The Fatadder]

More stock for the layout arrived today, with the purchase of a Bachmann Polybulk. With the exception of the bogies (which are a little crude), the model is fantastic. It was also a very pleasent supprise to see that it includes a pair of screw couplings (cosmetic, but the hooks will work fine).

The first job was to do something about those bogies, removing about half a mm from each side to allow clearance to get the wheels in.

It will need a lot more weathering eventually, hopefully another in early 80s condition will also be added at some point....

 

I think I have found a use for my diorama from the Pendon course, just need to replace the lane with some track.

 

Edited November 6, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Finally making a start on layout construction, I have dug out a 4ft by 2ft baseboard as a starting point (I am still undecided as to the final length…)

The baseboard is somewhat over engineered (4 by 1 frame and 12mm ply deck), so I am looking to lighten it (drilling 1 inch holes along the cross beams) and reshape to make the layout look less like a large rectangle! As such I am looking to angle the backscene, the first photo shows the templates roughly placed onto the board as per my original plan, while the second is a first attempt at adjusting the angle. I think the latter needs further work (purely because right now the next sets of points for the run around loop (off scene but a potential expansion) would clash with the Newquay branch at the front of the layout!

 

The other major modification needed to the baseboard will be chopping out the front section to provide clearance for the river and to allow for the gradient of the branch. If the baby sleeps well this afternoon I will hopefully start cutting the board, at which point track building can start.

 

I have enough Exactoscale Fastrack to lay the straight track (once I remember where Ive put it), while the inset track will be built on copper clad sleepers. Out of interest are there any alternative’s to C&L for full thickness copper clad sleeper strip?

Vees and switch rails are Exactoscale parts recovered from Blackcombe (which is now in the process of being ripped apart given it will never be resurrected)

 

As part of the planning last night I also placed the buildings into position. I’m not 100% on the right hand building, it rather dominates the scene. One potential solution is to add another structure to the foreground. Its not exactly prototypical (certainly there are photos of a similar scene at a couple of locations), and if considered as part of a larger layout it wouldn’t look out of place. My concern is that its just too big in a small space.

One alternative structure is the nearest building to the entrance of Ponts Mill, perpendicular to the dries with a large overall roof (intended for loading vans with bagged clay). Possibly a hybrid modifying the current building with a covered loading area (in front of the rendered half) might be a third option.

 

The bigger issue with the large building is what to do with the scenic break, the original plan for a bridge just will not work (it would need a bigger gap between it and the building). This takes me back to either looking at the 5ft option, replacing the building or finding an alternative scenic brake. One option to mock up will be adding a small office block between the yard and branch at the right hand side, along with the trees in the immediate foreground should provide an adequate block. Option two will be reverting to the smaller building and enabling the bridge to fit.

Either way I don’t think my original idea of going for a mainline railway bridge works any more, given that more and more my logic is that I will set the branch along the Newquay branch. (Mostly because it gives some good photo opportunities for Virgin XC / GWT summer services along with through clay trains.)

Edited November 10, 2017 by The Fatadder

[Siberian Snooper]

Have you tried SMP, Scaleway , Markway. They are one and the same. They have copper clad sleepers and timbering.

[The Fatadder]

Thanks, will have a look at SMP and see what they have.

 

The baseboard is now almost ready, I just need to buy some material for the facia and backscene (3mm ply or maybe foam board). I want to try and minimise weight... I’m also thinking of drilling a series of 1inch holes in the rear spar and the ribs to lighten, although I’m unsure in softwood how much this will weaken the timber.

 

The two new half’s of the rear spar need to be fastened to the rib with some small brackets. (A job for this evening. Plus I still need to work out the incline and river. The problem is that I can’t unscrew the ply (screws are covered in glue). Which makes cutting the trench for the river difficult!)

One option is using underlay for the yard area (raising the height by 5mm or so) and having a high water level so the 5mm depth is adequate, while for the branch raising the height through additional material.

 

Tonight I will glue the templates into their final positions ready for track building to commence.

[Siberian Snooper]

Holes through the centre of a beam will not weaken it as long as it's full section at loading points, i.e. in the area where the legs are, and there is 25% of the thickness left top and bottom.

 

Article trailers are usually manufactured from RSJ. half the depth of the final depth, the beam is cut in a zig zag and then the two bits welded together on the high points and blanks welded in the holes where the axles and the fifth wheel is, as they're the load bearing areas. Twice the strength and nearly half the weight and material.

[The Fatadder]

With metal I would be quite happy, probably even have the old engineering textbooks in the roof with different tolerances for different thicknesses.

 

My concern is that doing the same in softwood would mean the wood looses too much of its strength, and hence increases the risk of warping. I think the only times I’ve seen this done with timber is when plywood is used.

[Siberian Snooper]

With metal I would be quite happy, probably even have the old engineering textbooks in the roof with different tolerances for different thicknesses.

My concern is that doing the same in softwood would mean the wood looses too much of its strength, and hence increases the risk of warping. I think the only times I’ve seen this done with timber is when plywood is used.

If all else fails, suck it and see, it's not as if you're likely to sit or stand on the layout, but are you likely to save much weight, by drilling a few holes unless they are quite large. I normally drill 20 mm holes for cables through 50 x 25 nominal timber with no problems.

[St Enodoc]

Have you tried SMP, Scaleway , Markway. They are one and the same. They have copper clad sleepers and timbering.

They make copperclad in different thicknesses, 1.2 mm or 1.6 mm.

[The Fatadder]

Thanks, I think I will get some 1.6mm strip ordered in the morning. It will also give me enough left over to finish of the last 4 points required to build a Kingsbridge branch fiddleyard for Brent...

This evening I have been playing with the finished baseboard to finalise the track plan. Using a base of high density foam insulation (left over from installing the wood flooring in the house) I have covered the area of the yard.
This gives a 7mm depth from surface to river bed. My intention is to follow the practice at Ponts Mill and have a wall the length of the works down to the stream's bed. On the other side the embankment for the Newquay branch will blend into the stream. I plan for it to be about 2 ft in length (eventually curving under the branch.

The latter still needs to be formed, I am thinking of an incline of about half an inch over 4ft (with a start point about half an inch above the works). My thinking is using left over material from the back scene to form the base (using offcuts of ply to form the gradient, then using insulation foam to form the embankments either side (including the river bank.)

 

For the river I will be using Woodland Scenics water, which needs to be done at the same time that I do the river on Brent to ensure it doesn't go off between the two.  While Brent's river will be much deeper, the plan here is to go for a small about of texture on the ply baseboard (along with some small stones) then 1mm of the "realistic water", aiming to get something similar to this at Ponts Mill http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2425364

Edited November 11, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

If all else fails, suck it and see, it's not as if you're likely to sit or stand on the layout, but are you likely to save much weight, by drilling a few holes unless they are quite large. I normally drill 20 mm holes for cables through 50 x 25 nominal timber with no problems.

I’ve been thinking some more, rapidly coming to the conclusion that to make a material difference to the weight you’d need to be talking a diameter of 2 inches, leaving a 1 inch clearance top and bottom (and 2 inches between holes).

 

I think given the poor quality (diy store) timber, the risk of warping is too high so I will leave it as is.

[The Fatadder]

Ive had some difficulties gluing the track plan into position today. I usually use a solvent based spray glue to stick these down, however after testing on an off cut I found the glue melted the green foam. Instead I had to use PVA, which has caused a lot of issues with the paper templates. ​(I know that I should have printed on card which would have worked a lot better!)​ I think the solution is to build the points off board on a clean set of templates.

 

The branch has been added, using layers of hardboard screwed to the ply baseboard to build up the height, followed by a final layer of the foam insulation (which will be profiled to match the ballast profile). More foam has been used either side of this to add the hill / river bank. The core of the bridge has also been incorporated, which will have the sides adding at a later date.

 

There are still two areas I am very undecided on. The first is the layouts length, I am once again giving thought as to whether I should be looking at adding another foot of length (possibly two feet). I keep looking at the layout and thinking that more is needed to frame the scene. Maybe adding the backscene and facia panel might help get a better idea as to how it looks. Of course there is always a backup option that should I get back into the swing of exhibiting, I would certainly be looking to double the layouts length.

 

The other issue is the right hand rear building dominating the scene. Again it comes back to the length issue, if I make it longer I wouldn't want the bridge at 4ft and the building could sit further away from the dries. if I stick to 4ft I think its too much building and not enough gap, in which case I think a building about a third of the length + the bridge would look better

Edited November 11, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

I’ve had another look at the layout, I’m now decided that the current building is just too big. I do have another Blackcombe building which I could go with, or building something else. I will probably be going with the bridge, but want to mock up alternatives first

 

The hard bit is obscuring the branch exit point at both ends given how close the track is to the front of the board. The bridge makes it easy, but at a cost to expansion...

one consideration at the moment is to add 3 inches of foam to the front, this would give depth to play with trees. The alternative is using the facia panel, starting circa 2 inches before the baseboard end to hide the hole.

[Siberian Snooper]

Your layout appears to be on the floor, what does it look like if you bring it up to nearer the level that you will be exhibiting at? Your perception will change the nearer to eye level the layout is.

[The Fatadder]

Your layout appears to be on the floor, what does it look like if you bring it up to nearer the level that you will be exhibiting at? Your perception will change the nearer to eye level the layout is.

 

Now thats a thought, I think next weekends task must be to build a pair of legs for it! 

[The Fatadder]

Tonight's work has focused on preparing the ground works, adding a coat of polyfiller to the foam embankments. This will be further refined with a coat of plaster (mixed with brown paint) to really blend it all in.

 

Once that is finished I have two more tasks to finish before switching attention back to Brent, get the legs built and build the sides to the rail bridge over the river.

 

I want to get all of the messy tasks out of the way before I start work on track building, and that means sorting the river as well as the plaster work.

As previously mentioned I don't want to do the river until I can do the more important river for Brent. So once I have those next two jobs done, I need to get the terrain forming and plaster work done on Brent (along with installing the Avon bridge).

Edited November 12, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Another loco for the 1998 period, just needing the airbrush elements of the weathering and a set of depot plates

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20116-47338-railfreight-distribution/

 

[The Fatadder]

A little more work on rolling stock before I get back out into the garage at the weekend to work on the actual layout

 

A conversion of a pair of TTA into a TDA slurry tank

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20136-ecc-tda-slurry-tank

 

Along with fitting more detailed windows to the Bachmann 150 which will be running on the branchline.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20133-class-150-improvements/

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by The Fatadder

[Gordon A]

For sticking templates down I use the Silver Prit Stick.

 

Gordon A

[The Fatadder]

A start on the next wagon, a cargowaggon twin set from Jon Hall

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20147-cargowaggon-twin/

 

Should be useful for working out the extent of covered loading to provide when I look to improving the buildings, as this will be by far the longest van on the layout.

 

One thing I’ve found interesting with this build is how the past 5 years of modelling steam has changed my approach, a lot of parts that I have glued on in the past are now being soldered in place.

Edited November 24, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

While playing with the silhouette cutter to start the station building for Brent last night, I also ran off the basic parts for the river bridge on Wheal Imogen.

Starting from the 20 thou centre I added ribs from 30 by 40 thou Evergreen strip before punching out the rivet detail around the inside of each panel with a centre punch. The base is engraved with markers to aid in the locations for the ribs, I should really have done the same for the rivet detail as well which would have made punching them a lot easier.

Now that the rivets have been punched I can make a start on adding the ribs to the other side this evening. This will form the beam on the works side of the layout (and hence will be less visible). The other beam is so close to the front of the layout it needs to be a lot more detailed. For this one I am considering a 10thou overlay from which I will punch the rivets.

 

 

While I had the cutter out, I have also been experimenting with producing mesh from 10thou plasticard.  This sample is 10mm square with a 0.5mm square mesh which I have partially tidied up where some cuts did not fully work.   For my original intended use (walkways on the TDA and ex Bowaters TTAs) it is clearly not fine enough.  Running a production version of my etch drawing, or experimenting with Scalelink mesh will be the only options.  However I do think this plastic mesh has potential for a couple of uses on buildings.

Edited November 26, 2017 by The Fatadder

[Siberian Snooper]

Have you got the legs under the layout yet?

[The Fatadder]

I was all set to start work on the legs, and then my wife tasked me to rebuild the shed so she would have more storage (for all the stuff I won’t allow in the Railway room / former garage.

 

After that I couldn’t motivate myself to do more wood work! Next weekend....

[The Fatadder]

Review of 2017

 

April:

Ø  Layout started (and application sent in to the Cameo Layout Competition

Ø  Initial research of various works, settling on a design inspired by Ponts Mill and Carbis Wharf

Ø  Various itterations of trackplans created in Templot

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122113-ecc-wheal-imogen-p4/

 

October:

Ø  Final track plan options completed in Templot

Ø  Testing of prefered final design to identify optimal orientation of buildings

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122113-ecc-wheal-imogen-p4/&do=findComment&comment=2897756

Ø  Inventory of stock

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122113-ecc-wheal-imogen-p4/&do=findComment&comment=2901790

Ø  Completion of CDA detailing project (1980s condition)

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/127610-improving-Hornby-cdas/&do=findComment&comment=2906126

 

November:

Ø  Baseboard modification to wedge shape

Ø  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122113-ecc-wheal-imogen-p4/page-2&do=findComment&comment=2920306

Ø  Initial terrorforming to create river and underlay for works

Ø  Construction of first beam of river bridge (sihouette cutter and Evergreen strip)

Ø  Various stock projects

o   including 47338, http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20116-47338-railfreight-distribution/

o   A TDA slurry tank http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20136-ecc-tda-slurry-tank-conversion-pt2/

o   Bachmann Class 150 improvements

o   http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20133-class-150-improvements/

o   Cargowaggon twins http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20147-cargowaggon-twin/

 

December:

   Ø ​As with Brent not a lot of December progress, however I have now found a couple more building options (another large clay building recovered from Blackcombe, and the core of a brick built site office based on a structure at Westbury.  I will now have a play with these on the baseboard to try different sight lines and work out what works best.  One option I keep coming back to is use the buildings to mask the transition off the baseboard.  However if I do go down that route I will need to be very creative to hide the exits of the branch line.

 

The plan for 2018:

Q1

Ø  Lay river

Ø  Build and test track

Ø  Add road bridge

Ø  Complete infilled track

Ø  Build bogies for the TUA tank

Ø  Convert TTAs into ex Caustic Soda china clay tanks. 

 

Q2

Ø  Remaining messy tasks

Ø  Add backscene / arch

Ø  Build fiddleyard

 

Q3

Ø  Add grass areas

Ø  Finish detailing buildings / install them

 

Q4 onwards

Ø  Build more stock: I want more designs of slurry wagon; another rake of CDAs in 1998 condition;  the ex Bowaters TTAs need walkways; and a lot of existing stock to paint and weather.  Loco wise there is also a Class 37 and a Class 50 which need to be painted, plus a number of locos still needing minor details such as couplings or decoders.

Edited December 30, 2017 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

I think I am almost at the final configuration of buildings, with 3 more structures to build (road bridge, slurry loader and covered loading area).

 

Clearly lots of detailing work still to do, but I think I will now start work on mockups of the bridge and slurry loader in order to confirm their positions.

 

Tonight / tomorrow the plan is to start track laying. The arch / backscene will now be fitted until near the end (though I plan on getting them cut out as I think the front plate will be useful for checking how things look.

 

The TUA slurry tank now has bogies and a walkway and is now almost ready for paint

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/50/entry-20335-tda-continued/

Edited January 7, 2018 by The Fatadder