Owd Bob Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 (edited) Please be gentle with me folks as i'm new to all this indoor modeling lark, as i'm usually sent outside to play trains in the garden, recent ill health has finally gained me enough sympathy from swmbo that i needed to sway her , and i've finally been given permission to have a go indoors in the small spare bedroom. Having had a real good trawl around this site i have seen so many excellent layouts, and in all scales, that have given me the strength and ideas that i needed to carry on and make a start I bought my first two 'O' Gauge locos' last weekend ..both my favourite classes i remember from my teenage school 'wagging days' whilst hanging around Ince Moss sidings and Springs Branch Depot and hiding out in the old disused brake vans from the 'wag man' I made a start on the weathering by spraying the roofs with a light misting of Barby' paint, the rest i'll be doing and finishing by hand brushing. With only an 8.ft. width of wall and a two foot depth of room to fit it in, i made a start by buying this cheap £9.95p wallpaper pasting table, which when is fully opened out and the two halves are bolted & glued together measures just short of 6ft. long and it is 22 inches deep. I will remove the wooden batten legs which can be re-used as framework for the 2ft square plywood sheet i also got for a few quid to make a fiddle yard which i'll add on to one end later. The inside of the tables frame will be filled level to the side tops with inch thick polystyrene insulation sheet onto which the track etc will be fixed. Please bare with me and don't expect exact detail and postings every day, i've made a good start by buying two loco's, two lengths of track and some rail joiners and some wood to stick it all on. Cheers Mark. Edited June 3, 2019 by Owd Bob layout name added 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun VI Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Good for you! Have you decided on a track plan yet? I hope you get a lot of pleasure from your efforts. The loco's look impressive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 (edited) Thanks SunVI, i'm not much cop on a computer or drawing track plans but my track layout and the railway will be roughly based on the area on the E.L.R at Bury between Bolton St. Station, and the concrete flyover in the old goods yard area. This way i can have a stone tunnel and a two road engine shed to the right of the base board, and have the concrete flyover to the left, with the high stone wall and grass bank all along the back scene, i hope these old and now fading early '80's pics' show what i mean? There is plenty of scope with at least four sets of points fitted to create plenty of play value in the short space. Although i only have room for one hidden fiddle yard at the concrete fly-over end on the left hand side at the moment, there is scope for fitting another add on/extension at the stone tunnel end later....that's if i can secure more room from swmbo The layout could serve a dual purpose either by setting it in the BR '70's era as a small Stabling Point or as a preserved railway with the chance of running more unusual and even steam locos' Edited August 4, 2017 by Owd Bob 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold vjoneslong Posted August 7, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2017 Great stuff Pinzer. Pasting tables! Why did I never think of that? Ye gads! We have one for ...ummm... pasting, but it has started to sag in the middle. Perhaps use a couple of bolts to give it a bit of a prop up and prevent the sagging? Love the pictures, especially with the hymeks and Western. Proper diesels those. None of your mamby pamby diesel electric nonsense. Anymore of the first one? That looks like one of the Manchester Ship Canal locos in front of the Austerity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 I think it was a ship canal loco' Matthew i'll have to go through my old albums for you later, if there's any loco' or any class you need a pic' of just let me know and i'll have a sken to see if i have one, not that they'll be of a great quality as my parents would'nt buy me a decent camera in the '70's as they did'nt class it as being a toy like they do nowadays and i had to use an old Kodak instamatic hand-mi-down. I've strengthened the whole table by putting extra battens under it now, i changed my mind about using the foam insulation sheeting and i'll cover the hardboard over with a thick cork sheet instead now. I'm hoping my mate can come and help me again this week with the cutting and fixing on of the backboard and ends. I have drawn a rough track plan on the board with a Sharpie. The underside extra battens 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted August 7, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2017 Bob, Good to get started! Some diagonal bracing on the BBs may help as the paste table top [thin ply or hardboard] will be thin & susceptible to warping, esp. If you ballast the track with water based PVA, also those Heljan locos are heavy. Worth looking at the new Peco short radius 42" points as these will fit with your plan, so long as the class 40 goes round them - it should do? Enjoy, Dava 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 Thanks Dava some great info' for me there, cheers it is hard trying to keep the strength in the layout without adding too much weight at the same time, but i'm sure i'll get somebody else to carry it all for me in the long term as long as it's portable and will fit through a door hole and can fit in the car with the back seats folded down I'm hoping to get the whole thing boxed together and in place in the bedroom before the dark nights come back then i can happily fettle away at leisure over the long dark Winter days & nights. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 (edited) Hi Fellas Cracking project! Watching with interest. A word of wisdom to the wise.....I have used, for the past few years, a heavy duty paste table for my layout, 'Draycott', as Heljan Diesels are pretty heavy beasts and Std Duty paste tables arent always up to the task. There are some HD wooden paste tables also available these days too. Always make sure that they are on level ground as the legs arent adjustable. I use one similar to the one in the link below (but mine was cheaper!)....the LINK is just to give you an idea of the type of HD paste table (mine was by Pro Dec IIRC). http://www.toolandfix.com/harris-9794-t-class-heavy-duty-folding-aluminium-paste-table-600-x-2000mm.html?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwt8rMBRBOEiwA2F2biFpFNlWF1IPSJsgordK2srX4QTwZmO86yQF8K6MwQtJMOiOrN97dKRoCvx4QAvD_BwE Another option is to buy a pair of cheap adjustable metal trestles and make a basic frame-work/board to sit atop and then rest your layout atop of that....all very sturdy! Kindest regards, CME Edited August 15, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Seconded. I got an HD pasting table in a sale, and it doubles as a camping table, stock table for playing trains etc etc; far better than the flimsy ones. There are some pretty nifty table available in camping shops, too. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 http://www.screwfix.com/p/professional-mdf-top-pasting-table-1000-x-560-x-800mm/75185 Any better? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 http://www.screwfix.com/p/professional-mdf-top-pasting-table-1000-x-560-x-800mm/75185 Any better? Thats roughly what I paid for mine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 Cheers Lads, all the info' and advise as helped me keep going over the last few weeks I took Dava's advice and got a good mate of mine to brace the underside of the cheapo pasting table with extra battening, he also helped make me a framework for it to sit on in the spare bedroom, hopefully in time it will be a lot more presentable and the bed can get chucked out for good.....at least now the bedroom tax will be spent for something in there rather than the empty room it had become. A few more lengths of track and a tunnel mouth and a stone walling panel have been picked up as well. There was a time when i would and could have made my own stuff but it looks like i'm going to have spend money and buy all the RTR bits i need from now on! We have added a ply sheet at the back, the ends will be done in time and also a front and roof one day soon. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 A collector of Choppers too-is that a MK1 hiding under the table??!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 A collector of Choppers too-is that a MK1 hiding under the table??!! Sure is! Just another daft interest/project and nothing too hard to keep my mind going and not sitting idle, i've had three now! four if you include the very first one i had as a kid back in the very early '70's. I had to sell my other resto's to pay some bills over the last few years, hopefully i can hang onto this one and get free entry into next years classic vehicle shows with it. Hopefully some more parts will arrive for it this week. This was it just three weeks ago ......... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Dyson (onslaught832) Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Could we see more of your garden railway? ........looks really good! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 Could we see more of your garden railway? ........looks really good! Sorry but it's all looking a bit sorry for itself at the mo' Phil' due to me having had a big heart attack six weeks ago and i'm not really up to getting it all sorted out and tidied up yet, i had a mate demolish & remove the main station area last week to try and make things and access easier for me in the future, at the mo' everything even its whole future is up in the air depending on how my health fairs, hence the move indoors to this, at least i can keep dry and warm and keep my interest in railways going. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Sure is! Just another daft interest/project and nothing too hard to keep my mind going and not sitting idle, i've had three now! four if you include the very first one i had as a kid back in the very early '70's. I had to sell my other resto's to pay some bills over the last few years, hopefully i can hang onto this one and get free entry into next years classic vehicle shows with it. Hopefully some more parts will arrive for it this week. This was it just three weeks ago ......... 2010-06-27 17.33.20.jpg Nice Job! I had a yellow one, with, IIRC, fluorescent orange branding, again, IIRC a MK2. A friend had an orange MK1 with plain black branding, several other friends had the more common-or-garden purple versions.....I like the rarer colours and MKs best though....but all is good. Although I am banned by SWMBO, I have a real hankering after a Yamaha RD 250 LC and the early RD's........that wont happen unless I get a huge lottery win and younger version of SWMBO though! Screams mid-life crisis I know, but I call it nostalgia and where did the last 30 years go!? ........ Sorry but it's all looking a bit sorry for itself at the mo' Phil' due to me having had a big heart attack six weeks ago and i'm not really up to getting it all sorted out and tidied up yet, i had a mate demolish & remove the main station area last week to try and make things and access easier for me in the future, at the mo' everything even its whole future is up in the air depending on how my health fairs, hence the move indoors to this, at least i can keep dry and warm and keep my interest in railways going. I am sorry to hear that, I hope you have a full and speedy recovery and can get back to the garden railway et al ASAP . You are doing the right thing though by keeping busy, in a gentle way, with other projects - such is great therapy . Not in the same league as you, but I am convalescing from an Op - that didnt go as well as planed (had to have an undo and redo Op plus there was an infection etc etc....yawn, yawn ouch! ) - and so reading, research, railway modelling in my mind's eye, and dusting off a couple of kits to make sure all the parts are there are keeping my mind 'occupied'. Then it will be back to kit builds/fettling, then back to the garden railway proper (all a bit frustrating but worse things happen at sea! ). I am sure that Phill and I would love to see any additional photos of the garden line though - ie from it's glory days. Kindest regards and all the very best, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) Always great to share probs' with others and try make the most of things as some folks are far worse off and luckily i'm still here. My Garden railway is in the Garden Railways dept' of this very forum under the name of the Mc.Mullen Coal Company..i'm totally useless on a comp' and a one fingered typer, So sorry no link to it.....you'll have to find it for yourselves! Edited August 21, 2017 by Owd Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) Always great to share probs' with others and try make the most of things as some folks are far worse off and luckily i'm still here. My Garden railway is in the Garden Railways dept' of this very forum under the name of the Mc.Mullen Coal Company..i'm totally useless on a comp' and a one fingered typer, So sorry no link to it.....you'll have to find it for yourselves! A problem shared is one halved! No worries re computers-Im doing this on a mobile (a chore at times) I will have look under the garden section, looking forward to it....Kindest CME PS - Ive seen photos of your gdn line before-but didnt associate the name-superb, just superb! Edited August 21, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 A collector of Choppers too-is that a MK1 hiding under the table??!!Looks more like a Les Paul to me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) Looks more like a Les Paul to me... I couldnt see the headstock, so didnt know if it was a LP or not.......happened to think that the Chopper was more worthy of note/rarer!? LOL! Edited August 21, 2017 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 I finally made a visit to Bury and the ELR, funny how much things change in the memory and on the ground over the years, the engine shed is a three road-er and i always thought it was just two, the tree's and bushes growing along and above the full length of the back stone retaining wall is now like a jungle, t'is great if you are good at making and modeling tree's, i must admit they'll hide a lot of detail i'd otherwise have to make. It's all gonna be a tight fit! So the shed will be made a two road-er and the track and point work will have to be cut right down. Funny how squared off i always thought things were to each other, and how all the walls and buildings actually sit at angles to the track. I just hope the other half do'snt see me printing up the 60+ pics' i'll need to copy off I think this will be a layout where less will have to be more in the end! The stone Tunnel & two road shed will be set on the right as in the pics' and the concrete over-bridge built on the very left of the layout, both ends being the entrances and exits to/from small hidden fiddle yards. The bits that'll need squeezin' into the middle should be fun. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 I finally made a visit to Bury and the ELR, funny how much things change in the memory and on the ground over the years, the engine shed is a three road-er and i always thought it was just two, the tree's and bushes growing along and above the full length of the back stone retaining wall is now like a jungle, t'is great if you are good at making and modeling tree's, i must admit they'll hide a lot of detail i'd otherwise have to make. It's all gonna be a tight fit! So the shed will be made a two road-er and the track and point work will have to be cut right down. Funny how squared off i always thought things were to each other, and how all the walls and buildings actually sit at angles to the track. I just hope the other half do'snt see me printing up the 60+ pics' i'll need to copy off I think this will be a layout where less will have to be more in the end! The stone Tunnel & two road shed will be set on the right as in the pics' and the concrete over-bridge built on the very left of the layout, both ends being the entrances and exits to/from small hidden fiddle yards. 2010-07-29 15.40.24.jpg 2010-07-29 15.41.21.jpg The bits that'll need squeezin' into the middle should be fun. 2010-07-29 15.45.42.jpg 2010-07-29 15.45.35.jpg 2010-07-29 15.44.16.jpg 2010-07-29 15.40.08.jpg All looks very atmospheric! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 Its been a while since my last post but the layout is still on track so to speak, and now that the long dark evenings are here i've made my first attempt at weathering up the class 40, and being my first attempt on a diesel in this scale there's still a lot to do it yet and i'm still learning as i go. I chose to base the loco' on my fave class 40 which was 40 015 and was a regular around this area of the N.W. especially near the end of its days. The numbers are HMRS pressfix and the 'Aquitania' painted nameplates and data panel are from Precision decals. I'm waiting for some Blue paint and some overhead warning decals to arrive soon. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc smith Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Fab weathering on that 40 there! Thought it was the real thing....Great idea re using paste tables, though I'd make absolutely sure there's plenty of bracing, and the bracing is screwed & glued firmly in place, as the hardboard surface is highly likely to warp when glues & paints are added...Those screwfix tables look more sturdy - though I'd still brace them well, to prevent any warping....Nice project this - looking forward to seeing how you get on, and I'd like to know whether big locos like the 40 can cope with the new Peco short radius points - so please keep us posted there too...Also, as a kid in the 70's, I really really wanted a Chopper bike - they were the height of "cool" back then... mind you, so were snorkel jackets, and flares that didn't reach your ankles! PS. Nice Les Paul under the layout too - don't spill any superglue on that ..... said the bass player..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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