Amlwch Station

[Merfyn Jones]

4 hours ago, CazRail said:

 A lot of people said it brought back many memories.

 

Come to mention it I thought my brother looked like a certain pop star!

 

Altogether a very successful first exhibition for the layout, hopefully more to come!

 

Good to meet you both today. Good to have a chat and see it in the flesh. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to seeing Rhosgoch.

Merf.

 

 

[CazRail]

58 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said:

 

Good to meet you both today. Good to have a chat and see it in the flesh. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to seeing Rhosgoch.

Merf.

 

 

 

Cheers Merf, thanks for taking time to come to chat to us, was great to meet you also

[holywell junction]

Looks really good Caz. The bend in the baseboards are great. Really stands out. I went to a show this weekend and everything was square. Life isn't like that and a few bends really capture the feel of a country line meandering through the landscape. 

[CazRail]

23 minutes ago, holywell junction said:

Looks really good Caz. The bend in the baseboards are great. Really stands out. I went to a show this weekend and everything was square. Life isn't like that and a few bends really capture the feel of a country line meandering through the landscape. 

 

Thanks mate thats the sort of effect I was after with this one! Hopefully some more bends and turns in the future possibly a station! 

[holywell junction]

Ooh err! Do tell !! I'll keep following!

 

Cheers and well done.

 

M

[CazRail]

After the successful exhibition debut, im now looking at possible expansion of the layout, but currently unsure of how to go about this. The layout definately needs atleast one board on the 'south' end, mostly due to the awkward angle the track enters the staging board. This potentially gives my opportunity to use my scatch built lattice girder bridge.

 

In the other direction, i have a few options:-

- End the layout with one more board to bring the causeway onto land, and into a forest.

- A representation of Llangwyllog station, as it was with the loop, two platforms and small yard, OR as it is now with platforms disused and a single line on the down platform.

- Llannerchymedd station as it was, however the orientation of it makes it a tad awkward.

 

If I was to make Llangwyllog, it could be made to be able to exhibit seperately or as part of what I currently have. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks.

[CazRail]

A little progress today on the lattice girder bridge. Decided to get on and make the baulk timber bearers.

 

First job was to form the actual timbers, so I glued 4 sets of 3 coffee stirrers and then used quick clamps to hold them until dry. Once cut to length, I drilled small holes in the middle stirrer of each stack, and used modelling wire I made the tie bars, which are of the hook type. I then cut another coffee stirrer to create the transom beams which keep the baulk timbers true.

 

 (whats happening with image sizing I don't know.. all taken from the same phone at the same time!)

[CazRail]

Small update...

 

Baulks painted, rails glued onto baulks. Sleepers cut leaving every fourth sleeper to keep the gauge, these will be cut.

[branchie]

Nice bridge. 

 

Why not extend the layout with a representation of the northern end of the Dingle? 

[CazRail]

52 minutes ago, branchie said:

Nice bridge. 

 

Why not extend the layout with a representation of the northern end of the Dingle? 

 

I think I might do, but ofcourse it'll be a lot of modeller's lisence, The nearest bridge of this type to the lake is bridge 21, with bridge 22 about 50 yards north of it, which would again add interest. Bridge 22 is a short concrete bridge with concrete posts and metal railings with ballasted deck over a footpath, so would be a third bridge variant for the layout too. 

[branchie]

22 hours ago, CazRail said:

 

I think I might do, but ofcourse it'll be a lot of modeller's lisence, The nearest bridge of this type to the lake is bridge 21, with bridge 22 about 50 yards north of it, which would again add interest. Bridge 22 is a short concrete bridge with concrete posts and metal railings with ballasted deck over a footpath, so would be a third bridge variant for the layout too. 

Let the modellers license run free! 

[CazRail]

Modeller's licence will definately be utilised! 

 Another update, the baulk timbers painted and track glued, ive also made a start on making the abutments and wing walls. 

 

 

Next job will be to slowly progress the bridge, working on it as and when i get time, and when needed, money. Afterall, the 'superstructure' of the bridge has been built over 6 months!

[CazRail]

After a visit to Scewfix this morning, some afternoon DIY ensured the layout now has a home...

 

Using twin-slot uprights and u-brackets, took around an hour to knock up. On the bottom shelf theres a little sneak peak of the Dingle section developing

 

Cheers

Caz

[CazRail]

Some progress on the next board, which is the Dingle section. The bridge's abutments and enbankments have been set out on a small board which will eventually fit inset a 'standard' board, so that it allows the scenery to be set lower for a higher bridge. 

 

 

You may also spot the beginings of the short retaining walls with handrails on each approach to the bridge. More on them later...

[CazRail]

I've found that doing the work on the layout as and when I can, taking my time on each bit yields better results, but also allows me some time to re-think certain areas before it's too late to replace or modify something. For example, the bridge will be lose until the day the track is glued down, so when I come to working on the abutment walls or the river, it can be totally removed, 

 

This came useful tonight, as to strengthen the bridge from heavier locos I've added a strip of metal down the center. This needed to tops of the abutments to be trimmed so that the bridge sat in the same place as it had, and not to complicate things when it comes to the trackbed and track work. So without much fuss or faffing about, I've been able to modify something to add and improve, thanks to not rushing desicions.

 

Next stage for this new board could be more than one thing, but I think to build the rest of the board so I can incorporate this area will be next. As well as using my usual 'polystyrene sheets carved with a knife' technique, I'm playing with the idea of using some Sculptamold to form some relief to the river bed, I'd be able to press stones into it and manipulate it to create the river bed, and hopefully make it look like a fast-ish flowing river. 

[CazRail]

Small progress today, having had a little delivery of Wills coarse stone sheets. 

 

I cut and fitted the last of the two wing walls which means the main shape of the structure is complete. 

 

I can now carve the polystyrene formers to shape, which will lead to the next job...

 

The coping stones. For these, Ive simply cut strips of the leftover Wills coarse stone sheets into strips, turned upside down, then used the edge of the craft knife, rubbed up and down the edges to create a rough chamfer. I then used the knife to rough up the surface.

[CazRail]

The new board was built this afternoon, and the river board inset within it. Ive also glued in the polystyrene foam formers for the track bed, which gives an idea of how itll look...

 

Down direction...

 

Up direction....

 

I placed my class 108 DMU on the 'track' to show how itll be.

 

Very happy with today's work. Before any track is glued down, the river section, and the immediate scenery around the bridge will have to atleast have a base layer, as with the bridge in place, itll be difficult to do the river.

[CazRail]

Whilst im waiting on my hot wire cutter to form the rest of the landscape, ive started the base scenics on the llangefni end of the bridge. 

Obviously the white strip in the middle of the green will be the river, which im hoping to start soon using stones etc from the garden and 2-part epoxy. Ill be taking some inspiration from Kathy Millat from youtube. 

 

Yesterday evening, I couldnt resist putting a train on to see what its like. Que 37417 on the Octel run...

Could this have been how the train could have looked like if it carried on into EWS operation? 

 

You also may notice the first layer of grass appearing.

 

Its coming on slowly.

[CazRail]

State of play tonight...

 

Had a little play with the sea moss trees I had, to see how I'd create 'The Dingle' using them, Have to say, even without any leaves glued on they look rather good. With some more work to the ground by adding more earth colours, a few bits of debris, a tree stump and a fallen tree or two, I think it'll look fairly decent. Most of this board will be like this, with the front done a little less dense than the rest to add details.

 

Took a photo of this Bangor-Amlwch service on the dog walk. 

 

The static grassing is done using an applicator I got off ebay. Not half as expensive as the Noch or Peco examples, maybe not as effective, but definitely gives good results, Grass doesn't always stand up to attention like some applicators achieve, so the more 'wild' grass appearance this applicator achieves is more than good enough for me.

 

Here's one of of the details I mentioned, the logs laid in the long grass. Once the grass dries, Ill vacuum up the excess grass and see how it's turned out. Dont want to do it now for fear of disturbing the logs.

[CazRail]

Another DMU on a Bangor-bound service crossing the river for the first of many times through its journey through the dingle.

[D9JEF]

Just read through this thread. Very impressive work of an unusual prototype. Thanks for sharing. 

Jeff

[CazRail]

4 hours ago, D9JEF said:

Just read through this thread. Very impressive work of an unusual prototype. Thanks for sharing. 

Jeff

 Very kind of you Jeff, thank you!

[CazRail]

Added some more detail to the layout tonight when I managed to sneak a good half hour at the layout, I added some more static grass, putting shorter 2mm and 4mm lengths around the 6mm patches I put down yesterday. I then had a thought with the two logs laid in the grass, that I could possibly incorporate them into a little scene.

 

I added some plain sea moss to one end of them, cut thicker sections to act as logged sections alongside the path, then added shorter bits as rough tree stumps, as if the trees had fallen rather than being cut.

 

 

 Apologies for the light in these s#*t photos, but atleast it gives an idea. 

 

As there the 'tree' has fallen across the path, I could make it look as if it's been cut to clear the walkway and to make the tree safe from rolling. I could even add figures there with chainsaws to complete the scene.

 

 

 

[CazRail]

Had a bonus few hours this afternoon working on the layout, and got more done than I expected. 

 

Added the scenic base layer to the newly sculptamolded terrain, added a few patches of real dirt to around the static grass to represent bare earth painted the rest of the bridge abutments and wing walls grey, and then did the water...

 

This photo shows you bare earth patches still drying, along with a better view of last night's fallen tree.

 

Then here is the water, which I did using Unibond Clear silicone sealant. I went to the garden to find some stones etc to create a rocky river with plenty of ripples and current. The sealant is still drying, hence the cloudy appearence.

 

Then Colas' 37421 appeared with a single Coalfish wagon to collect spoil from a small drainage job further up the line...

[holywell junction]

Hiya been following slowly. Love the use of silicon sealant for water! What a good idea! Bridge looking great too....