Derwent Spa

[Rowsley17D]

Layouts4U quickly filled my order for their Midland style lampposts and although not connected up, I lost no time in getting one planted. I may be wrong, as I often am, but in photos of Midland days and early grouping the lampposts at Buxton look all one colour - Venetian Red?

 

With no stock in sight, I hope I am managing to achieve that folks in the know will tell at once that we are in Midland Railway country.

 

 

And just in case folks don't know.

 

 

[chuffinghell]

Coming together beautifully, lots of atmosphere. Top job as always 

[Rowsley17D]

9 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

Coming together beautifully, lots of atmosphere. Top job as always 

 

Thanks, Chris. With now being retired I feel I can take more time to achieve what I want, around domestic duties, of course.

[Rowsley17D]

I got the lamp wired up. The instructions say a 12 V supply and to use the supplied resistor which I suspect is 1000 ohms but could be 10 000 ohms as they look alike to me. At 12 V both 1000 and 10 000 ohms resistors made the lamp far too bright. I dug out an old Gaugemaster controller and using the higher resistor I found the best voltage was 1.7 V. The photo below is late afternoon daylight.

 

 

Then with the window blind down.

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Rowsley17D

[lezz01]

It's all looking jolly good Jonathan. The low light shot is very atmospheric.

Regards Lez.

 

[JustinDean]

Really enjoying watching this coming together on here :-)

[Rowsley17D]

More lampposts have been planted including 6 on the platforms. In real life they are not as bright as they appear in the photo, especially the backlights from the signals.

 

 

 

In a photo I discovered that there was a lamppost near the signal box.

 

 

The addition of the lamppost near the box makes quite a nice little scene.

 

 

 

One day I will have to add point rodding but that's a long way off.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

En garde! Today I have been fencing. No not that sort, this:

 

 

It's very old Ratio stuff which probably isn't as good as the laser cut fencing you can now get, but I had plenty in stock. The end two and the middle uprights were drilled 0.5mm and wire inserted which holds it in the cork underlay. I don't know what to do about the end of the board where it meets the wall. I put some old trees there which might not look too bad if I make up some better ones with houses behind.

 

 

 

[Alister_G]

So, selling stolen goods now. What a way to celebrate retirement...

 

 

That looks good, feels the right sort of fencing too.

 

Al.

[chuffinghell]

Looks fantastic

[Buhar]

I think that little bank down from the platform road needs a bit of foliage, clumps or tufts or something.  IIRC Woodland Scenics do a couple of suitable packs.

Alan

[Rowsley17D]

14 hours ago, Buhar said:

I think that little bank down from the platform road needs a bit of foliage, clumps or tufts or something.  IIRC Woodland Scenics do a couple of suitable packs.

Alan

 

Hi Alan, Lots of things need doing and your suggestion is on a growing list. I've put said tufts and clumps along the fence, I've just completed.

 

 

If plenty of Woodland Scenics stuff as I bought a load from a deceased modelmaker's estate. I have so much stuff that I've put a load of unopened bags in the Classifieds section.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

21 hours ago, Buhar said:

I think that little bank down from the platform road needs a bit of foliage, clumps or tufts or something.  IIRC Woodland Scenics do a couple of suitable packs.

Alan

 

I tried some clump material but it didn't look right. Then I tried some light green foliage mat, which looked better. It could be ivy or bind weed growing up the embankment.

 

 

Looking at the embankment, I'm thinking about fencing off the top of it.

 

 

At the real Buxton the top tracks were in the wooden trainshed extension and so there would have been little chance of anybody falling onto the head-shunt below. The fence is in the cess for the photo as it was the only place it would stay upright to see what it looked like.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Rowsley17D

[Buhar]

6 hours ago, Rowsley17D said:

I have so much stuff that I've put a load of unopened bags in the Classifieds section.

I saw those, Jonathan, which is why I posted the comment!  It was not that seriously intended, but the little touches you've done do make a nice difference.

 

Alan

[lezz01]

I think the added foliage looks top notch Jonathan.

Regards Lez.

[Regularity]

Nicely restrained.

Until dieselisation/electrification, most embankments and cuttings were kept under control, as they posed a serious fire risk in dry summer weather: heavy undergrowth is very much a more modern thing.

[Rowsley17D]

A bit more fencing done today. No, not that sort either, Al. Although I could do some nice little deals with scenic stuff I have on offer on the Classifieds!

 

This has used up the last of my Ratio plain fencing but I found a bag of WS olive green clump foliage to dot along the line of the fence. It blends in nicely with the ivy/bindweed and burnt look of the general ground cover. Apart from the fence nothing is fixed, so I may change things a little as the clumps look too regularly spaced now I've seen the photos. The observant will also notice the appearance of backboards. I had bendy MDF recovered from my former layout. The previous occupants of our house kindly left some matt "stormy blue" paint in the garage, so I have put it to good use.

 

 

[Middlepeak]

Jonathan,

 

Looking excellent. I've found that in such locations the final touch is to apply selective patches of winter or dead static grass to simulate the longer growth found at the line side.

 

Best wishes,

 

Geraint

[Rowsley17D]

They say that autumn is a good time to plant perennials, so I have planted some Ratio telegraph poles which have been painted frame dirt brown, black foot treads and white insulators. The lines come in behind the signal box.

 

 

They split further along to go to the goods shed, station building and the engine shed. Just a couple of wires go to the shed.

 

 

After the above was taken I realised that as the wires turn through 90 deg at this point some sort of stay would be needed so I tried to make one. I understand there was some sort of tensioning system which I tries to replicate. The "stay wire" is the finest rod Slaters do.

 

 

A better angle.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Rowsley17D
To add more stuff

[Rowsley17D]

Since starting on signalling Derwent, I have always wondered if there were signals for the up mainline and wrong working over the down for trains/engines exiting the carriage siding and the shed road. Looking at photos the main bracket signals appear in lots with the ground signals only just caught in a few shots. Then I found this is Railways from Buxton et al.

 

 

A very old Midland double ground signal popping out of the snow in 1909/10. So having done away with the home signal at the end of the layout as it was in the wrong place and having another spare servo outlet I set about making my own ground signal but a second generation one.

 

Discs were made with a hole punch and filed to shape with 1mm strip glued on top.

 

The main body is 3mm square section with insulation from fine wire which act as hinges for the discs. The support was made from I girder with 2mm strip glued to the top and bottom of the I to beef it out.

 

 

All was trimmed down. The painted discs were super glued to fine wire and threaded through the insulation.

 

 

Nearing completion, some gels need gluing to the back of the discs and it's ready for motorising.

 

 

The top disc is for straightforward movements to the up line, the bottom for wrong line movements over the down to the East junction crossover (off-scene).

 

I filled the lens holes with Wood Glue as it dries clear then put green and red felt-tip on the backs. A small piece of white paper was glued to the lamp box where the lamp would shine through and in real life you can see the green aspect.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Rowsley17D
Getting my ups and downs mixed up

[Rowsley17D]

I have been trying to add some clutter to the shed area. Looking at photos it's surprising how tidy they were in grouping days. I found a photo of a wet sand bin so I made one from plastic and wooden sleepers and put it near the sand house. Here it's in primer grey.

 

 

 

Then after some paint and sand.

 

 

Apart from more sheds, lengths of rail and sleepers I cannot think of what else would add to the atmosphere. Suggestions welcome.

 

 

 

 

[Buhar]

Hi Jonathan,

Good to see you avoiding the clutter trap in modelling an inter-war shed.  The last thing anyone working there wanted was to trip over a coupling rod or a wheel left lying around for "effect".  I can only think of  bucket of coal for the devil at the water crane and maybe a bike or two. Although maybe a neat pile of brake shoes waiting to be taken away would be OK.

 

I do think it might be worth burying the sleepers in the direct shed area, they were usually invisible under a layer of ash.

 

Alan

Edited October 5, 2020 by Buhar
a word

[lezz01]

Fire buckets hanging on the walls of buildings next to the doors Jonathan. Oil drums and cans of grease. Scrap pile near the shed awaiting collection.

Regards Lez.

[farren]

Maybe shunting polls wheel barrow spades etc the odd sign on the wall but most photos show them kept relatively clean the odd delivery outside awaiting to be stored 

Edited October 5, 2020 by farren

[Regularity]

22 hours ago, Rowsley17D said:

I have been trying to add some clutter to the shed area. Looking at photos it's surprising how tidy they were in grouping days.

 

 

Very busy areas, frequently busy 24x7, with steam and smoke adding to the issues of nighttime and poor weather. Keeping tidy was essential not just as a health and safety measure but also to support the efficient operation of the shed.