Cronton Colliery - back on the exhibition circuit

[luke the train spotter]

Before the show in august i would like to modify the layout to increase capacity and and enhance the viewers experience. To improve capacity I am planning at adding a shelf to the layout. This would nearly double what the fiddle yard can hold so I should be able to hold all my own stock plus maybe a visiting engine. Here is a picture of the current state of the fiddle yard. ignore the tic tac box as its full of coal for the coaling tower. I will probably cut some wood and bits and see what I can knock up from the scraps box and post any progress of it on here. Thanks for looking.

[1722]

Luke,

 

great news regarding the exhibition. Really like Cronton and it's well deserved. Incidentally, the black and white photos look super - more of those would be much appreciated by many, I'm sure.

[luke the train spotter]

Luke,

 

great news regarding the exhibition. Really like Cronton and it's well deserved. Incidentally, the black and white photos look super - more of those would be much appreciated by many, I'm sure.

Thanks Chris. The exhibition manager would like some more photos of the layout so he has a bit more choice for the program and advertising so I am going to do another photo shoot this week i think as long as the weather is nice and i can take the layout outside. I will put the photos on here as well as sending them off.

[luke the train spotter]

Well the shelf has been built. I ended up making it out of pallet wood off cuts and a scrap piece of 9mm mdf. These bits were then screwed and glued together before being installed in the fiddle yard with some more screws. Now its quite a robust shed which functions quite well. To top it all off though I wanted some kind of softer layer on top of the mdf so that the wheels on my stock aren't always being bashed about on hard bits of wood. My unusual solution was to use off cuts of a foam tile catalogue. I don't really know how else to describe it but builders who are refurbing kitchens and bathrooms will probably have one. I chopped up half a granite looking tile and stuck it down. This is much softer than wood but is still fairly strong. It was stuck down with pva glue. I also added a cardboard lip to the upper shelf to prevent any stock rolling off. Right, here are some pictures of it: Well that's one improvement done that I would like to make. Now to think about lighting rigs......

[1722]

And it's somewhere to store your cuppa!

[luke the train spotter]

And it's somewhere to store your cuppa!

and a slice of cake

[andyram]

Nice work on the shelf in the fiddle yard. It is great to hear that you have got an exhibition invite too. 

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Luke great work on the shelf and congrats on the exibition.

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks everyone for your kind and supportive comments. I haven't been very productive but exam revision is still priority. For the lighting rig I have ordered on of these of ebay: Initially I though I could get away with a desk lamp on the table next to the layout but i thought that an in built lighting rig would look more purposeful. Im still in the sketches design phase but at the moment im thinking of some form of led holder/board will lean over the backscene at an angle and shine the light on from the back. Just an idea at the moment but I don't want to have the lighting rig on the front of the layout as it would mess up the viewers view of the layout. The problem with attaching the lighting rig to the back is the massive hole cut into the back board for the coaling tower. Careful design and positioning will be needed to design a lighting set up that doesnt interfer with the coaling tower loading space.

[1722]

As a thought, could you add a proscenium arch to the front of the layout and attach the lights to that? Wouldn’t lighting from the back cause shadows at the front?

[luke the train spotter]

As a thought, could you add a proscenium arch to the front of the layout and attach the lights to that? Wouldn’t lighting from the back cause shadows at the front?

You are very right about the light casting shadows. If I could arch the lights ,like you say, then I could get the lights to be relatively central so that there wouldnt be any serious shadows.

[1722]

If you look here it shows a good - and simple - example of how the lights can be attached and subsequently hidden. Mark covered the front of the layout with Daler board to hide the lighting rig.

[luke the train spotter]

If you look here it shows a good - and simple - example of how the lights can be attached and subsequently hidden. Mark covered the front of the layout with Daler board to hide the lighting rig.

i would like to build some sort of frame for the lights to sit in the led strip in - I have seen a layout which just dangled the led tape down from a couple of supports at various intervals down the layout. Because the layout is a table top layout the average viewer will be looking down on the layout so putting the lights on the front would make the layout almost hidden behind the lights.

[luke the train spotter]

Here are some more pictures of the Cronton Colliery Sheds as promised.

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Luke fantastic pictures of such a lovely layout especially the black & White pictures thanks for sharing.

[luke the train spotter]

Luke fantastic pictures of such a lovely layout especially the black & White pictures thanks for sharing.

Thanks Kevin. hopefully i will be able to take more pictures once the lighting rig is built and installed. Edited May 30, 2018 by luke the train spotter

[1722]

Here are some more pictures of the Cronton Colliery Sheds as promised. 2 rectified - Copy815.jpg

That’s the one for me! Can almost see it in the next edition of ‘Railway Bylines.’ The more I look at this layout the more I love its sparseness.

 

I see what you mean about the lights. If you could attach them to the back of the arch they wouldn’t encroach on any ‘down’ viewing perhaps?

[luke the train spotter]

That’s the one for me! Can almost see it in the next edition of ‘Railway Bylines.’ The more I look at this layout the more I love its sparseness.

 

I see what you mean about the lights. If you could attach them to the back of the arch they wouldn’t encroach on any ‘down’ viewing perhaps?

Thanks Chris. Yes, that's a good idea for the lights. I still need to sort out some rough drawings of the lighting rig. Im glad you like the photos and I need to find a kind of old colour film filter for my camera/Photoshop so i can capture the textures and colours that are in my prototype research photos of the real cronton colliery.

[luke the train spotter]

Afternoon everyone. I've not had much time to do any work on Cronton colliery sheds due to revision taking up most of my time and I have got distracted with a little scratch build project of a small LNER halt station building. Anyway, here is the official poster for the exhibition that Cronton Colliery sheds will be attending. And also, here is a link to the SDRM (Scarborough and District Railway Modellers) website who are putting the show on. On the website you will find a full list of the line up of layouts, traders, demonstrators and charities. http://sdrmweb.co.uk/Pickering_Show_2018.php

[Jerry1975]

I will be at the exhibition all being well, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh.

 

Jerry.

[luke the train spotter]

I will be at the exhibition all being well, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh.

 

Jerry.

Thanks Jerry, look forward to seeing you there.

[luke the train spotter]

Right update time. Today has been fairly productive. The led strip I ordered still hasnt come so ive made myself busy with other jobs. Firstly, the coaling tower has had the corrugated iron shell glued down. Now its solid and not going to move anytime soon. Another job completed was tidying up the front of the baseboard with a bit of black paint. Whilst the black paint was out I painted the back wall of the engine shed black. Previously it had been a light blue colour but now its black giving the impression of a dirty and dark engine shed neglected by the staff. Lastly, i have removed the old information panel and printed off a new corrected one. Here is a pic of that: I will trim down the sign and stick it so that it looks neat and somewhat professional. Thanks for looking.

[Woody C]

Trust that you are proud of what you have achieved Luke. Great layout and your skills are getting better with every layout. Trust that you enjoy exhibiting it and no doubt it will create a lot of interest.

 

Woody

[luke the train spotter]

Trust that you are proud of what you have achieved Luke. Great layout and your skills are getting better with every layout. Trust that you enjoy exhibiting it and no doubt it will create a lot of interest.

 

Woody

Thanks Woody and im really pleased with what I have achieved with this layout - its ticked all my boxes and the exhibition invite is the icing on the cake.

[luke the train spotter]

Well not much done on the layout. Ive done a few jobs here and there to try and neaten up the appearance of the layout. One of the jobs I have done is weather the inspection pit. I did this with a dark grey enamel wash. Im quite pleased how it looks. The inspection pit isnt really visible for the photos but is very visible to a viewer. Those pesky led strips I ordered at the start of last week still haven't come yet which is really inconvenient. I would like to get the lighting rig sorted so I get a final idea of how im going to present the layout and also so I can record some videos of it and take some more pictures. The corrected info sign for the layout has been stuck on. I think I did a neater job this time. Here's a pic of it. Whilst i was doing that work, the j94 was shunting some empty ballast wagons in the background. Looks like the colliery staff have been doing a bit of p way work. One more thing I've done is ive painted the rails with a thinned grey wash and some un thinned enamels to give that dirtier look. I hadnt painted the rails yet on this layout but now it looks noticeably better i think. Thanks for looking.