Burton-on-Trent South - Adding Buildings

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, ISW said:

Did anyone else have to learn long division of Pounds, Shillings, & Pence?

Yes.

And stones pounds and ounces, and yards feet and inches.

Didn’t have to understand chains until I had started work.  (Blame Pway again!!)  Once TSRs had to be calculated and kept clear of AWS (after Nuneaton I think) I had a youngster who did the sums on a calculator.  Right first time unless a milepost intervened when he was 20ch out.  Don’t know what he’d have done if it came out as 89ch!!

Paul.

[ISW]

59 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Didn’t have to understand chains until I had started work.  (Blame Pway again!!)

Paul,

 

I escaped that one. All the railways I worked on were in Kilometres, metres, and millimetres, because they were all overseas (not UK). However, I had to work through the transition from Rotring pens (I did so many chainages to 3dpi in 0.18 pens) through to AutoCAD.

 

Ian

[ISW]

A Bit of Painting, but still not track

 

Today I finally got around to painting my mimic panels, all three of them, and their supporting 'shelves'. I used the light grey spray primer paint, which entailed quite a bit of disassembly of the mimic panels (good job I used plugs/sockets for the enclosed MegaPoints controller boards). And, of course, there was quite a bit of masking to do, as I didn't want to paint the interior of the mimic panel enclosures.

 

There results look quite nice, and an 'interesting' contrast to the 'battleship grey' of the baseboards. Or is that my excuse for the different greys?

 

 

 

Ian

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[mallaig1983]

Very nice job that Ian. They look the business. Very smart.

[Signaller69]

Super work Ian, uncluttered and straightforward to follow track diagrams, point indicators etc, without the need for switches everywhere (unlike my DC layouts!).

 

Very impressive. 

 

Martyn.

[ISW]

Ramp Testing

 

After some prodding by @Playing trains with kids, I carried out a bit of non-exhaustive testing of hauling capabilities on my 2 Ramps. The unsuspecting test train comprised a rake of 13 Hornby R249 MGR wagons, not the best runners in the business but suitably representative of my freight stock. About 1/3 have replacement all metal wheels, with the balance retaining their 'orrible metal capped plastic versions (replacements are on order). Such is the hopelessness of these wagons that they can be placed 'on' the Ramps in a rake without them accelerating away down the ramp under gravity (which is what all my Lima coaching stock does; ask me how I found that out).

 

And the results are in, and in no particular order:

• Airfix Class 31 (2 driven axles , traction tyres on both ends): No problems.
• Lima Class 20 (2 driven axles , traction tyres on both ends): No problems.
• Lima Class 27 (2 driven axles , traction tyres on one end): Drawn to a halt, wheels spinning
• Mainline / Dapol Class 56 (3 driven axles , traction tyres on one end): No problems.
• Triang Hornby Class 25 (2 driven axles , traction tyres on one end): Didn't even try it. I know this one currently can't pull the skin off a bowl of cold custard.

Some surprises, to me at least, in there. I really didn't expect the Lima Class 20 to perform so well, I guess the all-metal chassis really helps. I was disappointed with the Lima Class 27 because it encloses a huge metal weight inside. Apparently that's just not enough.

 

I suppose I could draw the conclusion that 2 traction tyres are not enough, but 3 is adequate. However, with such a small sample I don't think it's statistically acceptable.

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

16 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Very nice job that Ian. They look the business. Very smart.

 

15 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

Super work Ian, uncluttered and straightforward to follow track diagrams, point indicators etc, without the need for switches everywhere (unlike my DC layouts!).

 

Thanks Gents. Any similarity(ies) to those you see in the MegaPoints YouTube videos is purely coincidental. Well, you have to have inspiration from somewhere.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Meanwhile, back on the MGR Wagons ...

 

Having fitted Kadee couplings to my rake of 15 MGR wagons (Hornby R249 flavour), and carefully set up the coupling height against the Kadee 'height gauge', I was somewhat disappointed to find the wagons uncoupling at random around the layout.

 

After some investigation I found that the pivoting axles of the R249 MGR wagon also allow for a tad of fore-and-aft vertical movement. No a lot, but enough to cause the Kadees to vertically misalign.

 

So, off I traipsed to the RMWeb "Modelling Questions, Help and Tips" forum to ask about the pivoting and whether it was a good idea to simply 'glue it up'. The resounding answer was 'yes'.

 

And that's what I've now done. I 'fixed' the pivoting axles with a dab of superglue. With the wagon upside down, I first put a small amount of SuperFix grey 'Reinforcing Filling powder' (I believe you can also use baking powder) around one side of the pivot before adding a drop of thin superglue. The 'filling powder' bridges any small gaps, and helps the SuperGlue to set quickly (there being a larger surface area). I held the pivoting part downwards (to ensure a flat/full contact) and eyed the alignment using the inboard end of the pivoting section. The glue sets in seconds. Nice.

 

Here's one I did earlier (in true Blue Peter fashion):

 

The alignment, both vertically and laterally, of the Kadee couplings has vastly improved. I'm still in the throw of retro-fitting all-metal wheels, as I'm still waiting for my order for more metal wheels to arrive.

 

Ian

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[cheesysmith]

Having just gone through all 18 pages, can I say well done on getting so far. And look forward to the progress in the future.

[ISW]

34 minutes ago, cheesysmith said:

Having just gone through all 18 pages, can I say well done on getting so far. And look forward to the progress in the future.

Getting through the entire 'history so far' is quite an achievement in itself, well done. I did always make an effort to include photos along the way as, I myself, would get bored just reading.

 

Plenty of progress still to make, but currently its all about getting 'reliability' into the layout. The next stages of track painting and ballasting need a good foundation to work from.

 

To that end, I've recently been relaying one of the curves at the top of the 3-Track Ramp, as I was getting derailments on Class 47s, and some coaches had a habit of 'dropping a wheel' on the same curve. It runs much better now. That's one off the list ...

 

Ian

[cheesysmith]

Must say, those lima mk2 look good. Pity the flush glazing doesn`t solve the one are where it always stands out, and that is the toilet compartment. Also, IIRC lima used some odd sized wheels from their European lines for the b4 and bt10 bogies. This made some odd things like ride height. Also, the only way a B4 bogie would have the traction bar pointing up was if there was no coach mounted on it. They are normally horizontal. Like most lima stuff, the bodies are good, with some excellent moulded details, but what is below platform level is a bit vague and guess work. 

[ISW]

On 22/10/2021 at 21:07, ISW said:

Garden Centre

 

Now, this is an unusual posting. We were at a local Garden Centre near Doncaster and they had a full pallet of clear plastic sheets. Each one is 71cm x 36cm (28"x ~14") and, I think, are meant for greenhouse glazing. The sheets are 20-thou thick.

 

Anyway, at 40p or 4 for £1 (25p), it was an instant purchase. Such plastic sheets will have a multitude of uses from building glazing through to structures (when suitably painted). I might even go back for some more ...

 

Ian

Meanwhile, back at the Garden Centre ...

 

Yes, I went back to buy some more of those plastic sheets, 8 to be precise at a total cost of a single £2 coin. Still not entirely sure what I'll be using them for, but they're sure to come in handy, won't they?

 

According to the shopkeeper, they are surplus sheets from marking Covid19 plastic face visors. That possibly explains the cheap price.

 

Ian

[ISW]

More Rolling Stock Fettling

 

This last week has seen quite a few locomotives through the Workshop:

• Heljan Class 47: Split plastic housing at the top of the bogie (where the drive from the motor connects) was leaving the loco with only one powered bogie. Thanks to a recent Chadwick Junction YouTube video I was immediately aware of the cause of the problem, and it was easily fixed with some SuperGlue. 
• Bachmann Class 08: I have 2 of these older, I bought them secondhand, models (DCC hardwired) and both were not running very well, one in particular had been like it since I bought it. I had attempted cleaning the wheels and the 'wiper' pickups, but to no avail. I tested the locos upside down, and found that some wheels were not conducting, hence the running issues. So, I decided the 'wiper' pickups must need a more through cleaning. This meant I had to dismantle the locos down to the point where I had the plastic 'valances' (that have the 'wiper' pickups rivetted to them) separated from the metal body of the loco. Only then did I get sufficient access to the 'wiper' pickups to be able to affect a proper cleaning with an abrasive stick (aka sand paper). Both locos now run much more sweetly, and I can use them in the Brewery Sidings as intended.
• Airfix Class 31: I have 2 of these as well, but being very old (circa 1981) I bought them new. I'd previously fitted Kadees to the locos, but they were some of my earlier attempts, and the Kadees weren't quite at the correct level, leading to unannounced decoupling. I took them both apart, including removing the bogies from the body to gain sufficient access. I then 'built-up' the bogie ends with plasticard to provide a suitable surface (at the correct level) to screw fit a Kadee #5 coupling.
• Lima Class 27: After this locos poor showing on the recent Ramp testing, where it struggled to a halt with wheels spinning on a 13-rake MGR train, I thought I'd try fitting new traction tyres. I bought a pack from PetersSpares and installed them. Nah, a bit of an improvement but it's obvious that more weight over the driven bogie is necessary. Looks like I'll have to cut out some bits of lead sheet to attach to the motor (I've already retrofitted it with a CD-ROM motor) to see if that works.

I've still a few more locos in the Workshop,  but I hope to get to them soon.

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Testing testing ...

 

Until now I've been using a plank with a length of Peco Code-100 flexitrack as my Programming Track. It's served me reasonably well, but there are a couple of problems. Firstly, when making any CV changes the train inches forward, and can get too close to the track end if I do a full CV read. Secondly, I can't really 'run' a train on ~900mm of track. Yes, I did try using the Kadee height gauge bufferstop and coupling up to that to run a train up/down the speed range, but it's not what you'd call 'ideal'.

 

I've looked at several 'rolling roads', but the cost as always a little too high for my wallet. That was until I came across one on AliExpress being sold by 'Golden Model&Toy Store'. At around £35 I was happy with the price and, now that it's arrived, I'm happy with the item as well.

 

It's nothing fancy, but it is functional and provides for up to 8-axles so suiting up to my Class 44/45/46 (or a Class 40). It looks like this: 

 

I can see that the rolling road is going to get quite a bit of use as I 'fettle' some of my older locomotives.

 

Ian

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[cheesysmith]

I think you will find the only way to improve the pulling power of the old lima stuff like the 26/27 etc is to fit a second motor bogie.  Not only does this improve the pulling power it makes slow speed moves easier as well.

[ISW]

On 26/12/2021 at 16:24, cheesysmith said:

I think you will find the only way to improve the pulling power of the old lima stuff like the 26/27 etc is to fit a second motor bogie.  Not only does this improve the pulling power it makes slow speed moves easier as well.

Thanks for the tip. Looks I'll be keeping an eye out for knackered old secondhand Lima locos to act as donors ...

 

Ian 

[ISW]

Still Fettling ...

 

The model railway hasn't made a lot of 'progress' over the last few months, but that's not to say that 'nothing' happened. The p/way gang was out recently relaying a curve on Baseboard C (the 'middle' one, not the Upper and not the Lower; where access is really easy 'orrible) where the Ramp meets the Upper Level. It's been a pain for sometime being quite a tight curve (500mm) on a vertical curve (top of a Ramp) and crossing the join between Baseboards C & D. Not one of my better design solutions! I'd been having occasional derailments of coaches on that curve, which I put down to a rather wide fishplate joint (~2mm) part way round the curve. Then I started getting buffer-lock on some Lima PGA wagons, which was odd as it's not the tightest of curves. However, investigation showed the curve to be a right lash-up of radii, one being far too tight. Hence the buffer lock.

 

So, out came Upper Level Baseboards C & D to give better access and the entire offending curve was lifted. Out came my 500mm plastic Railway Curve and a 'corrected' alignment drawn onto the baseboard. I moved it a good 5mm in some parts with a single smooth radii. No wonder I was having problems. A new length of flexiTrack was cut to length and installed. Result; a much better alignment and no more derailments and/or buffer locking. 

 

Meanwhile, over on the rolling stock bench, I've been 'improving' the coupling of my NEM pocketed coaches. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find it easier (and more reliable) to fit Kadees to rolling stock that doesn't have an NEM pocket. It doesn't help that just about all my, secondhand, coaches have the NEM pocket at the 'wrong' height. My original solution was one that 'others' have recommended, that of screwing Kadee #18/19/20 to the underside of the NEM pocket, like this:

 

One of the issues with this method is that any 'pulling force' on the coupler tends to lift it upwards due to the 'slop' built into the cam mechanism of the coupling over the bogie. I'd got a little fed up with these coaches becoming uncoupled on my Ramps (where the coupling force is obviously larger).

 

The obvious solution would be a 'centreset' NEM Kadee coupler, but they don't exist. The Kadee #17/18/19/20 are all 'underset'.

 

Well, I've been recently using quite a few HP0787 couplers from AliExpress and they are made of plastic and are 'centreset'. So a plan was formulated to 'butcher' these to make them NEM 'compatible'. The photo below shows the 'butchering' process (top - HP0787 coupling, middle - after come cutting, bottom - after warming over a flame and deforming the end):

 

The resulting 'coupler' now slides into the NEM socket and can be permanently retained with a screw:

 

And, yes, it's the correct height as checked against my Kadee coupling height buffer. I did have to 'trim' some plastic off the underside of the bufferbeam on one coach, but otherwise it works perfectly. Another advantage is that the process is reversible and the NEM pocket used for other couplings (eg: tension lock).

 

Ian

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[mallaig1983]

Good work there Ian and thanks for sharing your techniques. It would be wonderful if the NEM type Kadee’s came as straight, under and overset drawbar in all sizes because there are so many variances in pocket height even with the same manufacturer across their range. And these are supposed to be ‘standard’.

[Andrew D]

Ian, your valued assistance with my 08 question has brought me to your thread, and I'm enjoying it so much. I also like to refurbish older models and as my skills are nowhere near as honed as yours, so I'm enjoying learning some great tips. Cheers! 

[ISW]

4 hours ago, Andrew D said:

so I'm enjoying learning some great tips. Cheers! 

Andrew,

 

Glad to be of help with the Class 08 and pleased to hear you've enjoyed reading through my ditties. Despite me buying some new(er) secondhand locomotives, I still think there is more pleasure to be gained from 'enhancing' older models.

 

I have a pair of old Hornby Class 25s that deserve to be 'rescued'. However, at present my time is being taken up with assembling and painting a Ratio LMS signalbox, while learning how to use an airbrush.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Bogie Tankers

 

My 'fleet' of wagons, comprises of old (~1980s Lima) stuff plus some new (err, to me anyway) wagons from Mainline, Dapol, & Bachmann, and a smattering of new (shock, horror) ones. However, despite the quantity and variety I had no bogie tankers. 

 

That omission has now been rectified thanks to a couple of visits to local SwapMeets where I picked up 4 of them, varying in quality and price between £2.50 and £7.50. They are all the basic same Lima L302xxx bogie tanker wagon in various liveries. Naturally, they all came with tension lock couplers, and so they were replaced with Kadee (ish) couplers (mine are HP0787 from AliExpress).

 

The odd thing about these models is that the bogies are not the same at both ends. The wheelbase is the same, but the distance to the coupler is much larger on one than the other (by ~9mm) due to the access platform at one end of the tank. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any other rolling stock with a similar feature (the Metrovick Co-Bo excepted).

 

Here they are lined up on the layout:

 

Ian

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[ISW]

Signalboxes

 

The layout will need two signalboxes; Burton South and Leicesterline Junction. The former is reasonably standard, and is quite well represented by Ratio (Peco) Kit 536. The latter, however, is a much larger (longer) box.

 

To this end I've purchased 3 of the Ratio Kit 536s, all of which are the same and different. The actual model is the same, but the packaging and the colour(s) of plastic used for the kit are completely different. I managed to get 2 secondhand off TheBay, but the other was new from Rails of Sheffield. I think I have an original Ratio kit, a modern Ratio kit, and a Peco packaged kit. My plan is to 'butcher' 2 kits into a single signalbox for Leicesterline Junction.

 

That's in the future, and current activities are concentrated on assembling a single Ratio Kit 536 for Burton South signalbox. I'm helped somewhat by the article in the January 2022 issue of Hornby Magazine, where they assemble the same kit. I've been able to use that Article to purchase the appropriate Vallejo colours that I plan to use for airbrushing the kit. The kit I'm using is the older Ratio one:

 

It's a good approximation for Burton South, although the colouring is slightly different as are some window positions.

 

Strangely the Article had trouble with the assembly of the upper floor windows, mostly because they failed to follow the Instructions. The windows are supposed to overlap to permit them to slide open past each other (see photo above). In the Article they sanded them down and installed them all flush with each other.

 

As I'm a complete novice with an airbrush I'm also using this Kit to get some much needed practice. As a result I'm taking much longer than is probably necessary. However, at least the results I'm getting are on the right side of acceptable:

 

Yep, that cardboard box has been commandeered into being a makeshift spraybooth.

 

Fingers crossed, and I hope this kit goes together nicely such that I can make use of it on the layout.

 

Ian

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded

[cheesysmith]

The tankers are Lima European ones. It is the reason for the offset ends, because it is where the brake man stands to apply the brake. If you look at Paul Bartlett's site with the wagon photos,. There are some yeoman box wagons with offset axles because they were built on old ferry wagon underframe.

[ISW]

On 26/01/2022 at 22:19, cheesysmith said:

The tankers are Lima European ones. It is the reason for the offset ends, because it is where the brake man stands to apply the brake. If you look at Paul Bartlett's site with the wagon photos,. There are some yeoman box wagons with offset axles because they were built on old ferry wagon underframe.

Thanks for the clarification / information. I'm glad they were cheap as I don't think I can really explain their use on a model of Burton-on-Trent!

 

Ian

[ISW]

Burton Station South Signalbox

 

Yes, I know the title of this Content has drifted away from '... Rolling Stock Fettling', but I'm loath to change it as I have a Lima Class 31 to modify next.

 

So, meanwhile back at the signalbox build (from a Ratio Kit 536) the painting process has come to an end. My airbrushing 'skills' improved considerably during the painting of the signalbox, and that includes being able to clean the airbrush, sufficiently, in a simple and efficient manner just using warm water.

 

With all the sides of the signalbox painted I assembled them into a rectangular shape, without the interior floor. It was at this point I realised a slight mistake. I'd painted the signalbox while following the photo on the packaging and the recent Article in Hornby Magazine. However, a re-examination of photos of the actual Burton Station South signalbox showed that the majority of the signalbox above the external walkway was cream coloured, without red highlights (except for the main columns). So, I had to mask up the majority of the assembly to permit me to re-airbrush those areas to cream. Thankfully my cheap-n-cheerful 'standard' masking tape worked almost perfectly, with little 'bleed' and it could be removed afterwards without damaging the existing paint.

 

With that done I installed the interior floor and assembled the windows and glazing. I found that I had to slightly sand the sides of the windows to get them to fit the apertures of the signalbox. Once the correct size I glued them to the provided sheet of clear acetate using Tamiya extra thin cement, as I found that MEK was prone to damaging / fogging the acetate. I then cut around the window frame and sanded the excess to size, leaving 1.5mm (ish) top and bottom to help locate them in the apertures, as recommended in the Ratio instructions. This time I looked carefully at the photos I had of Burton Station South signalbox and installed the windows prototypically.

 

And that's where I am at the moment, with a completed 'shell' ready for installation of the walkway and attachment of the staircase assembly. I've decided to do this in advance of roof installation as it's much easier to handle the model without the roof and I get better access to the walkway areas without the roof intervening (assuming the drainage downpipes can be retrofitted).

 

Here's the signalbox at present:

 

 

Yes, I did modify the ends of the model from that provided in the Kit. That's in order to match the actual Burton Station South signalbox layout of ground floor windows. I did remember that bit.

 

Ian

Edited March 31, 2022 by ISW
photos re-uploaded