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Waddlemarsh - somewhere southwest of London sometime before today


Gwiwer
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One side is now fully bored.  The other side about 1/3 so.  

 

I have begun painting the platform supports in a "concrete" colour so that they no longer look like bare metal.  This is achieved with a 50:50 mix of white gesso and Woodland Scenics "Earth Undercoat".  A small shake of Peco "Ash" is added so that the paint occasionally contains irregularities.  The scale is too small to accurately represent the uneven texture of concrete on these small items but a little texture at random helps to eliminate the "flat paint" feel.  

 

In the next stage the fence wires will be painted a dirty colour using heavily-used thinners while the brass rod top rail will be painted black as per prototype.  Once done I can level the legs and fit the platform surface.  

 

On 15/06/2020 at 16:17, Gwiwer said:

The recalcitrant crossover still isn’t working as it should

..... and has been removed pending skilled intervention at some future time.  I have replaced it with a Y and a three-way point which bring together the two tracks in a short section of single line before leading to the yard fan.  I regard this as a medium-term but temporary "fix" in order to get the trains running.  

 

 

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While resting my fingers between boring tiny holes - which task is very nearly complete - I have moved a half-step ahead to the platform shelter.  Before being fitted in position this required weathering.

 

It began as the Bachmann Scenecraft product out of its box plus a couple of Trackside Signs "target" nameplates simply stuck on as seen above. 

 

It moved on to have mapping-pen inked in to the joints and corners for added depth.

 

It then gained powder weathering using soot black, a brown / rust mix and some green for the moss and lichen.  Don't forget the roof and interior!  

 

 

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It's not proving as easy as I hoped to seat the platform supports but then which tasks in this hobby ever are?  

 

They are going in.  A fair number have parted at the glued join which isn't a problem but a mild frustration.   Only one has broken beyond repair after being encouraged into its hole with a little too much persuasion :fool: 

 

A near-overhead shot shows that both sides are well under way, both have a gap for the footbridge access and a small building.  The piano wire has to have the curve it was supplied with eased out over several days before gluing down which is helped by the placing of the steel rule on top of positioned (but not fixed) supports.  

 

Once I am happy with the general position of the legs I apply superglue to the holes and seat each in turn; they require a few seconds to grab but a minute or so of working time is available allowing a little correction and levelling to take place as required.  

 

Keen eyes might recognise the footbridge as that recovered from Penhayle Bay.  This will not be used on the new layout; it is only a guide here.  To re-use it would probably be a kit-bash too far for plastic which has sat outdoors for over ten years and isn't in great condition.  A new kit has arrived.  The colour scheme will be mid-dark green with black supporting legs and detail.  

 

 

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12 hours ago, SRman said:

You are making tremendous progress there, Rick. I'm looking forwards to seeing the end result.

:drink_mini:

Thank you Jeff.  

 

The "tremendous progress" is of course slower than I would like - isn't it always?  I haven't had the relative luxury that many other modellers have "enjoyed" of being granted an extended paid break from work.  Being defined as a Key Worker and now an Essential Worker means I have been in at the House of Fun every rostered day.  Coping with the different stresses this emergency has brought about has also left me a little drained at times though I tinker most days and seem to get a few things done.  

 

I am turning my thoughts to the platform surface.  It was to have been 2mm foam-board which I have and which was prepared with a textured surface some time ago.  Cut into the requires strips it loses rigidity and I am not convinced it will hold shape so my satisfaction.  Plan B is 2mm card which does have a tendency to warp slightly if there is dampness in the air - and if in contact with sprayed water-based adhesive.  I shall try a few experiments in the coming days.  

 

The surface also needs to represent concrete slabs with defined edges.  I am thinking of texturing the surface then drawing fine cotton or even offcuts of piano-wire across the top to represent fine lines rather than leave a homogenous platform which would look wrong to all who know these "concrete halts".  Trial and error is probably the way forward.  

 

In other news I have the temporary track layout set up and working meaning I can run trains  though with some limitations.  I intend to return to the vexed question of the crossover unit at some future time.  I have been in touch with a member of the Twickenham & District MRC in addition to receiving significant help from an RMwebber but so far nothing has resolved what ever the problem is.  

 

 

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Regarding the platform supports, I would suggest for any future work to drill all the holes at once in a piece of thin ply or heavy black styrene, fasten in place with 5 minute epoxy, not superglue, and then place the whole thing on the railway and cover.

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11 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I intend to return to the vexed question of the crossover unit at some future time.

Happy to have another look if that would help Rick.

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20 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Happy to have another look if that would help Rick.

Appreciate the thought thank you but I think it really needs someone actually here to take a look in the hands-on sense.  Which isn't going to be in the particularly near future as things are.  That was one reason behind making a medium-term alteration to the track plan in order to get things moving.  

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On 01/07/2020 at 14:18, Gwiwer said:

 

I am turning my thoughts to the platform surface.  It was to have been 2mm foam-board which I have and which was prepared with a textured surface some time ago.  Cut into the requires strips it loses rigidity and I am not convinced it will hold shape so my satisfaction.  Plan B is 2mm card which does have a tendency to warp slightly if there is dampness in the air - and if in contact with sprayed water-based adhesive.  I shall try a few experiments in the coming days.  

 

 

Hi,

 

have you tried giving card a good coat or two of button polish, or something similar, before painting and adding texture?  It helps waterproof and stiffen the card.  Another alternative is 2mm plywood, although I would treat it the same way before painting.

 

Roja

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All the legs for the Up platform are glued in place.  The R076 station footbridge kit has arrived, has been assembled and has had its Up-side steps cut slightly short.  It will have its legs on the ground but the steps will end at platform level meaning a minor kit-bash is required.  The Down-side will be dealt with in due course.

 

The platform shelter is supported on a cut-down Bachmann "Carriage Sidings Walkway" unit and with the lowest footbridge step bearing onto an L-shape groove made in the cutting-down process.  

 

The Down side platform will be next followed by some detail painting.  I need to scratch-build or source a suitable small building for the Down side platform.  It should not be as big as the Up side as that is more important and will be adapted to include a small ticket office as these halts often had.  

 

 

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Another small step forward. 
 

Brass etched “target” signs from Shire Scenes to receive the Trackside Signs name stickers. 
 

That’s a close enough fit for my eyes. 
 

 

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Progress of a sort. 

 

All the platform posts are in but some require a bit of levelling and many still require painting.  Groundwork has to be done before the platform surface goes down.

 

But the first length of conductor rail has been fitted and gauge-tested.  The Bachmann stock is a perfect fit with the shoes just skimming the top of the rail.  The Dapol class73 has retracted shoes as supplied so won't be a problem and the DJModels 71 rides just clear of the rail.  The Hornby 2-Bil units however run with their pick-up shoes outside the juice rail (a known issue and one which is tricky to rectify) and marginally lower than its top.  As all lengths of conductor rail end with a run-off or start with a run-on ramp there should not be a problem where a pick-up shoe crosses the line of rail at a junction.  Hopefully!!! 

 

Apologies for the fuzzy images but it proved very difficult to get the camera near enough for a close-up view and the phone has issues with rendering images sideways in forums.  

 

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1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Progress of a sort. 

 

All the platform posts are in but some require a bit of levelling and many still require painting.  Groundwork has to be done before the platform surface goes down.

 

But the first length of conductor rail has been fitted and gauge-tested.  The Bachmann stock is a perfect fit with the shoes just skimming the top of the rail.  The Dapol class73 has retracted shoes as supplied so won't be a problem and the DJModels 71 rides just clear of the rail.  The Hornby 2-Bil units however run with their pick-up shoes outside the juice rail (a known issue and one which is tricky to rectify) and marginally lower than its top.  As all lengths of conductor rail end with a run-off or start with a run-on ramp there should not be a problem where a pick-up shoe crosses the line of rail at a junction.  Hopefully!!! 

 

Apologies for the fuzzy images but it proved very difficult to get the camera near enough for a close-up view and the phone has issues with rendering images sideways in forums.  

 

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I found the same thing with my Hornby Bil and Hal units, and the conductor rail was slightly lifting the motor bogie so it lost pickup.... Temporary solution is to just cut the conductor shoes off the beam and live without them. Better solution is to replace the beams with some MJT cast ones (the Hornby beams are slightly the wrong shape and size in my opinion).

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5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

there should not be a problem where a pick-up shoe crosses the line of rail at a junction.

If there is, you haven't set out your juice rails correctly!

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A solution to the Hornby pick-up shoe problem comes from a fellow SR modeller and friend SRman of this parish who removes the shoes completely thus obviating any possible contre-temps between shoe and rail.  That might be the way I go if problems show up as things progress.  

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It would be very prototypical to have shoes knocked off or a juice rail "capsized". Of course, it was always because the juice rail was in the wrong place, never because the shoes weren't gauged properly...

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It hardly shows but a determined painting session this afternoon has resulted in all the "concrete" platform supports being painted in the areas which will remain visible.  As before this has been done with a mix of white gesso and Woodland Scenics Earth Undercoat which is a greenish shade.  The two mixed together give a colour approximating to fresh concrete and the gesso helps the paint to bond with the metal supports.  

 

More decisions have been made and acted upon as regards the final appearance of the halt.  The R076 footbridge kit which was to link the platforms has been abandoned.  It is basically a train-set kit and somewhat over-scale.  It required lowering which isn't too much trouble but the span also required shortening which was fussy and required a good deal of filing and rubbing down to get a good centre join and match up the cross-braced "ironwork".  The trouble then being that the smaller the actual model became the more it showed up as being over-scale.  The step treads were visibly too wide and it appeared squat and rather silly.  

 

I have a Bachmann Scenecraft concrete footbridge which is almost a perfect span and near ideal height.  It only required a little resin cutting to trim the bottom couple of steps off which protrude beyond the sidewalls.  That too has been painted with the gesso / paint mix and has had a mix of fine Peco scenic products added.  These are a grey and a pale buff "ash" which are allowed to grab onto the wet paint.  When dry most of that is brushed off to leave a textured effect resembling concrete.  That will be weathered down in due course.  Many of the SR halts had a lattice-iron footbridge which the R076 closely resembles but working in a small space the scale of that kit was simply wrong.  

 

The Down side platform building has also been sourced.  This is a Bachmann / Kernow MRC "Boscarne ground frame" signal cabin.  The brick base has been rubbed smooth and painted green to match the wooden base of its opposite number, the Shillingstone shelter on the Up platform.  The small gap at the front of the building, which is for point rodding and signal wires, has been filled with an offcut of resin from the footbridge which almost precisely fills the space; once the paint went on no filling was necessary.  I found Jo Sonja's Forest Green Background was a perfect match for the SR green of the model which I had disturbed whilst rubbing down the brickwork base.

 

 

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The grey matter has been exercised in terms of creating platform surfaces which resemble the concrete slabs turned out by Exmouth Junction works.  Foam-board covered in fine grit is too thick and too coarse texturally.  I have opted for card.  In order to achieve the distinctive joints between the slabs I have scored the card and hope that will be sufficient to show through when painted.  

 

Placing the card onto the "concrete" supports has shown up a problem; the joins should line up with the supports.  They don't.  I am not about to uproot all those posts and reset them and shall have to live with this.  My error, my problem.  The posts should have been set 18mm apart but checking the jig I used to measure up they are more like 22mm apart.  Facepalm.  Blue air moment.  

 

Also shown is the first test-painting of the conductor rail which needs to end up looking dull black in the web and shiny on top.  

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4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

The grey matter has been exercised in terms of creating platform surfaces which resemble the concrete slabs turned out by Exmouth Junction works.  Foam-board covered in fine grit is too thick and too coarse texturally.  I have opted for card.  In order to achieve the distinctive joints between the slabs I have scored the card and hope that will be sufficient to show through when painted.  

 

Placing the card onto the "concrete" supports has shown up a problem; the joins should line up with the supports.  They don't.  I am not about to uproot all those posts and reset them and shall have to live with this.  My error, my problem.  The posts should have been set 18mm apart but checking the jig I used to measure up they are more like 22mm apart.  Facepalm.  Blue air moment.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's looking promising, Rick. I would suggest the answer to your measurement error is to make the slabs match the post spacing.

For concrete texture on my old layout I used the textured mounting card that picture framers use to surround the picture and fill the gap to the frame itself. I was able to get some that was alreay concrete coloured, but any colour would suffice if you paint it.

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Hi Rick, Concrete is a funny thing.... I keep dealing with it! :blink: in full size. The solution which SRman and you have come too is the best solution.... if any one asks they redesigned the units for this special situation....:D The texture of precast when new is very consistent as the cement paste is troweled. So very smooth however over time as I noticed all those years ago the UK used a course sand which the paste has eventually come off. Best example from Australia is the foot path the councils put down, the new ones are very smooth if troweled but become course over years as the cement  paste is warn off. I am not sure that even this is a "texture" at 4mm as the max size of the sand would be about 1/16th of an inch so paint is the only way to create the colour with may be some dry brushing. the scale size of a large particle would be some where around .0625mm ... 

 

 

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Oh dear.  There has been something of a pause in the story.  It was summer after all and it was permitted to go outside and enjoy the weather after a period of restricted movement.  

 

This past week has seen a little activity on Waddlemarsh including fitting of most of the remaining conductor rail, the yard lights and placing (but not fixing) the yard buffer stops.  More ground cover has gone is from time to time as well.  Also now back in place is the yard crane,  

 

The con-rail is Peco code 60 on their own plastic insulator pots intentionally spaced every five sleepers when prototype is every four because the sleeper spacing on Peco track is wrong.  This will be dummy so the slight irregularities will not matter.  In correct style the conductor rail changes sides in this case once clear of the station and features run-on / run-off ramps created by simply bending the end of the rails with pliers.  

 

The yard lights are not yet wired in nor weathered but are fixed in place.  The buffers are a mix of Peco rail and sleeper types and will be painted before fixing.  I had thought about having illuminated lamps on them but the ready-to-use versions are rather expensive for my needs and would probably need the power of an LED much reduced to resemble a dimly-glowing oil lamp.  

 

 

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