RMweb Premium Barry O Posted June 6, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 6, 2019 Ideal for a "let's finish summat" moment as well. Baz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Everything's now got 3-links! The layout itself now has some proper lighting! There are hangers to prevent the controllers falling on the floor. There's still trouble a t'mill (though less trouble than there was and, fortunately, the Spanish Inqiusition have not arrived). The locomotive kit stash has increased! (how the heck did that happen?) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted June 8, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 8, 2019 (edited) The mill is just about finished and is shown in place but not yet fixed, or with the building/ground join tidied up. Other general layout work includes the addition of track diagrams to the section switch panels. There is one for the station area and one for the high level line. Lighting has also been fitted to the layout, which is definitely needed now that I am using 3-link couplings. Edited November 4, 2022 by Ruston 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted June 13, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 13, 2019 (edited) I've made some progress with the pipe works. The RTP building has been repainted and weathered and a low-relief section made from Wills sheet and some windows that were made for American 1/48th scale have been put into this. The boiler that I made and posted earlier has been cut down to give more space in front of it and a lean-to roof has been made to go over it. Hand rails have been added to the stone capping on the retaining wall and some detailing of the scene has begun. So far this is limited to piles of coal and straw lying about the place. Straw would have been used between layers of pipes when loading them into railway wagons. The L&Y Diagram 61 and 81 wagons that I will be using for this traffic have had straw put in them as if left over when they have been unloaded. A crude wooden buffer stop has been added to the pipe works siding. The wagon on the right has its removable load of pipes in place. Other traffic into this siding will be coal and salt. Salt would be for salt glazing of the pipes. I don't know exacty how salt would have been carried, so I'm going to assume in barrels in sheeted open wagons. Hand rails have also been added to areas where railway workers could potentially fall off the edge. Edited November 4, 2022 by Ruston 18 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted June 16, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) Yesterday and today I have been making and fitting a proper backscene. Simply painting the background a dark green colour was never really going to do, so I used some photos of trees that I took myself and added in a few mill buildings using Photoshop. It was printed onto several sheets of plain A4 paper and cut up in a collage fashion. The different parts were glued to the backscene using PVA glue and a bit of brushing on of more of the sky colour, plus a bit more airbrushing and that's it done. There are some more actual model trees to add, particularly where the paper joints are visible but other than that, it's done. I sat back to admire it and played trains and took some snaps. I'm quite pleased with the background and the scenery as a whole now. Edited November 4, 2022 by Ruston 14 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted June 16, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) A few snaps of the trains. Kitchener heading a mixed coal and workmans' train on the high level line. Osiris shunting a wagon into Knowles siding, by use of a chain. The great thing about using 3-links is that you can do things like this that can't be easily done with model couplings. Horus on a short goods train. Osiris bringing a stone train down from the quarries. Kitchener taking empty chaldrons to the colliery. Edited November 4, 2022 by Ruston 22 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandhole Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 I think, out of all the layouts that you have done, and I loved BT&S!!!!, this is the one that really hits my buttons! I thought after High Peak Lime you had peaked, no pun intended!! but this is joyous!!!!! 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandhole Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 I have to ask.......Are you up for exhibiting it? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullygrainey Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 This layout has come together beautifully. You've created a real sense of presence and atmosphere here and I've enjoyed watching it take shape. Cheers Alan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 16, 2019 Author Share Posted June 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Sandhole said: I have to ask.......Are you up for exhibiting it? Probably not. It would be a lot of hassle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 29 minutes ago, Ruston said: Probably not. It would be a lot of hassle. That's a shame. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Back to the workbench. This is something that I have been messing about with for over a year but the project stalled. A pugbash with a difference. The difference being that I'm not bashing it into something else but am trying to improve it. The one on the left is a bit of a wreck and was given to me in a non-working state and is shown only for comparison. It started as BR-numbered 51240 and I want to put it into L&YR livery. The trouble started when I attempted to scrape off the moulded smokebox number plate, which didn't go very well and so I cut off the moulded lubricators too. I ended up completely destroying the smokebox door and cutting a hole in the front and then I didn't know what to do and left it. Since then I have made a new door and hinges from brass and have only recently got around to fitting it. The handles are from 247 Developments and the chimney has been cut off and replaced by a brass version, from Wizard Models. The handrails on the saddle tank have been removed as they look to be oversized and will be replaced by finer versions. I have opened out the cab windows as the moulded frames are too chunky, making the windows appear too small. I'll have to make new lubricators from bits of brass. I have only run the thing once and it was awful. It couldn't pull the skin off of a rice pudding, was highly geared, and the deep flanges on the wheels didn't like my trackwork. It will be getting a High Level chassis, with Gibson wheels, and as much lead as I can cram into it. 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastworld Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 The Skytrex kilns look quite good now that they're painted. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 A few rolling stock projects have been finished. One of the MR vans, below, is a brand new Slaters kit and the other was bought minus wheels, buffers and brake gear for just £3.00 at Keighley club open day. I had all the missing parts left over from building the stone open wagons that had been built with dumb buffers and brakes on one side only, so no extra expense was needed to finish it. It was even painted and lettered. The new brake van was given to me, built but minus buffers, brake gear, footboards and wheels. The wheels are from a wagon that I bought for £2 but only wanted for the 14mm dia. wheels. It's supposed to be ex-Midland and rebuilt in the CVMR workshops. I have lettered it NOT TO BE USED ON HIGH LEVEL LINES to not only add some visual interest but because whoever built it crammed it full of lead and thus it is too heavy to hang on the back of a train going up the bank. Finally, the left had fidde yard. Now with removable coal loads and wagon cards. The cards are to be shuffled and 6 picked out for making up a pick up goods train. Each card gives the identity of the wagon and its destination. These are Hipperholme (the public goods sidings at the end of the line), Colliery Branch (high level, LH fiddle yard), Quarry Branch (high level, RH fiddle yard), Knowles Siding (the pipe works). These cards will be used along with a timetable, which, along with the pick up goods, will include the public passenger service, workmans' trains, block stone trains, block coal trains (to Elland, L&YR), block coal trains (chaldrons to wharf on the Navigation, further up the line, and light engine movements. 17 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted June 21, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 21, 2019 The signs that I designed, here are now made and added to the layout. I had printed them on ordinary paper but the ink bled so they were illegible and I was going to give up and re-do them in black and white but I had a go at printing them onto decal paper and that has produced a better result. They probably aren't legible in the photos but that's down to my camera, my photography and screen resolution. There's also the A-frame, outside the wagon repair shop, for lifting wagons to remove their wheelsets in the above photo. The signal cabin finally has steps and a wiggly tin shed has been made to store lamp oil in. The cabin needs settling in as soon as I can get some more ballast. Another job is to make and fit a fence or hand rail along this side of the footpath that slopes down to the station platform, behind the cabin. 19 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) Back to the pug. Lots done, today. I put all that's in the photo together. The gearbox is a fiddly thing and can only be put together properly once the frames are attached to the bodyshell. The part in the foreground, that carries the motor, is then fitted by the shaft of the first gear holding it to the rest of the 'box. The firebox covers this and is held in by pins and the cab clipped back on. That's how it's supposed to work anyway so I'll see how well that actually works. I am using the cheap Chinese 10/15 motor in place of the specified Mashima 10/20 in order to save space for weight and for cost. £1.49 vs £23 is a no-brainer. I have also found these motors to run better than Mashimas anyway. Of course the screw holes in the gearbox don't line up with the holes in the motor but I just solder the motors on. Only this time I have turned a brass collar that has been loctited over the boss around the bearing. The outside diameter of the collar just fits through the worm hole in the gearbox, so ought to give the correct distance to mesh the worm and gear without any faffing around. Edited June 22, 2019 by Ruston 6 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted June 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 23, 2019 On 16/06/2019 at 18:04, Ruston said: Probably not. It would be a lot of hassle. Thats a shame, it would be a very popular exhibition layout. I would travel to see it! Thanks for all the photos and inspiration, Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted June 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 23, 2019 On 16/06/2019 at 16:23, Ruston said: Horus on a short goods train. Super set of photos Dave. Please can I make one suggestion? Put a piece of mirror behind the canal bridge arch, it would make a huge visual difference to the scene. All the best, Dave. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 2 hours ago, DLT said: Super set of photos Dave. Please can I make one suggestion? Put a piece of mirror behind the canal bridge arch, it would make a huge visual difference to the scene. All the best, Dave. This has been mentioned before. I don't know how I could cut a mirror to fit. It would have to go right down to the water level but would also have to be wider than the canal for the rest of it and so would need to be shaped to fit. If I could get some kind of flexible, self-adhesive mirror then I would do it. More pugbuilding. The shaft is holding the twp parts of gearbox together and it has been roller-tested with the rods on. It runs nicely, so it's now on to making the driving rods and fitting the cylinders. I have weighed all of the component parts, including the original weight that fits inside the tank/boiler, and it only comes up to 80g. I can possibly get another 20g in it but most of the weight is going to be over the leading axle, which is the compensated axle. This type of rocking axle compensation doesn't work when there's too much weight over it, as I found when I built the Dowlais D class tank. However the compensation works, or not, 100g isn't going to be heavy enough; the RTR Hornby Pecketts weigh 125g and they can just about manage 5 wagons on the bank, so 100g is a lot less than I would like. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted June 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 23, 2019 That's a motor I haven't tried - do you have a link for it? What's the shaft diameter? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Michael Edge said: That's a motor I haven't tried - do you have a link for it? What's the shaft diameter? The shaft is 1mm dia. I got a length of brass tube, from Hobby Holidays, to sleeve them. I've used these motors in 5 locomotives now and I've found them to run more freely than the equivalent Mashimas. Minebea N20. Edited June 23, 2019 by Ruston 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dave John Posted June 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 23, 2019 Just a thought Ruston, how about a bit of 3 mm acrylic mirror ? Only a few pounds for an A4 sized bit and you can cut it to a curve with a fine blade coping saw . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted June 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 24, 2019 6 hours ago, Ruston said: The shaft is 1mm dia. I got a length of brass tube, from Hobby Holidays, to sleeve them. I've used these motors in 5 locomotives now and I've found them to run more freely than the equivalent Mashimas. Minebea N20. Thanks Dave, I think that's the one I've ordered - might be there when we get back this week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 On 23/06/2019 at 19:54, Dave John said: Just a thought Ruston, how about a bit of 3 mm acrylic mirror ? Only a few pounds for an A4 sized bit and you can cut it to a curve with a fine blade coping saw . I'll look into that, thanks. I've just been having a tinker with the L&Y pug and getting the con rods to clear the crank pins is proving to be a problem. Lord knows how P4 folks get on with this! I've also been reading up about the pugs, or L&Y Class 21, and it's more complex than just having a smokebox door without a number plate. Until 1904 they only had one sand box per side and that was on the the top of the running plate, between the wheels. So if I am to date my loco to the nominal 1900 date I will need to cut off the moulded sand and tool boxes, which will be a right royal PITA to do. Although I find it hard to believe that the body is a one-piece moulding I can't see any join or glue lines between the tank/boiler and the running plate. Without being able to separate them it's going to be almost impossible to do and even if it can be done, the front springs are only moulded for the rear halves and I'd have to cut those mouldings out too and make complete springs to replace them. There's also the buffers - until 1901 they all had sprung buffers, with the 1895 batch having heads of 18" dia. So I'll need to acquire some suitable buffers and chop off the existing blocks. It's easy enough to do but because it pre-dates the sand box alterations there's no point in doing the buffers without the rest. I think the easiest way is to say the pug arrives on hire in 1905. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted June 25, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2019 I did one of these Pug kits recently in EM, it was a bit tight for clearance but 00 shouldn't be too bad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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