Recycling an old layout? - NOW FREE to a good home

[Jerry1975]

That building and tank look great, looking forward to more of your work.

 

Jerry.

[marc smith]

Thanks ever so much for the kind comments folks.
I do think that I sometimes tend to over-weather buildings and stock... and other times I think it's fine
Or is it just the way I see things? They say model what you see, not what you think you see.... so I do look at a lot of photos of similar buildings or stock,
in lots of books and on-line photos, and then start weathering.

Also, for some odd reason, I tend to get drawn to the mundane stuff, and the dirty, grimy items around a railway and associated buildings
I think these are what give a layout its' sense of atmosphere and the surrounding area the railway sits in.... its' sense of place, if you like....

Not too much to report on (as ever, not enough modeling time on the weekend) But I did manage to lay a bit more track. Again, I am trying to rescue some of the track I ripped up from the layouts' previous incarnation...
So that's taking a bit more time than simply laying new track would. I wouldn't normally do this, due to the risk of introducing un-evenness - but I like recycling whenever I can

[Neil]

50 minutes ago, marc smith said:

Thanks ever so much for the kind comments folks.
I do think that I sometimes tend to over-weather buildings and stock... and other times I think it's fine
Or is it just the way I see things? They say model what you see, not what you think you see.... so I do look at a lot of photos of similar buildings or stock, ....

 

My highlights. For a long while I would have agreed wholeheartedly with modelling what you see and not what you think you see; at a basic level it better informs the colours we use, allows us to weed out over-scale detail and shows what we can reasonably leave off our models. However during the last year I've been reading about Charles Rennie Mackintosh's time in the south of France, painting around Port Vendres and Collioure. Having visited the same places I can see that his pictures capture the spirit of the place, the architecture and the landscape but apparently he wasn't averse to moving bits of background hills or foreground objects around if it better suited his composition. I suppose the long and the short of it is that we should be guided by what we see but not be afraid to adjust it to better capture the effect we seek.

 

I've always thought that your models nail the artistic part fair and square Marc. I'd trust your eye and your sensibilities to deliver.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Neil

[marc smith]

Thanks once again for your kind comments re my efforts Neil
Yes, I think it has always been a part of my own modelling, to be guided by the real thing, and then to add, subtract or modify, where I feel necessary - again, a lot of that is a sort of "gut instinct" I think

I think it was Iain Rice who also said "we can't always model the pretty" - and this is something that influences my modelling. I suppose "Ogmore Road" was my closest effort to create more of a chocolate box / picture postcard type of layout? And every now & then, I'm tempted to try another pretty country branch station, and do something similar. But for now, I'm (still) happy representing slightly run-down, unkempt bits of the railway

[NHY 581]

6 hours ago, marc smith said:

I think it was Iain Rice who also said "we can't always model the pretty" - and this is something that influences my modelling. I suppose "Ogmore Road" was my closest effort to create more of a chocolate box / picture postcard type of layout? And every now & then, I'm tempted to try another pretty country branch station, and do something similar. But for now, I'm (still) happy representing slightly run-down, unkempt bits of the railway

Totally agree, Marc...........but this bit seems to resonate  with me particularly well. 

 

 

Rob

[marc smith]

Little bit of progress. Here is the piece of recycled track on the over-bridge. The rails will be well rusted, with plenty of weeds and grass in between sleepers. I may well "lift" a length of rail too. I intend to use some wire mesh fencing across the end of the bridge too. Perhaps there's a hole in the fence - where a young trainspotter has crawled through, to see if he can cop the yard shunter, or a visiting loco?

More of the track has been laid on the scenic section too. Including the through line at the back. With the Dairy removed from the board, you can see the exit point. The intention is only to use this at exhibitions (or when I feel like it) to extend operations and add a bit of interest. I will add a hinged flap / door - to stop stock falling off the end, when not using the added cassette. As I've said before, the ballasting is rough at the moment - much of it is loose. Once all of the track is laid, I will use a stiff, old decorators brush to remove loose and stray ballast - collecting it on a sheet of newspaper for re-use.

EDIT: In the general overview, you will see another, different oil tank in the recess. I'm now thinking I may use that instead of the one I painted recently.
Perhaps there is room for both on this layout? I like them both... but I don't want to overdo it

Edited March 12, 2019 by marc smith

[marc smith]

I found a few moments last night, to do a bit of "tweaking" to the Dairy building. I reduced the depth of the loading platform. It was a bit delicate, and a tad brittle - it was built over 20 years ago now, and has been sat in a box for most of that. But reducing the depth of the loading platform has made it a better footprint, to fit into the available space. The platform needs re-attaching, and somewhere, I still have the old canopy for it - I'm hoping I can still use this. Or should I build a new one? The building does need some other cosmetic repairs too, and a bit of a clean up. I'll post pics when it's re-assembled. Next task is to make the add-on foreground....

[marc smith]

No modelling time last night, or tonight
It seems a break from railways has led to me hankering for the time to play trains even more than ever!

[john new]

On 14/03/2019 at 10:48, marc smith said:

No modelling time last night, or tonight
It seems a break from railways has led to me hankering for the time to play trains even more than ever!

It does. Been doing non-modelling railway stuff for a couple of weeks (editing SLS Journal), need to get some trains running. I suppose like any addiction it has to be fed or withdrawal symptoms set in. 63 years on from first my clockwork train set I guess it's hardly surprising the addiction is severe.

Edited March 15, 2019 by john new

[marc smith]

Less modelling time than I had hoped for yet again, over the weekend. But my "addiction" as John new says above - is still a driving force, and I'm back to being so keen again
I reduced the depth of the Dairy's loading platform, and re-attached the chimney. I also found, and re-attached the canopy - it was always a bit wonky.... that was what I intended when I built it all those years ago, honest. I now need to do some repairs to the building; down-pipe, re-painting where the building meets the loading platform, a bit of strengthening etc etc, together with a bit of tidying up (it got very dusty somehow, despite being in a box)

I've yet to lay the last bit of track, which runs to the front of the Dairy - I was originally going to model the Dairy as now disused, and model the track as very overgrown & rusty - but I've changed my mind on that. I've still got a pair of milk tankers in EM from Ogmore Road (or I think I have!  ) and I quite fancy running the occasional tanker train, for a bit of variation. Of course, those who know me, will ask the question "Where's the mirror Mr Smith?" and I'll place that at the end of the Dairy. I'm also thinking that in future, I could even extend the layout at this point, or even model a tiny micro-layout extension - where I model a bit more of the Dairy? Hmmm - I'll get my sketch book out

Here are a couple of photos of the Dairy repairs so far.... and other structures roughly in position on the layout.
I always place structures in several positions, and leave them there a while, before finally deciding on their positions - sometimes just moving hut a few inches can really make a difference

PS> I haven't glued the low relief chimney into the corner of the backscene yet - I think I may now place a tree there.....

[marc smith]

Hmmm.... Looking at that last photo - should I leave the corrugated canopy quite as "wonky" as it is?
Or should I straighten it a bit? It looked OK to me, 20 odd years ago.... Or should I just not give a hoot?

[jamest]

Hi Marc,

 

My vote would go for straightening the roof a little - if it is possible - I think the 'wave' is a little too pronounced at the moment.

 

But if it is too difficult I would live with it!

 

The scene really is coming together now - really like the white washed shed.

 

All the best,

James

Edited March 19, 2019 by jamest

[john new]

Possibly cut part of it Out and have cameo of builders fitting a new sheet of crinkly tin into the gap. 

[NHY 581]

Hi Marc. 

 

Perchance a tad too 'distressed'?

 

Is it possible to remove it all, straighten and reattach?  

 

Failing that I would make a new one. 

 

 

Rob 

[sb67]

I like the canopy, just needs straightening a bit if poss.

Steve.

[south_tyne]

Marc - personally I like the distressed canopy, and the colouring is superb, but maybe the 'wave' is a little extreme for some tastes! 

[marc smith]

Yes, I'm inclined to agree - the canopy is maybe a tad too warped. I will straighten it, and maybe paint it a little to tidy it up later. Hopefully, I'll remember to do this well before glueing the building into position

No modelling to report on yesterday evening. But I was searching my Garage / Workshop, for the milk tankers. I found them quickly, along with some EM stock I'd almost forgotten I had.
That being, much of the stock that ran on Ogmore Road. The Milk Tankers were in there, but strangely enough - I had re-gauged them to OO! lol. I'd also rusted them a tad more too, as I had intended to use them on my old "Hendre Lane" layout. I was going to park them on the road at the back of the depot building, to sit there as old, withdrawn stock. So they never ran in their OO gauge status.... Now, where is that EM back-to-back gauge?

PS. The idea of laying the Dairy track so that I could possibly extend at future, into a really tiny micro layout / add-on scene.... has really grown on me - I'm already sketching some ideas....

[Bungus the Fogeyman]

Mr Smith sir

 

Welcome back into the fold! Shame that Cashmoors, or whatever it was called, had to perish- I really would have liked to see it but never managed to catch it! The new tour de force looks rather splendid so far- had an idea for a similar scheme but without the dairy building a while back, having an 08 as yard pilot shunting and tripping. Good to see Walbys Axiom being obeyed too (Walbys Axiom- to quote the legend that is Adrian Walby - "More than 2 points is an extravagance!").....Name-wise, may I suggest Velocity Crescent or Auriga Street - purely because I like the names.

Anyway, look forward to seeing this at Cardiff in January- yes the Rollmeister wants me to attend too- so we can compare notes. Oh and don't forget WrecRail on June 29th this year. I'm sure we can welcome a carload of herberts from Cardiff!

Thank mother for the rabbit!

 

Disgusting of Market Harborough 

[marc smith]

Hello Bungus / Disgusting of Market Harborough

Nice to hear from you sir. I hope all is well? It's good to be back.... it's good - ah, didn't want to be singing that!
Shame indeed you didn't manage to catch the scrapyard layout - but there we go. Just hope I can get my skates on and finish this one in time for January
Or I will suffer the wrath of the Rollmeister and his big brother! And you don't want to upset either of them, let alone both

Actually, I must fess up here. When sketching possible plans for this little project - it was initially going to be a tad smaller, I wasn't going to use the Dairy, but some other lower-relief industrial structure....
I was initially thinking of having no points at all - like Brian T's superb "Abercynon Fach" - then I wanted to add just one point, and your rather nice EM Gauge Cornish China Clay micro layout immediately sprung to mind  Of course, fellow South Walian, Wayne of this parish now owns that nice layout

EDIT: PS. Thanks for the name suggestions. Currently I'm favouring "Lazarus Lane", but still thinking I like "Phoenix Yard" - Or trying to include "Ogmore" into the name (Due to the Dairy)
But please keep the suggestions coming

Edited March 20, 2019 by marc smith

[NHY 581]

How about a variation on this........

 

Perhaps Ogmores Nut gone Dairy....

 

 

Rob. 

[br2975]

Well done Marc, your renewed energy has drifted South-West across the city and sparked the planning of a new, smaller project hereabouts. ............starting with a quarter scale model of the model !

.

keep us posted of your progress.

.

Regards,

.

Brian R.

[marc smith]

No time at all to spend on modelling last weekend, pah
However, I did grab just a few minutes to try something out.....

Where the ends of rails meet a baseboard joint (in this case, where the added road leads to an additional cassette, behind the Dairy) I would usually add a copperclad sleeper and solder the rails so that. I do this, as many would, to add strength, and hope to prevent the rails getting ripped up from their sleepers, when the layout is being transported.

Anyway, to save time (and from being a bit lazy) I decided to install two copperclad sleepers in said corner of layout - but instead of using solder and an iron....
.... I used some solder glue which I recently purchased online. It seems pretty strong. Just wondering how many of you out there have used solder glue?
Is it strong? Is it anywhere near as strong as actually soldering? Would you recommend it? - I just wanted to give it a try
I'm thinking I may attach all the power feeds to the track, using this glue. When using an iron, I usually end up slightly melting one or two of the plastic sleeper chairs....

[marc smith]

A little bit of work and progress on this project over the last couple of evenings....
I hadn't yet laid the line to the Dairy, as you may recall - I needed to reshape the front of the layout, very slightly
One of my reasons for not initially wanting to use the Dairy on this project, was that I didn't feel there was enough room for it....
Certainly, it would have been tight to get milk tankers into the loading bay, and it just looked like there wasn't enough of a sense of "space" around the building.

Anyhow, the slight shortening of the sidings to the left of the Dairy building have helped that, I feel. But I needed to add just a little bit of foreground, to give me space, and I also needed to remodel my farming / "proscenium arch" as Barry Norman calls it. I was dragged along to B&Q on the weekend - to look at wallpaper, lino and laminate flooring, and to lift a bag of compost for Mrs Smith - it turns out!
And next to the exit at B&Q - there's a rather nice addition, in the form of an offcuts bin. So I picked up some useful bits of wood and hardboard, for a donation to charity - I had some pieces to reshape my baseboard... result!

So I've added some framing supports, and an offcut of the old fascia for the layout (and now I have a nice new piece, thanks to the offcut bin). I've expanded the foreground to a slightly curved shape, and infilled the gap with offcuts of my extruded polystyrene insulation board - I knew I kept them for a sound reason. It needs re-shaping and sculpting, then I will add some plaster bandage to the surface, to strengthen it. Whilst at B&Q I also picked up some primer for the track - and it was in the sale too

[Owd Bob]

I can say that i was dragged to B&Q by my other half recently, and like wise thankfully as it turned out the trip also supplied me with a few good lengths of batten for just a few pennies put into the charity box, seems all the stores must be doing it. It's looking good and coming together nicely Marc, i don't say a lot but i'm always watching your progress and hoping to get and learn a few ideas from it along the way.

[sb67]

3 hours ago, Owd Bob said:

I can say that i was dragged to B&Q by my other half recently, and like wise thankfully as it turned out the trip also supplied me with a few good lengths of batten for just a few pennies put into the charity box, seems all the stores must be doing it. 

 

20 hours ago, marc smith said:

And next to the exit at B&Q - there's a rather nice addition, in the form of an offcuts bin. So I picked up some useful bits of wood and hardboard, for a donation to charity - I had some pieces to reshape my baseboard... result!

 

All looking good Marc, looking forward to seeing how you fit your arch, I've never done that on a layout but I got to say it finishes a layout off nicely.

My local B&Q are doing that now, I'm acquiring a collection of baton, MDF and plywood that seem useful for baseboards etc but I really have no idea what to do with! 

Steve.