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Pickwick Yard - Reviving an unfinished layout.


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13 hours ago, steve1 said:

I noticed you have the try Metcalfe factory building on the layout. How did you find the kit went together?

 

Thanks

 

steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

It’s been quite a while since the Metcalfe kits were made (over 10 years in fact!) as they were recycled from another unfinished layout. As far as I remember they weren’t too difficult to put together, certainly much easier than the Scale Model Scenery Low Relief Factory. Thankfully they've seem to have stood the test of time without too much of a problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don’t know if this will interest anyone but I noticed recently that my Model Railway channel on YouTube had hit 200 subscribers so rather than make a thank you/celebration video I figured I’d have a go at doing a livestream! I’m somewhat used to live streaming as part of my day job but I’ve never combined it with model railways before so I have no idea how well it will go. Feel free to join me tonight at 7pm, either for a live running session on Pickwick Yard or a potential train-wreck… both figuratively and literally! :lol:

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
19 hours ago, That Model Railway Guy said:

Another new arrival at Pickwick Yard! I think this is the first time I've ever managed to fit a passenger train on this micro shunting layout :lol:

 

IMG_5676.JPG.538c72637612120360115a5301555c4b.JPGIMG_5675.JPG.91bfd9b82183dfc2eb4729776848ab2f.JPG

 

I'll have to start work on a larger layout soon so that I can give Rocket a proper run!

 

"British Railways apologies for the late arrival of the the 4.15 from Lower Snodbury"

 

steve

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  • 1 month later...

Sadly Pickwick Yard hasn't had much attention over the summer due to a combination of doing the ground work for a much larger project as well as making the most of the sunshine to get the garden railway up and running again!

 

However, I have found the time to make the odd wagon kit here and there. With all these industrial locos I felt they needed some proper mineral wagons to shunt around the yard so I had a go at making a couple of Dapol wagon kits and I'm rather pleased with how they've come out. 

 

IMG_5995.jpg.7ab46b445e327cb80d17ea38b660334b.jpgIMG_5996.jpg.3c18c43206e6567d44e857aae17cf34d.jpg

 

As you can see one is in a more pristine condition and with the other I had a go at salt weathering - I wasn't entirely successful but it's good enough for a first attempt. Considering these kits have been around for a while they still look good and were fun to put together. They're also cheaper than the RTR options especially if you want a few of them!

 

My only minor niggle with them is that the couplings are rubbish! Luckily they just plug in so I'll probably replace them with some of Dapol's slimline tension lock couplings in the future.

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Given their age, the old 2 bob Airfix 16T is a fine kit. With the right amount of work they build up into a fine model still. 

 

As for couplings, I would fit a NEM mount for Kadees or use 3 links, depending on which layout for which I was building it.

 

steve

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They certainly are very good for their age. And also not to complicated to put together for someone like me who is towards the beginner end of the spectrum! :D

 

Yes I imagine kadees or 3 links would be more realistic, though I can't see myself switching away from the standard tension locks any time soon. But good to know it's possible to fit all manner of couplings to them. 

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2 minutes ago, jimsmodeltrains said:

 

What is salt weathering? How is it done?

 

Essentially you paint your model in a rust colour first, then when that's dry sprinkle salt over the model and fix in place using hairspray (or some people manage with just water, not sure how though!). Once the salt is dry you paint your main colour over the top of the rust and the salt - this was grey for the wagon in my case. Once that final layer of paint has dried you rub off the salt particles which reveals the rust colour underneath the grey and gives the effect of paint chipping. The more salt you use initially the bigger the patches of rust that show through.

 

That's how I've got the flecks of brown on that second wagon in my pictures above. It's a great technique when done well but I'm afraid I haven't done it justice at all. I think it works better with an airbrush or spray paint as I had real trouble brushing away the salt so I just ended up with a really bumpy surface instead :lol:

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On 28/09/2019 at 20:59, That Model Railway Guy said:

I did a bit of filming while making/assembling the layout so I've edited together a little video for anyone who might be interested. There’s also some nice shots of trains running towards the end so you can see Pickwick Yard in action! 

 

 

 

 

Brilliant! I love the way the little locos go over the points without any hiccups. Also, the [lack of] ballasting is refreshing and goes well with the style.

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5 hours ago, Pagual said:

 

Brilliant! I love the way the little locos go over the points without any hiccups. Also, the [lack of] ballasting is refreshing and goes well with the style.

 

They're certainly not bad for secondhand (third in some cases!) Hornby points from the 90's! They do cause minor problems every so often but even the tiny Ruston 48DS manages to make it over the dead zone.

 

Thanks! I could have covered over the existing ballast mat that's already down if I wanted to but this layout was never meant to be super realistic. I just wanted to throw something together quickly to run trains on while I pend the time working on a "proper" layout. :D

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Just thought I'd do a quick video about the uncoupling method I use on Pickwick Yard. Tension locks are still my preferred coupling so I wanted a really simple way to remotely uncouple wagons while shunting... best of all, it's incredibly cheap to make and is almost invisible when installed on the layout! :) 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, That Model Railway Guy said:

Just thought I'd do a quick video about the uncoupling method I use on Pickwick Yard. Tension locks are still my preferred coupling so I wanted a really simple way to remotely uncouple wagons while shunting... best of all, it's incredibly cheap to make and is almost invisible when installed on the layout! :) 

 

 

 

 

*

The idea of this alternative form of uncoupling ramp for tension locks has been around for more than half a century.

 

CP

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