sb67 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 The warehouse looks fantastic, as you say it transforms that end. The photo backscene really helps create the illusion that the yard is part of a bigger facility and adds space. Great stuff! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted September 29, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 29, 2020 The warehouse looks the dogs. Metal Box van labels are now available for free download via the Scalefour website in case you were unaware. Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted September 29, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 29, 2020 On 05/09/2020 at 08:45, Enterprisingwestern said: If you're going this far, as nice as it is, you might as well use a Rumney chassis? Mike. Not for the faint hearted Mike Griff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 1, 2020 Author Share Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) Wiring and point control. I have used the same winning formula as on the existing part of the layout as if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's even simpler this time as I've made it to be controlled from only the facing side. Five microswitches, piano wire and electrical connector blocks to steady the wire. All done for under a tenner. I don't think you can even buy two of the cheapest point motors for that, these days. I will turn some neat brass ends for the control wires. Each section of track has its own feed from the copper tape bus, which is connected to the other baseboard by leads made from redundant electrical flex. I have found a DPDT switch, which will allow a siding to be switched to be a programming track as I'm fed up of the bit of loose track hanging from under the layout that I currently use for this. Edited October 1, 2020 by Ruston 13 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Track laying is now completed and the track itself has had a spray of etch primer, followed by painting the rail sides and a wash of black. The cork sheet is being used to level up areas nearer to rail level in some areas and to save on the weight of ballast in others. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliewolf Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Hi, I was employed at Norton Barrow metals scrap yard 1977 - 1981. I have posted a few pictures from my time there on flickr. Hope they are of interest. 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted October 18, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) I have finished ballasting and have connected the board up to the existing board to do a test run. A couple of the microsqitches need tweaking and bits of ballast need to be prised out of checkrails but other than that, it seems good. The vans are on what will be the road for the stores/warehouse of the Metal Box Co. Tinplate coil will arrive in Shocvans, so I have a few of these to build. Although Metal Box didn't make 45 gal. drums in reality, this branch will so as to provide a variety of wagons. The same road that the vans are on will also load High opens with finished product (45 gal. drums), while the next road is for receiving strip coil for drum production. This will be carried in Coil C wagons. Paint tin output is assumed to leave by road transport. The siding nearest camera, right, will be storage for Charlie Strong and will lead into a compound and building for the non-ferrous side of the business. This will not produce any rail traffic. The road that the loco is on, and the one to the right, form a run-round loop, which is something the layout has lacked and should provide extra operating interest. Out of sight, stage right, is the fiddle yard/BR sidings/rest of the world. To the right of the far right track will be an area of open/disused land that serves as a layby and will have a mobile greasy spoon cafe and space for lorries. Edited October 18, 2020 by Ruston 26 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Coil C were Diagram 1/004 and 1/007 Pig Iron wagons that were fitted with crude wooden cradles to enable them to carry steel coil. The 1/004 is an easy enough build, done by a few razor blade cuts to the underframes of a Hornby 27-ton tippler and fitting the ancient Trix Pig Iron body. If you can get hold of a Trix body, of course. I'm not sure how I'm going to get rid of the moulded numbers and letters yet. The 1/007 conversion will involve a Parkside 26-ton tippler underframe. Concreted unloading area under construction. It's all just picture mounting card at the moment. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfaZagato Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 I have some very fine X-Acto blades that are only about 1mm wide. Such blades would probably work to remove the raised lettering. I sadly have no idea what the number on the blades is. A No. 17 chisel blade would work, too, if it is narrow enough to fit between the braces. I have also annealed and bent a No. 11 blade to a 90 deg. angle for similar restricted space. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted October 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2020 3 hours ago, Ruston said: I'm not sure how I'm going to get rid of the moulded numbers and letters yet. Trumpeter or Tamiya micro chisels. Personally recommended. Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 All three boards were up, last night, for the test of the fiddle yard and a running session with the first train to run all the way through. It consists of four points and four sidings. I don't go in for cassettes, turntables and all that stuff. I was going to put a loco traverser at the end but it's not necessary when a four-wheeled loco is easily picked up and put back on the track. It's not as if I'm using Pacifics and bogie diesels. I could have got more tracks in but I need to leave somewhere for all the wagon loads; these have been lying all over the bookshelves. 18 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 More work on the coil unloading area and the Coil C wagons. The card has been scored with a craft knife to divide it into sections, each one painted in differing shades of the same basic concrete colour. A 3-course brick wall now surrounds the concrete, and ballast has been added to blend this in. All three Trix pig iron wagons, that have been sourced from different sellers, have been delivered, separated from the old chassis and placed on new ones. The grey ones are on Hornby 27-ton tippler chassis, whilst the bauxite example is on a Parkside 26-ton tippler chassis. All need to have coil cradles built and fitted, plus lettering and weathering. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Firecracker Posted October 31, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2020 Just found this, absolutely brilliant work and a superb tribute to the series! I’m now wondering if a Shelby group loco survived into preservation? Owain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Firecracker said: Just found this, absolutely brilliant work and a superb tribute to the series! I’m now wondering if a Shelby group loco survived into preservation? Owain I've just looked in my IRS West Midlands handbook and, apparently, all of the steam locomotives did. Next up - Coil J. These were cut down iron ore tipplers. For this one I have used a Bachmann sand tippler body, cut down to size and a new top strip added. The underframe is a double-braked Bachmann 16-tonner with Hornby parts added. The other Coil J will simply be a cut down Parkside kit. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Firecracker Posted October 31, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Ruston said: I've just looked in my IRS West Midlands handbook and, apparently, all of the steam locomotives did. Excellent! I also understand Charlie Strong collects the scrap from the works at Sedbergh of the Lowgill, Sedbergh and Ingleton Railway. Nice bloke provided you’re straight with him (he’s getting on a bit now, it’s his lad, Curly runs the show these days). Owain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted November 5, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 5, 2020 I am making progress with the backscene. There will be a concrete post and chain link fence at the edge of the concreted area. I'm not sure if that Coles crane would be up to lifting strip coils though. 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 This is the workshop for Shelby Group road vehicles and locomotives. It acts as a view blocker to the entry/exit to the scrapyard board. I plan to put transparent corrugated panels in the roof to allow light in so interior detail can be seen. Instead of having all the exterior brickwork as plain brick, I am considering painting the front wall. Probably white or cream. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steaming_chris Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 On 05/11/2020 at 13:22, Ruston said: I am making progress with the backscene. There will be a concrete post and chain link fence at the edge of the concreted area. I'm not sure if that Coles crane would be up to lifting strip coils though. Hi Dave, the back scene looks good, coming on nicely. Would you mind letting us know who the northern lights building are made from ? Regards, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 20 minutes ago, steaming_chris said: Hi Dave, the back scene looks good, coming on nicely. Would you mind letting us know who the northern lights building are made from ? Regards, Skytrex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ruston Posted November 12, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2020 It now feels as if I'm getting somewhere with this. It's surprising what a bit a static grass does to improve things. Apologies for the poor quality of photography; the layout is on the dining room table and a single energy-saving (crap!) bulb is all I have for illumination. The workshop building has acquired a window and a roller shutter door. The door can be wound up and down but only manually. The roofs have had apertures cut in and trusses built inside them. A wiggly tin diesel loco shed is also being erected in the workshop yard. The stone setts in the foreground are to be the end of a dead-end street. A wall will be built between the street and the workshop yard and an access gate to the railway at the end. More low-relief backscene buildings have been made and fitted. This building has no particular use and isn't meant to be part of the Metal Box works but is just something to fill the space and look typically industrial as a backdrop. 24 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfaZagato Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Nevermind the quality. Looks like almost every picture of 70's or 80's UK I've ever seen. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBRJ Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Maybe it is just me here, but I rather like to see some examples of "crap photography" - Its adds to that Time n Place thing... Perhaps all 70s layouts should be shot with a 110 Halina 3 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Don't worry about the lighting Dave. Looks just like a summer's day in Wakey................ 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 14, 2020 18 hours ago, 5050 said: Don't worry about the lighting Dave. Looks just like a summer's day in Wakey................ Dunno, looks a bit dry for that! Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgood Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I like your recessed display cabinet masquerading as a framed picture! (Bit late but only just caught up with thread). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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