Peasevern Yard - 7mm BR Blue shunting layout

[37114]

A couple of bits of recent progress to share; I was recently studying some scrapyard pictures recently and noticed  the presence of  partitions/segregation walls in a number of the yards to separate different materials or provide a retaining wall to stop the pile spreading too far. These were mostly made out of girders concreted in the ground with old sleepers between them or with steel sheet instead of sleepers.

 

I thought one of these walls would go well by the office to create a break between the scrap pile and the area in front of the office where I have put the bins for non ferrous items and decided to go for the sleeper version. To make the walls I followed the same approach as the real thing, making individual sleepers from balsa wood. I need to make a jig to drill the holes and the marks where the chairs have been but did a test fit on the layout last night. Once fixed in I will need to extend the scrap pile to the wall but I have some scrap in hand to do this.

I have also got the Bedford tipper lorry back in one piece but more weathering is required.

[Steadfast]

I'm loving seeing this come together Rob, lots of little individual scenes within the layout. The Bedford looks smart too!

 

Jo

[37114]

20 minutes ago, Steadfast said:

I'm loving seeing this come together Rob, lots of little individual scenes within the layout. The Bedford looks smart too!

 

Jo

Thanks Jo, yes I am enjoying building this layout and it is coming together nicely.  I need to get on with the headboard for the Bedford over the weekend to finish it off before the weathering, thanks for sorting the transfers.

[37114]

Just the one photo from today of the nearly finished sleeper wall. After yesterday's shots I sprayed the walls  grey primer and left it to dry overnight. Today I made a jig for drilling the holes from where the shoes have been removed, an area which is a bit of a minefield. Most of the railway companies used either 3 or 4 bolts to hold the chairs and in the case of the GWR used through bolts so there are holes through the sleepers while other railways screwed into the wood so there is a hole in only one side. I chose 4 bolt type. My jig was a piece of plastic strip the same width as my sleepers and slightly shorter in length into which I drilled 8 holes This was then overlaid each sleeper in turn for the holes to be drilled with a pin vice.

 

Once drilled the sleepers were painted with some Humbrol 85. This a grey cream colour which may seem strange but closely looking at photos shows aged sleepers to be more grey than brown. On top of this the rust marks for the chairs were made using a small square of plasticard onto which some 186 brown was painted then potato printed onto the sleeper.  I also painted the uprights no 186. Each sleeper then got some different dry brushing shades but I have only made a small start in the picture below.

 

In the background is a 12t van which is new. The Dapol paintwork is poor and almost appears to be self coloured plastic.  So far I have remembered it (B771064) and picked out some planks in different colours and weathered the under frame but the body needs more work.

[EmporiaSub]

On 01/01/2021 at 16:28, 37114 said:

 

 

In the background is a 12t van which is new. The Dapol paintwork is poor and almost appears to be self coloured plastic.

I found the same too. I usually give them a black wash initially but that hasn't made much difference this time. I resorted to dry brushing.

Edited January 2, 2021 by EmporiaSub

[37114]

16 minutes ago, EmporiaSub said:

I found the same too. I usually give them a black wash initially but that hasn't made much difference this time. I resorted to dry brushing.

Yep, that is next on the list to do, the 5 plank Hybar I got last year was the same paintwork but responded well to a wash of black.

[Steadfast]

On 01/01/2021 at 16:28, 37114 said:

On top of this the rust marks for the chairs were made using a small square of plasticard onto which some 186 brown was painted then potato printed onto the sleeper. 

So simple yet so effective! Fantastic!

 

Jo

[37114]

4 hours ago, Steadfast said:

So simple yet so effective! Fantastic!

 

Jo

Thanks Jo, they turned out better than I  thought.

 

More progress today, I was given occupancy of our rear lounge to set the layout up, my objective being to;

-get the holes marked up and cut for the exit to the fiddle yard,

- get the fiddle yard in place to do the bolt holes

- Fit the front fold up cover

- Fit the control rodding for the 2 other points 

 

Although I achieved most of the above it wasn't a particularly productive day as it proved to be painful doing the point rodding which was annoying as it is the same method as I used on Peafore yard.  Basically I think the wire I am using is too flexible and the peco points have the latching springs still in place. I spent loads of time faffing around this morning with them so ended up moving on to the other bits but will  revisit it asap. First up the end was removed affording this end on view. 

Once the holes for the track were cut the fiddle yard board was offered up, clamped to the main board and bolt holes drilled. On view are 3 of my simple cassettes, these are made of 9mm ply with peco track nailed down. Rail joiners soldered to the rail at one end of the cassette provide alignment and power from the layout,  an approach that worked well on my last layouts so hopefully it will upscale ok to 7mm

Next job was the fold up cover which is hinged with Piano hinge at the bottom and captive bolts at the top.

Play time. For the first time 08950 can move between all of the 3 sidings courtesy of the fiddle yard cassettes. The warehouse is now screwed to the layout as I hate having loose scenery items in separate boxes, my preference being for everything except the stock to be nailed down as it saves me time setting up at shows and on Pallet Lane I once left the buildings box behind when packing for a show....

 

Despite a few frustrations,  it was great to get some more progress on the layout, just need to avoid the temptation to play with it rather than build it!

[bcnPete]

How long do you have occupancy of the rear lounge? 

 

That’s looking great Rob - particularly like the end on view too.

 

Are you going to add sides to your cassettes? Am thinking of putting something on my ones / traverser deck as the locos are big and heavy and am terrified of them hitting the deck from 4 feet up 

[37114]

1 hour ago, bcnPete said:

How long do you have occupancy of the rear lounge? 

 

That’s looking great Rob - particularly like the end on view too.

 

Are you going to add sides to your cassettes? Am thinking of putting something on my ones / traverser deck as the locos are big and heavy and am terrified of them hitting the deck from 4 feet up 

Hi Pete,

 

Just a one day occupation so the room is already handed back to the wider family. Other than space the other reason for using the lounge in preference to the space in the garage is the garage is designated sawdust free so as not to risk it entering any oily bits of the Land Rover.

 

There are no sides planned for the cassettes but obviously some sides planned for the end and back of the fiddle yard. I have managed not to drop any stock to date on either of the 4mm layouts (famous last words) but in fairness the cassettes don't actually get lifted off the deck as I only have a few rakes and the deck is wide enough for 3 cassettes which is all I need. The Wagon cassettes are just under 24 inches long, the loco cassettes are 17inches so they can be maneuvered about by sliding rather than lifting within the 48 inch board. Also I am not sure how high I would need to make the sides of the cassettes; too low and they make no difference,  too high and they make it difficult to couple up and put stock on the rails.

[37114]

A case of spot the difference today;

 

As mentioned on my last update I was having a few issues with the point control so I decided to remove the latching springs from the points to see if that made a difference. The good news was it did and the latching is now done by the slide switches which control the movement and polarity.

 

I am sure like most modellers who use the Peco 7mm points I was never particularly happy with the fake walkway/box over the tie bar and as much as I tried to convince myself I could live with them I decided I wanted to do something better. I saw a video by @47606odin of cutting the box out and replacing the gap in the sleepers and decided to do something similar. I used some of the mountain of spare Balsa I had left over from the sleeper wall to replace the gap in front of the tie bar and then small pieces of plasticard on the rear most sleeper. They are still to be weathered but although not as good a solution as making my own points they now look much better and are something I feel I can live with.

[mudmagnet]

Much better Rob. I've seen that done before and works a treat.

 

[37114]

9 hours ago, mudmagnet said:

Much better Rob. I've seen that done before and works a treat.

 

Thanks Richard,  I am so glad I did it and only took 10 minutes per point so not that complicated. 

[37114]

The layout is slowly edging forward,  recent highlights include painting the side of the rails and the ground cover in the corner to the left of the scrapyard office. The area is not that big but the challenge with a layout this small is filing it with something that will draw the viewers eye in. I decided on it being a parking spot for the bosses car and the general waste skip. I used a mix of 2mm ballast to represent chipping inter mixed with bits of scatter and foliage. Some waste will get added to the skip on due course 

With the layout set up on the kitchen table to work on, I couldn't resist getting the class 37 out and put it on the layout for the first time since I finished it. I didn't bother connecting the power as both the track and the loco wheelsets need cleaning up as they are caked in paint. In the photo below the eagle eyed will notice the scales inside the weighbridge hut. 

It really is a bit of a beast and dwarfs most of the structures on the layout!

A few close ups by the office:

[37114]

One problem of having the layout in the house is it has attracted the attention of some rather out of scale animals... Ruby thought about climbing inside while Lily tried out how strong the top is.

 

Later on Lily tried to climb in through the fiddle yard exits but decided just to watch proceedings in the end.

[sb67]

Great photo's Rob. I like the small area with the skip, it will look good with a bit of junk or maybe a parked car. The class 37 does look very imposing and very real. Looking forward to some more pics, great stuff!

[37114]

2 hours ago, sb67 said:

Great photo's Rob. I like the small area with the skip, it will look good with a bit of junk or maybe a parked car. The class 37 does look very imposing and very real. Looking forward to some more pics, great stuff!

Thanks Steve,  over the rest of the duration of building the layout I will add various bits of junk and rubbish on the skip, I have made a start on weathering the car but I won't fit it yet until the scenery behind is finished. 

 

One of the areas I had been keen to get stuck into was the culvert area. In hindsight I could have planned this a lot better,  The channel I built in the baseboard being far deeper than it needed to be and consequently the banks were too steep to support the land above. I have been having a clear out on eBay of my stocks of unused 4mm building materials and found some cladding which I decided I could put to use in the culvert sides as it bore similarity to the sheeting  used at the side of canals. Although requiring some surgery of the bank I managed to fit it in. Some weathering is next step before the weeds and grass are added. On top.of the bank will go a corrugated iron fence to fence off the scrap yard.

 

A couple of shots from the fiddle yard end below. The shot shows how I have taken some liberties with the clearances in some places and the bridge is an example of that but everything still passes through (just) and from normal viewing angles it is not obvious. I have done a better job with the end wall backscene compared to the 4mm version of the layout and it lends itself to a couple of nice views. 

The level crossing gate is temporarily in position,  I have made the gate so it can be opened as in a few years time I am likely to add another board to represent the cement terminal and thus the gate will need to swing through the end of the layout onto the level crossing on the new board. I also need to check my maths to ensure it will all fit in the car!

Edited January 10, 2021 by 37114
Typo

[jcarta]

I really like the centre picture... The scrap yard is starting to come to life

[P.C.M]

Just having a catch up  Rob. It's  looking really good.

 

Cheers Peter.

[37114]

5 hours ago, jcarta said:

I really like the centre picture... The scrap yard is starting to come to life

Thanks, I have some more scrap to add to the pile when I have weathered it . Also I generated a load of swarf yesterday for the yard as I was re assembling the back body of the Land Rover and had to re-drill the rivet holes in the cappings where they had filled in during re-galvanizing.

4 hours ago, P.C.M said:

Just having a catch up  Rob. It's  looking really good.

 

Cheers Peter.

Thanks Peter, I am happy how it is coming together now. I am having to put some hours in on it as it needs to be finished for October for Calne and it is potentially at the SWAG get together in April if it happens.

[37114]

I have made a start on the ground cover behind the warehouse, still some way to go and I need to borrow Dave's static grass machine. I also got 03382 out with some wagons to test the clearances on the back siding to see if I can get 4 rather than 3 presflo wagons in (which I can just)

 

I also had a play with another black and white shot

 

[37114]

I have been progressing the ground cover recently but having done the bulk of the culvert banks means I can progress with the fencing by the scrapyard and warehouse.  I chose to do a corrugated iron fence by the scrapyard, making a frame on the inside of the yard on to which the individual panels are fixed. The whole fence is removable at the moment for weathering. 

[37114]

In other areas I have also been working on the walkways for the bridge. These handily hide the wires that run above ground due to the depth of the river. The track has been toned down as well with some dry brushing but is possibly still too grey so I will revisit after the rest of the basic ground cover is complete.  One view I am definitely starting to like is the end on view, it works much better on this layout than the 4mm version. 

[37114]

After the mornings efforts I couldn't resist putting the few loose scenic items and vehicles on the layout and taking a few general shots.

 

 

[37114]

I have weathered the corrugated iron fence today. To simulate corrosion on the top of the panels I cut a few notches on the top prior to weathering.  A was of very dilute Humbrol no 26 was applied followed by small dabs of no 62 to simulate rust which then had some rust coloured weathering powder added on top. Matt black was then dry brushed on, particularly on the scrap yard side where cars would be placed in front of the fence.  A simple "Keep out!" was painted on the riverside although you would have to be desperate to try and get in if you climbed the river bank.