7mm + modelling EY UP ! Somewhere in Deepest Devon a 7mm adventure

[NHY 581]

Well, that all looks rather jolly. 

 

Rob. 

[Clive Mortimore]

2 hours ago, bgman said:

Chairman of the Board(s).....

 

There has been a slight change of plan......

 

The elephant in the ( modelling ) room was my original layout plan and boards, which many may have seen in the background when I have posed some of my loco builds.

 

The space is restricted in length to just about 3m, and the boards + a revolving fiddle yard didn't satisfy my aims, I suppose that's the problem with 0 Gauge in addition to which at 600mm wide plus side add-ons I felt it was perhaps too much.

 

Anyway, after having a "play" with the Peco track I realised that it would be possible to have more boards / track made in a modular fashion branching off to the other side of my living room for a further 2.3m run, ahh ! the benefits of living by myself and no one to moan at me !   

( Just a note to say it wouldn't be a permanent set up as each of the 3 boards can be easily taken apart and put back into the modelling room )

 

Hi big G

 

I am lucky i have someone who cooks my meals and washes my smalls. My trainset is in the living room.

 

We have a second room which the estate agents called the family room, Mrs M sits in there, it is South facing so most the year nice to sit in, it over looks the garden and stables and has the telly wires (with the telly attached) so I have the living room.

[bgman]

Getting' Jiggy with it.......

 

( With apologies to Will Smith ! )

 

Having decided on the track plan I then thought about the sleepers which had been attached to some rails made previously.

 

I changed the spacings using Templot as a guide and produced a GWR 44'6" panel with 19 sleepers in the menu as a guide for making a jig on my Silhouette cutter ( what would I do without it ! ) it slips between each running rail and is extremely easy to use.......

 

 

With that in mind I thought I would have a rough setting out onto the track plan and also place some of my previously made structures onto the baseboards because...well you know....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ignoring the "banana shape of the halt platform for now, which was made to fit a previous idea, I will probably rebuild another one with the bits I have and use my own laser designed timber frame station building too.

As much as I like the Brunellian Station I built I feel it wouldn't fit in with my final theme so its going to be put in the cupboard for now.

 

I am awaiting two turnout kits from Greenwood Model Railway, one left-hand B7 and a double slip for the far end which will complete the track once built. Thankfully I have enough laser cut sleepers to complete the track in-between the pointwork and each of the three boards are much more manageable to be worked on individually.

 

With a little bit of clean-up the canopy valances have now been cut and will be ready to be attached to the above timber framed station.

 

 

Oh!  And before I forget, these all work nicely too.....

 

 

All the servos were wired up temporarily to test and each one worked quietly and the signal "bounce" is also nice to play with !

 

And there you have it, plenty to keep me occupied......

 

G

 

 

 

[2ManySpams]

Great stuff Gbloke. Loving the work you've done on multiple fronts. Particularly like the banana.

[NHY 581]

5 hours ago, bgman said:

All the servos were wired up temporarily to test and each one worked quietly and the signal "bounce" is also nice to play with !

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

That all looks super smashing great..........and one should never discount the benefits of playing with things that 'bounce'

 

 

R

[2ManySpams]

10 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

That all looks super smashing great..........and one should never discount the benefits of playing with things that 'bounce'

 

 

R

 

Balls

[NHY 581]

Just now, 2ManySpams said:

 

Balls

 

Thats a bit strong. I was just saying. 

 

 

[bgman]

Action Station/s !

 

Not too much happening currently whilst I await a few supplies and thoughts have turned to the station building.

 

After having a rethink and altered the baseboards I decided to put my original station building back into the cupboard and look at a smaller building to replace it.

I did a design for a timber framed building based upon the one at Shipston on Stour and had it laser cut for me as a kit of parts as below minus the roof at the moment.

 

 

Whilst it would be suitable for my proposal thoughts also turned to a stone built station of similar proportions and so I've had a play on my Silhouette software to produce this as a possible alternative

 

 

Obviously just a printed facade at the moment but I think it may be more suited, one to ponder upon.

 

Here is an overview of the track roughly laid with an alteration to the original Templot plan underneath whereby I have replaced two B7 points with a B7 double slip to create a bit more room at the front for scenic work ( still swirling around in the old brain box ! ).

 

 

 

I can also cut down the width of the platform to allow room at the back when a back scene is made and incorporate my scratch built water tower at the far end.

 

When the boards are finished ( yeah ok ) it will make them easier to dismantle and be more manageable which will enable me to set them up to play trains for a running session incorporating a fiddly diddly yard at one end in my living room. Over and above that, with the central boards ( x3 ) now cut down to 400mm wide it will be possible to make further modules for longer running lines beyond the scenic break at the overbridge, well that's the plan !

 

G

[wool]

May I ask who did the laser-cut kit for you?

 

Henry.

[bgman]

Just now, wool said:

May I ask who did the laser-cut kit for you?

 

Henry.

 

Hello Henry,

 

Of course you may, I spoke to Andy  https://railmodel.co.uk who is very accommodating and having sent my .dxf files to him he quickly turned it around for me at what i consider to be a very reasonable cost. 

I used him being reasonably local ( Plymouth based ) although I have also used other laser cut model suppliers too.

 

I hope this is useful to you ?

 

G

[Northroader]

There were some very neat small station buildings of GWR broad gauge parentage on the Westbury Salisbury line. Try Heytesbury, done in limestone, or my favourite, Wilton North, done in red brick with Bath stone trimmings.

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/westbury-to-salisbury.html

[wool]

That is most helpful and much appreciated.

 

Henry.

[bgman]

10 minutes ago, Northroader said:

There were some very neat small station buildings of GWR broad gauge parentage

 

My original thoughts were aimed at Broad Gauge origins and I also looked at West Bay as a possible style too.

 

Whilst I really appreciate what you are suggesting and knowing that GWR styles were often adapted to suit the various regional material supplies I will probably go for the one posted above.

I have considered using brickwork between the stone quoins,  and it remains a possibility ( never say never ! ) I will have a play / trial with engraving some stonework into DAS or similar and see how it turns out.

There's always something to think about with a final image in my minds eye 

 

G

[Donw]

You could always have stone between brick quoins that is how I had to build an extension on the Wenlock Edge .

 

Don

[Northroader]

That’s a Taff Vale way of building stations:

[Donw]

45 minutes ago, Northroader said:

That’s a Taff Vale way of building stations:

 

It is often used when the local stone is hard and does not shape well so it is difficult to get nice square edges.  Obviously if the stone does not shape easily, corners and butting up to window and door jambs is messy so those bits are done in brick. Typically 3 course sticking well out then 3 sticking out less  enable some bonding with the stone courses.  It is also used for flint buildings for the same reason.

 

Don

[bgman]

And Now For Something Completely Different..........

 

First may I thank Northroader and Donw for their suggestions regarding station details following my last post, much appreciated.

 

I have thought about and also trialed some stone built walls etc but finally gave up and reverted to the timber framed station building.

 

It has been drawn up as an extended version of the one I showed and here is a screenshot taken this morning showing part of the cutting sheet.....( I need to change the line colours ! )

 

 

 

Following on from that I have been getting slightly frustrated with some supplies not arriving and in one case over 4 weeks have elapsed. Yeah I know there's a lot going on, but they have assured me more than once its about to be sent.......

 

With that said and apart from redrawing the "shed" above I have lost my way with it all (no heart icons please or violins as my mate Sim... Sim Phonic wouldn't approve  ) .

 

So in order to put things right after the cold / wet spell and overloading with modelling thoughts I decided the only thing to do was get out yesterday and do what I enjoy next to modelling.....

Here for your delight Ladles and Jelly spoons ( or maybe not ? ) I present an RMweb premier ..... cue cinema organist please....

 

 

( a slight swear involved but not that bad ! ) 

 

I needed this ride to clear my noddle and for the most part it worked plus the all important mental well being and exercise too.

 

Enjoy (or not)  as the case may be over a tea / coffee / beer / wine or whatever takes your fancy not professional by any means but I definately had fun doing it.

 

Until next time......

 

G

Edited February 16, 2021 by bgman

[bgman]

Oh ! The GREAT OUTDOORS......and nothing to do with modelling, well, apart from my skin tight waterproofs !

 

After yesterdays outing I happened across a few photographs from a few years back when I was in Scotland with a few mates and we decided to go Canyoning, absolutely crazy but brilliant !

 

To start off we had to jump 30 ft into a fast running river, the reason it was so fast is due to a power station further upstream releasing some of its warm water......IT WASN'T when I jumped in !!! 

 

 

It then took me into a bowl formed of rock in the riverbed and created a vortex just like a washing machine does. One of my mates kept getting spun around so after that he was nicknamed Hotpoint !

 

Here's me un-vortexing myself with a rather nice young lady instructor waiting to grab me if I'd had problems, I was ok but decided it was worth grabbing her anyway....mmmmm ! 

 

 

Here on a warm late August afternoon in Austria half way down a 2500 ft mountain on a Mountain Bike absolutely stunning scenery

 

 

And this is where it started in the snow covered peaks 

 

 

Why all this I hear you say....or maybe not ?

 

Well after yesterdays outing it made me reminisce and brought back a lot of very happy memories which is what we all need sometimes, just a break from the modelling maybe.......just a little one eh ?

 

G

Edited February 16, 2021 by bgman
spill chaker as usual !

[Mikkel]

Great photos Grahame, brought a smile to my face. Especially that one with you "walking" right into the river. Nice video from the ride too - made me feel like going out myself (except I'm more into road cycling and we've had fresh snow here yesterday - excuses, excuses).

[Hal Nail]

Hope you dont mind a suggestion. To me the run around looks shorter than necessary. Normally fitting in a loop is the hardest thing to achieve in a small space and one compromise people sometimes do is have double tracks entering as if the cross over is off scene. Given you've already got double tracks you dont need to squeeze up the loop.

 

Even if you want it on scene there is still room to move the points nearer the bridge or even have one point under and the second in the fiddle yard and then if you ever had more space, you could extend the fiddle yard and run longer trains. 

 

I'm aware that I am making assumptions about there being a board beyond the bridge!

Edited February 18, 2021 by Hal Nail

[bgman]

Tanks very much....a real bargain !

 

As a very, very occasional visitor to the Bay of EEEE I saw some bits being put up as Spare / Repair last week.

Happily I wasn't chased on the bidding and managed to win said items ( £ 31.00 + p&p ) which arrived safely today.

 

With the previous saddle tank running plate made using the Silhouette cutter I am in a mind to use the items to produce a 2021 Class at some point. I may also get my resin out and produce extra items, which will include the springs ( only five were in the bundle but no big deal ).

 

 

I will have to order a few extras from the Laurie Griffin range and also attempt the missing underside of the tank by casting in resin  made up from a home made mold taken off my other model, shouldn't be too hard.

 

With my modelling taking a brief back step currently I wanted to get items ordered prior to re-commencing and this will serve to help when I begin once more. Once any previous orders eventually arrive I will reassess my progress and see what to place on the modelling bench. Sometimes I believe it is better to take a step back ( some use the word "Mojo" which I have always regarded as a 3 for a 1p sweet whereas I just regard it as lack of interest currently ) and not overload myself despite having enjoyed all the work done to date.

 

9 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

Hope you dont mind a suggestion. To me the run around looks shorter than necessary. Normally fitting in a loop is the hardest thing to achieve in a small space and one compromise people sometimes do is have double tracks entering as if the cross over is off scene. Given you've already got double tracks you dont need to squeeze up the loop.

 

Even if you want it on scene there is still room to move the points nearer the bridge or even have one point under and the second in the fiddle yard and then if you ever had more space, you could extend the fiddle yard and run longer trains. 

 

I'm aware that I am making assumptions about there being a board beyond the bridge!

 

Hal,

 

I don't mind any suggestions at all assuming they are useful, thank you.

 

I agree that fitting a loop into a small space can be a challenge and my earlier photograph of the trackwork was just to assess it on the boards I have made / altered. It is in a room which doesn't allow much lengthwise but having found a previously made double slip I placed it where some of the points were.

I would like to at least run my longest loco in the space, even if I can't run her "off stage" on the setup / layout for now. Other constraints are where the baseboard joints occur etc and whilst I would be easier to have what you've suggested the track, buildings and all the other items are being scratch built as an exercise to see what I can achieve and also shunt / play with what I'm producing.

 

I have a transverser that can be attached but only when the boards are set up elsewhere hence the current plan, another 3ft would have been ideal !

 

Here is the double slip placed as mentioned - 

 

 

 

So there you have it, and whilst the weather holds I have been out on my E-BY-GUM bike enjoying myself once again and trying to keep fit and active prior to getting my Jabba Jabba which is booked for next week having now fallen into the next group stages of injections and I can't wait !

 

G

[bgman]

On 16/02/2021 at 20:17, Mikkel said:

Great photos Grahame, brought a smile to my face. Especially that one with you "walking" right into the river. Nice video from the ride too - made me feel like going out myself (except I'm more into road cycling and we've had fresh snow here yesterday - excuses, excuses).

 

Apologies Mikkel I've been out making use of the fairer weather.

 

Thank you for your comments, as you may be able to see it did to mine as well although it soon went when I went under the water ! 

One benefit of wearing a wet suit is the ability to warm yourself up quite quickly by certain means ..... but we won't go into that here !!!

 

The video was really made as an aid for seeking out a few more downhill tracks whilst out and now I know where they are. I didn't go quite as "mad" as i would normally do, but now I've tried a few, some of which aren't in the edited version I can't wait until the better weather arrives.

 

I do draw the line at riding in the snow.

 

G

Edited February 18, 2021 by bgman
english grandma

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, bgman said:

the ability to warm yourself up quite quickly by certain means

Newton's Fourth Law.

[bgman]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Newton's Fourth Law.

 

Something an Apple iPhone can't seem to manage yet ! 

 

W.Armlegs

[Mikkel]

FYI, it does not work so well in sleeping bags.