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Ladybank Road


Poor Old Bruce
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Re. the canopy over the siding at Osmaston Road bridge.

It is very visible on Google Earth satellite .. sorry I haven't found how to copy the view! (it's an age thing, I'm sure)

Looking very un-cared for, probably because I don't think it has been used for at least 45 years!

It's a simple angle and light-girder lean-to construction, but unusually with plain flat steel sheet for roof and outward facing wall. (not corrugated !)

The flat sheet steel would have come from the factory's stock, they used lots of it in their products.     

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7 hours ago, Poor Old Bruce said:

 

The jury's still out on whether I like the result or not as it drains the colour out of the sills and arches, that's one reason I did the arches of the back portion in blue brick instead of cream. I console myself with the fact that I can probably wash it off if I decide against it. What does anyone else think. I'm open to suggestions even if I don't take any notice of them.

 

 

Hi,

 

why not try using a dampened soft brush to clean the sills and arches whulst leaving the brickwork alone

?  May be worth a go.

 

Roja

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21 hours ago, DonB said:

Re. the canopy over the siding at Osmaston Road bridge.

It is very visible on Google Earth satellite .. sorry I haven't found how to copy the view! (it's an age thing, I'm sure)

Looking very un-cared for, probably because I don't think it has been used for at least 45 years!

It's a simple angle and light-girder lean-to construction, but unusually with plain flat steel sheet for roof and outward facing wall. (not corrugated !)

The flat sheet steel would have come from the factory's stock, they used lots of it in their products.     

 

Thanks Don. I must admit I've not considered a canopy over the loading bank as it seldom rains on model railways. Canopies not compulsory anyway.

 

16 hours ago, 37Oban said:

Hi,

 

why not try using a dampened soft brush to clean the sills and arches whulst leaving the brickwork alone

?  May be worth a go.

 

Roja

 

So far I have tried those make-up sponges yoy can get from pound shops and a plastic eraser. Another suggestion I have been given is to try watered down acrylic, I've got some big areas to cover so I may try a sample first to see how long it stays workable.

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On 25/04/2020 at 10:51, Poor Old Bruce said:

No one seems to do what some of us call 'Monkey Bricks' round here, (blue Victorian paving bricks with a diamond pattern surface) so I used their 'Dark Blue Brick'. 

 

On 29/04/2020 at 15:27, Booking Hall said:

 

Thanks for that info BH. Various walling and cobbles now to hand ready for the next bits.

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As a slight diversion from layout building, this arrived from Hardy's Hobbies last week:

 

104_0234.JPG.e9d0e76051e09fcc2db9b67dfdc07382.JPG

 

It is 3D printed and designed to fit on a Hornby DS48 chassis. There's not a lot to it really, just some handrails to fit and retaining nuts to glue underneath. The bits in the foreground of the piccy are sand boxes and tool boxes together with a two-man crew.

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9 hours ago, Ramrig said:

Is this similar to the Fry’s loco at the Avon Valley Railway, that was based at the chocolate factory at Keynsham? 

 

It is indeed. There is a micro layout thread on here somewhere, look for Fry's Sommerdale. The LMS had one at Clee Hill quarry.

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On 08/05/2020 at 10:27, Poor Old Bruce said:

Next questions:

 

Should I put black plastic card behind the windows of the low relief buildings?

 

Shiny side or mat side?

 

I glaze them to give an effect of the glass that should be there and paint the the baseboard upright, or whatever is behind them, with blackboard paint.

 

Mike.

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On 30/04/2020 at 11:30, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

Bruce, have a go with the Humbrol weathering powders - they are better at replicating sootiness than paint, and much easier to apply.

 

On 01/05/2020 at 08:44, Poor Old Bruce said:

 

I don't have any proper powders to hand but I have got some powder paints which I am going to try as I presume they will be similar and give me much more working time. Another presumption is that they will need sealing with matt varnish.

 

If anyone is still waiting for the answer to that question, it's a definite NO. With the stuff I used, which I admit is not proper stuff, varnish takes the colour out of the powder, as seen on my sample piece:

 

104_0237.JPG.706d773a068110f2abbe2e461fdf9e39.JPG

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I've already posted pics of the two Skytrex buildings after painting. This is the 'end' one again:

 

104_0233.JPG.6f0548ca1f0595a946e5c1b11495de29.JPG

 

Yesterday I decided, after much dithering, to go for the 'powdered' look. Once the buildings are on the layout, they should't get much handling so shouldn't rub off too much of the powder. One done, one to go. Seen on the layout in before and after style. The powder certainly takes the edge off the red oxide squirt primer and I can always rub off a bit more powder if I fancy:

 

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Glazing is black plasticard, shiny side out, just tacked in so I can change that as well if I don't like it.

 

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The larger Skytrex building has now been powdered, I did it on Wednesday in the back garden while taking in some Vitamin D. First pic shows the powdered state with cleaning started at the bottom right:

 

104_0247.JPG.e220013e286556fd6cc4089a9bd3ef26.JPG

 

In place on the layout:

 

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and with the loco shed in place:

 

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It just needs a bit of fitting at the bottom to sit better on the loading bank.

 

I have now actually glued down the first bit of 'scenery'. It's a cobbled area next to the coal siding at the front of the layout:

 

104_0255.JPG.8513253c9af2e6c0fba6e1315f32cb7e.JPG

 

Here is a close-up of the cobbles. So far they have just had a squirt of grey primer and a wash of black.

 

104_0258.JPG.13dbdaa4dd4fe6595eb33698a4d63461.JPG

 

They are embossed PVC sheet from Proses, the cobbles are about 2mm square and you get almost 350 x 150mm per sheet. Google 'Proses embossed sheets' if you are interested. I can only assume it is a sign of the times that sheets of embossed plastic are labelled as "Not suitable for children under 14 years old." We were using lathes at school at that age, never mind what I had already been lucky enough to learn from my father!

 

The loading bank at the back of the layout is also now glued in place. Blobs of Blu-Tack stop the buildings falling over at the mo.

 

104_0246.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
15 hours ago, Ramrig said:

Anymore updates then Mr Bruce.;)

 

Nothing exciting really Rammers. In between soaking up some Vitamin D, I noticed how the sunlight was showing up the dust on the venetian blind in my living room to the extent that I was moved to clean it - and the window - and vacuum the floor - and do some dusting etc. etc.etc. (I've got to do it all myself these days since my good lady wife departed this mortal coil). Layout-wise I have taken a file to the bottom of the big Skytrex building to make it sit down better to the loading bank and tacked some black plascic card behind the windows. The large (second-hand) warehouse at the left of the layout is now bolted to the backscene with two M3 countersunk screws, I have found some reinforcing discs on a Wills sheet (the one with the chimney pots and drainpipes etc) to cover the screw heads, there is also a new drainpipe fitted.

 

Oh, as it was just an empty shell, I've also started making a platform from that 3mm foam board stuff to go inside the Scaledale goods shed.

 

Some time I need to install a new ink cartridge to my printer to print some bricks, cobbles etc.

 

At least I'm not getting bored of having nothing to do.

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I mentioned on Wednesday that I was making a platform to go inside the Hornby Scaledale goods  shed. Here are the before and after pictures, not that you can see much of it but at least it's not an empty shell any more.

 

104_0262.JPG.8f4314cf5404c68c6322503bded78c5b.JPG

 

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It's just a box of 3mm foamboard with Wills Scenic sheets glued to it and painted brick blue with powder rubbed into the mortar lines. I've cut out the shed's threshold strip and glued the doors in place.

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Regarding the goods shed again, I don't think I mentioned that it was a single-ended thing with a doorway in one end only. In order to enable sleight-of-hand to swap wagons about off stage I had to cut another opening at the other end.

 

Over the last day or two, all the other low relief buildings have been fixed to the backscene so that I can now make progress on the ground cover for the rest of the layout. I'm debating with myself whether to cobble or not. Some rural goods yards were just compacted ground possibly with a covering of fine stone or ballast type material, I doubt that many would be tarmaced. As mine is supposed to be urban, it may well be that cobbles would be the order of the day. That brings us back to an earlier question of what is the best thing to stick paper to foamboard as it seems imperveous to PVA? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much to report at the mo. I'm trying to sort out what to use for ground cover and for ballast. I want to cover the sleepers if I can so have been testing various ballasts including used foundry sand and silver sand (the fine stuff used to fill in between paving blocks etc.). The foundry sand is very black but can be toned down a bit with talcum powder. Some 'N Gauge, ballast slumped/settled between the sleepers as the glue dried. The silver sand looks to come out tops but one problem seems to be how to wet it out once you've got it in place prior to glueing. It needs a very fine mist, if you get any drops on it they disturbs the surface so you have to be careful if using a plant mister as the odd drops get through. The plant mister is also a bit of a 'sledge hammer to crack a nut' job too as the sprayed area can be quite large (note for future reference - cover the bits of layout you don't want to soak). I did try using my airbrush but that just blew the sand away even on low pressure (it is very fine sand after all!), perhaps I need some more practice with the thing, I don't know). Another hint: I used Fairy Liquid (others are available) in my pre-wet spray, that left a green tinge in the corners of the rails and fastening after drying, so use something with a fairly neutral, or no, colour. I was warned of this beforehand but, as it was for use on a test sample only, and the only WU liquid to hand, I used it anyway:fool:.

 

Today working on how to get a uniform covering which covers the sleepers and still leaves sufficient flange clearance to allow train to run. watch this space.

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Photo shows a test sample of track with silver sand (yes, it looks more golden to me too) after an application of dilute PVA. The 'thing' adjacent is my ballast plough which is just a piece of strip wood with some 40 thou plastic card superglued to it. You could just as easily make one from bits of Evergreen strip or cut some notches in the edge of some plastic card or a lollipop stick. Not sure whether the Electrotren 0-6-0 chassis will run over it though (see if anything else will first!).  The ballast outside the rails is irrelevant for test purposes and can be sorted later. Sample is in the airing cupboard at the mo to dry off.

 

104_0265.JPG.5d24834c252a5b261b8156e2bd9103dd.JPG

 

I've also tried mixing some french chalk with a bit of the black foundry sand to see if I can make a more ashen version for the loco shed area. That is also in the airing cupboard but just a sample in a foil tub to see if the water/glue mix takes the colour out of the chalk.

 

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19 minutes ago, Poor Old Bruce said:

 

I've also tried mixing some french chalk with a bit of the black foundry sand to see if I can make a more ashen version for the loco shed area. That is also in the airing cupboard but just a sample in a foil tub to see if the water/glue mix takes the colour out of the chalk.

 

You could try mixing a small amount of black cement dye powder with the sharp sand, if you want a consistent texture but different colour for your loco shed area.

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A (little) bit further along the learning curve. I had measured some flange depths but obviously not enough. After the glue dried on that sample, I tried some locos on it:

 

Hornby Peckett W4            :good_mini:

Hatton's Barclay 0-4-0ST   :good_mini:

Bachmann 1F 0-6-0T          :good_mini:

Hornby Peckett B3           :negative:   That was a disappointment.

Hornby Ruston 48DS       :negative:   That was a surprise as well as a disappointment.

 

More work needed. Back to the drawing board/measuring stick.

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Ground to a bit of a stand currently as my sciatica is playing up somewhat making standing in front of the layout distractingly painful after a few minutes (same applies to standing in front of the sink doing the washing up!). Fortunately I can still get out for a walk but my 50 minute walk took the best end of 70 minutes yesterday, having to stop and bend/stretch every few minutes.

 

Anyway. Ballasting. I did have another go with a bit deeper 'plough' (about 50 thou) which needed a bit if filing to clear the rail fastenings. That still covered the sleepers but maybe a bit thin but it should allow the Peckett 0-6-0s and Rustons to run. Latest thought is to do one layer of that and then add some more in the middle of the four-foot if I feel like it where spillage could occur, bearing in mind that I will still need to use a track rubber to clean the rail heads. Then dirty washes to suit.

 

While I can sit but not stand for too long, perhaps I should really get on with modifying some couplings to Brian Kirby principles or building some of those wagon kits in the stash.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gosh, is it that long since I posed anything on here. My modelling 'get-up-and-go' seems to have got up and gone. I did have a play on the layout which showed that the track needed cleaning after some painting, it seems odd that 4-wh locos go round OK but 6-wh ones stall in some places. Getting there slowly.

 

As an aside, I got looking at the Six Bells Junction site, whiling away several hours looking what it has on railtours I have been on over the last fifty-odd years ago and passing some additional information and photos to them when I have it.

 

Haven't touched the wagon kit mountain.

 

It's not my back, it's sciatica which gives intermittent severe aching in the hip and numbness in the lower leg. As I may have said before, with arthritis in my left foot and sciatica in my right hip, it's sometimes difficult to know which way to limp. Nil illegitimi craborundum!

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