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Coalorsdale - A shropshire Branchline - 1965 to 71


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1 hour ago, whart57 said:

That platform edge is looking a whole lot better.

 

The ballast colour will affect the overall look though. Aside from the fact it doesn't want to look too clean, what colour are you going to use?

 

Thank you. At the moment I have bought a tub of woodland scenics fine "buff" ballast. I am definitely going to be airbrushing all of the track and ballast too. So i can play about with different tones and colours. 20200614_143534.jpg.a8c13911d96c1d3cb010d8e8614e2e6c.jpg

This old image shows the ballast colour I'm aiming for. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for the lack of posts here. I have been side tracked with other projects, as well as planning a portable layout. (link below). 

 

I have also been staying with the girlfreinds family  for the past month, don't worry we waited until the law allowed covid free people to move into new households.

 

But as the rules are relaxing again and we're all still symptom free I will be moving back into my parents house the second weekend of July and will get straight back to the main layout. 

 

I had been a little de motivated for the main layout recently, hence all of the planning work on the small layout thread. 

However having watched an hour long scenery video from one of our American cousins and then reading through several threads on here I have plenty of ideas to crack on with scenery when I get back. 

 

Until then we have been going on plenty of walks in the local area and much to my other half's delight... I have been dragging her towards interesting bits of railway. 

 

Here are  a few shots. 

 

The Albert Edward Bridge over the river severn on the line just after Coalbrookdale Station. (taken with my trusty drone) DJI_0518.jpg.846a2d4376283949fb957e5aafe22af6.jpg

 

And The new track bed (old track removed) and temporary end of the line at Horsehay steam trust. 

20200627_121809.jpg.994a87b5d7bc0b9d1b8faa18ca6e892f.jpg

 

Probably some more prototype photos to follow for the next fortnight until I'm back into the garage and modelling. 

Thanks,

David 

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Hi all, 

As stated above I'm not moving back home until next week, however I made a social distanced visit today to wait for a plywood delivery for my little layout as well as to get some work done that I've been planning in my head for however long. 

 

The main job was to cut the hardboard facia that I had started last time I was home. I cut a 4' x8' sheet into 1ft strips with the circular saw, the end result varies from a full one foot down to as little as about 6 inches following the contours of the landscape. 

 

I tried a few methods of cutting along the contour lines. As I haven't yet got around to purchasing a jig saw I ended up using some strong scissors which worked quite well. 20200706_125510.jpg.94d75606c75cb8b2abb720c9975fe0fb.jpg

20200706_130805.jpg.1dd3fe1b3d0fca28eb51f6e02a469914.jpg

Having already mounted control panels and such I ended up cutting carefully measured slots and drilling holes over the dcc throttle sockets, they ended out quite well aligned in the end. 20200706_153422.jpg.b49f348fe2081012d97e9e24676aa556.jpg20200706_153810.jpg.2f03e6e55da5f6af5aa2904a561e708f.jpg

...

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I'm very happy with the facia so far, at the moment it is just screwed to the frame work, however when I move back home next week I will begin gluing the edges as well as filling and sanding before painting black. 20200706_153935.jpg.9411cefd969bf2e0dd69372aae463470.jpg20200706_154231.jpg.86e4977abc064d8cdce7c69cf6ff667f.jpg

 

As you may see, whilst I was cutting wood etc. My girlfreind helped paint the sculptamold brown, creating a good base to start scenery on in the coming weeks. 20200706_164825.jpg.5aadc99905199d914dae219becd24444.jpg

 

Here is an overall fisheye shot of today's work. 20200706_164849.jpg.4dbdc2eb1a630951dd285635a06a1cd6.jpg

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Another reason for this afternoons visit was to open the parcels that have stacked up, mostly odd bits for the portable layout. But also including this lovely 04 from Ebay. 20200706_161129.jpg.b42c51cc8c52659b489fb7c3764815bc.jpg20200706_161121.jpg.a7100b8154d3809a59f39c15682dcedb.jpg20200706_161001.jpg.7f00950f5bb6fe15497fab8a7819f658.jpg

 

I've read a few articles on dcc fitting split chassis 04s and have baught some bits which should arrive when I get home. 

 

I will use her as a goods / shunting loco on both this layout and my portable shunting layout. 

 

Well that's all for no. Felt good to get some actual work done on the layout and I'll be back in full swing when I get home next week. 

 

Thanks, 

David

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good evening all, 

Well I've been home Since sunday but progress has been slow. 

 

I Initially wanted to dcc chip my 04. However during my efforts I managed to break my cheapo soldering iron whilst swapping tips. Having purchased a similar chepo replacement next day, I managed to burn out the dcc chip I was using by leaving the iron on far to hot. Luckily it was a cheap liasdcc  chip from ebay as I had one spare and didn't want to buy a lenz chip, however it has still set me back a few days and as I had just bought a new soldering iron I only had spare cash for another cheap lias dcc chip from ebay. 

 

Having attempted a few other jobs and encountering more problems, such as rail match paint clogging the airbrush, I set my focus on the board for my uni layout (link below). Which have me a day away from the main layout. 

 

That brings me to today. Whilst being away from the layout for the past month or so I have been thinking about my problems with operating. The big problem was the poorly designed storage yard which required trains to be reversed into sidings and had no runaround capability. So I had decided to rectify this. 

 

Initially I was going to buy some extra points and turn my existing sidings into runnarounds, however with pecos stock issues and being strapped for cash I decided to go for a rearrangement of my current track which would cost nothing and have no waiting time. 

 

Here is what I started with. 20200713_175412.jpg.742e3935ad6ca53c38791432d342b7f4.jpg

 

I Initially removed all of the track that I thaught needed moving or that I would no Longer need. 

 

And then set about installing the points I. Their new locations. 

 

20200714_152940.jpg.f84f4e664f9cbb9592284d561e8dae83.jpg

 

 

 

To get enough length in my siding for my 6 coach rake (plus loco) I had to install a point under the embankment.  To do this I dremeld out a flap. 20200714_133825.jpg.87450a49bcaae6c92e50b254250ae47d.jpg

 

Having cut a slot in the embankment I tried to get a right hand point to fit on the curve however the radius either side of the point was a little tight and caused the track to kink.

 

To get the sweeping curve on the scenic section I had originally put in a quite a tight curve under the embankment, probably a set track third radius or so .

 

To get the new point to fit I relaxed this curve a little which ended up creating a nice 's' bend off scene to get the tracks to realign. 

 

After almost a full day's work this is the finished result. 20200714_184814.jpg.800d64196723f09c83a74a0f5b500c9a.jpg

 

Overall I much prefer the flow and hope I will make more use of the off scene tracks now I don't have to reverse trains in, as well as not having to walk around the back of the layout to reach the panel. 

 

I will do a quick post tomorrow morning on the new control panel. 

 

Thanks, 

David 

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Hi all, 

 

As promised here is the new control panel

For the storage yard, it's a simple 3 switches on some thin ply again marked with the hot soldering iron. 

20200714_224615.jpg.9a00e6b5472750546db42d878b9e521e.jpg

 

I've also just finished painting most of the track on the scenic section. All except the incline and goods yard which I may paint to be slightly rusty. 

 

Having tried to airbrush the rail match sleeper grime and having many clogging issues I purchased a rattle can which arrived today. I was a little disappointed with the size however I got the bulk of the track done and it looks quite good. 20200715_152132.jpg.e04ff112abcfd1f57b6b57b44cc341f6.jpg

 

I had to finish of the last metre or two by hand with the smaller acrylic pot as the rattle can ran out ( I may have been a little heavy handed). 20200715_152141.jpg.bdec5b02a0a7cc0b595076b67c38cbac.jpg

When it's ballasted I hope it will all blend in

 

I'm now working on the two bridges so I can finish sculpting the land around them and then more scenic work will start. 

 

Thanks,

David

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Good afternoon all, 

As mentioned above, over the past couple of days I have been working on the bridges and the Brook. 

 

I decided to scratch build the viaduct out of foam board and brick plasticard. To begin with I have done only what is essential to get the surrounding scenery plastered. I. E. Getting the shell of the viaduct and bridge supports made and covered in brick plasticard. 

 

I began by drawing out a template for the arches of the viaduct. This was then cut out of foam board and the front and back faces of the viaduct were glued in place. 20200715_121025.jpg.5ac47552686c00e579446c8895b7b3c6.jpg

 

I then made the arches by cutting two pieces of flexible plasticard and glueing them inside the foam formers. They were first given a quick wash of white to Fill in the mortar as this will be hard once in place. 20200715_124045.jpg.21d8a61e9ad239890c607bea21074a5f.jpg

 

The plasticard was then trimmed and I glued brick plasticard onto the front and back Of the viaduct. 

 

Once this basic viaduct was complete I filled in the embankments with screwed up wet paper. 20200715_211139.jpg.74621334b8bc409deb0c7a4dedabf4ce.jpg

 

Finally the embankments where covered in the last of my sculptamold, and then having run out of sculptamold the bed of the stream was covered in polly filler. 20200715_224032.jpg.2bdce75b76427a0192f9864b7c445a86.jpg

You can see that I have also made some basic abutments for what will be a girder bridge at the rear. 

 

This is just the basic start to scenery here and more progress will follow. 

 

Thanks,

David 

 

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A bit more progress. 

 

I have finally got the 04 dcc fitted as well as with a cab light and all of the handrails etc, however I'm yet to fit kadees.20200716_222354.jpg.048d19dd7ab069dba633181242c56ec1.jpg

 

 

I have also painted all of the new plaster brown which helps blend it in and it is finally starting to look less like a snow scene. 

20200717_143231.jpg.aad837986e9b3cd9afd53d6bb9d15020.jpg20200717_143243.jpg.ecd4549825becc77856bc2ba2e241332.jpg

 

And finally I have glued and sanded all of the joins in the facia. I had wanted to paint it black with hobby craft poster paint however the paint seems thin and inky and soaks into the wood so I shall be buying something different. 20200716_123304.jpg.2e97ea8acf13c2f89f5766137c50f622.jpg

Thanks, 

 

David 

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Afternoon all, 

I have been working on the tunnels and bridges, however I will save that for a later date. 

 

A major milestone was reached today, I have ballasted two sections of mainline, one before and one just after the viaduct which itself  will be ballasted after it is painted. 20200721_175605.jpg.4690685ca0640230b4ab41c8e39c47e9.jpg

 

I have also gotten my 04 running properly . I disconnected  the connecting rods from the fly cranks as they are known to cause jams as well as a wobble. I also fitted a super capacitor stay alive from ebay. 20200721_124707.jpg.8524b99fbe09d137c2c4dd4fae0cac07.jpg

 

It's only tiny however it keeps the wheels turning for six seconds off the track! 

 

What started out running like a coffee grinder now runs supper smooth and slow. I did a test lap on speed step one which took a whole 27 minutes. 20200721_131931_1.gif.594e1081a5581ef2bfbb04a7fca5eab1.gif

This gif goes some way to showing her new performance, now. I just need to fit some. Kadees. 

 

Thanks for looking, 

David 

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Work continues on the layout. The main lines have been ballasted. I tried to keep it neat and carefully brushed all the excess off of the sleepers as previous layouts had been rushed. I also 3d printed a ballast spreader that came in quite useful away from the pointeork and platforms. 

 

I shall wait over the weekend for everything to fully cure before I begin weathering. 

20200722_114620.jpg.ab32c2308d9d08755e665c08b11425b9.jpg

I will take some overall shots at a later date but I have this  from during ballasting.

 

I have also today painted the facia black and tidied them up. 20200722_141533.jpg.2311c6220cf3242108cc7a3d8c8aa941.jpg

 

You may be able to see in this photo that I have began work on a das clay retaining wall. I don't mean to be too dramatic but I want to have it finished before I reveal it as it should look much better once it's painted. 

 

Thanks, 

David 

 

20200722_201021.jpg

Edited by Horsehay Railway Modeller
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On 21/07/2020 at 18:08, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

I also fitted a super capacitor stay alive from ebay.

 

It's only tiny however it keeps the wheels turning for six seconds off the track! 

 

 

How do you fit those keep-alives. I thought you had to solder wires to the DCC chip itself which has always put me off.

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8 hours ago, whart57 said:

 

How do you fit those keep-alives. I thought you had to solder wires to the DCC chip itself which has always put me off.

Hi there, 

I bought a chip which has two wires ready to accept the capacitor circuit, many different brands are available. 

 

 If your chip doesn't have two wires for a stay alive to be added all you need to do is install the capacitor circuit on the 12v connections of the chip. +12v is the blue wire and there is info on where to find -12v for most chips if you search around on here. 

 

If your not comfortable finding the connections and soldering direct to the chip I'd recommend replacing the chip with one that is pre wired for a capacitor. 

 

The capacitor circuit itself can be home made with a few components or again can be baught separately. 

 

Thanks, 

David 

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Evening all, 

I have just spent a few hours with the airbrush out, weathering all of the freshly ballasted track. Its come out well. It may not be quite finished yet I'll see how it looks in the morning when I clean the rail heads. 

 

Before. 

20200726_185455.jpg.f2a598cd90eb966661886eb148c9c031.jpg

 

 

After. 20200726_232118.jpg.4560aeb2c6ef43e8957c843e2ebae684.jpg 20200726_232112.jpg.58779d01086f970b3471e085adcee63c.jpg

 

I'm still working on the sidings. 

Thanks,

David 

Edited by Horsehay Railway Modeller
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Afternoon all, 

Scenery has begun appearing on the layout in the form of static grass and ground cover, however  it's drying and I'm still working in toning it down so I shall wait to post it here. 

 

There is some Other progress I can show however. 

 

I am finally happy with the tunnel portal. I had originally 3d Printed and airbrushed one however I was not happy with it. I set about replacing it by using 5mm foam board to cut an arch and then scribing  stones in using das clay. 

 

The side retaining walls and tunnel liner were then put in with some brick plasticard and it was glued in place and set into the hill using papier mache. 

20200721_131757.jpg.0f67f7956e3884539d3e4e6f12d24364.jpg

I then ballasted the tracks as shown above and at the same time I sprayed the stone with tamiya deck tan. 20200722_201014.jpg.d9e1e7a65d9010ca2cd31d7f55308bfe.jpg

Finally when I weathered the track I weathered the front of the portal as well. 20200726_232126.jpg.a8911fbb822f5733f97e41f10ecb12b0.jpg

 

 I think this afternoon whilst my static grass dries I shall work on blacking out the tunnel so the trains can dissappear into darkness. I may also add some more weathering to the portal. 

 

Thanks, 

David 

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Finally some greenery has appeared. 

To begin with I have started adding static grass in Varying colours and lengths up the sides of the embankments. 20200729_194336.jpg.4307f2bd4b530a0334b7b62b738abccc.jpg

 

 

This is to mainly provide a base layer as I will be adding dead grass leaves and bushes later on. 

 

I find fresh static grass a little bright so I have toned it down with the airbrush. 

 

More photos to follow.. 

 

20200730_152631.jpg.d87c319fc0101403fe65ac9c66e803d8.jpg20200730_164548.jpg.7c57b47429a97c268343d41863351548.jpg

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Some more photos from yesterday when I added further static grass, along with beginning two other scenes. 

20200730_152621.jpg.1dfcd9074654eb31a06781e796fa6242.jpg

 

The first is a livestock feild made up of mostly 2mm static grass with some stones from the garden to make boulders. This will be surrounded in hedges  and I have been working on adding some more detail today. 

20200730_122223.jpg.6695ef3e3ceac49257e591036d87f4db.jpg

The second is the forest floor so to speak which will eventually be covered in woodland. This is made with a mix of different grades of dried seived soil as well as coir which is used for potting plants I have also added some apple tree twigs which look like logs from felled trees and a few stones here and there. 20200730_164609.jpg.2e1807329a40550197bfcf984c61a974.jpg 

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Finally for today  I have added some sheep to their feild as well as two Austins which my other half got me for my birthday. 20200731_112008.jpg.185e411567097eff7c4b1b8bf12a8e21.jpg20200731_111826.jpg.7ffea5e85ab3a37044b3caa05932cf3c.jpg

 

Having initialy placed the blue Austin here for a photo I am now working on a small lane for it to sit on permanently. 

20200731_111815.jpg.c45ccb08c77e34a84518eb75585af357.jpg

And this beige austin is currently sitting in the new gravel  car park area I'm working on for the station. 20200731_164656.jpg.80e55cf159df8a6cc71561c0995446f0.jpg

Thanks for looking,

David 

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Progressing nicely (and faster than mine!) I took your advice on the backscenes though and am really pleased with them. Thanks! 

It looks like your other half is also clued up when it comes to the right look for the layout. How often have you seen a big exhibition layout with supremely accurate trains and scenery, but the roads and car parks are populated by Ferarris etc?

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8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Progressing nicely (and faster than mine!) I took your advice on the backscenes though and am really pleased with them. Thanks! 

It looks like your other half is also clued up when it comes to the right look for the layout. How often have you seen a big exhibition layout with supremely accurate trains and scenery, but the roads and car parks are populated by Ferarris etc?

Thank you. I'm glad the back scenes worked out for you. 

 

I just told her of its anything for the layout it's got to be sixties, really happy with the cars! Now I just need to start buying some more cars myself to fill the car park I'm working on. That and more rolling stock to actually run :lol:.  

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