Bury, Thorn & Sons

[F-UnitMad]

...It seemed like a good idea to build a railway in the conservatory back in March but with 30+ deg. C, temperatures it's not so much fun. ...

I must admit that was my one concern when I looked at the picture before of where you were locating this layout...

 

For the traverser for my O scale layout I've used the really cheap drawer runners, cut down in length. I liked the looks of the type you've used, but they were wider than my boards.

 

It's a simple three-track/two position set-up.

 

This was my thread about it on RMweb3. I really ought to start it again on here...

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13349

[Ruston]

I love your little traverser Dave, the drawer runners are a very clever idea.

 

How are you going to turn trains around and deal with all the extra stock that you will no doubt have in the future?

 

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

 

Cheers,

 

Willy.

 

They don't need to turn around. I'll uncouple the loco and couple another one on the other end to bring the train back out. I guess I'll have to commandeer a table to put the extra stock on when the railway is in use but there should really only be three trains - one of vans, one of tar tanks and one of tanks of finished products. There is space for two trains on the railway, one in the hidden bit and one road free in the hidden bit. I'd like a couple of 16 ton minerals but as there's no room for any kind of coal siding they'll have to come on, the loco run round and then haul them off again as if part of some manouvre to get them into an off-scene siding elsewhere in the works.

 

F-unit - I have some drawer runners exactly like yours lying around but it looked like a lot more hassle with bracing under the baseboard and trying to line things up to get them to work reliably so I went for the ballbearing type. They weren't too expensive at £7.49 ea. from Screwfix and lining them up was simply a matter of putting a square against the timber rail of the baseboard so it was worth it to a complete woodwork dunce like me.

[Ruston]

I've now laid the first bit of trackwork proper, the Y turnout next to the traverser. I bought a Fulgurex motor to got with it and to evaluate it as I've always used the PECO solenoids on my N gauge stuff. I'm really not impressed. I fitted it under the baseboard as per the instructions but the throw wasn't enough to move the tongue rails right across in both directions. The inbuilt switch kept cutting off to soon so I shaved a bit off both sides of the carriage on the Fulgurex with a stanley knife. It would then move full travel but when installed the throw still wasn't enough. I tried moving the unit and altering the bent wire so the travel of the carriage gave a greater ratio of movement at the business end but that still didn't work. In the end I stuck it on top of the baseboard and made up an omega wire to operate the turnout direct as this particular one will be hidden inside a building. Not only is the thing very difficult to fit (I daresay other people make them work as intended) but it's so damn noisy! I'll not be buying any more, that's for sure. Anyhow I'm so annoyed at it that I haven't taken any pictures.

 

But I have taken a picture of the van conversion. Additional work done since the previous picture includes extending parts of the brake gear using plastic section in order to suit the longer wheelbase and making a brake cylinder by turning a short length of brass bar. All it needs now is the door handles, some vac pipes, paint on the roof and weathering and lettering. I've even splashed out on a pair of screw couplings! Does anyone know where I can get some ready made vac pipes, the type that have a steel pipe fixed to the end of the van body with the flexible part curving over (if that makes any sense)?

 

Edit: pipe arrangement as in this photo http://gallery6801.f.../p44090675.html

[Willy]

Dave,

 

The van is looking good and I am sure it will look great when you weather it. Where did you get the screw couplings? I have just bought a couple of sets from Exactoscale and although I haven't fitted them yet, they look fine, although I may try Laurie Griffin next time.

 

Talking of Laurie Griffin. He also has a selection of pipes and perhaps one of them would be suitable for your van. Give him a try at http://www.lgminiatures.co.uk/ .

 

On the Fulgurex motors; I have found that the operating arm travel is usually sufficient to drive the points all the way. However, it is possible to adjust the micro-switches a little way so as to give a bit more travel before they cut out and you could try that perhaps. You are right about the noise and that is the only thing that spoils them for me.

 

Cheers,

 

Willy

[Ruston]

Thanks, Willy, I followed that link and he has just the thing. The screw couplings are by Slaters and I bought them from Wakefield Model & Craft https://vault1.secur...odel/index.html

[66C]

Hi Dave

 

The method of linking Fulgurex motors in their instructions is a nightmare!

 

Here is a much better and easier to install method:

 

 

 

The bell crank (a servo horn will work equally well) has an operating wire projecting up through the baseboard to the turnout tie bar. Use the brass wire from the Fulgurex. Fit this first. The omega loop is made from some stripped electric cable. Hook up to the Fulgurex (set at one end of travel) and fix the Fulgurex in place (2 self tapping screws will do). Very easy to adjust in situ - just squeeze or stretch the omega loop.

 

Regards

 

Bill Campbell.

[Ruston]

Thanks, Bill, but I'm definitely not buying any more of those. They're expensive, noisy and I've found an alternative at half the price. I'm using SEEP solenoid. They're similar to the PECO type but mount directly to the baseboard without that rubbishy lump pf plastic that makes the motor wobble about after a while, and they have an inbuilt switch for the frog polarity. I guess some people like the slow action of Fulgurex but it's not realistic to have a slow-action point on a railway like mine, where all points are changed by hand lever so it's no loss to me.

 

I really don't like the huge hump that PECO see fit to put on their points in order to hold the over-centre spring in place so I've set about it with a stanley knife...

 

And have also cut channels in some of the timbers so that wires can be run from the stock rails to the tongue rails. This is so that there is a guaranteed circuit and I don't have to rely on the loose-fitting rail joiner connections.

 

This does mean that the wire that connects the frog to the tongue rails must be removed...

 

So this is what's left of where the hump was. I'll make up the gaps with some plastic strip or suitably formed milliput once the turnout is in place. I'll then add a small cover from strip wood, just to hide the tie bar centre. It won't be as good as hand made stuff but it'll be a lot better and life's too short to spend days and days on the tedious process of making my own track.

 

But how will you make the points lock in either direction with the over-centre spring removed or a postive locking point motor? I hear you cry! (honest, I do).

Well this is the bit that's so easy it makes we wonder why PECO fit that damned silly hump. I sliced a bit from the bottom of the locating hole area where the spring fits. It now sits flush and underneath the whole assembly.

I've since fitted the turnout to the baseboard and the over-centre works. I'll get a photo next time.

 

Back to the van conversion...

 

I looked at those Laurie Griffin brake pipes and decided that £6.50 for a pair of pipes was too much. So I made some myself. Here's a pic of one.

I used stuff that was lying around my workbench. Brass rod, some springy wiry stuff, some plastic rod, strip and paper. The springy bit is soldered on to the brass and has a length of thin brass wire to give it a curve.

[Worsdell forever]

Really like the vac pipe probably an n'th of the cost of a cast one and about as good and fun to make.

[Ruston]

Yes, fun to make but satisfying to know that I've saved some money in doing so. I am a Yorkshireman so that sort of thing appeals to me.

 

Well, I made some progress over the weekend and I now have half of the trackwork laid.

The boards have been painted in order that wood won't show in the event that any ballast etc. doesn't cover 100% or gets damaged at some time. The track on the left is rail only. Four rails - two as running rails and two as check rails as this siding is to be infilled and will appear as running in concrete into the loading shed.

 

I've placed a Land Rover on to get an idea of the size of road vehicles and have placed an N gauge van just for fun as a comparison of scales. The Land Rover needs some work to bring it up to scratch and will form a project in itself later on.

 

The van nearest is the conversion project. I'll take some better pictures as soon as I've finished the weathering and I can be bothered getting my proper camera out instead of using my mobile phone.

[90733]

Very, Very nice. I'm not normally an 0 gauge person, the layouts at my club just having large trains thundering around it, but this looks like it will potray the industrial scence very well I do like the locos.

Jack

[Ruston]

I've just been wiring the track up and thought I'd put up a pic of how I've tackled the problem of getting power to the traverser tracks.

Wires are soldered on to a pair of brass channels that are fixed to what will become the backscene and each rail has a length of nickel silver wire soldered on to it. Current will always be supplied to both tracks all the time, no matter what the position of the traverser. There are no section switches as this is layout going to be run using DCC. I've tested it with DC and it works. I still need to fit some stops so that there is no overrun and therefore no messing about to line the traverser up with the entry/exit track.

[Ruston]

AT LAST! The tedious, horrible business of wiring, woodwork and tracklaying is complete. Now I can get on with the interesting stuff - scenics, buildings, wagon construction etc.

 

Actually there is a little more wiring to do. That of fitting decoders into the locos (something I'm dreading, to be honest) and wiring the DCC controller but the big stuff is out of the way now.

[Ruston]

I've started.

Not strictly a building as it's part of the backscene that hides the traverser but when viewed from the side it will appear so. The backing is 3.5mm ply and the covering is corrugated plasticard, cut into indivdual pieces and stuck on. I've covered it all with a rusty-coloured mix and once dry I'll slap some Maskol over certain areas so that it can be peeled off after the topcoat and, hopefully, give the effect of peeling paint on corrugated iron. Fingers crossed...

[Ruston]

The rust effect seems to be alright.

I've made a small office/toilet block building for the corner. It still needs guttering and an external pipe. Everything's scratch built, even the window frames and the slates are all individual, cut from plasticard. I've no idea what to use for the gutter though...

I did get rather bored whilst fitting the slates on the office roof so I'm not looking forward to the roof of the loading bay...

[halfwit]

Individual slates may be boring but its definitely worth the effort in 7mm, that roof looks really good. And I like the rust effect as well, did you use Maskol under the top coat in the end?

[Ruston]

Yes, after the rust-coloured undercoat I slapped Maskol on the parts that I wanted to remain rusty. Once that had dried I painted the green all over and left it to dry overnight. I then peeled the Maskol off to leave an edge with a peeling paint effect. Rust stains on the green paint were done by thinned-down orange paint and once that was dry a wash of dirty thinners slapped over the whole lot so that no fully clean paintwork remained. The thinners did take off some of the undercoat so I touched up those spots with a differing shade of rust mix to give a variation in tone as rust is always varied. I'm quite happy with it.

 

The wall also needs some down pipes but I'll not fit those until the 'concrete' in front of the wall and around the rails has been poured as they'll get in the way of spreading and smoothing it out.

[mudmagnet]

Hi Dave,

 

The rusting effect on the corrugated looks very good. A simple, but very effective result.

 

For the guttering, you could use the ribs from an old umbrella - there usually seem to be plenty thrown away when they pull the wrong way. The ribs are 'U' shaped and although very tough to cut are a cheap and produce a good result. It is possible, with patience to solder wires to the rib to represent the support brackets and the end of the wire can then be fixed into holes drilled into the building. The alternative is guttering supplied by S&D models - these are white metal and also supply the down pipe fittings.

[F-UnitMad]

I've ... placed an N gauge van just for fun as a comparison of scales.

I like the size comparison..!! I was looking at some N gauge stuff this weekend; certainly UK outline has come a long way since I used to do N scale over 10 years ago, but it now looks SO tiny!!! ... Then again, after several years now doing O scale, I find OO & HO look tiny, too....

 

Your layout is coming on great; love the buildings !! B)

[Ruston]

Cheers, chaps.

 

I've done a little more on the building but then I got side-tracked with this:

I bought two and they're going to be for the outgoing products (creosote in bulk and benzole). They're about as modern as it will get, being a design that was still being constructed into the mid 1950s, in contrast to the older style of tank that I'll be using for more tar tanks and for acid transport.

 

This is what's in the box:

It all looks straightforward enough...

 

But then you get this... thing.

That's the resin tank and one end held in position. There's a seam along the length, the tank isn't properly round and, as you can see, there's a bloody great gap that you could drive a 48DS through! I'm not impressed. I wouldn't mind so much if it were a case of getting what you pay for but it's more expensive than a Slaters or Parkside kit so I'd expect quality equal to those at the very least. Somehow I think I'm going to run out of swear words before this... thing looks anything like a railway tank wagon.

 

Anyhow I've fixed the ends on to the tube and await the glue hardening before I tackle the filling and filing/sanding/swearing.

[F-UnitMad]

... But then you get this... thing.

... I'm not impressed. I wouldn't mind so much if it were a case of getting what you pay for but it's more expensive than a Slaters or Parkside kit so I'd expect quality equal to those at the very least.

Unfortunately it's an oft-repeated complaint about O scale. It would be easier to stomach some of the high prices if the quality matched, but somehow the old attitude in Britain that "It's O scale so it must be expensive" seems to be applied regardless. More a case of "What price can we get away with charging?" than "What price is this really worth?".

 

Another thing irks me about that sort of kit, just from looking at the box lid; okay - leave choice of wheels and coupler to the buyer (itself a bit of an out-dated notion, now, I think?), but no Transfers...???? Slaters do the same... to my mind it means the kit seems "incomplete", and also opens up a whole minefield of what transfers to get (assuming any are available) and their accuracy for the model.

All I know is, I hope no wagon experts ever check out the numbers on most of my wagon fleet ...

Wagons... schwagons....

 

 

Sorry, Rant Mode OFF.

[Ruston]

I've had a go with the tanks and they still need more work but no matter what I do I'll not be able to get them properly round. I'll persevere with them and see what they look like once they have a coat of paint on.

 

I've started on the construction of the frames now that I have this little beauty in my mitts.

A 'hold and fold' from Eileens. There's no way I could have folded the solebars without it. OK so some smart alec will tell me that I could if I faffed about with bits of metal and a vice etc. but I couldn't have done them so easily and quickly.

 

So I now have this:

 

Which was a PITA because the instructions are virtually non-existent. I had to guess on the positioning of some of the frame parts and guessed it wrong and had to unsolder and re-solder them so that the running gear and brake rigging would fit where it ought to.

 

Trial fitting the axle guards etc.

 

And I've also done a bit more on the building.

 

Coming soon... Would you like chips with that? An idiot's guide to starting in DCC

[Ruston]

The loading shed track has been infilled. It's not pretty. I used polyfilla, mixed with black acrylic and burnt umber poster paints, mixed to a pourable consistency and literally poured on. After a day it's workable enough to be able to clean the rails and scrape the stuff out of the gap between the running rail and the check rail. Unfortunately it didn't pour evenly and further messing about has damaged some of the surface. So it's not the pristine concrete that I wanted but rather weathered instead. I'll see what I can do to tweak it with damage, puddles and weeds perhaps.

The building now has a couple of windows and awaits a door and steps up to it. The wagon entrance will have an outer box fitted that will contain the roller door. That's why there's no lintel.

 

The concrete may not look very good but at least the locos still run on the track.

[Jack]

I think the weathered look is pretty good ... and by the time you've put some weeds, pallets and general detrious around it'll look spot on ...

[Ruston]

It's growing on me. It doesn't look too bad with a few chemical drums lying about and now I've put a few more details to the building too. It's now got a door, steps and handrail on the steps.

 

There's also a loco shed appeared too! The shed needs a bit of weathering on the roof and some gutters and downpipes. I bought the unpainted drums at Guildex, Telford. They're from Invertrain and Skytrex. I may design some sort ot BT&S lettering for them in the future.

 

[JackBlack]

Hi Dave, your layout is looking great!

Any details on where you got them details from?