Brighton East - EM Third Rail

[kipford]

Colin, Simon

Sorry guys been on holiday and did not notice until today your requests for news! I have been busy on the layout, using my limited spare time in between working!!!!! to do modelling rather than update the thread. I have been concentrating on the buildings and will do a more in depth update shortly, but as taster here are three photos of the 90% ish complete terraced houses, Barry building based structure (though from Brighton will know this building well) and the tunnel mouth. Plus a link to a new post on the CAD and 3D printing group where I have just had some trial signal parts made at Shapeways.

 

http://www.rmweb.co....atre-indicator/

 

 

Dave

[Jon Gwinnett]

Love it, The terraces look just like the houses I lived in as Sussex student back in the early nineties...

[Colin parks]

Dave,

 

Good to see some more pictures of this layout. That building in the second pictures looks like a model of the place where I was born! (If I'm not mistaken.) The terrace looks absolutely right for the area modelled too.

 

Great stuff. It makes you think what might have happened to Kemp Town station had it lasted just that bit longer until the upturn in passenger traffic of recent years. More pictures please.

 

Colin

[Guest oldlugger]

Great progress Dave; I'm really looking forward to seeing your third rail when you get round to it. Are the low relief buildings scratch built; kits or laser cut parts? They look very effective.

 

All the best

Simon

[lyneux]

Great work Dave, the stepped terraced houses really look the part!

[kipford]

Simon

I will prepare a bit more detail later this week, but the buildings all mixed media using laser cut shells, windows and doors with the rest scratch built. All are to my own design but laser cut by a club member.

 

PS Third rail comes after the buildings are planted.

 

Dave

[John B]

Looking really good, Dave!

[37114]

Not sure how I missed this thread before now, but I really like this layout, can't believe the scenic session is only 8ft. The houses look excellent.

 

Just a quick question, on page 3 a photo shows the cassette rack which looks a neat idea, but looks a little vulnerable from being knocked so wondered if there was anything to locate the cassettes in place?

 

P.S. V. envious re the motor, can understand why you don't want the layout in the garage!

Edited September 10, 2012 by 37114

[kipford]

37114

I agree with regading the cassette holder. Its fine at home, but vunerable at an exhibition. It was a stop gap solution for its first exhibition. Ultimately it will be replaced by the same system Richard Bulter uses on his 'Westcliffe layout with great success. The stock is stored on cassettes in stock boxes. The stock box has a removable front cover which allows the stock box to be latched to the fiddle yard. This gives very quick set out and pack up times and minimal stock handling. The attached pikkie show a schematic.

 

 

Dave

[37114]

Hi Dave,

 

Looks a neat idea, I am plannign to do something similar for my next layout to reduce the time it takes to set up at shows.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

though from Brighton will know this building well

 

I went past it the other day. I love those terraced houses though they really do look just like the sort that are all over that part of town.

 

Here you go...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=50.823384,-0.123772&spn=0.00113,0.00327&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=50.823384,-0.123772&panoid=BPtvRk16X60mGtaTJ9xH6Q&cbp=12,348.88,,0,3.03

Edited September 10, 2012 by The Evil Bus Driver

[kipford]

The terrace houses: As the evil bus drivers link shows these are based on the houses that run up Freshfield Road in Brighton which overlooks the old Kemp Town site. The first picture shows the real thing. A quick word about how I design my buildings. I use 3D CAD and first model the building as I want it to look. When complete I then create a second model around it effectively developing a one off kit. The terraces were designed to be laser cut. Because the buildings are rendered the use of 2mm MDF for the main shell was an easy choice. Also because of the rendering the shell can accommodate a slot and tab assembly technique, which allows the shell to self jig. The bay window walls are 0.75 mm Romark as are the laminations that form the windows and doors. The remainder of the detail is conventional scratch building from plasticard and brass section. The whole thing was sprayed with white car primer then the walls painted with emulsion from tester pots. The roof slates are York model self adhesive ones repainted a slightly darker shade of grey and lighter and then weathered. Pictures 2 and 3 shows the basic MDF shell. :Picture 4 shows the completed buildings at first fix filler stage with some more detail still to be added. The final 3 pictures show the buildings basically finished. They just need a little bit more weathering and some more greenery in the front gardens.

 

 

Regards

 

Dave

[JeffP]

But as per title, where IS the third rail?

[mjcampbell]

I love those buildings. I live not far from Brighton and the buildings really set the location on this layout. That construction method has worked really well, do you laser cut them yourself, or get them done for you?

[kipford]

Jeffp

But as per title, where IS the third rail?

Its all planned (see post 64) and the third rail components are Scalefour Society ones, although a bit fiddly they are the dogs..... The conductor rail is from the P4 Track Company. However until the the major structures are finished and planted there is to much risk of damaging the third rail, On a previous 'OO' layout with third rail again it was just about the last thing to finished probably as it would be on the prototype.

 

PS Where there are protection boards I am going to use PECO parts.

 

mjcampbell

do you laser cut them yourself, or get them done for you?

The laser cutting is done for me by SHMRC club member Jonathan Buckie (Great Shefford of this parish). He is a professional model maker (look at his PW Tamper in 2012 scratch built challenge thread) and is happy to quote anybody for laser cutting, he can also prepare the CAD geometry for you as well, I don't need that facility as I have access to CATIA. Jonathan can be contacted at:

 

Jonathan Buckie<jonathanmbuckie@hotmail.co.uk>

 

or if you are going to Scaleforum later in the month he is taking his laser cutter up there as one of the demonstrators. PM me if you want any advise on laser cutting, we are always looking at new materials and pushing the boundaries on whats possible.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[kipford]

Post 71 on page three showed the embryonic corner area by the tunnel. Well that has moved on a bit, as can be seen in the first two pictures, there still a lot to do in this area but now the terraces are just about ready to plant we can soon finish it off.

 

 

On the same post was the yard building waiting some colour. Well this has now been painted and just needs weathering. It not going to be planted yet because I am not happy with the concrete colour and texture and intend to rework this using Plasticote suede and the grey primer and matt black misting technique (it work brill on the platform).

 

 

PS Provisionally it first invite as a finished layout is DEMU 2014.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[JeffP]

Fascinating.

[Guest oldlugger]

Hello Dave,

 

The layout is shaping up very nicely indeed and will no doubt become a show stopper in due course. Good luck with the Scalefour Society third rail components... you need very good eyesight and rock steady hands to put those insulators together!

 

All the best

Simon

[kipford]

I got bored with playing with Terraced houses so Friday night I started to assemble the 'Kit' for the Station building. The building is in the spirit of the Kemp Town building but shortened a bit. Again its been laser cut in MDF with the windows and doors in Romark. The canopy is also kitted ready to go. The first photo shown the the laser cut parts assembled, the remaining parts will be all scratch built. The second photo shows it in place on the layout. Its always amazing how changing from the printed card mock ups to the real thing changes the way the layout looks.

 

 

Regards

 

Dave

Edited September 17, 2012 by kipford

[kipford]

For anyone interested who is going to Scaleforum this weekend, the Terrace house and the embryonic station building and canopy will be there on Jonathan (great shefford) Buckies laser cutting demonstration stand. I cannot go due to a weekend break in Cornwall

 

Dave

Edited September 28, 2012 by kipford

[MarshLane]

I got bored with playing with Terraced houses so Friday night I started to assemble the 'Kit' for the Station building. The building is in the spirit of the Kemp Town building but shortened a bit. Again its been laser cut in MDF with the windows and doors in Romark. The canopy is also kitted ready to go. The first photo shown the the laser cut parts assembled, the remaining parts will be all scratch built. The second photo shows it in place on the layout. Its always amazing how changing from the printed card mock ups to the real thing changes the way the layout looks.

 

Hi Dave,

Nice layout - looking good. Do you mind if I ask where you get your MDF laser cut?

 

Cheers

Rich

[kipford]

Rich

See post 90 it has the contact details for my source.

 

Dave

[Siberian Snooper]

Jeffp

 

Its all planned (see post 64) and the third rail components are Scalefour Society ones, although a bit fiddly they are the dogs..... The conductor rail is from the P4 Track Company. However until the the major structures are finished and planted there is to much risk of damaging the third rail, On a previous 'OO' layout with third rail again it was just about the last thing to finished probably as it would be on the prototype.

 

PS Where there are protection boards I am going to use PECO parts.

 

mjcampbell

 

The laser cutting is done for me by SHMRC club member Jonathan Buckie (Great Shefford of this parish). He is a professional model maker (look at his PW Tamper in 2012 scratch built challenge thread) and is happy to quote anybody for laser cutting, he can also prepare the CAD geometry for you as well, I don't need that facility as I have access to CATIA. Jonathan can be contacted at:

 

Jonathan Buckie<jonathanmbuckie@hotmail.co.uk>

 

or if you are going to Scaleforum later in the month he is taking his laser cutter up there as one of the demonstrators. PM me if you want any advise on laser cutting, we are always looking at new materials and pushing the boundaries on whats possible.

 

Regards

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave

 

I saw the buildings at Scaleforum and have to say the were marvellous.

 

Cheers SS.

[kipford]

In between building buildings I have been playing with buffer stops. I wanted some that were typical of the area and found this rather splendid example at Chichester station. I believe it is an old LBSCR design, please correct me if I am wrong? Anyway I could not find anything in kit form that resembled this so it had to be scratch build.

 

EDIT: 1 hour after posting this, I find Ragstone models produce a kit! however I prefer my solution as it does not require the rails to be cut to prevent shorts!

 

 

Anyway a couple of lunchtimes work saw a suitable CAD model produced, based around code 75 bullhead rail.

 

 

So far so good, how to make it? Convention says get some rail, bend up the three individual rails for each side and solder the lot up. I made up an assembly fixture and started trying to bend the rail (remember the rail is being deformed in its most stiff orientation). Without a proper bending the rail would not bend correctly, softening it result in a deformed mess. So I put it to one side for a couple of months until a light clicked ‘why don’t I get the sides rapid prototyped! A quick teak of the CAD model gave me a one piece side with simulated bolts/rivets, with holes in the flanges for attaching the cross beam and in the rails for the stretcher bar.

 

 

As I wanted 4 sets of buffers and to keep the costs down (Shapeways charge a 5 Euro handling fee for each item) I joined all the bits I wanted with sprues.

 

 

The file was uploaded to Shapeways website, FUD selected as the material and electronic beer drinking vouchers handed over. Then two weeks later (last Friday) a package arrives from Holland with the side beams. The picture below shows what I got (note I have removed the first two).

 

 

 

 

The next picture shows one virgin item.

 

 

Assembly:

• Lightly burnish all over with a glass fibre pen (literally a couple of strokes).
   
  
• Clean out the cross beam and stretcher bar holes, 0.5 mm for the stretcher 0.8 for the cross beam.
   
  
• Make up the cross beam from 2.0 x 4.0 mm Evergreen strip and drill the cross beam flange holes 0.5 mm. I used a template printed from the CAD model to drill the holes. The next 3 will almost certainly use laser cut beams.
   
  
• Push some 0.6 mm brass dressmakers pins through the buffer beam to simulate bolts (available from Eileens wonderous emporium, I also use them for track feeds. Cut the pins to a suitable length.
   
  
• Using some spare rails to the gauge of your choice (must code 75 bullhead) as a spacer carefully place each side assembly onto the rail (do make sure they do not foul the chairs), care is need because they are fragile in FUD until assembled.
   
  
• Keeping the side square superglue the cross beam in place using the brass pins to locate the beam. The reason for the 0.8 mm holes was to allow for sloppy hole drilling!
   
  
• Make up a stretcher bar from 0.5 mm brass or nickel silver wire and superglue in place.
  

Finishing

• Undercoat with Halfords grey primer.
   
  
• Paint and weather to you chosen prototype to end up with this:-
  

 

I must admit I am quite pleased with the result. In all it took about 30 minutes to assemble and about another 30 minutes of messing about with paint and weathering powders.

 

Any questions just ask

 

Next instalment will be progress on the station buildings.

 

Dave

Edited October 29, 2012 by kipford

[Miss Prism]

That is excellent, but in your assembled shots, the buffer stop rail tops should be flush with the running rail top.