Hurst Lane Halt

[Nick C]

Having not managed to get any layout to the stage of actually having proper scenery for about 20 years, I decided that before I got too stuck into Lyme Regis, I'd do a practice piece to remind myself of how to actually create the scene - and learn some of the more modern techniques such as static grass.

 

I'm not planning on spending too much on this, just having a go with materials already in stock, or things I'll need to buy for Lyme anyway and can just get a bit more of to test with. I'm also not worrying quite so much as usual about prototype fidelity, for example using a stone tunnel mouth (because I happen to already have it) when most of my area of interest used brick.

 

So I'll therefore introduce "Hurst Lane Halt" - a small wayside halt somewhere in southern England. The name is deliberately vague, 'Hurst' coming from the middle-English for a wood or grove, and 'Lane' to symbolise that like many such halts, it's actually miles from anywhere!

 

So far, the baseboard is a shelf, and the basic landform is being constructed from a sheet of foamboard and a couple of empty cereal packets. Track is a length of SMP left over from 'Cowes', laid on an offcut of cork from the roll I'm using on Lyme. The tunnel mouth is an ancient Peco one, and has been lying around for years. Currently awaiting a delivery of mod-roc for the hillside, and 'ballast magic' so I can try that out. 

 

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, col.stephens said:

Looking good Nick.   May I suggest that, instead of Mod-roc, you might simply use newspaper and neat pva?  I use pva from Poundland and recycle the wife's newspapers which are torn into very small pieces.  This method gives a strong scenic shell which is both very cheap and light.  Also not as messy as using Mod-roc.  Have a look at page one of my thread for my layout Farleigh (link below), to see the method in action.

 

Regards,

 

Terry

Thanks Terry. Good idea, I've got some cheap PVA somewhere, and loads of newspaper. 

[Sweet pea]

This is looking great Nick, I use pva and kitchen roll.

[Nick C]

Another hour this evening saw the substructure for the back completed

[marc smith]

Looking good @Nick C
I'm a bit of a fan of halts myself. I occasionally ponder building one..... (I'll never get around to it, I know! lol)
So I'll follow this build with interest.

I think it's a good idea to build something like this, before starting a "main project" - it's a great way to experiment with materials and practice / hone skills,  and learn new techniques.

Edited September 22, 2021 by marc smith

[Nick C]

57 minutes ago, marc smith said:

Looking good @Nick C
I'm a bit of a fan of halts myself. I occasionally ponder building one..... (I'll never get around to it, I know! lol)
So I'll follow this build with interest.

I think it's a good idea to build something like this, before starting a "main project" - it's a great way to experiment with materials and practice / hone skills,  and learn new techniques.

 

Thanks Marc!

 

I agree - on both my last two projects, I've reached the stage of having all the track laid, wired etc, then looked at the big expanse of bare boards and just sat there thinking "ok, where do I start?" Hopefully by doing this little one first, it'll give me more confidence to get stuck in on the main layout.

[Nick C]

Groundwork now completed, using the technique suggested by @col.stephens

 

 

I'm not entirely happy with some of the bits alongside the cess, but I think I'll give it a coat of paint first to see how it looks before carving anything away.

[Nick C]

I gave it a quick coat of brown and khaki on Sunday, then painted the viewing side of the rails this evening. 

 

I tried to do the chairs too, but I don't have a steady enough hand for that - what do others do? 

 

Rail heads obviously need cleaning up too, once dry.

 

 

The paint has also shown up the pattern of the cardboard lattice under the newspaper too, hopefully this'll be hidden by the grass.

[Nick C]

Thanks Terry - yeah, I only did one layer, so I guess adding a couple more would have helped. But then that's the entire point of this project, to learn such things!

[MAP66]

Hi Nick,

I’m liking this, I started Tyteford Halte https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/150971-tyteford-halte/ for reasons similar to yours. I had been out of the modelling game for years and wanted to trial some of the recent scenic stuff in an attempt to get more acquainted with new materials and techniques. I opted for a single-track plank layout with a Halte terminus, as the intended plan was to also use it as a test track and photo plank. It still needs a few finishing tweaks as unfortunately, I haven’t worked on it for several months now due to trying to move house. What I can say is, it taught me a lot and I'm vey glad I did it. I'm sure you will feel the same as you progress with your project, good luck with the build and looking forward to the updates. 

 

Mark.

 

[Nick C]

Thanks Mark - I've just started reading your thread!

[Sweet pea]

Hi Nick! Marks build of tyteford halts is very nicely modelled and I'm certain as you follow his build thread it will give you some ideas and inspiration.

[Nick C]

I tried ballasting the track last night, using a random jar of ballast I had lying around, and Deluxe Materials Ballast Magic.

 

Total disaster - firstly as I was trying to mix it, the ballast magic just kept sinking to the bottom, then I couldn't get it to sit nicely - and once sprayed, half of it didn't stick and just fell off when I shook it this morning, leaving gaps all over the place.

 

I'm assuming that much of that is due to using ballast that is too coarse? Especially as I used thin-sleepered SMP track. What ballast do others use and recommend?

 

I think I'll scrub/chip it off and try again with something finer. Again, I have to remind myself that this is the whole point of this project!

 

[The Bandit]

Lots of people use fine/N ballast as I understand. For a yard or down at heel line I use beach sand and/or modelling clay. Hope this helps.

[Sweet pea]

Nick don't worry about it being a disaster, we fellow modellers have all been at this stage and things go wrong or look crap. 

It's about learning and having fun. I normally use n gauge ballast for oo gauge modelling or depending on the area you are modelling kiln dried sand is another product I like to use.

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Hi Nick, not sure if this is a recommendation or a word of caution (bit of both)

 

I bought some reptile bedding called “Calci Sand” from a pet shop. It’s nice and fine, cheaper to buy in bulk than specialist ballast and looked exactly as I hoped it would when laid, before sticking it down (note: my track is H0e / 009 Narrow gauge)

 

 

But note, it changed colour when soaked (water with a bit of washing up liquid) then glued (50:50 mix of water and DIY store PVA):

 

 

 

It is now much more of a sandy colour.  A close up:

 

 

I’m happy enough with the overall effect, and this is a test circuit (like Hurst Lane Halt).  The learning point for me was that a non-specialist ballast may look great - and be cheaper - but can’t be expected to ‘behave’ like a modelling product: fair enough, but worth noting.
 

Hope that helps (photos borrowed from my Narrow Gauge Layout thread), Keith.

Edited April 9, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
(Post simplified when re-instating images)

[bazzer42]

I've used legacy 2mm ballast and ballast bond glue.  J found the glue to be more "controllable " with a drop of alcohol added to dilute further.  Once you master the flow of the glue it worked really well.  I found that being patient with the spreading of the ballast and careful use of a fine brush to clear sleepers was beneficial. 

[Nick C]

Thanks guys - the stuff in @bazzer42's photo looks much more like the right size compared with the reference photo I've been using

[bazzer42]

I wished my sleepers looked like that!  My Legacy ballast came from Hereford Models at the Lydney show in September.  Originally picked up,one tub but on their recommendation swapped a bag of granite chips for a second one. They do a range of colours. Glad I have a stock as I've only used half a tub so far.....enough to see me out as my nan would say...

[Nick C]

I re-did the first few inches of ballast with some fine woodland scenics, with somewhat better results.

 

Also tried my first attempt at static grass. It looks a bit thin in places, I'm assuming I should have added more fibres. Hopefully another layer will help? 

[bazzer42]

Looking good. I prefer your new ballast.  You can now spend an age picking bits of your sleepers. I find it's one of the jobs that you can keep coming back to but time well spent.

If I do larger areas of static grass I always multi layer. You can experiment with colours and lengths. The WWS videos are quick tutorials, he does some interesting work by scrubbing his fingers around laid but not dry grass.  If you search war world scenics the videos are still there. I found them useful.

[Nick C]

The first test section with the WWS glues and fibres:

I'm quite pleased with that. Just two layers there, 2mm and 4mm 'autumn', but it gave me a good feel for how it all works, which was the idea.

 

Ignore the crap ballasting though, I tried to rescue the bit where the old coarse ballast had stuck, and it didn't work - plus the ballast magic glue didn't like the step at the edge of the cork underlay - next time I'll use something with a tapered edge along the cess, or a different glue (I've also got some of the WWS ballast glue to try ). But then that's the whole point of this little project, to learn these things...

[MAP66]

On 29/10/2021 at 16:04, Nick C said:

The first test section with the WWS glues and fibres:

I'm quite pleased with that. Just two layers there, 2mm and 4mm 'autumn', but it gave me a good feel for how it all works, which was the idea.

 

Ignore the crap ballasting though, I tried to rescue the bit where the old coarse ballast had stuck, and it didn't work - plus the ballast magic glue didn't like the step at the edge of the cork underlay - next time I'll use something with a tapered edge along the cess, or a different glue (I've also got some of the WWS ballast glue to try ). But then that's the whole point of this little project, to learn these things...

Nice bit of grass work Nick, well done. You can always use some filler along the shoulder of the cork underlay to taper it out, so the ballast looks better instead of ending abruptly.

[Sweet pea]

Hi Nick the grassy section you have done looks really good. As Mark said the filler will finish the ballasting nicely.

[Nick C]

I keep forgetting to take my phone out to take photos...

 

I've added some more grass:

 

I'm still not happy with the look of the ballast - not much I can do with this one, but I've followed @MAP66's advice, and done some smaller test pieces to experiment and practice:

 

The upper is the Woodlands Scenic brown, bought when I was plannnig an Isle of Wight layout - but I think it looks too dark for shingle ballast. The lower one didn't stick very well, I suspect not enough glue in the mix, but I do prefer the colour - it's mostly the grey, but with a little bit of the brown mixed in to make it less uniform.

 

I've also tried to paint the tunnel mouth - picking out different stones in different shades, although I think there's too much contrast between them. I gave it a wash of black to tone it down, but I think it needs more. I then added some DAS around the base to build up the ground level a bit, although it doesn't seem to have stuck all that well at the edges.

 

And finally, some buildings - scale model scenics workshop:

 

and the halt itself, from Wills: