SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[P.C.M]

Hi Jeff the Peak looks good. I might have  whitemetal bufferbeams if you are interested.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Peter Beckett]

Something I should have done, John , but it tested OK on DC beforehand. But, yes, it runs much better now.

 

I looked at my wiring this morning, and tried swapping the yellow and blue wires to the reverse headlight, to no avail (I thought possibly there might be a hidden diode there somewhere). Swapped them back the way they should be but still no light, so possibly the bulb is blown. I did have a heap of replacement grain of wheat bulbs floating around in my vast collection of bits and pieces - it's just a matter of finding them! Failing that, I may solder an LED in its place, with a suitable resistor.

Jeff, go with LED's. Last longer and depending whats in your odds/sods box will look better

 

Peter

[SRman]

Hi Jeff the Peak looks good. I might have  whitemetal bufferbeams if you are interested.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Thanks Peter. I may take you up on that. It will save me a little bit of work. 

[P.C.M]

 

Thanks Peter. I may take you up on that. It will save me a little bit of work. 

I will go have a look for it I might have buffers too.

[P.C.M]

Hi Jeff, I think the bufferbeams are from a class 40 detail kit but yours if you want them. The bulb might be of use too.

 

Cheers Peter

[SRman]

Many thanks, Peter. I'll have to adapt them slightly to fit around the couplings, but they look like they'll work a treat. Much better than I was going to do with some plastic sheet and the original buffer beams.

[SRman]

I have been doing some preparatory work for extending the upper level track to its final, full extent. Conditions have been too hot in the last couple of days to go outside and actually cut the wood, although I have marked some of it out, ready to cut or trim.

In the meantime, we have just had an air conditioner installed, which has meant I could do some indoor modelling in the cooler environment (over 40 degrees C outside). I built the remaining Slaters wagon kit from the three I purchased off eBay a month or so ago.






Then, I started tackling the second of the two Cambrian Kits Sturgeon A wagons I bought over a year ago (maybe even longer). While not a difficult kit, it does have some fiddly and repetitive stuff to do - 28 handrails to be bent and fitted, 28 door bumpers and 28 door stop springs at solebar level. The first wagon took me ages to do these, but this one has progressed quite quickly, with some swearing when bits pinged off into the carpet, or failed to stick after several attempts at gluing while holding them in position. The First wagon was posed behind it, more because I was using that to see what I had done before where the instructions were a little unclear.

Anyway, the first three pics show the wagon under construction with the sides and handrails fitted, and some of the parts still on sprues, while the last two also show the door bumpers in place and a close-up of the detail in the mouldings (also showing my less than perfect fitting of the parts!).









Cambrian Kits 2nd Sturgeon A - 5 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

[SRman]

Not much to show, yet, but it is progress!

[SRman]

OK: This is progress! I set to this morning to cut some of the woodwork. There remains a little bit more to do, including adding some more supports and shifting a temporary one, and trimming that final, middle board. I have engineered it to include a shelf that I can use for extra storage plus simple work like wheel cleaning and minor maintenance.

The whole layout is shifted away from the wall at present, so I can get in there and work on it at the back.








You can now see clearly where I am going with all this. Once I have the track in place with temporary pins, I can then work out how the turntable and storage lines will fit in in the middle.

[SRman]

All trimmed, screwed down and properly supported now. The track has been placed very, very roughly to give an idea of how it will look when finished. The single track at the lower level is actually to be the testing and programming track. It will disappear into tunnel mouths at both ends, with a buffer stop at the far end, and a short extension onto the workbench area (nowhere near as long as the photos show, though) with the Kadee coupling height gauge on the left. the middle part of the track will have to be as straight as possible to allow for the rolling road to be used when desired.
 

 

 

[DougN]

SRman, before you start laying the track don't for get about a coat of paint! 

 

In fact the line of Pecketts looks like a factory line up as they appear to be perfectly spaced!  

 

Looking at things is it worth thinking about a Y point in the programing track into the underground section. as it is a trailing point from both directions it shouldn't create any derailments but will give you the possibility to run things in after programing.... of course with a DPDT toggle switch between programing and main functions. 

[SRman]

SRman, before you start laying the track don't for get about a coat of paint! 

 

In fact the line of Pecketts looks like a factory line up as they appear to be perfectly spaced!  

 

Looking at things is it worth thinking about a Y point in the programing track into the underground section. as it is a trailing point from both directions it shouldn't create any derailments but will give you the possibility to run things in after programing.... of course with a DPDT toggle switch between programing and main functions. 

 

I will be painting it shortly, Doug. 

 

The spacing of the Pecketts was purely coincidental ... maybe it's my OCD kicking in subliminally!!

 

I had considered adding a point into the underground, but that would cause problems for accessibility for maintenance and goes against my policy of not having any hidden pointwork. Keeping the track as an isolated and independent stretch means there can be no accidental shorts or crossovers of DCC and DC, or connecting the LokProgrammer or Power Cab to the Power Pro, which could also be disastrous. The way the rotary switch is wired means there are only two wires to reconnect to the track when I am ready - currently I can use the crocodile clips but I will be soldering wires to the rails.

[SRman]

For DougN: a start has been made on the painting.

[DougN]

https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-200-x-4mm-x-2m-protector-foam_p3961978

 

There you go SRman. That is the foam that I have shown you. It comes in various thickness and sheet size. This is from bunnings. At 6.60 it's cheaper than cork that's for sure!

[SRman]

The programming track has been added as a matter of priority - I need my programming track! Wiring it back in was a simple matter of cutting off the crocodile clips on the existing wires and soldering the newly cut ends to the track. A quick test showed it was all working nicely. 

I will paint and ballast this track. The Kadee gauge is on the extreme left end, with insulated joiners on its short piece of track, although I will paint the top surfaces of that bit of track as well, just as a precaution.

[Peter Beckett]

Jeff,

Looking good. I use an insulated Kadee gauge as it saves messing around and unwanted shorts 

 

Peter

[SRman]

As I have insulated joiners and painted track, it should be OK; only items with Kadees are intended to go into that last little section in any case.

Demonstrating that I have power!






And now with ballast being applied but not yet glued down. I do intend weathering it to a darker colour and adding some weeds when I add the rest of the scenery. I have also applied a little filler to the gaps in the boards where they join.

[SRman]

Making this programming and testing track fully scenic opens up new photographic opportunities for models. I have been building and modifying two Metcalfe tunnel mouths and adding an expanded polystyrene embankment to this section. There is a lot more to do, but with a couple of bits of Peco stone walling temporarily posed by each tunnel mouth, it can be used already.

[SRman]

Tracklaying underway, although all of the points are only lightly pinned so I can lift them again to solder wires to them and connect them to frog polarity switches - because the upper level is to be DCC only, I am using automatic polarity sensor switches.






There will be a crossover in the foreground of the second pic, allowing trains to exit the far side of the fiddle yard 'wrong road' then cross to the 'proper' running line.

There are a couple of minor kinks to iron out from the curved lines in the loops, and, in spite of appearances, no curve goes under my minimum 3rd radius, or approximately 20" radius.

The loop lengths were dictated by my desire to allow two 4 CEP units + an MLV to be stored and run. That translates to a locomotive and eight coaches for non-multiple unit stock.

On a slightly different tack, I used the programming track to pose my Bachmann SE&CR C class with the matching birdcage stock, with slightly better lighting angles than in my usual photographic location. The stone walls are all simply propped there to hide the bare white polystyrene.



 

Edited January 26, 2018 by SRman

[SRman]

Further progress with the scenic side of the programming track valley (I must come up with a better name for that!). I have used some Slaters' dressed stone walling and some Flemish bond brick sheet, plus strips of grass matting. The glue is still a tad wet and showing white, I'll add some shrubs and vines at the top of the embankment wall eventually, while the area showing white polystyrene will have a narrow lane  on it, travelling down to the baseboard front.

[St Enodoc]

Further progress with the scenic side of the programming track valley (I must come up with a better name for that!). I have used some Slaters' dressed stone walling and some Flemish bond brick sheet, plus strips of grass matting. The glue is still a tad wet and showing white, I'll add some shrubs and vines at the top of the embankment wall eventually, while the area showing white polystyrene will have a narrow lane  on it, travelling down to the baseboard front.

 

 

How about Newchip Cutting?

 

What brand of grass mat are you using? It looks rather nice.

[SRman]

How about Newchip Cutting?

 

What brand of grass mat are you using? It looks rather nice.

 

I'm not actually sure, John; I bought them quite a few years ago from the now defunct International Models. They came as good sized rolls of the grass, with the spring green one I have used here, and the poppy field pasture with flowers one in an earlier photo. I'll have to see if I can find any bits of paper that tell us more.

 

EDIT: MiniNatur is the manufacturer of these mats. They are still available if you shop around - https://www.mininatur.de/en/Silhouette-Scale-H0--N--Z/miniNatur-ground-vegetation/floor-mats/

Edited January 28, 2018 by SRman

[John Tomlinson]

The new area is looking good. Amazing speed of progress with the scenic aspects, I'm deeply envious!

 

John.

[SRman]

I have had to give track laying a rest while my ankles go down but I will resume on this coming weekend.
 

In the meantime, I have been doing little improvements at a time to the scenery around the programming track. I have positioned a hut experimentally, and am quite pleased with the appearance ... maybe this one will stay, or maybe I'll find a slightly smaller and grottier hut

I need to add fences, and more greenery along the roadside verges, but overall it is shaping up well, I think.

I ordered a heap of different grass mats from Orient Express in South Australia and Modeller's Warehouse in Queensland, and used a couple here as well as some Woodland Scenics scatter materials.








While some shrubbery along the railway line would look good, I am being careful to leave the track as open as possible to allow for testing locomotives and placing the rolling road easily without knocking any of the scenery.

[SRman]

Some more photos using the new scenic area, in spite of its still unfinished state: subjects include some of my industrial fleet, soon to be joined by the Hatton's Andrew Barclay locos, a Hornby EWS class 60 (acquired recently but with the EWS body swapped onto it - the original chassis went under a class 92 body), a Hornby S15, and the Kernow gate stock. The latter two also have 'tweaked' versions to look as if they were taken in the 1950s or '60s.

Edited February 9, 2018 by SRman