Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[Clive Mortimore]

On 18/02/2020 at 20:55, gordon s said:

Andy, I have asked before, but ET is a ‘gauge wars free zone’ and I don’t want my thread descending into arguments about choices of track. I’m very happy with my choice as I’m sure you are with yours. Please just respect those differences and let’s just enjoy the hobby.

 

I want this thread to be a gentle diary of my endless attempts to build something that will bring me untold pleasure in my later years of life. Discussion and disagreement of track standards just devalues this journey, so I really would appreciate it if you could have those discussions elsewhere.

 

Sometimes ignorance is bliss........

Well said Gordon. We all have our preferred modelling standards and methods. 

 

Surely the most important thing is that we as modellers enjoy what we are doing, it is only a hobby.

[SteveyDee68]

Just had a catch-up on the ET thread. And although I am at the "hesitant returner" stage of competence (I am up to soldering my first power feeds onto my PECO set-tracked Inglenook), I always find your trackwork a joy and suddenly want to rip up the code 100, find the relevant pages in your thread and start producing my own track! Inspiring is the word to use.  But common sense kicks in - finish what I have started, then maybe in the future I can start thinking about OO-FS and building my own points!

 

Looking forward to future updates!

 

Steve S

[Barry O]

Mike Edge swears by GT85. I bought some from moreasons and it seems to work on everything .

Baz

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Just had a catch-up on the ET thread. And although I am at the "hesitant returner" stage of competence (I am up to soldering my first power feeds onto my PECO set-tracked Inglenook), I always find your trackwork a joy and suddenly want to rip up the code 100, find the relevant pages in your thread and start producing my own track! Inspiring is the word to use.  But common sense kicks in - finish what I have started, then maybe in the future I can start thinking about OO-FS and building my own points!

 

Looking forward to future updates!

 

Steve S

 

Nobody was born the perfect competent modeller. although some seem to think they were.

 

Mike.

[Michael Edge]

9 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

And I use it on my bike, squeaky door hinges . . . 

and now it seems, in the modelling room too!  Thanks Baz.

I have some old 70s Hornby that hasn’t been run since late 90s so I can try it on them.  Any idea if it’s OK on Hornby and Lima plastics?

 

Paul.

It seems to be quite safe on plastics.

[JeffP]

Whatever is in that, and WD40, is brilliant at softening glue on sticky labels that are otherwise a pain to remove. A quick wipe over with paper towels then removes the "solvent".

[Michael Edge]

I haven't tried it for that but WD40 definitely isn't safe on plastics.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

WD40, the liquid equivalent of the mole wrench, the wrong tool for every job!

 

Mike.

[gordon s]

Just back after 9 holes in the wind and rain. Pleasant it was not...

 

Wouldn't have minded, but they made us endure two hours in a hard blowing wind with continual drifting rain where despite wearing waterproofs guaranteed to keep out the worst, we all ended up cold and wet.....and then they abandoned the competition.....

 

Railway modelling has a lot going for it. You're out of the weather, amongst friends and warm and dry.

 

Just got to get the log burner lit and then it's back to building pointwork.

Edited February 20, 2020 by gordon s

[gordon s]

Friday morning and at least it's a little warmer and certainly a lot drier. Just a short update as I've reached a point which means disconnecting the power and lifting track for a few days work. On reflection, that can wait until next week as I'd like to test a few more loco's. It's been so long without stuff running, that stopping the light relief of trains running would be a step backwards. I'll have to lift around 4' of track to accommodate the fourth loop and of course that will mean another few hours ballasting.

 

Here's what came out of storage this morning. Gresley A3 60077 The White Knight from a DJH kit. A rare visitor down south as it eventually found its way to St Margarets in 1963. The addition of the German smoke deflectors was something that always appealed to me, though I accept they weren't to everyones taste. Right now it looks like it's come straight from the paintshop and I suspect I will have to get an expert to weather it for me. Still new to weathering, I'm not that confident in taking away the ex works finish so that it looks like a working loco. I'll probably settle for a work stained, but cherished finish, rather than an all out Gateshead job....

 

 

The widened lines woodwork is done and awaits the new trackbed. At it's widest it's only four inches or so in width, but the tapering away to nothing at the station end took a lot longer than I expected. Wood filler and fine sanding to the rescue. Once it's painted and track in place, you probably won't notice the change in width. At least that's the plan...

 

 

The crossover is now complete and awaits the paint shop this afternoon. Happily it fits and the plan is to have this section reworked in the next 7-10 days. I suspect that may slip once the course opens again as we have three postponed Winter League games to fit in before March 13th on top of the usual Seniors comps at the club.

 

 

Glad that things have settled down again. I have no problem with track discussion outside this thread, but clearly the choice of track is down to the individual. I'm very happy building track to 00-SF spec as it does everything I want perfectly.

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by gordon s

[Siberian Snooper]

Andy Reichert, does get a bit repetitive and thus boring after awhile, I don't think he understands our track building mentality or at least he doesn't want to. I think Martin is very patient with him.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Siberian Snooper
spelling

[Ian_H]

Your track together with the 00-SF S&C looks superb .... I'd like to emulate it one day but have to finish building the house first which is two year behind schedule due to contractual difficulties with a double glazing company!

 

As for being lot drier where you are, it is absolutely throwing it down here in West Yorkshire.

 

Have fun.

 

Ian

[johndon]

1 hour ago, gordon s said:

I'll probably settle for a work stained, but cherished finish, rather than an all out Gateshead job....

 

Go full Gateshead on it, you know you want to

 

Track work is looking superb.

[bigwordsmith]

Best way to play at weathering is to get some plants and a selection of brushes, as well as thinners and t-Cut for the worst case scenaior and have a ply - use photos for reference and you'd be amazed at what you can achieve

 

This B17 was Apple Green before I sprayed it LNWR Black and added numbers. I CBA to line it out, but got out half a dozen different paints and sobbed tiny little spots on then dry brushed them to create patterns 

 

The theory is that if steam could leak from anywhere, it probably would, followed by calcite deposits, and the general build up of rust and grime just carried on day after day

 

Worst case if you screw up , stick it in a placcy bag with modelstrip!

 

 

[gordon s]

Thanks for the ideas but I don't think I'm quite ready for that level of neglect...

 

I'd rather remember the late 50's, early 60's when sheds took pride in their locomotives, than the end of steam when few bothered.

[bigwordsmith]

AH Gordon I do agree but will plead historical accuracy! 

 

My father rather egged me on to make it more and more tired and rundown, based on his memories of the early '60s

 

The first house he and my mother owned in Edinburgh backed onto the laundry and goods yard at Joppa, where there was a continuous procession of various 'J's and standards. It also saw the ECML running through, so there was a terrific selection of stock and locos on display.

 

I started out going for the ex-works look, but once I'd explored weathering he took a real interest in the model I was building. Sadly he passed on 12 years ago, but his fascination with he railway would have seen him totally at home here.

 

He finally got round to building his own first model railway after my mother died. He was 86 with two cataracts and started a 10' x 18" model to fit in his study, based on a fictitious branch line on the Isle of Arran. Given the available space he also chose 'n' gauge!

 

Despite the challenges and constraints, It made him happy, and even now I smile remembering the delight with which he showed me how he'd managed to build this thing, get it all wired up and run a loco plus 3 carriages from one end to t'other!

[johndon]

40 minutes ago, gordon s said:

I'd rather remember the late 50's, early 60's when sheds took pride in their locomotives, than the end of steam when few bothered.

 

To be fair, Gateshead took pride in the mechanicals of their locos, just not so much the outside 

[bigwordsmith]

St. Margarets approach to polishing was the opposite from Haymarket, but again this reflected that 870% of its allocation worked in coal fields and industry

[gordon s]

Newsflash......

 

Police were called to Eastwood Town station today as commuters threatened direct action against Eastern Railways. Just a few days after reopening the line, commuters arrived to see track had been mysteriously lifted overnight. No one could believe that a large section of both the fast and slow lines to London had gone and no trains were available for commuters to the capital. "What bloody good is a replacement bus service to us. We've waited years for this line to open and within days the track is pulled up and we're back to square one. They've already put up our season ticket prices, supposedly on the basis of improving the service and journey time and here we all are once again facing hours of delay on a bloody bus. I have no idea what the management we're thinking".

 

We asked Eastern Railways for a comment, but were told no one was available as they were shortly going off for a few days on a golf jolly.....

 

It's quite clear that no more trains will run through Eastwood Station for at least two weeks. The good news is the signalling and routing problems that plagued the new track layout have been resolved.

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by gordon s

[Ian_H]

Clearly all the management need hanging ... golfing jolly indeed!

 

Gordon, can ask what the two PCBs are on the side of the new section that you've added?

 

Enjoy your golfing jolly .................... ruining a good walk, get dog, great fun!

 

Ian

 

PS Eventually it stopped raining and today has been full of sunshine ..... it won't last!

[gordon s]

Those are the NCE Switch 8’s. Just two Wires from the ECoS to an accessory bus and then two wires to each NCE panel. Each panel includes 8 switches, each of which will control up to two Tortoise motors. I’ve still got he scars from molten solder dripping on me whilst laying on my back under previous layout builds and trying to solder wires,, so self preservation kicked in.
 

Eventually, I decided to go the full DCC route, so each Tortoise is wired into the bus for polarity switching. This was done in the general wiring phase of each module with the board upside down on the bench. Having now decided in favour of DCC control of pointwork, I simply had to cut the two power leads to each point motor and add a 2 way WAGO connector to each wire and then run two wires back to the Switch 8. 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/2-way-lever-connector-222-series-pack-of-50/97689

 

No soldering and no risk to life and limb. The big plus is if  you have a reverse polarity on a Tortoise motor, it takes seconds to flip open the cam and insert the correct stripped wire.Another few seconds programming via the ECoS and I can set up routes easily covering the four main lines, five platforms plus a bi directional bay each end and a goods relief road.

 

I wIsh I’d done it years ago. As things progress I shall move into signalling and they will also go via the Switch 8’s. I’m fairly sure they can be part of an interlocking system and that will add an additional  element of signal box control.

 

I’ve mounted the control PCB’s on the side plates for ease of access and wiring, but they will eventually be hidden under a ‘roof’ of scenic work from track bed level. This could be higher than the track bed in creation of a cutting or lower when an embankment is required. Either way they will be hidden from view but still accessible.

 

Disappointed to lose the inner line, but it had to be done and hopefully things will. Be running again in a week or two.

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by gordon s

[martin_wynne]

Deleted.

Edited February 24, 2020 by martin_wynne
posted in wrong topic

[MikeTrice]

Changing subject I thought I would look through some of the earlier videos of ET to see how smooth the locos and coaches go over the various turnouts. The answer is very smoothly.

 

I did notice however that on plain track one of the locos yawed side to side presumably due to the plain track being RTR at 16.5mm. It did not suffer this so much through the turnouts. So I can sort of see a benefit to adopting handbuilt track throughout with reduced gauge plain track to match the crossings.

[Nickey Line]

46 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

But he can't have one, because the topic has just been locked.

 

You can send him a PM Martin.

 

48 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

and not for the first time wonder whether to continue with RMweb.

 

If anyone should wonder whether to continue with RMWweb, perhaps it should be, er, someone else? 

[Denbridge]

55 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

Polybear wrote in the "fixing 00" topic:

 

 

 

But I do lose my cool when a topic to which I am contributing is locked for no good reason. Chris White has just made a post to which he is entitled to a reply:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/149985-fixing-00-turnouts-for-modern-00-drifting-standards/&do=findComment&comment=3851254

 

But he can't have one, because the topic has just been locked.

 

I'm very angry, and not for the first time wonder whether to continue with RMweb.

 

Martin.

I don't know what that guys problem is. He pops up all over the place spouting the same rubbish and won't listen to anybody. I'm just ignoring him in future.