Les1952 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 (edited) Absolutely love the look of this layout and the thread is a really entertaining read! I'm trying to decide on starting a new european layout and this is certainly giving me some inspirational food for thought. Keep it up and more videos please!!!! Ian B Very many thanks for the compliment- always nice to receive one....... Main advice I would give is when you decide on your area look at pics of the buildings in that area. I've seen loads of beautiful German building kits that just weren't right for the western side of the Black Forest. The other advice is watch eBay, particularly German eBay. With kits being anything from £25 to £50 each you can often find exactly the building you want secondhand at a fraction of the new price. Now the layout is fully populated with structures I defy anyone who hasn't read this thread to look at it and say what building came from what source. Edited February 27, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 (edited) Monday again- another falling apart day. I think I'm allergic to Mondays. Firstly a shot of what I broke...... I'm not sure how I managed to catch the crossing sign it took me an hour to make, but two parts of it are now on the workbench waiting reuniting, and the third has disappeared altogether. A job for Wednesday....... What I was doing when I broke the crossing sign was addding more ramblers to make the one on the top level feel a lot less lonely....... Also shows one of the two signals on the layout. The sunbathers are now in place on top of the bonk building, some on towels that look remarkably like Kibri curtains. The other signal. I've wired this one back to the tag strip but need a third tag strip under the layout for the other signal and the yard lamps. The signals will be working, hopefully before Cotgrave. I need to find a pair of DPDT switches and somewhere sensible to mount them near the railway control panel. The grasstrack crossover, seen from above. Another of this week's jobs is to finish weathering the paving so I'm ready for catenery. Edited February 27, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 (edited) A couple more of the publicity shots. Vintage passenger train passes blue diesel delivering coal to the locoshed. This was before the new signal was installed. Blue diesel shunts the loading dock as a tram passes. I hadn't spotted I'd turned the diesel round between shots.... Edited February 27, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Dates confirmed Furtwangen Ost will definitely be at the British Horological Institute Summer Show "Railways and Time" at Upton Hall, Notts NG23 5TE on the 8th, 9th and 10th June. Due to exam commitments I might not be with the layout all three days, but it will be in good hands and operating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 The nuns at last I'd tried again to get pics of the nuns, then remembered this one of the publicity shots. No work done today (Tuesday) as I was at Trevor's doing Dapol coupler magnets. Painting railings again tomorrow, unless the tag strip arrives for me to finish the signals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Wednesday- working signals Most of the day spent with the layout either on its back or twisted forwards to get at the backs of two new switches. I've mounted these on the back board next to the railway control panel- switches are SPDT centre-off wired up for red(amber) and down for green. Signal on the platform is a distant- the home is out of sight round the corner- allows it to be passed when shunting..... Signal at the tunnel mouth is a home- so no passing it at red. Sequence- train approaching gives BOTH signals at red/amber. Cleared at departure end when train ready to depart. After departure signals may go blank if another train not expected- in reality there wouldn't be that many trains- and trams maybe only every 15 minutes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Another show confirmed Furtwangen Ost will be appearing at the Wirksworth Model Railway Exhibition on 27th and 28th October, 2012. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) Thursday track fettling. Got out very early today and spent about four hours cleaning the railway and getting rid of a lot of irritating small particles, trying it wioth more and more difficult locos until finally the Glaskastern ran smoothly with a heavy (for it) passenger train. First up is the East German Class 103 diesel (V36) pulling the track cleaning wagon. Pads by Noch, fluid by Slaters. Finally the Glaskastern arrives at the station, pauses briefly and moves off again. Apologies for the camera shake as I reached over to the back and turned the distant signal back to amber behind it- miles too soon but I wanted to prove it worked...... Edited March 1, 2012 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Monday again After a quiet weekend - just Lincoln toyfair- I decided to have a quiet Monday sorting out the fencing between us and next door's Alsatians. Fence gap now dog-proof. Managed to knock the chuck key for the drill into the long grass (or so I thought) and spent ages looking for it only to find it in a puddle..... Part of the haul from Lincoln toyfair. The blue Merc is to go in the top clearly visible. The black beast in view but facing away so you can't tell it isn't a Merc, while the camper thingy and the police car can go in the valley between the two rows of houses and the ex-ambulance next to the Rathaus covering a grotty bit of paving. Also arrived over the weekend five more lamps (from Germany for less than the cost of the pair from Rural railways). This is the first one, on the stairway. Innards removed as there is no chance of a clear run to underneath the board to wire it up. Note I'm now on the last length of fencing- only five panels left for tomorrow or Wednesday. Also note the grot going down bit by bit at the tram station, a two inch square takes about half-an-hour. Three of those and I lose the will to live..... The rest of the weekend toyfair haul involved Marsh figures and benches, now undergoing painting............ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) Tuesday- profitable day Not form a money point of view, that was the weekend on eBay which left me solvent enough to get the lights ordered for the proscenium. Music today by Meatloaf- managed a signed copy of the new album. . Got the deep cleaning done on the tram track and it all works perfectly. Attempted to get some video but got good sequences between the posed runs without actually getting the bits I was filming.... Brain out of gear again....... Got more of the tramstop weathered and made a trial fitting of one of the Tomix tram standards. After shortening by about 7mm this is the result. I'll need to get some sort of pearly effect for the lamps on the top. Also got the benches on the railway platform and more paint onto more figures. While Mr Simon has been working on Gresby I've been looking out for tram ads. I'm still working on this one rotating and scaling as a side advert. Six weeks to the first show date. Must get some details detailed.... Edited March 6, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) Videos as promised. Three videos of the trams- the cream one is suffereing from dirt and resisting cleaning attempts at the moment. 1. Green tram arrives from Freiburg. 2. The green tram sets off up the hill. 3. Lastly in this sequence the cream tram then departs for Freiburg Busy day- trying my first attempt at point tensioners- a nightmare as I've only found one clear photo. Edited March 7, 2012 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) Cleaners and Tensioners- Tuesday progress. I ordered a Dapol Shirebrook van for cleaning the tram track. Having cut away part of the underframe to get the Noch pad installed I found I needed lead adding to keep it on the track. Fitting the pad also meant I needed to take the coupler and housing from one end. I'll look to see if I've other wheels on a thinner axle that will work. Silly picture No.1 - the Glaskastern will pull it, but not up the bank on the layout front. It will manage the shallower gradient of the fiddle yard however.... Silly picture No.2 - solution found, push it round the layout using a tram! Meanwhile my first attempt at a point tensioner has been created out of angle and thin strip (Evergreen) and the sort of wire aero modellers use (sdcrap point wire from an earler layiout. Not quite correct. However, I'm wondering whether I can get away with only one..... . Edited March 7, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) Tramway overhead at last.... Taking advantege of the warm weather I've mede a start on the tramway overhead- and "finished" the paving at the tram stop - not that it will ever be finished- there will always be a bit to blend into the next one or to regrime when the trak cleaner removes the weathering.... View along the tram stop showing the central standards with lights. I've used the lamp standards to give sone "traditional" light where the illuminated stabndards aren't and put a lamp on the footbridge and a globe light on the bank. Also made is the Mark 4 tensioner - marks 2 and 3 were worse than mark 1 so got binned. It needs a heavy wire running to the platform and to under the loading dock, and if possible a pair of operating wires made from taut thread. This is the only tensioner. The point immediately in front of the signal cubicle doesn't need one, and the other two were put into a room under the top of the ramp when the station was built- with an outward-opening netal door, see below. This also shows the three Marsh seats and some more Preiser/Faller/Noch people (seated) and Chinese ones (standing). Edited March 8, 2012 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 (edited) A couple more publicity shots Hello again. I've added the layout to e-Layout directory as it is all-but ready (proscenium Tuesday and final painting of the outside by the weekend means it is ready to go- just as well as the weeks up to Cotgrave are busy ones). These are three of the ones I didn't send. Show the masts for the catenery done and painted. I've ordered some 0.1mm copper wire for the overhead wire itself- I may or may not use it depending on how brave I feel. Major jobs to be tackled are making the curtain for the front, and getting the electrics PAT tested, both of which are one-day jobs. Odd details as and when..... Edited March 11, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Tuesday- Proscenium made Took the layout to Trevor's to get the proscenium made- and three inches added to the trestles. Also able to show it to Bingham MRC's exhibition manager, who likes it (whew!) The pros outside the workshop- not enough headroom inside to erect it. Next job is paint it green. Lighting is done with 5 metres of LEDs. I've gone for warm white. If experience shows this isn't enough there is a second reel of 5 metres and a power splitter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Almost done Have spent Thursday, Friday morning, yesterday and today so far painting the proscenium, which is now mostly done. The layout itself is almost complete- just odd figures and other small details to add here and there. Main change is going over the edge of the hills in green to stop the white showing through. Looks better in this overview- the one for the exhibition flyer. One extra train- my BR23 now has Dapol magnetic couplers both ends after I dropped it and broke the coupler housing on the tender. I spent an arm and a leg on a Brawa DR coach to couple to it (wanting a shortish coach with NEM sockets. The trackplans for the back by the control panels and the decency curtain haven't been started, and the proscenium will take a few days to finish. Updates much less frequently now as there is little to report. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Quick update. Not a lot happening that is photo-worthy but the proscenium is mostly green on the outside and is white on the inside where the LEDs aren't. One disaster- the front board has blebbed up under the top coat and is having to be stripped off again- it is that bad I'm using a paint scraper on it as the power sander just gummed up. Self-inflicted as I used waterproof varnish to seal it without giving it enough time to set- 48 hours wasn't enough... On the positive side the lettering is ordered and the layout is performing well enough on test. Back to the scraping....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 (edited) Latest Toy York show saw a visit to Conti-kits stand looking for small diesels with NEM pockets. Didn't find any- still could do with a spare- but I did find this- an RS1 railcar by Bemo. It needs a valance and I may need to source some buffers. I've had to rebuild the corner of the wall behind the shed to give a little more clearance as it is bigger than anything I'd originally thought to use. Meanwhile repainting the proscenium goes ahead. The lettering has arrived for it- this will only need 24 hours to harden when the pros is ready for it. Only ten days to the first show- eek. Edited April 10, 2012 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 The speed at which you have put this layout together is staggerring. I am really impressed. I hope that the first exhibition goes well for you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Many thanks for the comment- it did help being able to work on it every day for several weeks. Things have been a little busier elsewhere recently- I'm on stage all this week (a pirate in Pirates of Penzance at Grantham). Also I've kept out of the workshop quite a bit in the last 2 or 3 weeks to give Mr Simon a fighting chjance to work on Gresby without his dad in the way..... Final (hopefully) coat of green on the front of the proscenium tomorrow- the sides and top can wait until after the first show- then the lettering is ready to apply in one go. After which I can get onto seriously planning the next one- and find a better name for it than Fillpoke Colliery. Must get on..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Proscenium (almost) done The proscenium painted and lettered. Not quite as bad as the shadow makes it appear- the left-hand end will have the NGS Member sign added and the exhibition plaques for the first two exhibitions will also go here. The worst problem was the amount of dust it picked up when drying. Final job is the curtain, and this is in hand. Next update from me will be some pics from Cotgrave Show if I get time to take them..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) First Exhibition completed!!! Got to Cotgrave with no major problems other than a broken trestle, sorted with a phillips screwdriver borrowed from another exhibitor. Well received by punters (thank goodness). Plenty of kids enjoyed counting nuns and looking for Dr Who. Railway ran well all weekend apart from needing two extra screws to stop a point tubing moving sideways. Tramway not so hot- some trams ran better than others- track needs another going over. Main feeedback from a punter was to add window boxes to more of the town. Still short of operators for Upton Hall. To top off the weekend the new tram arrived on Monday. Pictures to follow but first the trestles need working at before the layout is erected again. Edited April 25, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 Sunday Been to Homebase for chain to replace the cross-pieces on the trestles. Trevor's tomorrow to get the trestle tie bars strengthened and the chain installed properly. After that I should be able to work on getting the tramway track to perform perfectly with all trams before Upton Hall in June. I still need to work out why some trams run perfectly clockwise but not anticlockwise yet if the tram is then turned to run the other way it either runs perfectly both ways or neither...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 New toys The white tram is a Waggon Union 4-axle tram, Tomix in origin, running on a Portram chassis. It tends to crab a little and has already had to have a replacement pantograph (off an Arnold Class 111 body) after losing half of one at Cotgrave- very careless of it... The big green one is a Hiroshima People Mover or 5-section Siemens Combino. Made by Hodl, it is a Bo-Bo-2 electrically. It is still mostly in the workshop to get pickups and other little problems sorted out. Sods law states it arrived the day after the Cotgrave show, of course. Videos to follow.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 (edited) Today's Videos White tram in action. Combino tram in action. Apologies for the hand-held quality of the videos. Ah well, back to the workshop. the tramway is still undergoing track cleaning- the trams run perfectly on the railway....... Les Edited May 8, 2012 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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