North Welsh Coast Railway - Welsh Dragon Rail

[37038]

It's looking great! Seeing the photo of the threaded bar supports makes your idea clearer now. An elegant solution to what could have been a mass of plywood and 2"x2".

[Anthony Ashley]

37038,

 

Thanks for the comment . The rod and support method should be the easiest part of the layout as the heights are merely adjusted by the screws and washers on the rod. Very fine adjustments u and down are possible. I shall stabilise the rods by running a piece of timber along the insides of the leg as at the height of the bottom track support. These 2 pieces of timber can then be screwed and therefore stabilised. The trouble in getting very long runs at exactly the right height to the ml has been difficult but the screws are a breeze! 

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

[Anthony Ashley]

WELSH DRAGON RAIL - LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS

 

Dear All,

 

I have completed ,my first scale scenes building. It looks reasonable form a distance but close up show a few errors. From a distance it looks better. The next building will be a church and should be more accurate with my first one out of the way. Photos are below. It is a row of terrace houses. The strips of brown and grey bricks at the bottom of the buildings reflect the terrace houses in Bangor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have laid about half of the cork for the new track in the southern Conwy and northern Bangor boards. I need to finish the cork secure it to the board and weather the track prior to laying and wiring it up.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2014 by Anthony Ashley

[bridgiesimon]

That is the good thing about scalescenes, if you are not wholely happy then just print out another set and have another go. They look great for a first attempt though.

 

best wishes

simon

[Anthony Ashley]

Dear Simon,

 

Your comment is appreciated. I think for a distance the more obvious errors with the terrace houses will not be seen. Viewing distance will be at least 3 or 4 feet if not a little further. 

 

I have been unable to progress much this week due to a very bad head cold. I have managed to get some of the cork under lay done. The first photo gives a slightly better view of the hidden track with a few extra supports having been added.

 

 

 

Llandudno goods area and mainline heading from Conwy to Chester

 

Close up heading away from Conwy

 

Close up of the Llandudno goods area and mainline

 

All replies are welcome.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

 

 

 

[bridgiesimon]

That threaded bar system for hanging the lower level is genius, carefully noted for my future layout although it will be nowehre near on this scale (unfortunately

 

Best wishes

Simon)

[Anthony Ashley]

WELSH DRAGON RAIL  - LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS

 

Dear All,

 

I have virtually finished the church. I need to reprint a page too add the last two buttresses which go on the front of the church. I think it is much neater then the terrace houses but practice improves the technique. The Church is a close approximation of St Mary's church in Conwy. Photos are below. 

 

Simon I got the threaded rod idea from the helixes I have seen but expanded the concept to use dog bones instead. Much neater underneath the layout with more room. I stabilise the hidden track with timber secured to the legs and then screwed into the bottom piece of hidden track. This will restrict all movement on the rod as it is secured at the top with two screws top and bottom of the supporting base boards while being attached to the legs at the bottom. 

 

Torch underneath is highlighting the lead lights

 

 

 

 

 

 

I shall go back to doing track work now. More cork to lay, secure and paint.  The track must also be weathered for scenic areas. 

 

 

All replies are most welcome.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

Edited June 8, 2014 by Anthony Ashley

[Anthony Ashley]

WELSH DRAGON RAIL LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS

 

Dear All,

 

I am after some opinions on the painting provided by my mother in law. She has changed her technique form paint brush to knife in doing some sections of the scenic dividers. I have a preference for one and wondered what the general opinion was overall. Photos are below for the two techniques. Please reply with your preference as it will only requires a brief entry.

 

 

For photo below the green planes are done with a brush and the blue and white with a knife.

 

Close up of the knife work.

 

For below the lighter green is done with a brush. the dark green  and sky with a knife.

 

I think all this area was done with a knife.

 

Done with a brush

 

Done with a brush

 

All I am after is an opinion on brush or knife work.

 

Thanks for the assistance.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

Edited June 10, 2014 by Anthony Ashley

[boogaloo]

Brush for me,

 

or should I say ideally Metropolitan-Vickers

Edited June 10, 2014 by boogaloo

[Grafarman]

All I can say is I wish I had a mother-in-law like yours...!! 

 

Top work with knife and brush; I would keep and use both and enjoy the variety...

 

 

David

[Mike W]

I'd say brush - while both look excellent, I think the brush looks slightly softer to by eyes and that will focus attention more on the modelling at the front.

 

Superb work by the way, thank you for uploading photos of your progress.

[jon_1066]

The knife gives more definition.  I would therefore suggest knife on the sections closer to  the viewer and brush on those furthest back.  This will give the impression of haze in the distance as the transitions get softer.  ie keep the knife work on the scenic dividers as they will be seen at the closest distance.

[Simond]

Given that I have the artistic talent of a hippopotamus, it may be invidious to criticise, but for me the sky is too blue in the knife work. Conversely, I think the houses across the river are marvellous, giving a lovely sense of distance.

 

I do hope your M-I-L doesn't mind the commentary, she deserves great credit!

 

Simon

[Anthony Ashley]

Bagaloo, David, Jon and Simon,

 

Thanks for the opinions. Simon even a hippopotamus can have an opinion and all are valued. If any one else would care to add a comment on post 383 nit would be appreciated. I am now weathering the new track.

 

regards,

 

Anthony

[Stubby47]

Brush work would be my choice - it's a softer outline so can be less intrusive on the layout in front of it.

 

A question for you though - seeing as how you are so far from the prototype, I guess modelling any UK location would have the same issues of limited access, so what made you choose this stretch of the North Wales coastline ? 

 

Stu

[LNWR lives on]

I am with jon, use the combination of knife at the front to make it sharp and soften it to the brush as you go further back so it gives perspective to the backscenes

 

As with everything its trial and error, so give your preferred option a go and see what you think

 

I also second Stu's question, why the North Wales coast predominatly for your layout?

 

Dave

[Anthony Ashley]

Dave and Stu,

 

The answer as to why I choose Wales was the following combination of factors.

 

As a child of about 8 years in Australia I had a fairly eccentric great uncle. He owned many Hornby items from the mid 60s and earlier in O gauge. He had a room in which these treasures were stored on shelves at least 2.5 metres wide and extending to the ceiling. At the age when I was talking and visiting him he was in his 70s and no longer able to climb on a ladder to access his marvellous collection of models. I was given a privilege of climbing around the room, pull-out a model, show my uncle only to be told that he had not seen that model for at least 30 years.
This provided many afternoons of entertainment for both myself and my uncle.  We were both equally delighted with the models. One of his models was the Flying Scotsman, which I thought was a great model. My interest in British Rail stems from these days with my uncle and a strong love of English history. My forebears were all British. Some were Cornwall miners.

 

I originally intended to model Peterborough, including both the LNER and LMS part of the station and lines. When I attempted to do the track plan for it there were real problems in modelling the approaches to the station, the track layout was absolutely huge and the surrounding county was relatively flat and boring. I spent an afternoon with a friend of mine in Brisbane looking for a Mainline that included a couple of smaller stations, ran an expansive number of passenger and freight operations and included a large station capable of being modelled, while providing a challenging freight environment for shunting operations and fantastic scenery.

 

The Holyhead -Chester main line has a reasonable amount of traffic, and I can replicate exactly a days passenger, freight and parcels traffic. The passenger traffic allows rakes of up to 17 coaches and has very extensive variety from small local rakes to the Irish Mail. The freight carried on the line was very varied given Holyhead was the major port to Ireland. The line seemed to be quite suitable given this diversity. The next issue was to determine which stations I would model. My choice of N gauge allowed for 3.

 

We looked through a number of books on stations pre Nationalisation. I found Conwy, Penmaenmawr and Bangor in the book Chester to Holyhead Railway by V.R. Anderson and G.K. Fox. The stations are attractive as Conwy has the fantastic castle and medieval town wall to model, is on a river, has 3 fantastic bridges, a small freight shunting area and a few hills.

 

Penmaenmawr is on the sea, is a picturesque holiday town, has a fantastic mountain right next to it which includes a marvellous rail and road viaduct between the ocean and mountain. I shall model this at the bottom of the layout. I am also going to slightly distort reality and operate the light rail facility which moved the granite for the mountain to the main line rail service. I understand that this closed some years earlier but will take some licence, as it will give me the opportunity to model a Welsh quarry light railway.

 

Bangor is a great station to model given its position in a valley with tunnels at either end. It is quite large And from my reading was a hub for rail freight traffic in the area in the early 60s, allowing a great variety in the types of goods subject to movement to and through the station. Given it was a primary station on the route to Ireland, this would also provide varied freight requirements.

 

I think the main line and the combination of stations provide variety in traffic, fantastic scenery, good shunting options, and the geography of each town allows me to run a hidden loop around 3 sides of the layout. The 4 side has the hidden track at the very top of the layout hidden behind a board. Even Conwy's geography allows the merging on the hidden and scenic track in a hilly part of the line. I think it is a good fit.

 

I am still after comments on the post at 383 if anyone else would care to comment as to the respective merits of brush versus the knife technique. Thankyou for reading. I hope I have not bored people.

[jon_1066]

Just a thought.  Those top two shots in post 383 show the backscene behind visible with the front scene.  This looks a little incongruous with land, sky, sea, land then sky.  Would there be any mileage in making the intermediate breaks just hills with no sky on?  ie cut them to an undulating shape and paint them up as hills.  They would still mask the close to parts in the same way but if the backscene is visible behind them they will look more natural.  Kind of like intermediate scenery on a stage.

[bridgiesimon]

A bit behind everyone else but Brush for me as well N gauge needs a smoother finish on a backscene to keep the details in proportion, a small dolup or smear is great in a painting but when near an N gauge model can seen enourmous.

 

I do echo other comments and envy your access to such an artist, my mother in law is all but blind and a dosey old bag!!! hehehe

 

Best wishes

Simon

[Anthony Ashley]

WELSH DRAGON RAIL - LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS

 

Dear All,

 

Thanks for the comments on the painting techniques. I think the brush looks better. I shall look at the combination of the back scene and divider as suggested. 

 

I have at last purchased all of the coaches for the "Irish mail", including the new SLF and SLSTP. 

 

I have photographed this rake. At 17 coaches it is my longest rake.

 

Any comment are appreciated.

 

 

 

 

I am about to install the decoders and servos on the main lines. This will allow me to put in the polarity switches and electrify the whole main line laid to date. I have also nearly finished the second tune of the Conwy tubular bridge. Just the wires to be added.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

 

 

[Grafarman]

That's a beautiful rake of coaches, snaking through under the shadow of the castle - very evocative...

 

Looking forward to seeing some videos once it's up and running!

 

 

David

[Anthony Ashley]

WELSH DRAGON RAIL - LAYOUT DEVELOPMENTS

 

I have finished the main parts of the tubular bridges at Conwy, including painting. Photos are below.

 

 

 

 

Now I can permanently fix the track over the river and get laying down the existing base boards.

 

All replies are gratefully accepted. I have had no more work by my mother in law but she will com back to the painting eventually.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

 

 

 

 

[37038]

The bridge looks great! It's only in the last picture - where the loco is visible - that the scale of it becomes apparent.

[anthony.vella]

The buildings and scenery have come along in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. I look forward to seeing some of those minor buildings in situ.

[Anthony Ashley]

Dear 3078 and Anthony,

 

Thanks for the encouraging replies. Next is the cork to be laid in the new area and then wiring, including the switches in the Conwy area. No shortage of tasks to keep me occupied. I also can build the next 3 base boards continuing the Bangor side of the layout, taking me to the bottom of it. This will allow me to complete the dog bone loops on the left side of the layout and 1 of the 2 fiddle yards. I have expanded the fiddle yards to 32 tracks each to ensure the time table will work properly.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley