Kirkby Luneside

[Physicsman]

A few more pics, pretty self-explanatory.

 

The main line is being "dosed" with grot, a little bit at a time. It then needs to dry (where the grot lightens in tone) and judgement made about whether to add more. I'm finding this tricky. Part of me says to darken the track and the six-foot, another part says leave the 6 foot a contrasting lighter colour....

 

Anyway, here you go for now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Physicsman

[Rowsley17D]

That rodding looks as though it could actually work, it doesn't though, does it?

 

As to ballast condition, it all depends on what you want it to look like. Even in your era, mainline was smart and tidy. Do you want the freshly reballasted look or something with a bit more use or a mixture of both?

[Physicsman]

That rodding looks as though it could actually work, it doesn't though, does it?

 

As to ballast condition, it all depends on what you want it to look like. Even in your era, mainline was smart and tidy. Do you want the freshly reballasted look or something with a bit more use or a mixture of both?

 

That's exactly my quandary, Jonathan. I've erred on the side of caution throughout the ballasting process - from starting the viaduct onwards. Instead of trying to weather the track in one go, very quickly, I've applied 3-4 paint applications (mostly stone grey with some burnt umber for rust effects) on the track, over a 2-3 day period, gradually darkening the track area. The 6' has generally had a single dose. I'm inclined to darken the 6' a little more, as it stands.

 

There's no "correct" answer to this, as the photos I have of the Kirkby Stephen area show a wide range of "muckiness", depending on how long since a re-ballast and the lighting conditions. What I DON'T want is one of those situations where the whole trackbed is an almost uniform level of griminess.

 

As for the rodding - very pleased with the way it's going (roughly 20 hours construction time so far - and I didn't have to plan it) - and it is very definitely non-operational!

 

Jeff

[uax6]

Don't forget the oily bits where locos tend to stand, and around fishplates and slide chairs on points.

I think you could get away with having it much darker, with other lighter tones here and there. As for the 6ft, here its much the same colour as the rest (a sort of brownish hue, but then we don't get many real locos, but its probably years of cast iron brake block dust mixed into the general dirt. So your braking areas need to be more browny that the rest too!)

 

That rodding is looking the dog's do-dars, I can't wait to see it painted galvanised grey and rust!

 

Are you going to put track circuit bond wires on around the fake fishplates?

 

Andy G

Edited September 22, 2017 by uax6

[ben pez]

Nice work jeff.

 

Regarding the signal box...

I have the midland ratio kit one in its box,i never even started it as i bought the RTP one then just weathered it (pictured)

If you want,pm me your address & you can have it for nowt pal as i have no use for it.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Physicsman]

Andy, thanks for the comments. There'll be a bit of additional rust in places by the time I've finished. And I'll try darkening the track and six foot a bit further....then a bit more if I like it, but always keeping the track area a fair bit darker.

 

Ben, I appreciate your offer. I'll probably scratch build the signal box when I get round to it, but if you have no use for the kit then it'll serve as a guide, along with the usual reference material. I'll PM you my address.

 

Jeff

[davefrk]

Hi Jeff, is this what your looking for?

 

 

Still got all the bolts, flitch plates and brackets to do but you've spurred me on to get it done and cast.

There are a few detail differences between photos so I'll be doing the most common one with the two stay rods, one on the top diagonals and the other below it on the lower diagonals.

A few weeks and you could be the first to have one.

 

All the best

 

Dave Franks

[Physicsman]

I've given the track and six foot another dose of weathering. This was done between 7 and 8 this morning, so the paint is still drying out. The pics below give an impression of how it's going. I think it's getting close to how I want it.

 

I've also added-in a bit more rodding - we're getting to the remoter areas of the goods yard now! Lucky that I checked on the plan, as I've had to excavate a small "trench" under the main line to give access to the point rod. This is yet to be fitted - only the crank at the down trench end is currently in place.

 

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

[Physicsman]

Hi Jeff, is this what your looking for?

 

MR Heavy stop 2.jpg

 

Still got all the bolts, flitch plates and brackets to do but you've spurred me on to get it done and cast.

There are a few detail differences between photos so I'll be doing the most common one with the two stay rods, one on the top diagonals and the other below it on the lower diagonals.

A few weeks and you could be the first to have one.

 

All the best

 

Dave Franks

 

Hi Dave.

 

That looks the business. I assume I'll need two of these, one for each of the "trap points"?

 

I'll fit the BS02 at the end of the cattle dock and look forward to the new beasties! No doubt Simon (Reorte) will be ordering a few....

 

Cheers.

 

Jeff

[sp1]

I've given the track and six foot another dose of weathering. This was done between 7 and 8 this morning, so the paint is still drying out. The pics below give an impression of how it's going. I think it's getting close to how I want it.

 

I've also added-in a bit more rodding - we're getting to the remoter areas of the goods yard now! Lucky that I checked on the plan, as I've had to excavate a small "trench" under the main line to give access to the point rod. This is yet to be fitted - only the crank at the down trench end is currently in place.

 

IMG_6010.JPG

 

IMG_6011.JPG

 

IMG_6012.JPG

 

Jeff

Where did that shed sneak in from - nice looking building

[Physicsman]

Have a look back to the end of June. I'm building 2 of them. One using DAS bricks, laid individually (I think there are around 4,500 bricks on it) and a follow-up, identical dimensions, using Wills plastic sheets.

 

I haven't done any work on them since early August, so need to get back to the task!!

 

Jeff

 

EDIT: Page 173 onwards for the DAS structure, page 180 on for the Wills one.

Edited September 23, 2017 by Physicsman

[davefrk]

Hi Dave.

 

That looks the business. I assume I'll need two of these, one for each of the "trap points"?

 

I'll fit the BS02 at the end of the cattle dock and look forward to the new beasties! No doubt Simon (Reorte) will be ordering a few....

 

Cheers.

 

Jeff

 

Had a book out for photos and there's a photo showing the buffer on the short trap or headshunt from the yard at KS, it's a BS02 which would have been a replacement as it's a wartime LMS one. The Midland ones would be difficult to repair if smashed as they have a framework underground so the railway would just cut off the remnents and place a 'surface' type buffer stop on top. Looking at other places I would agree that it would have probably been a MR heavy bufferstop at KS originally, certainly on my railway the photos show a heavy stop on the yard exit and a simple ones everywhere else.

 

Dave Franks.

[Physicsman]

I've had enough of weathering track and super-gluing rodding stools for the day. There may be a repeat performance tomorrow, depending on how the track and six foot dries between now and then.

 

In the meantime, here's 3 more pics. I'm just waiting for Peter to make a witty comment about the class 25 sitting on the platform base.....

 

..... Perhaps it's allergic to EM track?!

 

 

 

 

Jeff

 

[Andrew P]

Don't worry about the 25 on the Platform, I had a 31 on my Much Dithering Platform, and Mike / The Stationmaster said there had been a Class 50 on the Platform at Paddington.  

 

Rodding and Ballasting's looking superb Jeff.

 

Despite NOT posting much, I have been keeping an eye on proceedings, and I'm now thinking I should rip up all my Track and go Fine Scale Code 75, and re do the Point Rodding, so if your Free any time next week, and want a little jobbie mate.      

Edited September 23, 2017 by Andrew P

[Physicsman]

Andy, you've given me an idea. All those 00 steam engines I can't run on my track....I'll pile them up on the platforms and in the car park. That way they won't go to waste.

 

And I'll be down to Swad next Saturday with my demolition kit and replacement track!

 

I'm happier with the ballast/weathering than I was yesterday. It's getting to where I want it to be. More tomorrow.

 

Jeff

[BWsTrains]

To change the topic of discussion slightly, but still road related....

 

What materials have people used to create roads on their layouts? Some methods I've used - with varying appearance of authenticity:

 

Paint onto wood/MDF - add very fine grit/sand to the wet paint to produce the surface

 

Slaters plastikard - scribe and paint

 

Metcalfe - "tarmac" sheets

 

Wills - sheets of cobbles or equivalent

 

Plaster - smoother, painted and set at a suitable camber

 

Any comments?

 

Jeff

Jeff,

 

I found some old grades of Corundum from when I was a lad (eons ago when I was into telescope mirror grinding). Grade 120 is about prototypical for road grit (I think), I painted on thick layer of full strength PVA, then with a pepper sprinkler or the like sprinkled the corundum on controlling the level of addition to avoid overloading. Finally this was painted with my favourite shade of road grey in leftover external Dulux acrylic low sheen paint. End result was sufficiently uneven to look realistic and the final coating meant there was no loose grit remaining to get spread around elsewhere. Big advantage over pre-formed materials e.g wet and dry paper is you can apply anywhere even on very uneven surfaces, just did the on-ramps of my RR Xings.

 

Sorry, now just playing catch up with this thread, only 2630+ posts to go.

Edited September 24, 2017 by BWsTrains

[Physicsman]

Jeff,

 

I found some old grades of Corundum from when I was a lad (eons ago when I was into telescope mirror grinding). Grade 120 is about prototypical for road grit (I think), I painted on thick layer of full strength PVA, then with a pepper sprinkler or the like sprinkled the corundum on controlling the level of addition to avoid overloading. Finally this was painted with my favourite shade of road grey in leftover external Dulux acrylic low sheen paint. End result was sufficiently uneven to look realistic and the final coating meant there was no loose grit remaining to get spread around elsewhere. Big advantage over pre-formed materials e.g wet and dry paper is you can apply anywhere even on very uneven surfaces, just did the on-ramps of my RR Xings.

 

Sorry, now just playing catch up with this thread, only 2630+ posts to go.

 

Colin, be careful mentioning telescopes on here. Astronomy is my principal hobby; a mate and I co-founded a local astronomical society many moons ago - he was grinding a 12" mirror for his Newtonian. I'm currently spending as much time on my imaging projects as I do on the railway. Have a look in the Lunester Lounge - in Settle and Carlisle routes. There's always space-related discussion in there - the demise of Cassini is the latest topic.

 

Good luck with the next 2600+ posts!

 

Jeff

[Physicsman]

I've spent a good few hours in the Bunker today, flitting in and out in between grime sprayings. I've just about got the main line weathered to my taste and here's a few pics. Note that the class 25 is now back on the track!!

 

The grime isn't for weathering btw. Weathering is being done using a grey acrylic mix, watered down and painted onto the ballast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

[Physicsman]

Update: More DAS ballast shoulders have been fitted to either side of the main line and a large batch of track has been ballasted. I'm waiting for the PVA to set - probably another 3 hours - before I can get on with a bit more track weathering. 

 

I'll post something pic-wise (it'll be pretty mundane) tomorrow. Chip - are you still lurking?

 

Jeff

[Chipster]

Morning Jeff

 

"Chip - are you still lurking?" you ask.

 

Of course I am, still reading every word AND looking at every picture SEVERAL times and LOVING them too.

 

What you are doing is way beyond what I can/could/have time to do, but I'm loving what you are doing.

 

Keep up the excellent work Sir.

 

Chip.

[Physicsman]

I said I'd post some mundane pics, and here they are. I've literally gone round the bend - from the goods shed....

 

The ballast should be dry enough for some paint to be applied in an hour or so. Part of the main line that's already had a dose will get a little bit more.

 

 

 

 

Jeff

[Kingmoorkid]

I said I'd post some mundane pics, and here they are. I've literally gone round the bend - from the goods shed....

 

The ballast should be dry enough for some paint to be applied in an hour or so. Part of the main line that's already had a dose will get a little bit more.

 

IMG_6042cr.jpg

 

IMG_6043.JPG

 

IMG_6045cr.jpg

 

Jeff

 

Jeff, its about time I got off the lurking shelf with this KL2 thread, which I have followed closely since day 1, but have made no contribution - rude of me I think. As I've enjoyed the trials and tribulations of both  KL1 and KL2 I'd just like to say thanks for keeping us all updated and providing inspiration. I've been up to Kirkby Stephen a couple of times this year and it's an eye opener looking at some of the prototype detail you and are incorporating into KL2.  Here's one moment that I was there to capture. 

 

 

Now can we talk about that backscene! 

 

Cheers

 

Kingmoorkid (Simon)

[Physicsman]

Hi Simon.

 

There's no problem having you lurking in the backround - I suspect the vast majority on the Forum do that. And I well remember the photos you contributed re. the Blea Moor tunnel air vents on KL1.

 

That's a lovely photo you've just posted. And I quite agree about the background. It's slightly more magnificent than the one I've got (and the one I've just managed to splatter with a dozen or so paint spots from weathering!!) and makes the foreground railway area seem humble in comparison. The backscene on the wall at rear of the shed (as viewed in the last pic from my post # 4655) is the one I've splattered and, who knows, I might be tempted to change it when the layout approaches completion (that's a serious possibility).

 

I'll use my reply to you to stick in another pic, showing damp, grey ballast. When wet it's very difficult to see any contrast between the track and the 6 foot, though this will definitely need more work tomorrow.

 

 

Jeff

[Kingmoorkid]

Hi Simon.

 

There's no problem having you lurking in the backround - I suspect the vast majority on the Forum do that. And I well remember the photos you contributed re. the Blea Moor tunnel air vents on KL1.

 

That's a lovely photo you've just posted. And I quite agree about the background. It's slightly more magnificent than the one I've got (and the one I've just managed to splatter with a dozen or so paint spots from weathering!!) and makes the foreground railway area seem humble in comparison. The backscene on the wall at rear of the shed (as viewed in the last pic from my post # 4655) is the one I've splattered and, who knows, I might be tempted to change it when the layout approaches completion (that's a serious possibility).

 

I'll use my reply to you to stick in another pic, showing damp, grey ballast. When wet it's very difficult to see any contrast between the track and the 6 foot, though this will definitely need more work tomorrow.

 

IMG_6049.JPG

 

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff

 

Looking forward to the signal box build in near future - I suspect you won't be happy using a kit when you can do a bit of scratch building. 

 

Simon

[Physicsman]

Thanks Jeff

 

Looking forward to the signal box build in near future - I suspect you won't be happy using a kit when you can do a bit of scratch building. 

 

Simon

 

I'd like to say that it'll happen in the near future, but unlikely given the queue of things waiting to be done....

 

More walling, grass and trees at the overbridge end

 

Decent platform ramps to construct - I've binned the old ones

 

Setts to be fitted as a road surface between the station access road and the Goods shed

 

2 Goods sheds to be completed

 

.... and other things I haven't even thought about yet.

 

But the box will definitely be scratch built. I've numerous photos and Ben (ben pez) has sent me a Ratio kit, which I'll use as another guide. As with all these things, I've never built such a structure, so it should be fun. It'll need a decent interior to match up with the rods already in place.

 

Ballast and track weathering currently drying. Maybe another "ever-so-exciting" photo later (after 11pm). 

 

Jeff