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Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00


St Enodoc
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9 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

1435805897_20200628006liftingflapandNancegwitheyViaductballastedlookingUp.JPG.9f7ceccfff26ac9656be3b309b8bb98a.JPG

 

 

Hi John,

 

A question for you re: the ballasting:  are you purposefully leaving a 'valley' between the two running lines?  The reason I ask is because I have recently been asking myself the same thing.  At the time you are modelling, it was common for ballast to be levelled between the tracks.  The inner shoulders are more typically associated with more modern ballast tamping machines.  Of course there were always exceptions and you may have already researched this for the lines you are modelling, but it might be worth checking photo's of the right location/time if you haven't already.

 

A second consideration is the cess, that bit between the ballast shoulder and the green stuff.  Have you given any thought to what may lie there?  I have based my track profile on the former Great Central line which had a clearly defined cess between the ballast shoulder and the 'sodding' laid inside the boundary fence.  I was fortunate to find an engineering diagram showing a cross-section of M,S&LR embankments and cuttings whilst browsing on t'internet, which I used as a guide.   To represent the cess, usually formed using a finer material than the ballast, I have used sand from the beach at Portmellon Cove - our dog likes swimming there and she brings home a regular supply in her fur, leaving it all over our boot room when we rub her down!   I used Woodland Scenics medium grey blend ballast in this case, this is the result:  (It all needs weathering down a tad, it looks too pristine at the moment!)

 

IMG_3842.jpg.4bd438815b69433917a64b36a59662fb.jpg

 

Best regards,

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Chamby
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8 hours ago, Barry O said:

You keep forgetting a mugatea or coffee and/or a glass of red makes ballasting much more therapeutic 

Baz


I tested various techniques last summer, not for ballasting but when individually tiling the roof of an inn.  Coffee helped me tile in reasonably straight lines, Merlot meant I was less bothered when it didn’t line up.  I’d expect a similar result when ballasting?
 

The real problem though is that I haven’t finished the job.  What works best for motivation?

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41 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:


I tested various techniques last summer, not for ballasting but when individually tiling the roof of an inn.  Coffee helped me tile in reasonably straight lines, Merlot meant I was less bothered when it didn’t line up.  I’d expect a similar result when ballasting?
 

The real problem though is that I haven’t finished the job.  What works best for motivation?

 A pint of proper beer...

Baz

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6 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

Hi John,

 

A question for you re: the ballasting:  are you purposefully leaving a 'valley' between the two running lines?  The reason I ask is because I have recently been asking myself the same thing.  At the time you are modelling, it was common for ballast to be levelled between the tracks.  The inner shoulders are more typically associated with more modern ballast tamping machines.  Of course there were always exceptions and you may have already researched this for the lines you are modelling, but it might be worth checking photo's of the right location/time if you haven't already.

 

A second consideration is the cess, that bit between the ballast shoulder and the green stuff.  Have you given any thought to what may lie there?  I have based my track profile on the former Great Central line which had a clearly defined cess between the ballast shoulder and the 'sodding' laid inside the boundary fence.  I was fortunate to find an engineering diagram showing a cross-section of M,S&LR embankments and cuttings whilst browsing on t'internet, which I used as a guide.   To represent the cess, usually formed using a finer material than the ballast, I have used sand from the beach at Portmellon Cove - our dog likes swimming there and she brings home a regular supply in her fur, leaving it all over our boot room when we rub her down!   I used Woodland Scenics medium grey blend ballast in this case, this is the result:  (It all needs weathering down a tad, it looks too pristine at the moment!)

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Phil. I'll check some photos regarding the six-foot. I'm using a foam trackbed that has the chamfered edge built in but it will be easy enough to fill the gap if I need to.

 

Edit: I just had a quick flick through a couple of books and I think you're right. I'll fill in the six-foot gap but leave the ten-foot and wider gaps unfilled. Thanks.

 

For the cess, I'll use something like builders' sand or even ash from our woodburner. I haven't decided yet, so I'll need to do a couple of trial pieces first.

 

By the way, is that Peco bullhead track? It looks good.

Edited by St Enodoc
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1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Reminds me of a colleague who mixed up ralgex and anusol 

 

ring of fire comes to mind 

Ha ha, @Barry O will remember this one:

 

"Oh, how the Ralgex stings!

These foolish things

Remind me of you"

 

(da da da da da, da da da da da, da da da da da-da)

 

Then there was the chap who got his toothpaste and haemorrhoid cream mixed up. All his teeth fell out and he had a ring of confidence.

 

I thank you.

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1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:


I tested various techniques last summer, not for ballasting but when individually tiling the roof of an inn.  Coffee helped me tile in reasonably straight lines, Merlot meant I was less bothered when it didn’t line up.  I’d expect a similar result when ballasting?
 

The real problem though is that I haven’t finished the job.  What works best for motivation?

Sounds about right Keith.

 

Motivation? That comes from knowing that when I've done the ballasting I can start the signals, which will be much more fun.

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5 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Thanks Phil. I'll check some photos regarding the six-foot. I'm using a foam trackbed that has the chamfered edge built in but it will be easy enough to fill the gap if I need to.

 

Edit: I just had a quick flick through a couple of books and I think you're right. I'll fill in the six-foot gap but leave the ten-foot and wider gaps unfilled. Thanks.

I had a look at this modification this morning. For track at standard spacing, putting a thick bead of PVA in the V and filling it with ballast should work. Where the spacing is wider, on curves, I think I'll lay some trackbed in the gap first to reduce the amount of ballast I need to use.

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8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

....By the way, is that Peco bullhead track? It looks good.

 

That section is C&L, the thick sleepered version.  I purchased a box of it before the PECO bullhead rail came out.  I have used PECO elsewhere, the main visual difference is that C&L has a smoother finish on the sleeper tops so reflects light differently even when it’s all painted the same colour.  It is also easier to lay straight sections because the webbing is continuous under both rails so it doesn’t bend so readily... but needs cutting on one side for curves.  It’s nice stuff to use though.

 

For filling in the six foot, I used dry ballast and droppered on diluted PVA.  It dried overnight, even in the deeper vee.

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1 minute ago, Chamby said:

 

That section is C&L, the thick sleepered version.  I purchased a box of it before the PECO bullhead rail came out.  I have used PECO elsewhere, the main visual difference is that C&L has a smoother finish on the sleeper tops so reflects light differently even when it’s all painted the same colour.  It is also easier to lay straight sections because the webbing is continuous under both rails so it doesn’t bend so readily... but needs cutting on one side for curves.  It’s nice stuff to use though.

 

For filling in the six foot, I used dry ballast and droppered on diluted PVA.  It dried overnight, even in the deeper vee.

Thanks Phil. The thicker sleepers certainly make life easier for the ballast-first method. Were I starting from scratch I might go with thick sleepers. Too late to change now.

 

I had a go today with the six-foot. Where the tracks were already ballasted it got a bit messy and as usual I ended up with too much ballast. Once it's dried hard I might try to chip some away and tidy it up.

 

Where I'm ballasting bare track it seems to be working well so far.

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Put some thin card in the six foot then add very small amounts of pva on it and then use a teaspoon to add a fine layer of ballast.

 

Grantham and Shap use peco inlay which leaves a nig  gap..red leader slices up stock maintenance card to fill the gap.. then guess who added the glue and ballasr. Tamp the wet ballast down so that it is all flat..I usecmy finger, ithers have used a ice lolly stick cut to yave a flat end. 

 

But it only needs a small amount of ballast,

 

Baz

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2 hours ago, Barry O said:

Put some thin card in the six foot then add very small amounts of pva on it and then use a teaspoon to add a fine layer of ballast.

 

Grantham and Shap use peco inlay which leaves a nig  gap..red leader slices up stock maintenance card to fill the gap.. then guess who added the glue and ballasr. Tamp the wet ballast down so that it is all flat..I usecmy finger, ithers have used a ice lolly stick cut to yave a flat end. 

 

But it only needs a small amount of ballast,

 

Baz

Thanks Baz. Yes, a finger is best for tamping I think. Easier to control. I won't get a chance to do more until the weekend. If it doesn't look good enough I'll chip and carve away the excess and start again with a cleanish vee.

 

In other news, I cleaned up the filler on the E147 roof (again) and attached two new rainstrips, so if the weather's decent at the weekend the crimson rattle can will come into play.

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30 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I bought a cold chisel today. My reasoning is that if I have one I won't need to use it to chip away excess ballast but if I don't then I will.

 

Ah, so if you buy something you won't need it, but if you don't buy it, you will.

 

Is that why I keep seeing these adverts on your thread... ?

 

sytner.PNG.b3d0389c0eeb8d7fe9db64371ee42a4c.PNG

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2 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

What’s wrong with a screwdriver or wood chisel?  You’ll be explaining about the right tool for the job next!

Paul.

I was actually going to buy a couple of wood chisels but they were about four times the price of the cold chisel! The right tool for the job is of course the hammer to bash the end of the chisel with (see this topic passim).

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1 minute ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Ah, so if you buy something you won't need it, but if you don't buy it, you will.

 

Is that why I keep seeing these adverts on your thread... ?

 

sytner.PNG.b3d0389c0eeb8d7fe9db64371ee42a4c.PNG

Cheap at half the price.

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45 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Ah, so if you buy something you won't need it, but if you don't buy it, you will.

 

Is that why I keep seeing these adverts on your thread... ?

 

sytner.PNG.b3d0389c0eeb8d7fe9db64371ee42a4c.PNG

 

A diesel Maserati? :stop:

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1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

We bought our house for less than the Quatroporte...

I suspect you couldn’t now . . . ?

Paul.

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