Grim-up-North; Goathland, Queensbury & Bradford.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks Neil!

It's always a bit risky posting pictures without trains in them. This particular photo sat on my desk top for about a month. It wasn't until I processed it in Picasa (straightening, Orton-ish effect and bluish gradual tint) that I decided to post it. It is exactly the type of scene I like to create for the trains. Watching a grubby goods engine emerge from that tunnel and climb the grade over the viaduct while an express passenger service gathers speed and plunges into the gloom is what it's all about!!

[Andrew P]

Hi Shaun, Great pics and work on the Signal is superb mate, Well done.

[Sasquatch]

Hi Andy. Thanks! Things have ground to a halt with the signals due to excellent weather. Gardening has taken over!

 

This week I received a bargain eBay bus purchase and had to photograph it on the layout. It's a Daimler CV-G6 in Bradford city transport livery (for the Queensbury-Bradford section).

Here it is seen on an excursion tour of the North Yorkshire Moors. It will make a stop at the Birch Hall Inn to allow the patrons to partake in some refreshments.

 

 

For interest I thought you might like to see the untouched up picture.

 

 

 

 

[Sasquatch]

The upgrade work is well under way on Goathland this week as can be seen here, extending a layout is more challenging than building a whole one. 

All the trains had to go away for a start. On dismantling I found several things that need attention.

 

 

A whole day was spent relaying the tracks on the extension as the first attempt found that coaches fouled each other on the curves, on which I'd neglected to include the super elevation. This is simple enough to do with a length of string placed under the outer edge of the rails.

 

Another refinement is to counter sink all the track pins. This renders them almost invisible to the naked eye once the track is ballasted and painted.

 

Yesterday I wired up the extension. Gaugemaster  point motors are hot glued in place. The simplest way possible!

 

 

This Atlas gadget is a solenoid operated DPDT switch which needs wiring in series with the two crossover points on the new extension to enable switching over control of the entire layout to one controller. It has to be placed on the middle layout section under the road bed. Todays job!

 

 

 Extra electrical connections between the boards are needed to achieve this.

 

 

Little progress on the ground signals too. Something which requires a steady hand and a clear head which has not been the case of late. 

Here's all four in various stages of construction.

 

[Sasquatch]

Rewiring continued toady, quite frankly Goathlands wiring is a mess. It does however all work. So my methods are somewhat proven.

 

The Station board is clamped to an old door placed on some trestles. Modular base boards come into their own here as this job becomes a pleasure as opposed to crawling about on the cold floor covered in hot glue drippings.

 

I have set about tidying it all up and started by moving the power pack for the point motors and fixing the CDU to the underside of the board. Hot glue works well for this, it also is great for securing loose wires and connector blocks. I also hot glued the control unit that powers the lights. This will need a wooden brace added me thinks. All the dangly mains cables have been secured with zip ties. All the wiring to these units has been done. Four extra inter board connectors have been added and every thing tested with the multi meter.

 

 

Since these pictures were taken a new circuit for the signal lamps has been installed. All the uncoupling mechanism positions have been marked and any errant wires moved out of their way. 

 

All very methodical boring stuff.

 

Squatch, the sparky!   

 

[David Todd]

You have really gone to town,on your refurb. Well done.

Like the string method, presume,it cured the fouling ?

[Sasquatch]

You have really gone to town,on your refurb. Well done.

Like the string method, presume,it cured the fouling ?

Evening dt.

Once the distraction of running the trains has been removed work gets well underway!

To be honest about the fouling I'd made a tunnel mouth which was a bit on the tight side for those sharp curves and had laid the track to accommodate it. On testing with the 12 wheel LMS diner I found the snag and will need to make a new tunnel mouth!  The rails have been relaid!

 

Edit : to add that the super elevation needs testing too, with a long wheeled CCT with a ridged chassis. I used a Parkside LNER one which showed that the lead-in was too sharp and required some adjustment. This is done by moving the ends of the  string out towards the edge of the sleepers and gently filing the rails!

Edited May 17, 2015 by Sasquatch

[Sasquatch]

Another unwelcome guest in the train building this evening.
 
 
A rain storm came over putting and end to the fencing project out side so I got out some LMS stock to photograph on the layout. There's quite a Scottish feel to these pictures. The tank locomotive is a Caledonian engine Built from an old Wills Finecast  body kit and mounted on a detailed Hornby cassis with scratch built cab interior. The stock is a rake of Ratio kits.







This one involved leaning out of the train and one almost lost ones head to the on coming light engine.

 

[LNER4479]

... quite frankly Goathlands wiring is a mess.

rewiring goathland (3).JPG

Believe me - that's NOT a mess... 

 

Latest pictures are fab!

[AireValley1962]

LMS over Pottyshire (2).JPG

 

 What an excellent photo, Shaun.  The Black Five passing the light engine under the ruined abbey is just perfect.

[Jock67B]

Afternoon Shaun,

Just catching up on my favourites and I have to say that I rather like the Scottish feel of the latest images. That Caley tank is a clever bit of modelling but I've always loved the Black5 having been lucky enough to have several footplate rides on them in the fifties, the most memorable being from Carlisle to Stranraer! The Ratio coaches look good I built one of their clerestories about 35+ years ago, picture in the Lunester Lounge (Railway related topics onl) from a couple of days ago (P364, #9091) but it is very light and I need to change the wheels as I used the ones from the kit and it doesn't run very well. I've got another in a box unbuilt and might one day try to kit bash it into a representation of a G&SWR coach which could be under renovation for preservation. How did you weight yours and can you tell me what wheels you use?

Fantastic workmanship as ever mate, as William says above, the shot of the passing manoeuvre under the abbey is special!!

Kind regards,

Jock.

PS By the way, the the first post on the page in the 'Lounge' I mentioned above has a fantastic old video of a Princess being built from castings upwards which was originally posted by 'mick'(Donington Road) and is well worth watching all the way through - I've copied it to a DVD to watch on my big TV! J.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Jock67B

[Sasquatch]

Hi Jock.

I've had a thing for building plastic kits since I was a wee nipper.

The first wagon kit I ever put together was a Parkside plate wagon. Back then Beatties stocked Humbrol railway colours (Some of which I still have) and it got a coat of LNER bauxite. The plastic wheels supplied  were more than useless and it didn't take me long to figure out that metal ones would be needed for future wagon builds, set in bearings of course! The coaches above have Keen Maygib 14mm split spoke wheel sets. I have found Bachmann or Hornby 14mm coach wheels to be the best for my choice of Peco code 100 and 75 track! The best thing would be to check all wheel sets with a back to back gauge!!!  Great expense has been the order of the day in providing all my stock with metal wheel sets and the narrow couplings.

 

BB gun pellets are the cheapest way to weight stock. Glued in with PVA. Open wagons have plywood loads. Some coaches have white metal under frames and don't need extra weight!

As a guide to how much weight, I have settled upon 1oz per axle and then some trains are two heavy for my 1 in 100 gradients. There are plans to build a rechargeable remote controlled banking engine Just for fun like!  Some engines can't pull a sausage    

[Sasquatch]

 What an excellent photo, Shaun.  The Black Five passing the light engine under the ruined abbey is just perfect.

Zoom pet! Zoom!! 

 

I set the Camera on the stand at the furthest end of the garage and Zoomed in. Let me digitally tweak the lighting a bit!  

[Sasquatch]

So I've been busy with other things and have had a hankering to get more upgrade work done but somehow have lacked the motivation. With Goathland  in peace's and no trains running things were looking grim until yesterday it dawned on me... Like a huge light bulb coming on I had to slap myself. Hard. I've got another layout!
So with no further ado here's a link

[Andrew P]

Just been there and commented mate, Dunster is fabulous, I love it. It has also just dawned on me, that that is the reason I'm building TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT Layouts, (Whittaker St / Diesels and BR / WR BLT in the Transission period) for a complete change when things get stale.

 

I'm sure you'll be back here again soon mate.

[Sasquatch]

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more modeling. I want to push on with the signals and uncoupling system because Goathland is my favorite of the two and I'm exited to add the new features. The rolling countryside of Goathland but with all the fun that Dunster has!

 

There's a lot of hard work going on around the place here, including fencing which is taking a toll on the hands.

 

Anyway no one needs an excuse for two layouts! Having built two preserved stations I can run anything really but I draw the line at anything foreign or electric.  

[Sasquatch]

All work has been finished and paid just in time for Mrs. S's. annual birthday trip. This year she decided to go down to

 

We stayed in McCloud which used to be a mining town and until recently boasted a steam railway.

This was the view of Mt. Shasta  from our hotel window.

 

The food in that region is very good so we took an evening trip down to Dunsmuir for diner at a recommended restaurant. The food was out of this world only interrupted by a huge rumbling from two huge Union Pacific locos...

.. so I grabbed the camera and took off for a few minutes while desert was being prepared.

 

I was surprised to find the turn table intact...  

 

This morning I made sure we had a good breakfast before heading home. 

 

Squatch... stuffed to the limit..

Edited June 9, 2015 by Sasquatch

[wagonman]

 

This morning I made sure we had a good breakfast before heading home. 

Ca trip (6).JPG

 

Squatch... stuffed to the limit..

 

Breakfast-wise, I think that's what is known in the trade as a "heart attack surprise"!   :-(

[Sasquatch]

That's what they meant when they said the breakfast was to die for!

I didn't finish it BTW.

[Sasquatch]

It hit the 100s (F) here today...Phew... So this afternoon I retreated indoors to the safety of the air conditioner and dug out some rolling stock kits.

3 LMS vans to be exact.

The first is a dia.1832A from Cambrian.

 

 

This one,  a Dia.1891. vehicle is based on a Dapol body for £1.20 and various Parkside under frame parts.

 

Lastly an ex L&Y van built from an old MAJ kit. I have converted mine into a vent van by adding the vents from plastic strip.

 

I even got the bauxite primer on this evening. Not bad for an afternoons work.

 

Tomorrow I'll find some time to get the air brush out and give them a coat of early BR bauxite brown. My jar of Railmatch paint is still good after 30 odd years. At least I hope it is.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Sasquatch

[Jock67B]

It hit the 100s (F) here today...Phew... So this afternoon I retreated indoors to the safety of the air conditioner and dug out some rolling stock kits.3 LMS vans to be exact.The first is a dia.1832A from Cambrian. LMS vans (1).JPGThis one,  a Dia.1891. vehicle is based on a Dapol body for £1.20 and various Parkside under frame parts.LMS vans (2).JPG Lastly an ex L&Y van built from an old MAJ kit. I have converted mine into a vent van by adding the vents from plastic strip.LMS vans (4).JPG I even got the bauxite primer on this evening. Not bad for an afternoons work.LMS vans (3).JPG Tomorrow I'll find some time to get the air brush out and give them a coat of early BR bauxite brown. My jar of Railmatch paint is still good after 30 odd years. At least I hope it is.

Lovely work as ever Shaun, what make of wheels do you use as a matter of interest?

Good to see you back at the bench mate!

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Sasquatch]

Hi Jock.
There's a mixture of wheels there.
I prefer the new Bachmann disc wheels as they have a better profile.
The MAJ L&Y van came with Keen Maygib spoke Wheel sets and the others are Hornby I think. Sometimes the Hornby ones need some back to back adjustment.
Up really early this morning and put this vanwide together from a Parkside kit and am just adding some details such as door handles and safety loops.

The object is to get several done at once which will be the same colour as mixing up the paint and cleaning the airbrush isn't my favorite job and saves on materials such as thinners and the paint itself, which is hard to come by over here.

 

Regards Shaun.

 

edit: poor grammar. 

Edited June 27, 2015 by Sasquatch

[Sasquatch]

One more van to go.

A Coopercraft GWR V4 mink. Not what I wanted to make so I dug out some books and found a Drawing of a banana van by F.J.Roach from 1949 in 4mm.

The basic dimensions match that of the kit parts, so a kit bash conversion should be pretty simple.

 These vans were converted from various GWR V4 types by the addition of steam heating, vacuum braking and end vents to control the internal temperature seasonally. All easily modeled!

 

Some bonnet ends have been reclaimed from the scrap box left over from earlier kit bashing projects.

Ventilator doors were hashed up from scraps of evergreen siding and strip.

Note: the ends from the kit can be used but I have followed Mr. Roaches drawing.

 

I made a new door handle.

 

 

The buffer shanks were scrounged from a couple of Parkside buffer beams, (scrap box again) as was a vacuum cylinder and buffers. Tie bars are 0,030" x 0.030", a cross bar from 0.075 rod, and actuator lever fashioned from yet more strip. All other parts are from the kit.

To shape the Churchwood brake lever I held it centrally in the end of a pair of pliers and gently bent the protruding ends in opposite directions with my fingers.

 

The weight supplied in the kit is far inadequate. My standard method of adding weight to vans is to stick in a metal slab using double sided sticky pad.

 

It has been sprayed with bauxite primer, held on a kitchen roll tube. The finished livery will be BR orange brown.

 

The vanwide van details got finished as well. Staples mostly!

 

Shaun. Melting at 95F (36C) and it's expected to top out at 107F (43C). Where's that airco switch.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Sasquatch

[class"66"]

Some awesome modelling on here...

 

 

cheers neil..

[manna]

G'day Gents

 

Nice vans, they've come up a treat, with the temp..........wait till it really warms up 46+

 

manna