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

[Andrew P]

Brilliant Shaun, just brilliant mate, thanks for the detailed pics.

[Sasquatch]

Removing the bases.
I start by cutting most of the base away like this with a sharp Stanley Knife.


Cut off as much as possible...


Hold the figure on its side and cut off just under the feet...


...and finish by sanding a little at a time checking that the figure can stand on his own! I use Hob-e-Tac glue so that the population can be moved around the layout!

 

Touch up the soles with black marker.


edited due to technical difficulties.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Sasquatch

[manna]

G'day Gents

 

They are clogs, reet good.

 

manna

[ChrisN]

Shaun,

I do like these figures.  There is nothing like cutting up your figures to give you a bit of individuality.  I am waiting for Modelu to produce some Victorian Loco crews.  All of Alan's figures are scanned real people so he will be going to Didcot and people will dress up for him.  He already has loco crew that would suit your era.  (He will scan you as well if you wish, next time you are over.)  I have changed whitemetal figures but am a bit nervous about the pewter ones although Mikkel has changed at least one.

 

I try and use a dark primer to enhance shadows but with thinned paints on top, which only has really worked on faces.  I will have to try and use the dry brush method, at least for loco crew and workmen.  I think the wargaming method is too harsh/stark for general members of the public.  Warhammer suggest a white primer for, er, elves, or in our case ladies, but although this is supposed to give a paler skin texture I have found it disastrous as then there is no contrast on the face.  The idea for the clothes is the opposite of a dark primer as you have more colour in the recesses and less on the surface.  It should work better where there are larger folds rather than tight wrinkles. 

 

Keep them coming.

[Sasquatch]

That's very useful info Chris. Thanks! I'm feeling the need to experiment a bit further and will post up any progress.

I did try the one standing passenger (in green). He was the only chap who's clothing was painted with acrylics, thinned as I recall.

 

Anyhow onwards, despite coming down with a bad cold (obviously from working in the cold rain last weekend) and having no sleep last night here's the wall painting process.

 

Each picture shows the process described half finished to show the difference

 

This is scribed foam board base with a coat of my crafters acrylic version of Humbrol 84.

With plenty of paper towels handy I slapped a wash of light sandstone and wiped that off leaving it in the mortar courses. It dries fast.

 

Next a small pallet of charcoal and burnt umber is prepared and thinned with a brush full of water applied in patches and wiped off.

 

 

Then I pick out some stones with a pallet of all the above colours by dry brushing, breaking up any bland sections as I go.

 

Still one thing missing and that's the life. Moss colours are washed on thin and wiped of with clean paper towels again in patches.

 

 

A few weeds still need to be added by applying PVA in the mortar courses here and there and sticking on some suitable flock.

[Sasquatch]

So in my enthusiasm to post my paint job realized the coping stones got totally overlooked.

 

Some thin foam board was scrounged from my stores and scribed thus before cutting into 6mm wide strips.

 

These were then thinned by holding straight in a temporary vice of straightedges held with tape.

 

First I tried 10 second cyano which didn't work (that will teach me not to rush), so returned to the PVA and tape/Peco pins method to attach the strips.

 

Utilizing the right angle edge of a file I cut in the vertical joins between the stones and pulled off the paper. A coat of base stone colour has been applied.

[Sasquatch]

Now for something a little more interesting, I turned my attention to Queensbury.

There stood at Queensbury what appeared to be a GWR van body, right in front of the main station building.

 

Recently I received as a gift a rather interesting book on railway architecture and with a sense of hope went straight to Q in the index. Nothing. Sigh...

Then whilst browsing through it the other night I spotted a picture which stirred the old mojo.

This picture in my new book revealed a different story. The devil's in the details so they say and the vents on this van are clearly made of wood. Thus I found out this was a Great Eastern Van quite different from the Great Western variety.

 

With the mojo now truly boiling away I had a rummage around in the scrap boxes and have constructed a GE grounded van.

Cooper Craft GWR ends, doors cut from a damaged Kirk van and the rest from plastic scraps.

Now where's my paints...

Edited January 31, 2016 by Sasquatch

[Jock67B]

Morning Shaun,

Missing for a while through illness again mate, but another appointment Thursday to try to sort it out. Goodness, I've missed a helluva lot!

Brilliant workmanship all round as we've come to expect - I'm sure many of your followers have picked up several useful ideas, I certainly have.

Thank you, and kind regards,

Jock.

[Sasquatch]

 Your post on Early Risers showed your very positive attitude Jock and some of it sure rubbed off on me my friend, no doubt on others too. True British spirit!

Things are picking up a pace around here. Today I was modeling at 6:30am. I had to clear the work bench dining table away for mom-in-law's visit which inspired me to reorganize the furniture a bit. We moved the little desk back into the dining area from the back room where it has resided since the kitchen got destroyed. I cleaned it out and found I had three drawers of junk so have put all the tools, modeling materials and paints in there so now I can be up and running with modeling items within a minute! No more cluttering up the table for days on end! 

 

Dunster's back up and running too, in the nice cozy attic room. The warehouse is tidy and clean ready for some serious layout building. There's no work in the wood shop at present either.

 

Regards Shaun.

[Sasquatch]

Thought I'd put up a couple of pictures of the K3/1 now it's finished. Albeit on the wrong layout.

 

4006 has pulled quite a crowd (old school types that is) and no wonder as all ten were rebuilt with group standard cabs and left hand drive which means a preserved example in this condition would be something special. The build is on my Locos For Queensbury thread below.

 

[Andrew P]

Looking very good Shaun, I do like Parallel Boiler Locos, awesome mate.

[class"66"]

More nice modelling Shaun

[Sasquatch]

A coat of grey primer, a wash of acrylic charcoal wiped off, weathering power rust applied with thinners, weathering powders  and a wash of mossy green!

 

Looks nice next to Queensbury booking hall.

 

 

I've also been doing up an old van that's been knocking about for years. It was missing a roof which went missing when I migrated so set about making a new one from 0.010" plastic card. Two pieces were cut a little over sized and glued together taped around a suitable glass jar. When it was dry, trimmed to size and glued on. I then added about 60 detail parts to bring it up to spec. Now it's a Mink C tool van for Dunster. It's still missing its coupling hooks which I've run out of, I'll see if I can't make some. Lettering and weathering to follow.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Sasquatch

[GW1401]

Nice job, Shaun. Looks great. Can't wait the extension complete, (although it's a long way off, to my knowledge.)

[Branwell]

 

Recently I received as a gift a rather interesting book on railway architecture and with a sense of hope went straight to Q in the index. Nothing. Sigh...

Then whilst browsing through it the other night I spotted a picture which stirred the old mojo.

This picture in my new book revealed a different story. The devil's in the details so they say and the vents on this van are clearly made of wood. Thus I found out this was a Great Eastern Van quite different from the Great Western variety.

Grounded body (1) - Copy.JPG

 

 

Could I ask what book this is from please?

[Sasquatch]

The weather here has been cold and damp and what with having a bad cold I've had to stay in the warm. The damp has brought to light some problems which need to be addressed in the warehouse. New sealed doors are needed. I also would like double glazed windows and the side door still needs moving. When the weather warms up I'll be addressing some of these issues and starting the Queensbury baseboards.
 
I'm open to ideas as how to go about making a triangular layout.
 
There is a lot to take into account regarding getting some of the larger details correct. Gradients and wiring for example.
 
1. The Bradford corner of the station had the GNR footbridge connecting all 4 platforms and the station approach road. I have two of the wonderful D&S kits so no problem there.
    At the Halifax corner however the story is confusing. From what I can make out there was a bridge over the tramway cutting which at some point seems to have been lowered and two subways constructed under both sets of tracks.

Here I have highlighted the barrow crossing and the subway steps. The change in height of the footbridge (middle distance) is obvious. I think I need to model the subway version for my time period 1940s early 1950s.


 
 
2.
   Sometime after the mine ceased operation landfill changed the topography within the triangle quite considerably, a siding was added to bring in the waste. This would make for interesting operation however I think this activity occurred after my time period. 
 
 
3.
   The station awnings were removed and I haven't a clue when this took place.
 
4. 
   I'm in a dilemma regarding the diamond crossings. Two of them are curved and I think it is beyond my skills to make these. The Peco ones, being straight will spoil the look of the junctions.
 
The plan.


I've taken advantage of the time indoors to do some modeling on my other layout Dunster. See link below shortly.

Shaun.

 

[Andrew P]

The plan looks very good Shaun, I'm looking forward to seeing it develop mate.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks Andy. Been working on the plan for over a year now. Looking at it again I don't know which side to put the controls!.

Perhaps both. 

[Sasquatch]

Some evenings this week were spent concentrating on the wiring for Queensbury.
It's complicated!
First issue is those live frog diamond crossings. They have 4 sections that need switching and there's also the frogs on the points. So 6 switches needed each.

A simple rule is involved. "Both points should not be able to switch to the crossing at the same time"

What I came up with is to use two QPDT (quadruple pole double throw) relays. Operated via the switch on the SEEP solenoid point motors.
The first set of contacts on the relay will actuate an electrical break on the push button switch for the opposite point solenoid, thus applying the rule.
Problem is I'm only left with 3 sets of contacts on each relay and not the 4 needed.

After a couple of beers I worked it out. Some connections could be on the other relay because they can't both be set for the crossing.

The rest of it is all quite simple. One side of the Triangle will be the main line. The other two go to the Bradford terminus and the return loop.
All trains heading into the triangle will need to stop with one exception being a continuous run from Keighley to Halifax via the loop line through Bradford. Possible because there aren't any diamond crossings involved.

I also modified my plan and did away with the inner return loop Through Bradford. Just another diamond crossing that's not needed and yet another head ache.

Shaun

 

Edited for confusion over the switch terminology. It's a QPDT not a QTDT 
 

Edited March 19, 2016 by Sasquatch

[Andrew P]

Some evenings this week were spent concentrating on the wiring for Queensbury.

It's complicated!

First issue is those live frog diamond crossings. They have 4 sections that need switching and there's also the frogs on the points. So 6 switches needed each.

 

A simple rule is involved. "Both points should not be able to switch to the crossing at the same time"

 

What I came up with is to use two QTDT (quadruple throw double pole) relays. Operated via the switch on the SEEP solenoid point motors.

The first set of contacts on the relay will actuate an electrical break on the push button switch for the opposite point solenoid, thus applying the rule.

Problem is I'm only left with 3 sets of contacts on each relay and not the 4 needed.

 

After a couple of beers I worked it out. Some connections could be on the other relay because they can't both be set for the crossing.

 

The rest of it is all quite simple. One side of the Triangle will be the main line. The other two go to the Bradford terminus and the return loop.

All trains heading into the triangle will need to stop with one exception being a continuous run from Keighley to Halifax via the loop line through Bradford. Possible because there aren't any diamond crossings involved.

 

I also modified my plan and did away with the inner return loop Through Bradford. Just another diamond crossing that's not needed and yet another head ache.

 

Shaun

 

Guess I should have done a Friendly / Supportive but as I know from my brief interlude with Bitton and the Double Slip and Points.

 

Good luck mate.

[Sasquatch]

So a quick photo edited in Paint to show what I'm driveling on about.

 

The switching for each section is as follows...

 

A.  red or Yellow

B. black or blue

C. red or blue

D. black or yellow

E. red or black

F. blue or yellow.

 

Route one (as shown in picture)

E.=black

F.=Yellow

Note A,B,C&D will be live but the crossing is not in use.

 

Route two. Top point switched for crossing.(only when bottom point is set straight)

A=red

B=black

C=red

D=black

E=red

F=yellow

 

Route three. Bottom point switched for the crossing (only when top point is set curved)

A=yellow

B=blue

C=blue

D=yellow

E=black

F=blue

 

Here's the relays I'll be using. No soldering here

 

Shaun.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Sasquatch

[Andrew P]

Brilliant way to work it out mate, its just that I'm Colour Blind

 

only JESTING  

[Sasquatch]

The two relays have 8 single pole double throw switches.
1 on each for isolating the opposite point motor switch.
That leaves 6. One for each frog section A,B,C,D,E&F.

I've drawn it all out on paper (Three times, one for each junction of the triangle) and tested all the contacts on the relays. I marked all those contacts on each drawing.

It should be fun now I've done all the thinking.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Sasquatch

[Sasquatch]

It should be fun now I've done all the thinking.

Not sure if it's acceptable to quote ones self but famous last words or what.

The Bradford or east junction requires a lot more thought. As can be seen on the sketch the concept behind Queensbury as a layout is to provide a reverse loop in both directions.

The red outer route is simple when providing continuous running, trains travel from South to North through the station.

Bradford sits on the North side of the loop (behind the scenic break at Queensbury East junction). Most of the station being controlled on a branch from point "X".

This leaves the inner line (green) with a choice of two routes as shown (with the yellow).

This means that the frogs at the east junction come under the same controller but in different directions. Quite puzzling, it's taken a few evenings to work it all out!!!

The problem comes when running trains in and out of Bradford (and all the loops) from the red outer line.

What I came up with was to include a new rule here in that "All Trains Using The Inner Two Platforms On This Route MUST STOP".

I will include two more relays to provide isolation of trains which will do two things. Firstly it will eliminate shorts and second avoid accidents.

 

Don't worry I'll not go into the switching this time.

 

 

On another more positive note, I have just acquired a huge bundle of Peco turnouts, mostly live frog, still in the boxes from eBay for a song. Enough to construct the master Grim up North plan. I'm chuffed to say the least.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Sasquatch

[jukebox]

So a quick photo edited in Paint to show what I'm driveling on about.

 DSCF6842.JPG

The switching for each section is as follows...

 

A.  red or Yellow

B. black or blue

C. red or blue

D. black or yellow

E. red or black

F. blue or yellow.

 

Route one (as shown in picture)

E.=black

F.=Yellow

Note A,B,C&D will be live but the crossing is not in use.

 

Route two. Top point switched for crossing.(only when bottom point is set straight)

A=red

B=black

C=red

D=black

E=red

F=yellow

 

Route three. Bottom point switched for the crossing (only when top point is set curved)

A=yellow

B=blue

C=blue

D=yellow

E=black

F=blue

 

Here's the relays I'll be using. No soldering here

DSCF6843.JPG

 

Shaun.

 

 

Shaun - you may or may not be able to answer this:  

 

I have two of the same "double junctions" on Stockrington, but with DCC.

 

Referencing this site - http://www.wiringfordcc.com/track_2.htm - I'm going to need an auto revesing unit (or two frog juicers) at each. That's around £20 per install but is two-wires-in-one-wire-out simple (and as a simpleton, that works well for me!).  

 

Would your dual relay system work on DCC - and much did the relays cost?

 

Cheers

 

Scott 

Edited April 2, 2016 by jukebox