Eastfield II - phoenix from the ruins

[andyram]

This looks an interesting project. Lots of scope for long trains. I look forward to seeing this develop.

[Dr.Glum]

On the old layout, I rarely if ever used this spur off the Outer Loop (photo below). I had vague ideas of a loco refuge. I started making the platform in (it tells me on the underside) June 2008, and it isn’t finished yet. Goodness, if progress had been continuous, all the (massive) planned rebuild work and extensions would have been finished by now, and its tentacles would have reached into every nook and cranny of the loft!

Anyhoo, this week I treated myself to a Heljan Class 128 Diesel Parcels Unit. I very carefully read the RMweb thread about this model before I made the purchase. I offer a big thank you to all those who contributed to that thread. I’m very pleased with it, even though it can only trundle back and forth along 15 feet of track. And it can only get into that siding via the ‘big hand in the sky’! In practice, I think I'm more likely to park a utility van or horse box there.

[Dr.Glum]

Creeping changes in my methods have come back to bite me! Look at the bad voids in the ballasting.

I ran out of Treemendus ballast and switched to some (very old) ‘Rail-Road Scenic Exhibitions of Bradford’ Extra Fine Grey Granite Chippings. I’d also got in the habit of leaving out the drop of washing up liquid. I wrongly believed it was the cause of foaming in my syringe. (It wasn’t – I only had foam problems when I’d taken in air was well as Copydex while trying for the last drops out of my mixing bowl).

The photo was taken after I’d run a small screwdriver down the middle of each void and hoovered up all loose stuff. It shows how the Copydex / ballast mixture had migrated from the centres. Today I made up a slightly thinner glue mixture, including a drop of washing-up liquid and applied a refill into the cracks on a test section. I left it to set overnight, and this is how it looked after removing the excess. It shows I should also re-fill the voids between some of the sleeper ends.

The other possible culprit was the extreme dustiness of the ballast. How on earth do you wash tiny gravel? I decided that this was a case where thinking too much wouldn’t help, so I just held the margarine tub under the tap to see what happened. The water went very murky and I kept pouring that off until it was clear.

I laid the sludge on plastic box lids. It dried overnight. The photo shows how the removal of dust has darkened the ballast. I need to find a source of the lighter coloured stuff that isn’t too dusty.

P.S.  while googling ‘Rail-Road Scenic Exhibitions of Bradford’ to see if the range still existed, I found this mind-boggling monster. (Apologies if it has a thread in RMweb)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2354421/Worlds-largest-model-railroad-draws-thousands-NJ.html

[danstercivicman]

Creeping changes in my methods have come back to bite me! Look at the bad voids in the ballasting.

DSC04433 small copy.JPG

I ran out of Treemendus ballast and switched to some (very old) ‘Rail-Road Scenic Exhibitions of Bradford’ Extra Fine Grey Granite Chippings. I’d also got in the habit of leaving out the drop of washing up liquid. I wrongly believed it was the cause of foaming in my syringe. (It wasn’t – I only had foam problems when I’d taken in air was well as Copydex while trying for the last drops out of my mixing bowl).

The photo was taken after I’d run a small screwdriver down the middle of each void and hoovered up all loose stuff. It shows how the Copydex / ballast mixture had migrated from the centres. Today I made up a slightly thinner glue mixture, including a drop of washing-up liquid and applied a refill into the cracks on a test section. I left it to set overnight, and this is how it looked after removing the excess. It shows I should also re-fill the voids between some of the sleeper ends.

DSC04438 small copy.JPG

The other possible culprit was the extreme dustiness of the ballast. How on earth do you wash tiny gravel? I decided that this was a case where thinking too much wouldn’t help, so I just held the margarine tub under the tap to see what happened. The water went very murky and I kept pouring that off until it was clear.

DSC04435 small copy.JPG

I laid the sludge on plastic box lids. It dried overnight. The photo shows how the removal of dust has darkened the ballast. I need to find a source of the lighter coloured stuff that isn’t too dusty.

DSC04437 small copy.JPG

P.S.  while googling ‘Rail-Road Scenic Exhibitions of Bradford’ to see if the range still existed, I found this mind-boggling monster. (Apologies if it has a thread in RMweb)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2354421/Worlds-largest-model-railroad-draws-thousands-NJ.html

 

 

The ballast looks good, let us know if you find a supplier