ECC Wheal Imogen / Rosevean Station: the expansion

[Calnefoxile]

@The Fatadder

 

This is your 4 week warning!!!

4 weeks to Calne, just 4 weeks 😜😜😜

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

[The Fatadder]

1 hour ago, Calnefoxile said:

@The Fatadder

 

This is your 4 week warning!!!

4 weeks to Calne, just 4 weeks 😜😜😜

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

Thats ok, I had yesterday I was thinking it was only 3 weeks....

 

Fiddleyards are now finished and wired, will  get the CDA rake fitted with couplings (and hopefully weathered) this evening.  I am starting to run out of jobs that I can get done without the baseboard now though.  Think its just a case of finishing the bridge and cutting 6 inches off the legs.  The baseboard should arrive in the next 5 days in theory...

 

Worst comes to the worst I will book a week off work once it arrives......

 

 

Speaking of CDA, the whole rake have now had the grey boxes added in place of the ECC logos, with the ex DB example now fully finished in EWS livery.  The grey boxes on the sides look very jarring on a clean wagon, hopefully a few washes of white/off white mix will blend it all together nicely...

 

 

 

I am in two minds as to the coloured flashes on the ends of the cradle, a little more research has shown that this signifies a specific special grade of clay, but I am unclear as to how this is handled.  It looks like the "yellow" class often ran as a whole train, while the "red" class seems to have been more single wagons mixed in with a normal train.  Logically for a small works like mine, if it was producing a special high quality clay it would give more justification as to why it has remained open, so I may well go back and add the yellow flashes before weathering...

Edited March 17, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

I couldn’t resist starting the weathering this evening, a mix of layers of acrylic with a mix of white and cream.  The addition of leather / brown streaking and a going  over with white weathering powder. 
 

Not sure on the next step, probably a case of getting all 7 up to this level and then looking to refine. 

[The Fatadder]

Should have the last wagon finished in its base coat of weathering tomorrow, then I can set to work on the detail painting tailoring each one to match its prototype 

[The Fatadder]

More work on the CDA rake, I think the weathering could be improved further but will probably leave it here for the moment until the layout is finished.  It is making me want more now!

[The Fatadder]

Back to some real work on the layout this evening now that the CDA distraction is over.

 

The road bridge has now been fully clad in embossed SEF plastic sheet.  This included removing the inner walls from the centre span (which were too short due to the original raised track bed).  These were moved to the river span (where they are too tall), the logic is that it gives a bit of extra material to bed it into the river banks.

 

It’s now ready to start painting later in the week…

 

This was followed by wiring up the first half of the fiddleyard, having found some extra track and completed the 6th storage road.   The copper clad end strips still need gapping before it can be used though.   The other fiddleyard has less track so will hopefully be a bit quicker.  (It would have been easier if I had it attached to its legs and could work at a proper height rather than on the floor…)

Edited March 20, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Good News!  

The baseboard was shipped by G&H yesterday and will be with by lunchtime today.  So finally progress on the scenic board will be able to commence (much to @Calnefoxile's relief).  Going to take tomorrow afternoon off to make a proper start on construction, with the aim that I can get some trains running by the end of the weekend.  

 

Last night's work involved painting the individual stones on the road bridge, the intention was to get the painting finished before the baseboard arrived (unfortunately I didnt manage to achieve this).  Instead getting side tracked soldering up the track for the areas where it will be set in concrete, all of which is now ready to lay. 

 

The next steps once the baseboard arrives will be:

• Cut out the channel for the river 
• Assemble the baseboard
• Paint board mat black to seal the wood.

After which the more interesting jobs fitting track and buildings can start.

• Track laying
• Add track feeds
• Paint track
• Install bridge
• Ballast
• Basic ground shaping
• Pour water for river 
• fit buffer stop
• Inset track
• Fit buildings
• Grass / bushes 
• Backscenes / lighting 

[The Fatadder]

Lunchtime progress has the basic board glued together, I did have an issue with one part  arrive damaged which has required additional reinforcement gluing to the inside of the frame to repair.

 

Some parts have been modified in advance of assembly, cutting two of the top sections to form the river along with a couple of the supports.  Once the glue is dry I need to cut away a couple of raised teeth where the river exits the board along with removing a chunk from one of the ribs.  I have added additional bracing along the path of the river, along with using scrap wood to add a further 6mm of depth (I am planning on adding a river bed from some scrap ply later this evening).   12mm of depth should be enough to get the required depth of water...

 

Once the river bed is fitted the final job for today will be sealing the whole thing with paint (although If I can get that sorted before heading over to the gym there's a good chance it will be dry by the time I get home and I can make a start fitting track.)

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

A little more managed pre gym, and the top/ sides of the board have now been painted.  At some point I will probably paint the insides as well, but for now it’s not a priority.

 

Once dry I will probably make a start on marking out and gluing down the track, along with possibly installing the river bed ready to form the banks tomorrow.   I’ve taken the day off work so should be able to make rapid progress.   
 

The key now is ensuring that jobs that require drying get completed in the right order to avoid wasting a lot of time waiting.  The river pour and the ballasting are probably the worst two jobs from that front, along with the plaster work.   Fortunately the forecast for the next few days is pretty mild.

[The Fatadder]

More progress with all the track now laid, this still needs a few copper clad end sleepers to be soldered in place. 
I’ve then placed on most of the buildings to get a better view of how the layout is looking.  Hopefully my measurements are accurate and it will match the runaround loop I’ve already laid on the fiddleyard 

 

A trip to the shops will be needed in the morning to get materials for the concrete inset track.  Though the first job will be the power feeds, painting the track and ballasting.  
 

the other key job for tomorrow will be getting the river poured to set overnight.   So the blending in of the river bank will be another key morning task.

[The Fatadder]

Today has been taken off work with the intention of getting as far along the construction as possible.  
 

The first priority was to get the track painted before the rain arrived, so I quickly soldered on all of the track feeds, cut the copper clad sleepers and sprayed everything with sleeper grime.
 

This was followed by cutting and fitting some off cuts of ply to make a base for the river.   This afternoon this will get plastered (along with a coat of pva to seal) in advance of pouring the river.

 

Next up with the rest of the wiring, I foolishly forgot to test for shorts after cutting isolation gaps in the copper clad sleepers before connecting all the droppers making for a nervous first test with the ohmmeter.

Thankfully the only issue was a failed joint on the point on one side which was easily fixed.

 

This was followed by fitting a tortoise motor to the on scene point.  This was removed straight from Wheal Imogen mk1 where it had been working fine.  Alas in the intervening time the micro switch had failed on one side so the polarity switching wouldn’t work.  Checking the unused second switch it also had failed on one side, thankfully it failed on the opposite side to the first switch.  At least this allowed me to get the vee switching properly using one side on each switch.

 

I think this afternoons plan will be adding the terrain, river bed and blending in the bridge.  after which I need to get something to build the concrete inset track

[Calnefoxile]

 

As per the current tradidion.

 

This is your 3 week warning, just 3 weeks till Calne Show 😁😁

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

 

P.S. No Pressure Rich 😆

[The Fatadder]

Moving swiftly on, the road bridge was glued into position.  This will need slight modification as it’s fractionally too short in one direction and slightly overhangs the end in another.  Painting the road will be one of the final jobs. 
 

I have given some more thought to backscenes, on the right hand side it will be mounted to the fixed part of the traverser.  On the left, it will use 3 L brackets plus glue to mount the top of the board.   The rear will just screw into the rear of the frame, while the arch for the front will be removable for transport.  The backscene will not be fitted until ballasting is finished however.

 

the next job was adding some height to the flat board, a raised bank has been added between railway and river (flood protection) along with part of the hill down to the valley floor where the works and branch is situated.  A rough core of foam board was hot glued in position (along with more scrap plywood) before covering with modroc.  The whole river was then given a coat of PVA to seal it all in (trying hard to avoid leaks when I pour the water). 
 

WWS dirt along with a random woodland floor mix were then used to coat the river banks and bed in preparation of pouring the water.  
 

The first clump of greenery has also  been fitted, lifted straight from the old layout 

 

I am thinking about reverting to an original feature on Wheal Imogen mk1 where I had a Dapol round post signal just before the bridge (controlling the yard entrance points).  This eventually ended up getting pinched for Brent with a budleja bush hiding the hole.   This time it may end up the other way round with a hole hidden by the budleja bush for Calne while it waits for a signal installing before Demu.

[James Makin]

Impressively fast work Rich, I don’t know how you manage to do all that so quick, let alone have time to then do an RMWeb post on it too! 
 

In comparison this week I’ve barely managed to dismantle and rub down a half of an old Class 60 😂

Looking forward to the next bit! 
 

Cheers

James

[The Fatadder]

33 minutes ago, James Makin said:

Impressively fast work Rich, I don’t know how you manage to do all that so quick, let alone have time to then do an RMWeb post on it too! 
 

In comparison this week I’ve barely managed to dismantle and rub down a half of an old Class 60 😂

Looking forward to the next bit! 
 

Cheers

James

I’d have got further if it wasn’t for being stuck waiting for a delivery for most of the day.   I have to pop into Bristol tomorrow to buy bits for the inset track.   Knowing the tight deadline I am working to I have been preparing as much as possible in advance to try and speed up construction.   Though I’ve now hit a bit of a wall in that over than cutting the backscene to size of it stops raining, the only other jobs have long drying times and need to be done after dinner once I can take over the kitchen!

 

As such progress has slowed massively since the last post, with the only addition being painting and installing the buffer stop at the end of the slurry siding.  (And cleaning up the track that was repainted after splashing plaster on the sleepers).

 

The river bed needs at least a few more hours drying (hopefully not overnight) before I can pour the river, while ballasting can wait until after tonight’s circuits class.

 

the covered loading area is starting to annoy me and may now be rebuilt.  The legs just are not strong enough for a removable structure (and I want it removable to assist track cleaning).

 

 

Remaining tasks:

- ballasting

-pour river

-inset track/ concrete ground cover

-backscene

-grass/bushes

-tidy up front facia mostly a case of blending the hills /river into the ply frame)

-paint road 

-testing

 

lower priority 

-new lighting rig

-smaller details 

-people 

-looking at the below photos I think painting the inside walls on the bridge will be needed as well to avoid any light shining through as per the photo!

Edited March 24, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

A little more work this evening  and the layout is now ballasted and is currently drying.  So next up will be the river, concrete track and backscenes I think 

 

still on track to finish this weekend…

[The Fatadder]

Photos to follow once the initial cure is done, the Woodland Scenics deep pour water has now been poured.  This short 600mm by 60mm by 12mm approximate dimensions took an entire bottle to fill.

First impressions were no leaks (a relief), and it’s looking really good at a first glance. Although it’s now covered in foil for the initial 4 hour cure. 
 

now off to Bristol to buy the bits needed for the concrete hardstanding

[The Fatadder]

Bit of a disaster today, the river bed was formed from a plywood  box structure with a lot of glue on the corners to seal up any gaps where cross ribs etc prevented a continuous bit of timber.  On top of this was a modroc river bed that I sealed with pva.

 

Alas not sealed well enough, after pouring the resin and leaving for 4 hours I removed the cover to check to find most of the resin dumped on the floor.  I think I’ve lost at least 3/4 of a bottle (so far!) hopefully it’s now stabilised and what’s left will actually dry there.

 

worse still it’s taken the dirt that was glued to the river bed with it leaving white blotches

 

not sure what I will do now…. Hopefully it will be fully dry by morning.  In the mean time I will try and make a start on the hardstanding…

[The Fatadder]

The river failure is still drying so I still haven’t had a chance to properly assess what to do I order to save it.   Right now I think it will probably be a case of having to buy another bottle of resin, but first I will have a go with paints / Klear and see if I can

rescue  it.

 

 

Moving on to the concrete hardstanding/ inset track.  I am reverting to the approach used on Blackcombe using two layers of 1.5mm mounting card.  The first (easier) two thirds  have now been prepared and fitted (with the exception of the parts between the rails).  The harder third will halve to wait until tomorrow as I ran out of beer to use as weights…

 

[The Fatadder]

A little more work and the hardstanding is down, once fully dry I will blend in the gaps with filler and can set to work painting it 

 

 

[James Makin]

Amazing progress so far Rich, annoying about the water leakage issue though!

 

As an idea there, with the blotched parts would it help to add a bit of paint on the resin surface above it before the next resin pour, or maybe even intersperse with some silty sandy bits, it depends on your prototype but you could almost make it look like it’s bunged up and got some reeds and bits sticking out, and the odd shopping trolley and so forth, going in on the forgotten dereliction theme to hide the blotches!

 

Cheers,

James

[The Fatadder]

20 minutes ago, James Makin said:

Amazing progress so far Rich, annoying about the water leakage issue though!

 

As an idea there, with the blotched parts would it help to add a bit of paint on the resin surface above it before the next resin pour, or maybe even intersperse with some silty sandy bits, it depends on your prototype but you could almost make it look like it’s bunged up and got some reeds and bits sticking out, and the odd shopping trolley and so forth, going in on the forgotten dereliction theme to hide the blotches!

 

Cheers,

James

 

reeds etc are a potential option which I used last time to hide different issues.  Another option is to add some rocks and disturb the water as it passes.  However first I think I will repair the banks, add the greenery and take it from there.  It may be a case of making do for Calne and then repairing before the next show.

 

just moved the layout, despite everything I had under the board it’s leaked through onto the kitchen floor…

[Siberian Snooper]

A lot of the rivers and streams tend not to be too deep, down here, unless in spate and then they tend to be white water, being relatively short.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Fatadder]

The river I had in mine (running parallel to the Newquay branch) was fairly calm and murky, however making it a bit more fast flowing adding ripples etc over the whiter bits could be a good way forward.

 

in the mean time I’ve been working on the hardstanding.  Painting it first in a coat of weathered concrete and then rubbing in real china clay while wet.   I think it probably needs more weathering applying, particularly under the slurry point.  Holes also need drilling to fit the roof canopy.

 

Before progressing much further I want to get the backscenes cut and fitted (tomorrow is due to be dry which bodes well), and start on the grass.  Before that I think it needs another test as i haven’t checked the track since ballasting /adding the hardstanding and I am getting nervous about the appearance of mystery shorts…..

[The Fatadder]

Day 4

first up the backscene, this has been cut to size and the first section fitted to the layout. The rear section is cut, but needs painting before it can be installed.  
 

Next up grass, this is a base layer a lot of which will end up under bushes.  I think it is a mix of Peco summer meadow and dry grass, but I really dont like the colour.   More dry grass and a yellower green will be added which hopefully should do the job. 
 

I’ve also spotted a big issue with the canopy, I’d completely forgotten that I made it at an angle to fit the old layout.  So there’s a 5mm or so gap at the front!  

I think it will need to be rebuilt completely if I can’t cut the left side back square.   Again potentially this is more of a phase 2 job, once everything else is done