Parsons Vale Carriage sidings - 00 BR Blue layout now Sold

[37114]

Nice to see some progress Rob, but I do have one small quibble.

 

It hit me straight away, so I have to mention it, just in case.

 

Your drains, which you have carefully remembered early on (with me would be an afterthought) are at the peak

of the bridge. Where no water would run into them. I suggest they would be more effective half way down the

slope.

 

Look forward to seeing more progress as the railway side is already beginning to look the part.

 

Hi Tony,

 

You are right it does look very close to the top, although not very visible in the photo there is one under the blue Austin Princess and the other side of the British Gas van as well which feels more like the correct place so will remove the one near the top.

 

Thanks

[37114]

Some minor progress of late, time is somewhat short on supply at the moment:

 

The houses are coming on, I need to build the steps now:

 

My original thought was to have the windows of the admin block facing the track, but I still decided to put some interior in the building as I hate empty interiors that are visible. Having gone to the effort of installing a Kitchen etc, I am now likely to turn the building round so the interior is more visible That said it is still virtually impossible to see the details like the tap but at least I know they are there:

 

Stock wise the steam heating van is coming on, I finally got a nut and bolt of the right dimensions to secure the roof to the chassis.

 

 

The 31 is also getting there, a lack of "0"s (que the 2 Ronnie's joke) meant I can't finish the numbering:

[37114]

As alluded to in my July post, my next priority with the layout was to box it up to protect it from damage, especially as the layout has to share the garage with the Land Rover which is slowly coming back together and thus occupying more space.

 

One of the things that I found worked well with Peafore Yard was the layout was fully boxed in, which was great visually and provided much better protection in transit yet was quick to set-up at shows, it therefore made sense to do the same with PVCS.As the garage is a sawdust free zone then the kids playroom was utilised:

 

 

 

 

 

Things are a little more complicated with the box work this time around due to the undulating ground level at the front of the layout, so a TV screen style rectangular cut out would not work or look great. To work out the levels I fixed the sheet of ply to the front of the layout first then marked round with a pencil where the ground level was so I knew where to cut:

 

 

Once cut out I fixed it back into place, I was quite pleased how it turned out:

 

 

One complication is the front mounted control panel, bearing in mind it is covered in a building it will be "fun" to operate but we will see how it goes...

 

 

The end panel and backscene panel were straightforward as they did not require any holes to be cut

 

 

The end panel has a hole cut in it under the foot bridge. The hole extends down further than the track to allow for the cassettes from the fiddle yard to be plugged in. As per Peafore Yard, the cassettes will connect to the track with rail joiners, avoid any wires between the fiddle yard and main board. It is really simple and worked well previously, I claim no originality for the idea which I picked up from one of George Woodcocks layouts.

 

From the other way the bridge makes a nice scenic break:

 

Since the photos were taken, I have stripped all the panels off and given them a coat of blue paint, plan is to fit them and the lights one evening next week. I still need to fit the hinged cover for the front to properly protect it but then can make some good progress on the scenic work

 

 

[37114]

With the benefit of a weeks holiday while the kids are on half term I have been making some progress with the layout. I had previously made the wood work for the boxing in, which had become pressing due to the risk of damage.

 

First off some lighting was installed. The lights I used for Peafore Yard were great but have since been discontinued by B&Q so instead went for a single LED strip light. I bought 1 to test over the garage workbench as my previous experiments with LED lights weren't great but this one gave plenty of light and so another one was procured:

 

 

On the subject of lights, the first thing I bought for the layout were yard lights so although not fitted yet as they will get in the way I wanted to trial what they would look like. They add valuable height to what is otherwise quite a flat layout

 

I have also been trial fitting the garden sheds in the gardens which required levelling:

 

I couldn't resist making a start on the ground cover as well:

 

Some new stock for the layout is nearly finished - 31401 (still needs wipers) and the steam heating van which needs a steam heating pipe

 

 

 

 

[HillsideDepot]

Looking great there, Rob. It's coming together really well.

[37114]

Looking great there, Rob. It's coming together really well.

Thanks Adrian, I had not been feeling the love for the layout over the summer, but having started to make progress on the scenery it has restored some of my mojo.

[Mulgabill]

Nice progress there Rob.

 

Isn't it amazing how sometimes no matter how much you do, you don't feel the progress. Then

the smallest thing can feel like suddenly it's all coming together.

 

Best of luck with the next little step(s).

[37114]

Nice progress there Rob.

 

Isn't it amazing how sometimes no matter how much you do, you don't feel the progress. Then

the smallest thing can feel like suddenly it's all coming together.

 

Best of luck with the next little step(s).

Totally agree Tony, especially with this layout which has very few buildings or structures so it will be the little details that will make or break it.

[Geoff Endacott]

Trainwest 2020?

 

Geoff Endacott

[37114]

Trainwest 2020?

 

Geoff Endacott

Yes please, consider it booked.

[mudmagnet]

Looks great Rob!

[37114]

I have had a bit of a rethink on one of the gardens at the front of the layout as I was keen to add a garage in, the house that occupies this location in real life was an end of terrace and now has a garage to the side of it. I had a Wills kit in hand which is a good size but I realised if I put it in front of the shed (see post 130) that the shed would not be visible. I also wanted to put a car being worked on in front of the garage but space precluded it so in the end the shed has been relocated further down the street. I decided to experiment by putting the garage further back to give space for a car:

 

My intention is to fully detail the inside of the garage, I don't have to go far for inspiration for what an amateur car mechanics garage looks like, this is mine:

Interesting aside, due to the changes in MOT laws in May, the above vehicle is fully road legal according to the DVLA computer as it is tax'd as well (£0 as it is over 40 years old). The plan is to create a workbench with shelving and tools in the model, I was tempted to try and use the above picture positioned in the garage and leave the doors slightly ajar but that plan sounded distinctly less fun and the Land Rover is too new to be in bits.

 

The raised base for the garage was clad in embossed brick as was the ramp to achieve the right levels:

 

Further down the level the re-homed shed also had a plinth built:

 

As in reality, the carriage sidings have no road access, access steps being added in a similar position, these are yet to be weathered:

 

 

Visible in post 89 is a bunded fuel tank, I found an old Ratio model in the spares box (the other tank was used on Peafore Yard) which I thought would work well on the layout so I scratchbuilt a bund for it. I am not convinced on the current location so may move it closer to the building over the control panel if possible but space is tight.

 

 

[Mulgabill]

I have had a bit of a rethink on one of the gardens at the front of the layout as I was keen to add a garage in, the house that occupies this location in real life was an end of terrace and now has a garage to the side of it. I had a Wills kit in hand which is a good size but I realised if I put it in front of the shed (see post 130) that the shed would not be visible. I also wanted to put a car being worked on in front of the garage but space precluded it so in the end the shed has been relocated further down the street. I decided to experiment by putting the garage further back to give space for a car:

DSCN3165.JPG

 

My intention is to fully detail the inside of the garage, I don't have to go far for inspiration for what an amateur car mechanics garage looks like, this is mine:

DSCN3164.JPG

Interesting aside, due to the changes in MOT laws in May, the above vehicle is fully road legal according to the DVLA computer as it is tax'd as well (£0 as it is over 40 years old). The plan is to create a workbench with shelving and tools in the model, I was tempted to try and use the above picture positioned in the garage and leave the doors slightly ajar but that plan sounded distinctly less fun and the Land Rover is too new to be in bits.

 

The raised base for the garage was clad in embossed brick as was the ramp to achieve the right levels:

DSCN3166.JPG

 

Further down the level the re-homed shed also had a plinth built:

DSCN3170.JPG

 

As in reality, the carriage sidings have no road access, access steps being added in a similar position, these are yet to be weathered:

 

DSCN3172.JPG

 

Visible in post 89 is a bunded fuel tank, I found an old Ratio model in the spares box (the other tank was used on Peafore Yard) which I thought would work well on the layout so I scratchbuilt a bund for it. I am not convinced on the current location so may move it closer to the building over the control panel if possible but space is tight.

 

DSCN3171.JPG

Hi Rob

 

Have you calculated whether the bund will hold the full contents of the tank?

 

It looks a bit of a snug fit, also make sure any pipework goes over, not through, the bund wall just

incase it has to do its job without leaking.

 

My time in the oil business wasn't entirely wasted!

 

All the best

[37114]

Hi Rob

 

Have you calculated whether the bund will hold the full contents of the tank?

 

It looks a bit of a snug fit, also make sure any pipework goes over, not through, the bund wall just

incase it has to do its job without leaking.

 

My time in the oil business wasn't entirely wasted!

 

All the best

Hi Tony,

 

Good point, having previously worked for a haulier with a significant tanker division, it irks when I see fuel tanks modelled without a bund, hence it was a must to include. Space wise it is tight, I haven't done the calcs but agree it is likely to be marginal. The tank has an outlet at the other end so that determined the height of the wall so should probably have made it a little longer/wider, that said the tank in the photo in post 89 looks very tight to the bund as well? Maybe the depth of the wall is greater?. The more I look at that photo, the more I am tempted to model the water tower and boiler house....

Edited November 3, 2018 by 37114

[37114]

I have made a start on detailing the Garage interior. I have scratchbuilt a couple of shelves and used various diameter rods and box sections to represent tins and boxes on the top shelf, while the lower shelf will have various tools (the shelves are not fixed yet and were just put loosely in place). I have ordered some Busch garage tools which inlcudes a workbench for the back wall. Still more painting to do but the photo below shows current progress:

[37114]

Hi Tony,

 

Good point, having previously worked for a haulier with a significant tanker division, it irks when I see fuel tanks modelled without a bund, hence it was a must to include. Space wise it is tight, I haven't done the calcs but agree it is likely to be marginal. The tank has an outlet at the other end so that determined the height of the wall so should probably have made it a little longer/wider, that said the tank in the photo in post 89 looks very tight to the bund as well? Maybe the depth of the wall is greater?. The more I look at that photo, the more I am tempted to model the water tower and boiler house....

 

As mentioned above, I have been tempted to produce the boiler house to go alongside my fuel tank. While looking over the photo in post 89, I thought that if I was going to do the boiler house I might as well do the water tower as well, with the advantage that it would bring  bit of height to the layout and I always like making the viewer look around buildings as I think it draws attention into the layout.

 

The boiler house is scratchbuilt, in a change to my usual materials I used thin brick sheet on a card board shell rather than the thicker Wills sheets that I have used previously, saving the nightmare of filing a chamfer at the corners. I will fit some doors which are left over from a Peco engine shed kit and further detail will follow but the shell is complete.

 

Also visible is the water tank, I am using the old Airfix kit as a base as it has some lovely rivet detail but will modify it to suit, including new legs and walkways. 

[ess1uk]

With the benefit of a weeks holiday while the kids are on half term I have been making some progress with the layout. I had previously made the wood work for the boxing in, which had become pressing due to the risk of damage.

 

First off some lighting was installed. The lights I used for Peafore Yard were great but have since been discontinued by B&Q so instead went for a single LED strip light. I bought 1 to test over the garage workbench as my previous experiments with LED lights weren't great but this one gave plenty of light and so another one was procured:

 

DSCN3151.JPG

DSCN3152.JPG

 

On the subject of lights, the first thing I bought for the layout were yard lights so although not fitted yet as they will get in the way I wanted to trial what they would look like. They add valuable height to what is otherwise quite a flat layout

DSCN3153.JPG

DSCN3154.JPG

DSCN3156.JPG

 

I have also been trial fitting the garden sheds in the gardens which required levelling:

DSCN3155.JPG

 

I couldn't resist making a start on the ground cover as well:

DSCN3157.JPG

 

Some new stock for the layout is nearly finished - 31401 (still needs wipers) and the steam heating van which needs a steam heating pipe

 

DSCN3158.JPG

DSCN3159.JPG

DSCN3160.JPG

I like those yard lights

Where did you get them?

[37114]

I like those yard lights

Where did you get them?

They are made by Berko, they come with the resistors to wire them up. I am in 2 minds if I wire them up as the layout is set in the day time and very little of my stock has lights. I have a twin track gaugemaster controller which I could use to power the handheld, one of the other tracks could be used to supply 12v for the lights, I might yet light the main office block as well so you can see the interior.

[Rivercider]

I am getting a good sense of place already.

 

On the subject of lights, I am reminded that when working shifts at Temple Meads I often travelled past Malago Vale in the dark,

some of the bathroom windows on the up side of the line did not have curtains.....

 

cheers

[37114]

I am getting a good sense of place already.

 

On the subject of lights, I am reminded that when working shifts at Temple Meads I often travelled past Malago Vale in the dark,

some of the bathroom windows on the up side of the line did not have curtains.....

 

cheers

Thanks Kevin, I need to make some representation of the house interiors as at the moment you can see the blue backscene through the windows. I do have a set of Noch' s Figures which come in a non see through packaging much to my wife's amusement, she has asked of they will get used in this layout.

[37114]

More progress tonight as Dave and Alan came over for the fortnightly beer and modelling evening. I have made more progress on the boiler house which is coming on nicely, I wonder how many times the chimney's will get caught on shirt sleeves. I also have made the end of a house to go near the footbridge. I am a big fan of ghost signs so fancy having a go modelling one on the end of the house even though it is not protypically correct. There are plenty still left in Bath which is my nearest city so may have to go on an inspiration hunt:

 

[37114]

There are times during a layout build when a modelling session just clicks and it feels like the layout takes a step forward and today was one of those days. My focus today was on the backscenes, an area that I felt I never got right on Pallet Lane and was improved upon if not perfect on Peafore Yard. The advantage with PVCS is that it is semi based on a real location so consequently there are some photos available from Parsons Street/ Malago vale that can be edited to suit. I like using photo backscenes but often a lot of digital manipulation is required.

 

First off I tackled the skyline beyond the footbridge. I used a photo taken from the roadbridge cropped to size, partly as I felt this better suited the curved nature of the site

 

The area under the bridge needs more work but it looks much better with the skyline above the bridge. At the other end I had to make the bridge parapet. I plumped for the ones from the Wills kit in the end, it is similar to the original at Parsons Street which is now rendered and pebble dashed effect.

 

 

Like the other end I used photos of the actual location from google streetview. Now this brings it's own problems as the road network at Parson's Street is very busy so consequently I had to edit out the modern cars and then find suitable vehicles to put in the picture instead. I used a Ford D series Cherry picker which was posed perfectly for my image. Modern adverts were replaced with period adverts (mostly cigarette ads which seemed to be prevalent in the 1970's). The corner will be hidden behind the Leyland bus seen in earlier posts. I am really pleased how this turned out and gives a definite feel of the area.:

 

Next job is the road markings which will be tricky as the self adhesive ones I have in stock don't seem to work on the wet and dry paper unfortunately so a plan B is required.

 

[Geoff Endacott]

Judging by what has happened to the self-adhesive road markings on Gladstone Road, don't use them. They don't stay adhered to the layout for very long.

 

Geoff Endacott

[37114]

Judging by what has happened to the self-adhesive road markings on Gladstone Road, don't use them. They don't stay adhered to the layout for very long.

 

Geoff Endacott

 

I know what you mean, they worked ok on Pallet Lane but on this one they wouldn't stick at all.

[Steadfast]

Loving the photo backscenes Rob, really helps set the layout! The bridge at the left hand end will feature on the layout Jack and I have planned, the section between the two bridges at Parson Street. It'd be good to have them side by side, if they ever do a show together!

For road markings, although in N, Grahame Hedges used Posca paint markers and this should scale up. There's info about it on his thread in the card structures section, the road markings were quite recent so should be a page or two back

 

Jo