Fishplate Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Two points fully operational mechanically. What a faff-on! Now to wire them up. Doesn't look like I'll be running trains before I go back to work. I've underestimated the time I needed to do things and have just about got through my pre-Christmas list of things to do before putting the railway back together. The two things that are left are to finish are painting the carriage sidings and to do a backscene to hide the new storage sidings. I think they may also both take longer than I had planned for. 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nevermakeit Posted January 2 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2 On 31/12/2023 at 17:32, Fishplate said: Two points fully operational mechanically. What a faff-on! Now to wire them up. Doesn't look like I'll be running trains before I go back to work. I've underestimated the time I needed to do things and have just about got through my pre-Christmas list of things to do before putting the railway back together. The two things that are left are to finish are painting the carriage sidings and to do a backscene to hide the new storage sidings. I think they may also both take longer than I had planned for. IT projects and infrastructure projects always take at least twice as long as originally planned! :-) 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 On 02/01/2024 at 14:41, Nevermakeit said: IT projects and infrastructure projects always take at least twice as long as originally planned! :-) I'm caught between a) wanting it done and b) wanting it done properly. In my experience a) is the Project Manager and b) is the Engineer (ie me). The issue that arises on this railway is that I am both . . . .😁 🤪 4 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I have much the same problem and sometimes it's easier to go off and do something else, which doesn't help either! 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 I've mentioned on another thread I'm having difficulty locating the paint others have recommended / have demonstrated on their topics (thank you for the current help/ inspiration @NHY 581 and @Worsdell foreverand others as well over time, whose work I have bookmarked). Have also been caught up with other life 'stuff' that crops up, so progress again has been slow. However, two sessions of tiddlywink shunting with two of the grandchildren, one having her first ever go, has been an entertaining diversion. An overall pic of Carriage Siding 2 as far as I've got tonight painting rails and baseplates. The paint I'm using is only in a small pot, but a little goes a very long way. The hunt is on tomorrow for the elusive paint for the next stage . . . . 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted January 7 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7 On 05/01/2024 at 08:55, Fishplate said: I'm caught between a) wanting it done and b) wanting it done properly. In my experience a) is the Project Manager and b) is the Engineer (ie me). The issue that arises on this railway is that I am both . . . .😁 🤪 One of the offices I worked in had a cartoon on the inside of the door saying “Do you want it done now, or done right?” It was the signalling Testers office. Paul. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 One of my favourites was nailed to a garage wall: Speed is a question of money. How fast do you want to go? The one I have used with people wanting restoration work done is: If you want it throwing together for a quick profit, take it somewhere else. 2 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 9 hours ago, 5BarVT said: It was the signalling Testers office. A Project Manager said to me once that in his previous job he had been able to develop a system in less than 12 months to put a missile through a garage door 300 miles away. He was frustrated that 'it took years to just put a traffic light up'. In that conversation he gave possibly the best example I've heard of how quick you can create destruction, but how you need to take the right amount of time to avoid it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 11 hours ago, 5BarVT said: It was the signalling Testers office. Came across this over the weekend. Very interesting. You wouldn't walk like the screenshot below nowadays. No hi-vis either. Similarly, spot the non-PC calendar . . . . 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Experimenting with paint on Carriage Siding 2. Before: During: During a bit more: Trying to go for 'neglected siding'. Thoughts? 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Neglected Carriage Siding at Faversham for comparison: 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Keep it up, it's definitely working and remember that if it doesn't, you can always repaint it. Something that I had to keep reminding myself of when painting my own track! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Thanks Rob @MrWolf. Having looked in this morning, the painted track looks ok under artificial light from the operating position. That will be the normal viewing point. I'll continue along the siding with a similar mixture/ wash. Next stop will be to experiment with ballast. I like the empty sleeper beds of the prototype picture. A bit difficult to see in that zoomed in picture, but it appears to be a mixture of ash and earth with some ballast added as top dressing. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 Carriage Siding 2 has had the full treatment. Part of Carriage Siding 1 and the two turnouts have had the baseplate treatment this evening. To be continued .... 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Carriage Siding 1 done. Now venturing along the baseplate on the Down Main through the site of platform 2. Had several hours available today. Will see if I carry on this evening. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Nostalgia plus emails from Rails of Sheffield are an interesting combination. My wallet is having to have a lie down in a darkened room. . . . . . 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 That's possibly more fun than the kicking my wallet has had today for a new car battery and a taxi to get the memsahib to the station on time. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 On 18/01/2024 at 13:32, Fishplate said: Nostalgia plus emails from Rails of Sheffield are an interesting combination. Having succumbed to three corporate blue Newspaper vans, I then agonised over the fact I have no corporate blue locomotives. That's when the second email from Rails of Sheffield arrived..... Pristine Class 73 (JA) 73002 buffers up to the freshly outshopped Newspaper vans in Carriage Siding 1. 9 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 (edited) Top to bottom. Down Main, weathered. Up Main, baseplates painted. Up/Down Goods Out of the box. Edited January 19 by Fishplate Photo orientation 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 On 18/01/2024 at 14:10, MrWolf said: That's possibly more fun than the kicking my wallet has had today for a new car battery and a taxi to get the memsahib to the station on time. Hi Rob, I hope all settled down now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 hours ago, Fishplate said: Hi Rob, I hope all settled down now? Yes thanks and fortunately it wasn't too expensive for an old school battery that you can check the levels on, unlike the previous sealed for life death item. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 All high level tracks now painted up to a point within a few inches of the board joints on the main and goods lines. I can then blend in across the joints when everything gets put back together. I've obtained some Woodlands Scenics 'medium cinders' ballast. Started on the Carriage Sidings. It looks coarser in-situ than I thought it did in the bottle. Looks more like contaminated 4mm scale stone ballast rather than 4mm scale ash? But this is 'multi-scale' product, so up to me/ the buyer to confirm it is ok. I'm happy with what I've bought for these sidings, although I think I should have picked the 'fine cinders'. Put some PVA down each side of both tracks to contain the ballast spreading too far away from the sleeper ends. There will be a concrete carriage cleaning platform between the two tracks, so I didn't want to cover the 6ft. Components are in the post to scratch build the platform. Used a teaspoon to place the ballast a few sleepers at a time, then a small paint brush to clear the sleeper tops/ ends. Efforts so far in the picture below. Now need to soak the ballast in 50% PVA/water mix. Getting there.... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Tickets bought for Doncaster show. List already made of necessary stuff required to progress. Particularly looking forward to seeing Copper Wort* as well as other layouts I follow on here. * Hope we can get near it ! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Backscene board to hide the fiddleyard made this afternoon and covered with lining paper. Took over the Dining Room table. Drying time took it past dinner time, so treated us to a Chinese. Very nice. Needs trimming and then I need to channel inspiration from other layouts and my O level Art.... A number of things need to happen in parallel to get the layout joined up and rebuilt. Hoping to have some time over the next two days to progress things. I'm about where I should have been at some point during the Christmas holidays (2023) .... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishplate Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Fixed the backscene board to the fiddleyard temporarily. Spent some time this afternoon picking some of my favourite local landmarks from my home town to add to it. Because these will be immediately behind a wall, and theoretically on the other side of a road, I've maintained 4mm scale. There will be subsequent layers in the background to give a feeling of distance / depth. I'm taking Leicester East and Copper Wort layouts as inspiration, to guide my approach. This is a tin church. A bit of a challenge as no bricks to count. However Google Earth is your friend to give plan dimensions, and then I've taken vertical dimensions from a face on photo / street view and proportioned accordingly. I've cut it out and stuck it on with blue tack at the moment. When I've drawn up a few more I can then move them around. Hopefully I'll get a pleasing combination before committing to a particular arrangement. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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