Burton-on-Trent South - Adding Buildings

[47137]

12 hours ago, ISW said:

Nice wagon, and very detailed as, I suppose, it should be in 7mm scale. Painting looks good and I can see why you're pleased with the results. You'll have to share the 'trick' to brush painting Vallejo acrylics, as it just doesn't work for me. I'm guessing that it needed your good primer coat?

 

Is this just a 'side project' or is it intended for one of your layouts?

 

I used a flat brush about 10mm wide for the Vallejo paint on the planks on my wagon. I put three drops of paint onto a palette but this could have been a scrap of styrene. I loaded the brush maybe 1/4 full and started a couple of planks from one end, brushing the paint out along the planks here and working the paint into the bristles at the same time. When the brush had paint along half its length I could reload it, do some more planks and "cut in" to neaten up the ends and do the first two planks with neat edges. I think the main thing was, I pressed quite hard on the brush to spread the paint as far and as thinly as I could. This was very nearly enough over the grey primer, but I added a second coat the same way to remove the blotchiness. The Vallejo paint seems to have a very dense, fine pigment. It covered really well. My brush has an orange handle and on this is printed, "6 AK interactive".

 

I think the primer is important. It seems to be essential to get Tamiya to flow onto a surface properly and stay put, it helps all of the paints I have tried. These are the usual brands like Revell, Humbrol and Railmatch, not specialist paints.

 

I have been building 7mm scale wagons since last Autumn, trying to do one a month. This is my seventh. I have an idea for a small layout set in the 1890s through to about 1910. This NER Lomac is technically a bit modern (1913) but it was a good choice for a first brass kit needing soldering together.

 

- Richard.

Edited May 2, 2022 by 47137
NER (not GER) Lomac

[ISW]

On 30/04/2022 at 15:32, 47137 said:

Ian thank you so much for putting back the missing photos.

 

Richard,

 

Yeah, it was a bit of a pain to do as the process is very repetitive. Thankfully the missing photos show a link 'name' that corresponds to the filename of the upload, which made locating the original photo straightforward. All I had to do then was resize it down to 1080 pixels wide/high (as a maximum) to keep the filesize down, and re-upload it. I don't bother keeping the resized versions.

 

I've been keeping an eye on the 'older' postings I did, and I note that many of those still have not been re-indexed by 'The System'. I think I'll wait until the end of the year before I go back and sort out those missing photos. At that stage I might even re-upload the missing photos to the postings I've done in other peoples' topics.

 

Ian

[47137]

23 hours ago, 47137 said:

Sensible pressures seem to be around 20psi, a bit lower for closer work and a bit more for working further away.

It may be, I ought to be using a higher pressure. 20psi is suggested for the artist's style air brushes with 0.2 or 0.3mm jets. The jet on the Humbrol air brush is about 0.5 or 0.6 mm diameter. I will try 25 or 30 next time, see what happens.

 

I like the look of this technique:

https://youtu.be/lCKZ_fo4eW0

 

In fact this video could sell me a better single-action brush, because the critical (visible) painting I want to do at the moment is large flat areas on new models and repaints.

 

This is how I have been putting on paint, but my wagon got four passes of top coat not eight or ten. So I may have been a bit mean with the coverage. If the paint is wet enough then it will sit on the surface and not form runs.

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

17 hours ago, 47137 said:

I like the look of this technique:

https://youtu.be/lCKZ_fo4eW0

Richard,

 

Very interesting video. I take a couple of 'hints and tips' from it. Firstly, he had done a primer coat. I'm guessing this is one of the keys to avoiding 'runs' in the paint, as the surface is already suitably prepared to accept paint. As it happens, I recently bought some Vallejo primer paint (ready thinned), so I'll be giving that a go on my next signalbox build. Secondly, he is spraying much further away from the model than I have been typically doing. Maybe that's a mistake on my part. I've been spraying very little paint but close up, and it looks like more paint further way is better. Lesson learnt.

 

The only 'fly in the ointment' is that he is using enamel paints (like you), whereas I'm using acrylics, and they do act very differently. A little 'testing' is required.

 

Which only leaves me to wonder, what did he do with all the spare paint at the end? There was a lot.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Ballasting - You Can't See the Join

 

... to quote the Morecombe & Wise show (assuming you are old enough to remember).

 

As you may recall, I placed some plastic strips between the baseboard joins before ballasting, in an attempt to avoid the ballast gluing up the baseboard join, and provide a 'shutter' against which the ballast/glue could harden.

 

Well, after unbolting the baseboards and prying them apart a few millimetres, the plastic was removed by the simple expedient of sliding a craft knife between the baseboard end and the plastic. It came off cleanly and easily. Result.

 

After bolting the baseboards back together again, this is what the joint in the track looks like:

 

 

I must say that I'm more than happy with the result. My only concern is just how 'durable' the edge of the ballast will be to any future baseboard removal activities. I'm tempted to go back and add some more PVA / water glue mix over the last 1cm adjacent to the baseboard join (after the baseboards are wedged apart again) as a 'bolt and braces' activity.

 

Does anyone have any experience of ballast up to a baseboard join?

 

Ian

[47137]

On 03/05/2022 at 10:22, ISW said:

Does anyone have any experience of ballast up to a baseboard join?

 

I don't have any experience at all, but I still feel a need to write something! For a semi-permanent layout I would simply add some more ballast and allow it to break away when I moved the layout. Perhaps keep a jam jar of spare ballast so you are prepared for the occasion.

 

- Richard.

[ISW]

3 minutes ago, 47137 said:

 

I don't have any experience at all, but I still feel a need to write something! For a semi-permanent layout I would simply add some more ballast and allow it to break away when I moved the layout. Perhaps keep a jam jar of spare ballast so you are prepared for the occasion.

 

- Richard.

Richard,

 

That was my dilemma, although my 'experience' now extends to 4 baseboard joins. So, I started a new Topic in  "Modelling Questions, Help and Tips" called 'Ballasting at Baseboard Joints'. Have had some good responses. As of now, favourite is to drip SuperGlue over the ballast adjacent to the baseboard join as a retrofit activity.

 

Ian

[Signaller69]

14 hours ago, ISW said:

As of now, favourite is to drip SuperGlue over the ballast adjacent to the baseboard join as a retrofit activity.

Ian,

 

In all my years of ballasting, I'd never considered trying that. Thanks for the tip.

 

My usual method of dealing with board joints is much the same as yours, to slacken the baseboard joint bolts, slide in a length of clear plasticard or plastic bag, tighten up the bolts and apply dilute PVA over the ballast in the "normal manner" either side of the joint. A small amount of adhesive usually seeps between the board end and the plastic but it frees up easily enough when dry.

 

Martyn.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Signaller69

[ISW]

3 minutes ago, Signaller69 said:

In all my years of ballasting, I'd never considered trying that. Thanks for the tip.

 

Martyn,

 

Glad to be able to pass on the information. Makes a change, as I'm usually the one leaning from your postings!

 

We are both using the same 'method' for ballasting at baseboard joins, the only difference being I use a pair of plastic sheets, to avoid one sheet gluing to both baseboards.

 

Have you had any experience with the 'robustness' of the glued ballast edge at the baseboard join?

 

Ian

[Signaller69]

1 minute ago, ISW said:

 

Have you had any experience with the 'robustness' of the glued ballast edge at the baseboard join?

I've not had any problems with Crinan, where less water was added to the PVA near board joints, and very liberally applied. But I also try to take care to ensure nothing rubs against the rail ends, ballast etc when stacking boards for transit or during setting up. Many years ago I had issues with a loft layout where insufficient dilute PVA was added to ballast on a hot day, resulting in a "crust" of ballast peeling off the boards when dry!

[ISW]

Ballasting - Continues ...

 

After completing the station area and the Burton South signalbox junction, ballasting is progressing 'southwards' along the mainlines towards the Leicester Line Junction.

 

For this section, I'm ballasting the Slow Lines in a dark ballast and the Fast Lines in a lighter one. This is to reflect a newer 'relaying' of the Fast Lines. Well, that's the back-story. In reality it's a convenient way to use up the selection of ballast 'colours' that I have! It also happens to 'look' better than all 4 tracks with the same ballast colour.

 

This is looking 'south' from the Burton South junction (Baseboard F):

 

And here we are, again looking 'south', part way to the Leicester Line Junction (Baseboard G). Note that the crossover was 'relayed' at the same time as the Fast Lines:

 

I've been surprised by the amount of PVA/water that is necessary to ensure 100% gluing. I'm going back over all the ballasted areas with the hoover, to pick up any loose ballast, and it has occasionally left 'bald patches' in the ballast where insufficient PVA/water was applied. Re-ballasting wasn't difficult, and is invisible, but I'm using a lot more PVA/water now.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Ballasting - a problem solved

 

On 29/04/2022 at 15:44, ISW said:

The only issue was the dribble of ballast that dropped through each cable dropper hole onto the Lower Level baseboards. Considering how difficult it was to thread the cable through those holes, I'm amazed that any ballast could get through, but it did.

 

Now that I'm well into ballasting, the 'penny dropped' and fixing the above problem is a simple at dripping a small 'blob' of neat PVA over/into the hole before ballasting. Now why didn't I think of that earlier ... grrrr.

 

Ian

[5BarVT]

52 minutes ago, ISW said:

Ballasting - a problem solved

Now that I'm well into ballasting, the 'penny dropped' and fixing the above problem is a simple at dripping a small 'blob' of neat PVA over/into the hole before ballasting. Now why didn't I think of that earlier ... grrrr.

It’s called ‘learning from experience’ . . .

Paul.

[ISW]

Ballasting - Some Completeness

 

As a result of ‘learning from experience’ (c)@5BarVTI have managed to achieve some level of completeness with the ballasting on the Mainline tracks.

 

Here, again, is Burton South Junction (Baseboard E) looking 'north' towards the station, now with structurally completed platforms. The platform is simply 18mm plywood with 2x2mm styrene rod glued onto the edges to give the typical 'overhang'. In an attempt to ensure the styrene rod stays glued to the plywood, the edge of the timber was painted with neat PVA, allowed to dry, and then the styrene glued on using 'Tacky' glue (a type of PVA with additional 'erbs & spices'):

 

Slightly 'south' of the station we see the crossover (Baseboard G) between the Down Slow and the Down Fast. This was re-ballasted at the same time as the two Fasts (in my mind anyway):

 

Further 'south' we reach Leicester Line Junction (Baseboards I & J), where the whole ladder of double / single slips was re-ballasted with the Fasts (again, in my mind), resulting in patchwork ballasting of the Slow Lines. Here is the Junction looking 'South':

 

And here is the same Junction looking 'north'. The whole of the MPD has been temporarily stabled in the Brewery Reception Sidings to give the 'Hand of God' sufficient access to the Leicester Lines for ballasting:

 

Which now just leaves me with the MPD and Brewery tracks to ballast. The MPD will probably have to wait until the 2-track re-fuelling / inspection building has been designed, built, and plonked into place on the layout, as this dictates the extent of the really dark ballast (re-fuelling area) and I want the building to be removable despite being 'in' the ballast.

 

At the Brewery, there will be two 'paved' areas, so I'll have to cut the ballasting short of those for the time being. Thankfully, I've found that I can 'match' the ballast recipe between ballasting sessions, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

And yes, all the pointwork still works, despite my ballasting / gluing. However, I found that the rail surface was badly contaminated, although I'm not exactly sure of what or why. Yes, there were a few spots of PVA on the rail, but the main issue seems to have stemmed from spraying water onto the track prior to ballasting. Either way, I had to go back over all the tracks and clean the rails. I used a combination of IPA on a cloth wrapped around a length of wood and an old school eraser to clean up the railhead. That part was harder than the actual ballasting!

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Ballasting - Substantial Completion

 

I started my first tentative steps into the 'unknown world' of ballasting on 27th April, having put it off for months (and that's an understatement), and yet here I am, less than 1-month later, having essentially completed the ballasting of the whole Upper Level.

 

Here's a couple of photos of the Brewery Tracks and associated Exchange Sidings. I deliberately went with a different (brown) colour of ballast for the Brewery Tracks to differentiate them, and to reflect their Private Owner status. In the Real World it's perfectly possible than a private company could have sourced it's ballast from a non-BR supplier, especially if it was cheaper!

 

Looking 'South' with the Leicester Line Junction off to the right:

 

Looking 'North' showing the Brewery Tracks passing under the Mainlines, with the Station off to the left:

 

The only remaining areas of trackwork on the Upper Level without ballast are:

1. The MPD tracks, for which I need to make / build the MPD refuelling building and associated concrete aprons before ballasting.
2. The 2 headshunts in the Brewery Tracks, as there is a good chance that I'll be using some paved tracks in this area.
3. The 2 headshunts at the end of the Brewery Tracks (adjacent to the station) as, again, there is a good chance that I'll be using some paved tracks in this area.

Was it a 'learning experience'? Most definitely. I did benefit enormously from hints & tips I've picked up from various YouTube videos, but nothing is quite as good as actual 'hands on' experience. By the time I was ballasting the Brewery Tracks I had 'perfected' my method and has no fears regarding the outcome. All very different from my first tentative steps back at the end of April. To end on a positive note, all the turnouts and double/single slips still work as none were 'glued up' in the ballasting process.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Another Signalbox

 

A while back I completed a Ratio Kit 536 Midland signalbox that, once slightly modified, made a good representation of Burton South signalbox. So, now it was time to tackle Leicester Junction signalbox, a much larger signalbox.

 

To create the Leicester Junction signalbox I had to use 2 Ratio Kit 536s, as the 'box is 4-panels long. It would have been nice to make the 'box 5-windows deep, but the Kits are only 4-windows deep and, while I 'could' have made the structure that extra window deep, I didn't think my skills would have been sufficient to modify the roof! I was already going to have to 'stitch' 2 roofs together for the longer length as it was.

 

All the processes and methods were just the same as that I used for Burton South signalbox, and the same 'difficulties' arose, just as before. My biggest problem was creating the single roof from 2 kits, because it didn't leave enough to cover the whole length of the 'box. In the end I had to use some roofing from Peco Lineside Kit No.2 LK-79 to fill up the gaps. Unfortunately, despite it also being made by Peco / Ratio LK-79 it uses thicker plastic and, more importantly, has a slightly smaller tile size. I therefore have to use the argument that part of the roof needed some local repairs, and that's why those smaller tiles are there. I'll put those straws down that I was clutching ...

 

Here's a couple of photos of the completed 'box:

 

 

Ian

 

 

 

[ISW]

An Unsuccessful MPD Building

 

Back in June, crickey that was a long time ago, I started making a building for the MPD on the layout. After a lot of scouring t'internet for suitable photos I'd collected sufficient information to have a good idea of what the refuelling building looked like. Subsequently, I found I have 2 of my own photos that were better that those I'd found on t'web!

 

I then found a very useful drawing / diagram in the magazine "Railways of Britain 03 - On Shed Issue 2 - London Midland Region" from May 2018. That provided some important overall dimensions for said building, which I had to 'adjust' to suit my actual track layout and space constraints.

 

The building was assembled from cardboard (extracted from cereal packets) that is , usefully, ~0.5mm thick. I used PVA to glue some cereal packet carboard face-to-face to make up some ~1mm card for the main structure. This creates very cheap 1mm stock card and, so long as you keep it flat under weights, it comes out nice and flat.

 

The 'design' of the building I drew up in Xara DesignerPro X10. Yes, I know it's getting a bit old now but it does still work perfectly well. 

 

As I've done many times before on my old (~2004 Canon MX868 printer/scanner) I printed out the sheets with the cutting guides for the cardboard using 'normal' printing, and the overlays with the actual brickwork etc using 'high quality' printing. The difference this time was that I was using my new Epson ET-3850 printer scanner. This caused problems, as well shall see!

 

I had the ends of the building done, and the sides glued up so that I had a basic 'rectangle' that now needed a roof. Here's where it all went wrong. The templates for the cardboard ('normal' printing) were not the same size as the overlays ('high quality' printing), despite them both being exactly the same dimensions in Xara DesignerPro. There was ~2mm difference in 20cm! Well, I persevered but in the end I was not happy with the results, see below:

 

 

No, not a pretty sight with misaligned card in the roof openings.

 

As a result I became a little disillusioned with the layout, and so commenced a new task ...

 

Slide Scanning!

 

Over the past few months I've scanned in ~500 35mm slides that I took between 1984 and 1987 in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The slide scanning itself was done using my old (~2003) DiMage Scan Dual IV scanner & associated software (yes, the software does still work with Windows 10). The scanner works very well, but kept overheating to the extent that I had to leave the cover off while scanning to avoid 'Error 01' messages. It's also 110v, not 240v as it was bought while I was in Taiwan. The overheating I eventually traced to the USB chip, and fitting a small heatsink eventually fixed the issue. The machine is 24v DC, but I found using a variable DC output voltage 240v adapter that it works perfectly at 22v, 20v, 19v, and 18v DC. So, I picked up a 19.5v laptop charger at the car boot, and that's what I use now (the variable voltage adapter is ~8amp @15v DC, so I have plans to use it to power a DCC 'booster' in the future. It also came from the car boot).

 

Doing the scanning is just the first step though. Once the photo is in the computer, I use ACDSee (Ultimate 2022 version) to set/correct the date of the photo, add in salient information (location, etc) and, where necessary, set the geographical data (latitude / longitude where the photo was taken). These operations usually take longer than the actual scanning process!

 

So there you have it, 3-months compressed into a single RMWeb posting.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Recovery Time

 

After my enforced break doing slide scanning my energies towards working again on the layout were recovering. Then a trip to the Doncaster train & toy fair last Sunday helped in that regard!

 

It was time to retackle the subject of that MPD refuelling building ...

 

I started by modifying the design in Xara DesignerPro as I didn't like some aspects of the previous (terrible) version that failed so miserably. This time I also went about the printing process in a more 'managed' manner. I just printed the pages I needed as I went along, not in a bit batch. And, of course, I used 'high quality' printing mode for ALL pages this time. And lo, the printouts were the same size as each other and followed the design. Hurrah.

 

The ends, side and roof went together correctly this time with all the bits lining up with each other. Finally, I could start on the roof skylights that I never got around to on the abandoned version. Indeed, I found that the skylight bits I'd made previously were still suitable, after some slight 'trimming / cutting'. That only left the 'windows' to print out, which I printed using transparency film (actually an offcut I had lying around in the box).

 

And here is the completed building:

 

External:

 

Inside:

 

'Plonked' on the layout. Yes, it is a tight fit!:

 

Is it perfect? Of course not; there are a few things I'd change if I ever do it again.

Is it complete? Of course not; I still need to add some gutters and downpipes.

Am I happy with it? Yes, this time it will stay on the layout.

 

And, in the end, the building needs to be 'sunk' into the track underlay such that it rests on the top of the baseboard, which will lower it ~3mm.

 

Ian

[ISW]

A Station Building

 

As you may have gathered, I'm planning to build my layout with the original (Midland Railway) station buildings. For those not in the know it used to look like the photo below. Rather splendid isn't it? If it had lasted another ~10-years I don't think they'd have been allowed to demolish it:

 

Thankfully I'm old enough to remember the original station, and caught a few trains from there (trainspotting trips) not long before it was demolished, although by then the bay platform at the south end had already gone together with a large expanse of the canopy roof at that end.

 

Well, there's no way I'm going to be able to fit in the full length of the magnificent platform building, and so some (err, a lot of) 'compression' is required. Looking at other photos and scaling off salient dimensions, I'm reasonably sure the building is in 16ft 'blocks'. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!

 

With the space I have, I determined that I can fit in 10 'blocks' for the station platform, and to test this theory I decided it might be a good idea to build a quick (err, it took me several days ...) mockup to see how it fits and see the overall 'look' of the proposed building. Here's what it look like:

 

and a bit closer (the cardboard building is ~650mm long x 80mm wide):

 

It does fit, and I do seem to have the 'proportions' about right, thanks to all that scaling off old photos. The canopy (represented by those sticky-out bits) also seem to be about the right height and extend just over the tracks.

 

Before I get too carried away, I think I'd better do a mock-up of the staircase and the stations buildings on the overbridge, as the two are very much connected by the overall canopy roof. Plus I need to establish the position & height of the overbridge and it's relationship to the 4 tracks that, unfortunately, have to curve under the overbridge. I wonder how much 'compression' I'll need to employ on the overbridge buildings?

 

On the assumption (never a good idea!) that the building works out fine, the next step will be to properly 'detail' the building, block-by-block, and also establish how to make it out of cardboard (0.5mm & 1mm thicknesses) from old cereal packets and clad with inkjet printed brickwork, windows, doors, roof, etc.. That'll all get done in Xara DesignerPro X10 as I've done before, although not on this size.

 

For the canopy roof, I simply can't use cardboard as the metalwork is too intricate / detailed, and the glazing very extensive. I'm thinking (err, hoping) that I can put my Cricut cutter to work on some styrene sheets for the canopy. That'll be quite the adventure. Or I might see if there are any 'ready made' styrene extrusions that are readily available and suitable. If you know of any, do let me know!

 

Ian

 

[5BarVT]

3 minutes ago, ISW said:

As you may have gathered, I'm planning to build my layout with the original (Midland Railway) station buildings. For those not in the know it used to look like the photo below. Rather splendid isn't it? If it had lasted another ~10-years I don't think they'd have been allowed to demolish it:

Was ‘72 before I know B-o-T.  Mind you, what’s there now doesn’t bear much resemblance to what I remember, ever since it became a forest.

Paul.

[ISW]

4 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Was ‘72 before I know B-o-T.  Mind you, what’s there now doesn’t bear much resemblance to what I remember, ever since it became a forest.

Paul.

Paul,

 

I have book including a photo dated 20th June 1971 that shows the magnificent Midland Station buildings under demolition, so a tad earlier than your 1972. That means I must have made those trainspotting trips with a few trainspotting friends in 1970 and the early part of 1971. I don't think I was old enough to go on train trips any earlier than 1970!

 

Of the original platform buildings, I think just the stairs down from the overbridge is all that's left.

 

Ian

[Din]

15 hours ago, ISW said:

Paul,

 

I have book including a photo dated 20th June 1971 that shows the magnificent Midland Station buildings under demolition, so a tad earlier than your 1972. That means I must have made those trainspotting trips with a few trainspotting friends in 1970 and the early part of 1971. I don't think I was old enough to go on train trips any earlier than 1970!

 

Of the original platform buildings, I think just the stairs down from the overbridge is all that's left.

 

Ian

 

 

I was always under the impression the Station was built not in the Midland Railway Style, but as an agreement between four companies using Burton. The LNWR, GNR, NSR and of course, Midland. Hence the English Retro styling of the station and the cream and brown. The whole thing was timber.

 

The first Burton Station, built by the Birmingham and Derby was in the early Midland/Trijunct style and looked very similar to Derby.

 

There's lots of references to the "North Staffordshire Railway Booking Hall" in both the Burton Mail and by locals alike.

 

It was a tragedy, what happened to it, as the building looked wonderful and I could see the old bus concourse being now enclosed in modern glass and turned into an arrivals area and small shopping promenade. But sadly the traffic that had justified such an enormous station had vanished nearly a decade ago, with traffic coming from all four compass points and many potential destinations to just two.

[ISW]

10 hours ago, Din said:

I was always under the impression the Station was built not in the Midland Railway Style, but as an agreement between four companies using Burton. The LNWR, GNR, NSR and of course, Midland. Hence the English Retro styling of the station and the cream and brown. The whole thing was timber.

You could well be right about the station being a 'joint effort'. I've not been able to establish that part of its history. I just refer to it as the Midland station for ease.

As far as I can tell the station building and overbridge located booking hall were brick built, at least up for the ground floor. 1st floor could well be timber. The canopies are a huge expanse of trussed steel and glass. That'll be fun to model.

 

Ian

[Din]

17 minutes ago, ISW said:

You could well be right about the station being a 'joint effort'. I've not been able to establish that part of its history. I just refer to it as the Midland station for ease.

As far as I can tell the station building and overbridge located booking hall were brick built, at least up for the ground floor. 1st floor could well be timber. The canopies are a huge expanse of trussed steel and glass. That'll be fun to model.

 

Ian

 

I'll have a bit of a wander through my books, see if I can find it for definite.

 

It's piqued my interest as this is a rather brilliant layout of somewhere only a few miles away from me!

[ISW]

34 minutes ago, Din said:

somewhere only a few miles away from me!

A have fond memories of cycling to Swadlincote as a teenager to go bus spotting for Midland Red in the bus station that used to be on the High Street!

 

Ian