Cornish lines in N.

[SRfanJV]

Not much time available this evening but as I'm waiting for more parts to arrive from the 2mm association to finish off the previous van and shoc, I thought I would make a start on the next ones. There will be five more in total. 

Tomorrow night at the club should see more progress made on the fiddle yard. 

Edited March 3, 2020 by SRfanJV
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[SRfanJV]

Coronavirus bites. 

Unfortunately due to the worsening Public Health situation, our club evenings have now been postponed indefinitely.  Therefore, Wadebridge has had to come down and be removed from the club room. 

This initially is going to put a considerable dent in progress for the time being as space is limited at home and only one person will be able to work on it. 

I hope to be able to keep providing updates, health being well. 

[SRfanJV]

My goodness, its been nearly a year since I have posted on this thread. 

 

Truthfully not too much has happened to Wadebridge since last year. I do hope to return to it soon.

 

Below shows one of the treesa that has been made up for the Eastern end of the layout. 

[SRfanJV]

In addition we have also been working on the tidal stream towards the western end of the layout. 

 

Finally, the track for the 'weighbridge' will eventually go across the new bridge over the stream is in the final stages of construction by Ketih. 

[SRfanJV]

Construction has also started on the bungalow that is at the Eastern end of the layout. 

[Kris]

Fantastic looking trees and the bungalow is looking the part.

[Clagmeister]

Superb stuff, those trees are rather excellent!!

 

Do you have a system for making them you can show.  I need 4/5 really important ones for Blackford-Gleneagles and they need to be right.  Think these fit the bill.

[SRfanJV]

On 28/02/2021 at 17:08, Clagmeister said:

Superb stuff, those trees are rather excellent!!

 

Do you have a system for making them you can show.  I need 4/5 really important ones for Blackford-Gleneagles and they need to be right.  Think these fit the bill.

 

Hi there, 

Thank you for your kind comments. 

In the next week or two, I will build up another one and hopefully give a step by step guide of how to do them. 

Thanks, 
 

Josh. 

[Clagmeister]

1 hour ago, SRfanJV said:

 

Hi there, 

Thank you for your kind comments. 

In the next week or two, I will build up another one and hopefully give a step by step guide of how to do them. 

Thanks, 
 

Josh. 

 

Looking forward to that.

[SRfanJV]

Ok, so it might have been a little later than a week or two, but below demonstrates the first part of the process of treemaking. 

I have used mains cable earth cable for the main trunk. This was then wrapped around with multicore 3 amp wire. 

I then soldered this up using a 50amp soldering iron. This is primarily for getting enough heat into the metal. It does use a lot of solder, but it makes the tree stronger than just using tape. 

Branches were then added using the 3 amp multicore wire and some fuse wire. The multicore is particularly useful when creating the small branches. 

This is the stage that I am currently at. Far more branches still to add. 

 

The key is using photos from real trees to help create some realism in the shape that you are trying to achieve. 

 

Another progress update will follow soon. 

[SRfanJV]

This evenings work has consisted of finishing the basic tree shape by using the multicore wire and solder to bend up the basic branches and then shape them together. 

 

This was then followed by a thick coating of PVA glue. 

Finally, artex was coated over the top of the glue to start forming the bark. Once dry, another 1-2 coats will be needed to achieve the desired finish. Once im happy with it, I'll move onto to painting the bark and applying foliage. 

 

[SRfanJV]

A quick coat of PVA mixed with artex this evening saw the whole tree covered. Once dry, I will sand down any areas that are a little thick and then add a final thin layer of a dryish mix to pick out detail and make it look more 'bark like'. More to follow shortly. 

[Brinkly]

Very enjoyable time reading through your thread. I've enjoyed watching your Bodmin layout at a number of shows. 

 

I look forward to future postings.

All the best,

Nick.

[SRfanJV]

This evening has resulted in a tree that now has some semblance of bark on it. This was created by making a very thick mix of artex and glue, followed by dabbing it on with a brush until I became happy with the shape. 

Once dry it was given a coat of grey primer. 

the next stage before painting will involve using to sand paper to smooth out any sections that are too rough and not inkeeping with the shape of the tree. It wll then get painted. 

[SRfanJV]

I'm wondering if anyone can help. When building Wadebridge, I have been extensively using a library of photos that were contained within RM web that now seem to have disappeared. This is an absolute nightmare as it contained a huge number of images that i have not managed to find anywhere in published literature. 

The original link is here: https://rmweb.co.uk/photos/NorthCornwall/

If anyone knows of a way to access these photos, i would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks, 

[SRfanJV]

Last night saw the trial fitting of the new taller backscenes for Wadebridge. I hope this will give a bit more depth to the layout once it is painted.

The curve was created by scoring the area every 1 inch and then gently pouring hot water onto it to help form the shape. 

 

Work has also been taking place on contouring the land, as per normal polystyrene flew everywhere. You can also see the old backscene in this photo. 

We are now working on the layout every Tuesday and a new 2mm member Richard has joined the project. This is really helping to motivate Keith and I to get cracking with the layout, plus the extra person helps with progress. 

 

There will be more progress to show shortly. 

[SRfanJV]

I have also recently renumbered a Graham Farish Bulleid Pacific to No. 34072 257 Squadron. A regular down the North Cornwall and Wadebridge.

Fox transfers plates and transfers were used to complete this job and very smart they are too. A Faber-Castell pencil was used to gently rub out the old numbers. 

Little and large, a 4mm pair also await a 00 bulleid pacific.

This is a small tribute to the late Tony Hallworth, a former Wadebridge engineman and volunteer at the Bodmin & Wenford and Swanage Railways.

257 Squadron had a very special place in Tony's memory.

 

I had the absolute honour of sharing footplate with Tony on a couple of occasions, his wisdom is sorely missed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Some of the less exciting, but necessary parts of building an exhibition layout have seen progress recently. This mainly stems around the fiddle yard. 

 

A new roof section has been constructed for board 2, this will then be painted black and varnished. 

 

Progress has also been made on the hinged sections on the roof of the main fiddle yard with securing pins being made to keep both parts in line with each other.

Finally, Keith has been working on some of the points on the first couple of boards. The alignment and gauging on a couple have been tweaked to ensure good running quality. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Things are really starting to take shape in the fiddle yard now with the first coats of paint going on. A sand down, second coat and then a varnish will complete the look. Hopefully the next couple of weeks should see it close to being finished. 

Once complete we can then move on to the scenic side of board 2 followed by work to board 3, the start of the up end station throat.

[SRfanJV]

After being stored away for over 2 years since its last outing at the 2019 Taunton Railex show, Bodmin General has re-appeared for 2 months of work to take place. Covid dependant, the layout will be appearing at the Basingstoke Model Railway Exhibition on the 12th & 13th March. We hope to see you there. 

 

There is a lot of work to do on the layout to bring it back out of hibernation and to improve the layout even further. Watch this space for further updates over the next 8 weeks. 

[SRfanJV]

In the run up to the Basingstoke exhibition, we have set to on starting a 3 page list of jobs to 'finish' the layout in the way that I have envisaged. Not all of these will be achieved by the time the show arrives, but the photos below show some of the progress made so far. 

A troublesome baseboard joint has been rectified, the track bed had sadly lifted away from the subframe. 

This required Keith and I to scrape the ballast out, glue and screw the trackbed back down and then level out the track. I then laid in new sleepers using microstrip. 

It is now ready for airbrushing and ballasting. 

Another big change has seen the old backscene replaced with a new taller one.

This is made using 3mm MDF which was cut to shape and then the curvature was created by scoring the area where a bend was required, followed by pouring hot water over it to help bend the MDF round without snapping it. 

Painting will now commence. 

 

Many members have kindly helped out with detailing enhancements and or repairs. Some of these are shown below.

A white metal point lever has been installed.

Colin has done an excellent job of painting and installing the chains on the GWR yard crane. 

He has also done the same job on the water tower.

David has made an excellent job of repairing and renewing the signal box roof and chimney. However, long term we are looking to rebuild the sigbal box completely.

Finally, I have made a start on adding more detail to the allotments as well as creating a row of bushes behind the allotments to break up the coarse line between the scenery and the backscene. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

We've had an excellent first day at the Basingstoke & North Hants Model Railway Exhibition. It's so so good to be back exhibiting at shows again. 

 

Why not come and visit us tomorrow. 

 

https://www.basingstokemrs.org/exhibition.html

 

 

 

 

A post covering all of the progress over the past few weeks will follow shortly. 

[SRfanJV]

A few more from the weekend. 

 

[SRfanJV]

Quite a while since I last posted, I can't deny that the loss of all the photo's from RM web a few months ago did decrease my motivation for my threads. Hopefully, I can get back into it again going forward. 

 

The major upgrade that is currently taking place is a change from manual wire and tube point switching to slow action motors. 

 

Due space constraints on Bodmin General, we couldn't go for the well known slow action motors such as Cobalt or Tortoise. Luckily one of our new member's Neil, put us on to these MTB motors, which both Keith and I think are fantastic. 

 

Keith is currently installing these up to the original wire and tube, whilst myself with assistance from some of our newer members are modifying the wiring and installing all of the LED'S/changeover switches on the panel. 

 

 

This was from last week showing the LED'S now fully operational. There are a few more to do, but we are getting there. 

 

Finally, this is the current view of the layout without it's backscenes, the std 3 is a recent addition tp my own collection and not for Bodmin, but I must say, it does look at home on it.

 

We are trying everything we can to 'finish' the layout for its next show at the Farnham show on the 8th/9th October. We hope to see you there. 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

More progress with Bodmin General in preparation for its next outing to the Farnham Model Railway Exhibition on the 8th & 9th October. 

 

The installation and wiring up of all the new MTB point motors is now complete. We are now in the process of adjusting them to get the throw right. In the photo below, Gordon, myself and Neil were hard at work wiring up the final few motors. 

 

 

The point motors throw 3mm but there is only about a 1.5mm throw on the point themselves. To overcome the extra 1.5mm we are putting in an omega style 'loop' to give the extra movement in the rod but not the point blades themselves. The videos below show them in operation.

 

 

Sadly, this has required a number of the point rods to be renewed. Its always a bigger job than it starts out, but we'll get there. 

 

Attention will then turn to a sand an repaint of the front presentation boards of the layout. Detailing of the goods shed and road at the rear of the layout will so take place. 

 

More to follow soon. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by SRfanJV