Ladmanlow Sidings and other C&HPR locations

[Alister_G]

39 minutes ago, westerhamstation said:

Hi Al, wot no bananas. All the best Adrian.

 

I know, it's all a bit peculiar.

 

Hope you and Mrs WStation are both in the prime of health?

 

Take care mate,

 

Al.

[Andrew P]

Coming on nicely mate, glad your back posting on your own projects as well.

[Alister_G]

A quick bit of lunchtime fettling sees the wiring of the fiddleyard completed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the full horror of Ladmanlow's spaghetti is exposed:

 

 

This evening, I may be able to run a train or two!!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Rowsley17D]

The art of tidy wiring illudes me also.

[The Johnster]

Tidy wiring is evidence of a sick mind...

[Regularity]

No wiring is the sign of someone using battery or clockwork power...

[Alister_G]

As promised, a locomotive has now run!

 

Here's the layout, powered up and with the lighting rigged.

 

 

The fiddle yard in action (sort of). These two are misbehaving, and don't want to run at the moment, so they've been consigned to the naughty siding.

 

 

That doesn't stop fireman Andy Moss having a brew though...

 

 

Luckily 68068 saves the day, here it is on the rolling road having a workout:

 

 

Anybody want a brakevan?

 

 

Everything needs a damn good dust, before I start showing this to people...

 

 

There will be some video along shortly.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Alister_G]

Look! It moooooves!

 

 

Al.

[sb67]

Nice video Al, I like the fiddle yard addition. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the layout at the weekend.

Virtually at least 

Edited April 22, 2020 by sb67

[Rowsley17D]

You'll need all those brake vans for the rail tour specials to the line. Nice to see movement again.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Excellent.

Like a rat up a drainpipe, (if drainpipes had steps!!!).

 

Mike.

[Alister_G]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Excellent.

Like a rat up a drainpipe, (if drainpipes had steps!!!).

 

Mike.

 

 

Yeah, bit of a bump at the moment, 'cos the fiddleyard isn't supported and is drooping a bit. When it's all level it ain't so bad.

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

This afternoon and evening, I managed to get a fair bit done.

 

So first, when I was running the layout yesterday I noticed that one of the points was dead, not just the V but the whole of the point blade section when running normal. I could run across it with the turnout reversed with no problem. This felt like a wiring  issue, so I investigated today.

 

Here's an unusual view of the layout, tipped on its side to gain better access to the track:

 

 

and here's the culprit. The wire strap is supposed to connect the stock rail to the closure rail, but it appears to have become disconnected, so the closure rail and switch blade are unpowered:

 

 

So I soldered a wire direct to the closure rail, and normal running was resumed.

 

The next problem was my DJ Models J94, which is sound equipped. When I took it out to use yesterday, it made all the sounds lovely, but didn't actually run. So I took it apart to see why not.

 

 

It took me a while, but eventually I found that the DCC socket was only making intermittent connection to the motor. I tried to fix it, but there were a number of dry joints so in the end I just chopped off the DCC socket and wired the track and motor direct to the chip. This has actually saved a bit of room inside the loco, so it went back together without having to sit on it, unlike previously...

 

Then, having got everything running comfortably, I turned my attention to the backscene. Well, I say backscene, but it's basically a roll of white paper - NOT toilet roll, before anybody says it...

 

The idea is that using a continuous roll will eliminate the nasty square corners, and just curve round from the sides, and I think it works quite well:

 

 

That shot was taken with just the layout lighting on, I turned off all the other lights in the cellar, and I think it's quite effective. There's a single strip of natural white LEDs in a section of aluminium "L" channel mounted on a batten on the front of the layout. At the moment it's directly over the front edge of the layout, I may move it forward a bit as the light on the front siding is a bit too vertical.

 

More in a bit, thanks for looking.

 

Al

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Alister_G]

Here's a few shots now the backscene is in place.

 

68062 appears as if by magic through the hole in the sky:

 

 

Pulling three vans:

 

 

 

It takes the vans to the run-round loop and drops them there:

 

 

Then it runs round:

 

 

and couples up to the other end:

 

 

Finally it sets off back the way it came:

 

 

Looking at these photos I notice that I need to find the box with all the detail bits in - the point levers, buffer stops, shunters' bicycles, farm rubbish and so on. There's a couple of bits of the road crossing planking missing as well.

 

Oh well, a job for tomorrow!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Alister_G]

I made some changes to the lighting this evening, by extending the mounting for the lights beyond the front of the layout by a couple of inches. I also turned the lighting bar round, so that the LED strip faces across the layout, instead of downwards. I think this has made a big difference to how the layout looks now, and has banished the shadowy look on the front siding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[NHY 581]

Looking good Al. 

 

Just for comparison  Sheep Dip has two strip lights. 

 

One at the front as per yours and the second approx half way with a baffle in front. 

 

Rob. 

 

[Alister_G]

Thanks Rob, I was going to see what adding a strip of warm white in the middle would do tomorrow.

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

A bit more video:

 

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

I've been doing a bit of Parkside building this morning, a couple of 16 ton minerals to join the throng.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there were two!

 

 

If they look like they are floating, it's because they are sitting on a sheet of plate glass. I always build kits on this, so I know that all the wheels are touching, and nothing's twisted.

 

Need to find my 16 ton minerals decals now, and then I can weather them.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Ooh, wagonage.

Things just keep getting betterer.

 

Mike.

.

[Alister_G]

Decals now applied, and a couple of rusty washes to tone down the newness.

 

 

 

 

Next up, weathering powders.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Al.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[Rowsley17D]

Parkside kits go together very well, nice clean, sharp mouldings. I'm doing some Cambrian PO wagons at the moment which are beginning to show their age.

[Alister_G]

Now with added weathering powders:

 

 

 

 

Al.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Alister_G
replaced images

[sb67]

Very nice Al, did you put any matt varnish on before the powders?  They look like a pair of wagons that have not yet succumbed to the ravages of years of abuse but are work worn all the same, will you weather them further? 

[Rowsley17D]

Nice work Al. I like that they are not too far gone.