vac_basher Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Disaster today! I must have miscalculated the sleepers per yard of track, as I seem to have put 116 in a yard, rather than 96. I noticed after it had all been glued down, so I'll have to remove some of them somehow. [Edit: I didn't miscalculate them after all. I've only just realized that I was spacing them at 8.5mm between sleepers, not center to center! How could I make such a stupid error Also the track I've laid isn't flat as I wanted it with cant. But I think I might have given it too much cant. So I'm not sure if I'm happy with this. However I have ballasted it all. We'll see how this looks tomorrow after I've removed the excess ballast. In the worst case scenario I'll just have to take it all up and do it again with normal Peco track, as I don't fancy having to paint all the chairs again or adjust the cant. I'm very worried about this. Running total:- £78 aprox. 20 hours P.S.: I'm pleasently surprised this topic has had over 500 views since yesterday . After such a dreadful day that gives me some motivation to keep on going on with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 14, 2010 Author Share Posted May 14, 2010 I'm so annoyed with how this has all gone wrong. And all because of one silly miscalculation! I've ripped the track up and I'm going to replace it with Peco Code 75, even if the sleeper spacing is wrong. This was supposed to be a quick little project. I was hoping to have it all finished by this weekend. This is what was under the excess ballast. The sleepers are at 1.2mm center to center like that (should have been 8.5). So that was unacceptable. And I thought the cant was too pronounced. So I took it all up. And these are what remains of the sleepers I spent so much time painting. Seriously very unhappy about this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
43179 Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Better to rip it up sooner rather than later if your unhappy with it - you know it makes sense! Hvae you seen the sea wall model at Pendon Museum by any chance ? Its well worth a visit. The Faller stonework and the three arched bridge look very nice - Ive not heard of Aughen before - can I ask where it came from? - The coarse stonework on it looks just right for the westcountry - looks like it might suit an N gauge structure I need for Bodmin. tfn Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Don't give up - I know how disheartening it can be to have to 'redo' something - especially when it's your first attempt at something a little out of the ordinary. I would encourage you to take a deep breath, and try the handlaid track again. You know exactly what you did wrong, so you'll know how to get it right next time. I'm sure every one of us could recount pages and pages of things that we've messed up in our modelling over the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 14, 2010 Author Share Posted May 14, 2010 To rip it up seems to be the only thing to do with it. I wasn't familiar with Aughen before either, but I was very impressed with this kit (no instructions in English though ). I got it on eBay. I'd imagine you'd be able to get double track on it in N gauge. It's just over 6cm wide and 13cm tall. I'd imagine two of these kits together would make an impressive structure in N. Would you like more detailed pics of it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Hiya Max cant on the real thing scales out at 2mm over rails. For a model half a mm will be enough to show. Also make sure the track is supported under the rails not at the sleeper ends as the track can bow and go under gauge. I understand your frustration but trust me - it would have looked far too much the way you had it. Better to start again. Try soaking your sleepers in warm water to remove the glue - at least you can then salvage them for wagon loads. Cheers Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 14, 2010 Author Share Posted May 14, 2010 Try soaking your sleepers in warm water to remove the glue - at least you can then salvage them for wagon loads. Thanks Jim. I'll have to go and fish them out the bin then.... I've been painting the cliffs and doing the grass this afternoon. The tin of paint I used on the cliffs was supposedly terracocha, but looks more salmon than terracocha to me Such a shame about the track though . Running total:- £96 aprox. 22 hours Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 15, 2010 Author Share Posted May 15, 2010 Righty-ho! We're back on track (no pun intended ) with this little project! Late last night I assembled a yard of track. I made a "special" sleeper spacing tool, and this time I made sure I was measuring from center to center. I glued that down, added a bit of ballast, and let it all set over night. This morning I ballasted the track properly and also gave the grass another coat of scatter. This evening I've been painting some more sleepers and by this time tomorrow I hope to have the Up Line finished too. My track is not great, but it's certainly better than what I had yesterday. I've got the other side of the bridge, trees, foliage, etc. on order, so hopefully this should all be finished mid-next week sometime (I'm looking forward to having a meal on the kitchen table again). I'm again quite excited about this. B) Running total:- £96 aprox. 28 hours A bit better? (The ballast that's stuck onto the rails and sleepers has since been removed) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Well done for persevering. I've always shyied away from using anything except Peco track - but I might possibly just be tempted to have a go based on your results and experiences. Nervous about pointwork though! My plan idea needs about 10... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Traxson Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Well done for persevering. I've always shyied away from using anything except Peco track - but I might possibly just be tempted to have a go based on your results and experiences. Nervous about pointwork though! My plan idea needs about 10... Don't be nervous of pointwork. It's probably 25 years since I built my first one, a copperclad kit, in at the deep end and made the largest radius curved point that they did, loads of filing on the long blades and a pig to set up over the crossing but after that it got easy. I went on to build about 30 for myself and a dozen or more for a club layout, including a double slip on a curve! Take your time, check and double check gauge and clearances as you go and you'll find that they are more tedious than difficult. If you see Mickleover M.R.G.'s "Farkham" about at exhibitions, the lo-ong point on the mainline was about the last 4mm point I made, again the long crossing was the most difficult to set up so that there was no big wheel drop, just takes patience. (and the ability to walk away and come back later when it's not going quite right!) Phil T. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Well done for persevering. I've always shyied away from using anything except Peco track - but I might possibly just be tempted to have a go based on your results and experiences. Nervous about pointwork though! My plan idea needs about 10... Even though I didn't use it, I'd recommend the sleeper spacing tool that was mentioned earlier in this topic. I'd imagine it would have been useful for even the 2 yards of track I had to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 A new puppy had my attention all day today. But I managed to have a session tonight of about 2 hours. In which I made, and laid the track on the up line. No pics right now as my batteries are flat. I'm pleased I managed to salvage all the track, as this project is already way over budget. Both as a memo for myself and perhaps of interest to my followers (300 views today B) ), let's see what we have left to do then: (not in any particular order) * ballast up line * touch up ballast down line and subsequently up line too. * add rocks to rockery (paint slope first) * finish building bridge (awaiting kit, as I didn't realize it was suitable only for single track) * trees/bushes * fences/railings? * sand (beach) * glue retaining walls in place * construct tunnel mouth * close tunnel hole? * paint rails, as allot of the paint seems to have come off. * source suitable stonework for walkway wall * paint lane/harbor * secure backscences/cliffs Running total:- £102 aprox. 31 hours Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Just out of interest, what was your overall time and money budget for this project? I'd hate to think how much of both I'd spent the number of times I've scrapped something and started again. Thankfully XTrackCAD is saving me a lot of both as I can fiddle about with no money spent at all making everything fit as there's nothing more annoying than doing something then finding out that what you thought might fit is just an inch too big or too short and you have to start all over again. The purchase of a 2ft steel rule this weekend will make marking everything out a lot easier too - just need to get to the DIY shop for a cheap tin of emulsion to paint the boards (partly to cover all my previous layout markings) and seal the surface so I can start transferring out my plans on to the wood. As long as I have a few key points in the right place everything else should line up quite nicely as it's mostly straight track (sidings) although of course there's definitely some opportunities for tweaking too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimleygrid Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Vac_Basher; it is always very frustrating when you make a mistake (slight understatement as it can really make you mad, or is that just me!) but you have put it right and once it is finished it will be a distant memory. Sometimes you just have these days where things just do not seem to go right……….Still well worth all the time and effort. I look forward to seeing photos of the track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Cool Pic of the puppy please! Cheers Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 Just out of interest, what was your overall time and money budget for this project? One week, putting in a couple of hours a day. So let's say 15 - 20 odd hours. And I would have thought it wouldn't have cost more than £70 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 One week, putting in a couple of hours a day. So let's say 15 - 20 odd hours. And I would have thought it wouldn't have cost more than £70 I think most of us here can probably identify with that ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 Today I ballasted the Up Line. I didn't quite have enough ballast, so I had to mix some N scale ballast in with it, and as it's of a diffrent colour I'm not quite sure how it's going to turn out. The N scale ballast is so fine that it's all gone soggy, so I really want to let that dry out properly for a day or two before removing the excess. Other than that all I've done today was add some grass to the cliffs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was horrified with what I discovered under the excess ballast this morning! Mixing OO scale and N scale ballast wasn't a good idea. Plus it seems I also used to much glue.... It looked so bad I thought I'd have to rip this line up too. However, it seems I've been able to salvage it by carving off some of the ballast. After the pics were taken I gave it another coat, as the glue underneath the original surface was still a bit sticky. This isn't going to be great, but hopefully it will just about be ok. Fingers crossed. The bridge has arrived and I've begun constructing it, although it appears I have a problem with the alignment as I planned to have it at an angle. So, I'll have to work a bit on that. I've also made a mock up of the basic shape of tunnel mouth, which will aid me with the construction of it. We're getting there! Running total:- £130 aprox. 35 hours Far too much glue. Horrific. A bit better? Not quite fitting in as planned. Template for tunnel mouth. The side parts look a bit narrow, don't they? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie!! Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Hi Vac Basher, Im really enjoying your layout your doing some fantastic work! Im also using the N gauge ballast and have found it difficult to work with, it must be a skill to get it right because I never do! Keep up the good work! Regards Georgie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 19, 2010 Author Share Posted May 19, 2010 Hello. Today I've added some trees and some foliage. I still have to do something about the bridge. Going to make the tunnel portal now. Running total:- £161.50 aprox. 38 hours Trees & bushes. Tree in perspective with a Vac Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 19, 2010 Author Share Posted May 19, 2010 Running total:- £171 aprox. 39 hours (+ 2 hours cleaning up the mess in the kitchen That ballast gets everywhere! ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 I've had a very productive day on the diorame. I wasn't too happy with the grass embankments. To me the grass I'd "sown" looked more like golf course grass, rather than what one would expect to see by the lineside. So I sorted that out with some lichen. I'm not sure if I went a bit over the top with it though, as it now looks very overgrown! Next I finished assembling the bridge, only to find that it would be impossible to get it in place . (If I could go back, I think I'd probably build everything around the bridge, rather than save the bridge till last). So I had to disassemble a great deal of it and practically build it in-situ . What a job that was! While doing this I also managed to slice my thumb open with my craft knife . I was so absorbed with getting the bridge finished that I just cellotaped my thumb together. I think it might possibly could have done with a stitch or two.... The bridge still needs some tweaks to get it all perfectly aligned, but my patience has expired with that for today. I've glued all the walls I had cut out in to place (including the backs of the bridge trackside walls, something I often notice gets overlooked on allot of layouts) And I've also added some bricks to the footpath wall, on top of the seawall. In real life that's a stone wall but I haven't been able to find any stonework that looks appropriate, so for now I've done it in brick. I can always change it at a later date. And last, but not least, although not shown in the pics (apologies for the poor quality tonight, I didn't use my good camera), I also added some grass to the trackbed next to the walls. So that's just about the major scenics done. I think another couple of sessions and we might just have this wrapped up. Running total:- £183 aprox. 46 hours General view of the diorame (please excuse the ashtray ) To much lichen? The sea wall has now been fixed in place. As have all the other walls. I'd originally planned to have the bridge pillars and arches each all connected, but as my trackbed was slightly too wide (and I don't really have the necessary equipment to trim it) I've had to alter the bridge, so that basically each track has it's own set of pillars. As you can see that still needs fine tuning as it's still not quite aligned perfectly. This is Smugglers Harbor, behind the bridge. I couldn't remember what it's like in real life, nor could I find any pics of it, so I've improvised a bit here And that's what caused me to slice the old thumb open Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 I've just added a bit more lichen and done a few odd jobs. As you can see I've also added some railings. Hopefully I'll take it all outdoors during the next few days and get some better pics. Going to see whee I can buy some sand now. Running total:- £183 aprox. 49 hours That's looking a bit better now. Railings. Double headed cromptons! B) Tractor, light engine to St Blazey? Better pics coming soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Almost finished The past few days I've added sand to the beach, and painted the tops/sides of the walls. All that's really left to do now is add some stones to the rock embankment near the tunnel. However I feel it's still lacking something, I don't know what though. Suggestions? Running total:- £193 aprox. 53 hours Just the rocks missing now. 50019 encounters 33004 50018 crosses Smugglers Bridge 50019 and 50018 make a light engine movement to Laira Unusual sighting on the sea wall: Kestrel. Did HS4000 ever make it to the West Country? This one's for Glourious NSE 50033 for Glourious NSE again 33004 emerges from Parsons Tunnel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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