Andy_C Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 45 minutes ago, Ch4lkst3r said: No spray paint. Just brush painted prior to ballasting. Oh ok. I sort of fancy doing my track that way. Seems a little less risky. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 Work is continuing on getting the shed finished. Today has seen the start of getting the ash ballast around the shed to "bury" the shed into the ground so it doesn't look like it's floating. While the glue has been drying on that I've been making a pair of water cranes to go out the front of the shed along with modifying some yard lamps. They were purchased from Kytes Lights and I felt the ladders look rather large so they've been removed and some scale ladders from N Brass Locos substituted. Below is a before and after picture (or more precisely an after and before photo!). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) So the steam shed and surrounding area is now finished. The shed took longer than hoped to get it buried nicely so it didn't appear to be floating but I'm finally happy with it. It can be removed if needed for access to the shed interior for cleaning etc. 3 yard lamps and a pair of Ratio water cranes have been installed outside the shed and the track is now all ballasted around the shed. Other bits have been going on in the meantime such as hiding some Dapol easi-shunt magnets (there's one in the road to the right of the shed with a little clue as to it's location - can you guess where it is?!) and slowly ballasting the track elsewhere. Anyway here's a couple of photos of the shed finally installed (the glue on the bushes at the back is still drying that's why you can see some bits of white around them!) Edited January 25, 2023 by Ch4lkst3r 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Davexoc Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2023 4 hours ago, Ch4lkst3r said: can you guess where it is? Between the two bushes? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 1 hour ago, Davexoc said: Between the two bushes? Correct. There's also 2 on the sidings the other side of the shed between the yard lamp and the bushes again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 Having finally finished the shed I have now moved forward to the front edge of the layout. After spending a while choosing between having the station throat track on an embankment or retaining wall I went in the end for a retaining wall so it was time to get on with it! First job was some woodwork to widen the original baseboard top to have somewhere to fasten the signals. I probably should have thought about that when I built the baseboards originally! Some more woodwork to cut some hardboard for the front facia and that was installed and painted (for now). The lower ground was then built up with several layers of card. This is due to this area being where the canal wharf is (to the right of the picture) and these tracks are laid in the cobbles so I had to build it all up to get it level. The card was then covered with Scalescenes printed cobbles before I set on yet more retaining wall. There's a lot around this area! The wall has now been built and glued into place and the left hand edge has been blended in to the higher level with what will become a grass bank. Just need to finish off the parapet walls for the retaining wall and finally finish off the wall on top of the viaduct which has been on the to-do list for a long time! The ballasting of the canal wharf branch is now finished and ballasting of the MPD yard progresses slowly. I prefer to do small bits at a time especially when I'm going round lots of points. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 5, 2023 Author Share Posted March 5, 2023 It's been a while again since the last update. Rubbish shift times at work have meant that progress over the last month has been slower than I would have liked it to be but the layout moves on slowly but here's a little update on what's been happening over the past month. It's been quite a long time since I've run any trains around so I felt it was about time have a clean of the track and give some stock a run out. Unfortunately this highlighted an issue with the 3-way point on the shed. Despite everything having been tested prior to ballasting the area I found an annoying dead section of the one frog area. This should all be joined up within the point by Peco but it appears that something has happened. Fortunately I have managed to solder a wire to the ends of the 2 check rails to fix the issue without being very noticeable. The picture below shows the area highlighted in red that was no longer being powered with the rest of the frog. The green line shows where I added the wire loop which runs under the baseboard. In terms of scenery the MPD has had it's ash ballast completed and the point levers installed. The picture below shows the completed shed area (along with interloping mk. 3 carriages - these are completely out of era for the layout but used for checking clearances!). The empty area at the bottom of the photo is where the ramp for the coaling stage will go. The retaining wall has been completed as well as the wall on the viaduct. The bank at the station end of the retaining wall has had some grass, bushes etc. added and more track has been ballasted over the viaduct towards the station throat and the home signal from the viaduct added and wired in. A couple of photos of that area are below. Currently on the work list is: Making some disc signals. Carry on with ballasting. Make some buildings for the large cobbled area of the canal wharf. Make the crane for the canal wharf. Hopefully the next update will come sooner than this one! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 So job one on the list is done. 8 disc signals finished ready to be installed when needed. Crane slowly being constructed and ballasting progressing but buildings not yet started! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_C Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 9 hours ago, Ch4lkst3r said: 8 disc signals finished ready to be installed when needed. I've not started looking for these yet - where did you get these from? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 11, 2023 Author Share Posted March 11, 2023 1 hour ago, Andy_C said: I've not started looking for these yet - where did you get these from? They're from N Brass locos 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 15, 2023 Author Share Posted March 15, 2023 Crane is now built. Needs painting before it can be added to the canal wharf. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Work has been rather slow but the crane is now installed at the canal wharf. The first couple of disc signals have also been installed although not photographed. 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 Nice work on the crane @Ch4lkst3r; it's quite a fiddly kit. When I did mine I managed to break the jib's fret and ended up with all 4 sides all needing to be stuck back together! 🤪 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 16 hours ago, AndyB said: Nice work on the crane @Ch4lkst3r; it's quite a fiddly kit. When I did mine I managed to break the jib's fret and ended up with all 4 sides all needing to be stuck back together! 🤪 It is indeed, especially the jib as you say. The one side came detached from the top on mine when building despite me being extra careful! Fortunately I managed to glue it all back together too! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJ Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I’ve just found this and really enjoying it. As a fellow N gauger it’s right up my street! I might have missed it - what are the dimensions? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 5 hours ago, TomJ said: I’ve just found this and really enjoying it. As a fellow N gauger it’s right up my street! I might have missed it - what are the dimensions? Tom, It's kind of an L shaped layout running along the two sides of the room although most of the one side consists of the fiddle yard. It's made up of 3 boards so it can be broken apart if it needs to be moved in the future. As it's a bit awkward to explain all the different dimensions I hope this crude drawing explains it! There's an overall picture back in the first post of the boards after track laying which hopefully will tie up with this! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJ Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Thanks. I really like what you’ve done with the space. And I really like the Scalescenes card buildings I have two walls of a box room and an interest in something more than a BLT - hence the questions…….! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 So here's the latest update on what's been going on for the last couple of weeks. The first of the buildings for the canal wharf has been built. Another Scalescenes building in the form of an industrial warehouse as shown in the photo sitting on the wharf cobbles. It's not in it's final resting place as that will be decided once I've made the rest of the buildings and decided where I like them! It's not sat flat as it's sitting on the wires for the lighting. Most of the station throat trackwork has now been ballasted which has meant that I could install the bracket signal which controls access to the main platform or the bay. I've also put a disc signal at the base of the post for shunt moves into occupied platforms although it's not very visible in the picture as they do kind of blend in with all the trackwork and the ballast! I do think I'm going to have to give the post a little weathering as the white posts are a little too white atm. Here's an overview shot of the right hand baseboard where it's now probably 80% complete. You can see the large area waiting to be filled with various industrial buildings at the front. To the left of the board (where the grey areas are) things are kind of dependent on the left hand board having some work done to it. Where the pot is sat is where the coaling stage ramp needs to be built linking up to the 3-way point by the bent bit of card. Where the screwdriver/spoon sit is the end of the station platforms and the unconnected part of the double slip at the bottom will lead to the bay once I've decided on how the station will look. As the coaling stage, station buildings etc. are on the left-hand board these bits will stay like this for a while especially the station bits as I suspect that's going to be the last bit to do! So as there's stuff waiting on the left-hand board it's time to get things started over there so I can carry out things on multiple fronts. I tend to have a few tasks on the go at the same time so you can leave paint/glue to dry etc. and have something else to do. First job on the left-hand board is yet more retaining wall. I've started with the base for the curved section which I made easier by making a former out of some corrugated cardboard to the curve required before gluing the base parts together. Once the glue was dry the former was removed and the wall was nicely in the correct shape. Final picture shows the curved base part of the retaining wall. The rest of the wall is nice and straight so a lot easier! Once the retaining wall is in situ that will enable me to get on with ballasting the track you can see plus the bits off to the left and the coaling stage (once built) can go into the large grey area. That will enable me to build the ramp and now you can hopefully see where it's all going! Current to-do list: Continue with buildings for canal wharf area. Build retaining wall. Ballast/scenic track in front of retaining wall. Build coaling stage and ramp. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 The main part of the left-hand section of the retaining wall is now in place. It still needs the capping/coping stones and wall on top but that will be done when the rest of the town is done. For a bit of a change I've started on some arched retaining wall sections for the far left. The first section is built but won't be glued in place till I've done the rest. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 Well it's over 6 weeks since the last update and what's been happening I hear no-one ask 😉. The main reason that I've not posted on here since the last update is that there hasn't been much going on recently due to work, playing trains at 12 inches to the foot at the SVR diesel gala and the recent good weather meaning that I've been getting the outside jobs list sorted! That's the excuses covered so what's actually been going on in Northbridge. Well the arched retaining wall build continued which took a long time due to having to work out how I could build it as it's not a straight line so has 2 places where I had to work out angles and how the wall would join together. Once I'd worked out how it was going to go round the corner towards the tunnel that made me another job! I had intended to leave the tunnel till later but the way the wall was built meant that I had to make the tunnel otherwise I couldn't fix the wall in place and in turn complete the area by the turntable. As the tunnel is on a corner I decided to make life easier by building the tunnel as if it was a modern extension to the old tunnel under the town built as a cut-and-cover type box tunnel due to the track being on a curve. Here's the tunnel pre-cladding in blue brick and before the top was added. A top was added covered in grimy concrete and today finally has seen the retaining wall and tunnel finally in position as shown below. Now you can see the issue with the angles! The track in the foreground by the blue paint brush handle is the diesel shed area but at the moment these sidings are only in a temporary location hence why they are all over the place! The photo also shows the other job I've been doing. I wasn't happy with how the turntable was sitting so high above the baseboard. It's the standard Peco turntable and originally it was sat with the pit lip on top of the baseboard and the track being packed up to get to the height of the table itself. I didn't like this as it put these tracks too high in comparison with nearby tracks, for example, the track at the back by the wall. So I attacked the baseboard to get the pit lower so that the table was at the same height as the rest of the tracks on the layout. Unfortunately, this meant having to remove and reinstall the DCC interface and motor to the turntable and as the tracks had moved slightly it also needed to be re-configured so this all took a while. While the turntable was removed I took the opportunity to give the pit and table a bit of a facelift. Using the wife's Cricut machine I cut 2 rings of 1mm card which I then covered in diamond blue edging stones to go round the top of the Peco pit edge so that the table now sits level with the edging stones rather than being proud of the crazy paving top of the Peco pit. To match the red brick walls were replaced with blue brick and the pit has had some weeds added and the table given a new rather grimy paint job. The handrails still need to be applied but I'm leaving them for now so they don't get damaged whilst working on nearby things. Buffer stops have also now been added to the turntable spurs and the headshunt by the wall. That's you all up to date again! So what's now on the to-do list: Ballast track by retaining wall and around turntable now the wall is finally complete! Build coaling stage and ramp. Build diesel depot and sort out depot sidings. You may have noticed that canal wharf buildings is no longer on the current list of tasks. They still need to be built but as they are at the front of the layout I've moved that task down the queue at the moment! Hopefully now the outside jobs are done things will move on a bit quicker with the layout again and the next update won't be in another 6 weeks! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted June 30, 2023 Author Share Posted June 30, 2023 Not much has happened for the last couple of weeks as I've been away on holidays followed by a week at Worthy Farm. Was meant to post these couple of photos before leaving but didn't get chance. The p-way team have been in to do some ballasting around the turntable. The coaling stage build is coming along. Here it is sat inside my homemade spray-booth (aka a cardboard box with a circle of card for a turntable!) after a coat of protective varnish. I keep the card bits cut out of the windows to be able to put these back over the windows to prevent frosting from the spray. Now I'm back work continues on finishing the coaling stage. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 The coaling stage is now pretty much complete. Just need to add a ladder up to the roof hatch. Might need to do something with the track either side of it too 😂 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted August 3, 2023 Author Share Posted August 3, 2023 Well it's pretty much a month since the last update and it's been slow progress again. July has been a busy month away from the railway with work and breaks away so not much has been happening. However, the coaling stage is now fitted to the layout and the ramp has been built which was a slightly awkward build as it crosses the baseboard join at an angle so wasn't as straight forward as it could have been! Anyway here's a couple of photos showing the coaling stage and ramp. The ramp is a bit steeper than in real life and the photo does make it look steeper still but it's been tested with the 08 pushing 4 wagons up which it managed easily so I'm happy. Ballasting of the track on the ramp and surrounding area is underway and then some grass/bushes need to be added. The area around the buffer stops by the turntable and along the retaining wall has also had some undergrowth added as can be seen in the background. Current to-do list: Finish ballasting around coal stage and add point levers, scenery etc. Build diesel depot. Make dummy trap point. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 The next update comes a bit quicker this time! Over the weekend the grass has really grown on the ramp to the coaling stage. Just need to add a few bushes to cover up my mistakes like the gap in the wall between the ramp and the coaling stage! Using some bits of rail and after much attacking with grinding wheels and files we now have a dummy catch point at the base of the ramp (awaiting point lever) and a dummy trap point at the exit of the coaling stage/diesel depot roads. The trap point is looking a bit manky at the moment but once it's been weathered up and ballasted I'm hoping that it will look OK. I've also added a zebra crossing to the siding that runs to the buffer stop by the coaling stage. Only joking, it's actually a Dapol easi-shunt magnet with some thin card added on top that once painted up and ballasted will pretty much disappear. In true Blue Peter fashion (the children's TV show not the steam loco!) there's one I made earlier at the top of the ramp at the entrance to the coaling stage (in the first photo) to see what the final result looks like. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ch4lkst3r Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 Well again it's been a while since the last update on activity at Northbridge. That thing called work getting in the way again! Not much has changed since the previous post. The coaling stage has been completed and point levers installed on the tracks behind it. The area for the diesel shed and sidings has been the main area of work. The sidings were laid before but I wasn't happy with how they were looking so they've had a little bit of a re-jig and a pit has been installed on one of the roads. I've also finally got some locos out of their boxes and given them a little run. They're now having a rest in the shed. It highlighted a couple of track issues that weren't there before ballasting/weathering but have thankfully now been resolved. Work continues on the diesel depot and items for that area then there'll be somewhere for the diesels to go! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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