Gateside and Northbridge

[luckymucklebackit]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.  Recently I have been concentrating my posts on individual projects, time for some general views of the layout!!  Panoramic Views of Gateside and Northbridge are very difficult due to the beams in the loft, tried a few with the phone camera, working round the layout....

 

Busy Gateside

 

 

Northbridge Approaches

 

 

Northbridge Station

 

 

Mavisbank Station

 

 

Jim

Edited May 31, 2017 by luckymucklebackit

[MarshLane]

Hi Jim,

Just wandering around rmWeb during a 15-minute break between meetings - oh for some modelling relaxation!  First time i've really come across your layout, its superb.  Do you have a track plan (apologies if I've missed it I'm on my iPhone!) of your layout?  Really has captured the essence of several stations there.  Well done.

 

Rich

[luckymucklebackit]

Thanks Rich - The one thing I don't have is a current track plan, the plans were originally drawn using Star Office Drawing Software which generated files with the extension .art.  Unfortunately the software was designed for WIndows 95 and does not work with WIndows 97.  The original plan has evolved substantially since the layout was conceived.  I need to find software to open these files.

 

Jim

[luckymucklebackit]

More tidying up tonight, filling and packing the odd rough patches and gaps.  Amazing how many flaws that photographs show up that somehow you don't see with the naked eye.  One small embellishment was the addition of some of the cracking speed restriction signs from Eckon, I bought these from Ebay.

 

 

Sorry about the poor photo, just a quick shot with the camera phone

 

Jim

[danstercivicman]

Missed this layout until now-what a gem!

[MarshLane]

Thanks Rich - The one thing I don't have is a current track plan, the plans were originally drawn using Star Office Drawing Software which generated files with the extension .art.  Unfortunately the software was designed for WIndows 95 and does not work with WIndows 97.  The original plan has evolved substantially since the layout was conceived.  I need to find software to open these files.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

Just had a quick search around for you - you need AOL software to open them (you don't need to be online with AOL apparently) and then you can convert them to JPGs.

https://forums.techguy.org/threads/how-to-open-art-files.1129580/

 

That link may help you, and others looks to have had a good result.

 

Yes, I agree. It is quite remarkable what the eye filters out that you just don't see, but take a photograph and there are things that jump out and your left thinking, well how on earth did I miss that!

 

Rich

[luckymucklebackit]

Thanks Rich - I will give that a go!

 

Jim

[luckymucklebackit]

Hi Jim,

Just wandering around rmWeb during a 15-minute break between meetings - oh for some modelling relaxation!  First time i've really come across your layout, its superb.  Do you have a track plan (apologies if I've missed it I'm on my iPhone!) of your layout?  Really has captured the essence of several stations there.  Well done.

 

Rich

 

Never managed to sort out the correct software to update the trackplan, so I did this rough schematic on paint

 

 

Jim

[luckymucklebackit]

Now that the festivities are over, we can get back to the important business of model railways!

 

I spent this evening finishing off the carpentry for a minor extension which will be known as the St Margaret's Shed development, I needed some additional locomotive storage at Northbridge and move the steam locos away from what should be the diesel stabling sidings at the west end of the station.  The result can be seen in the photographs below.  I started with some 12mm ply left over by the builders after a bathroom refurbishment and trimmed this to shape, tapering it off towards the Mavisbank control panel and assembling on a support frame.  On top of the 12mm ply I have then cut a sheet of 5mm ply and extended this below the tenement to provide a single surface onto which lay the track.  A Scalescenes shed has been purchased and printed off to provide the scenic break.

 

 

 

 

With the woodwork complete, I have placed the track in the approximate position to get a flavour of hoe things will go together.

 

 

 

Next session will see the track prepared for laying, point control will be manual, going to try the bicycle spoke method for a change to keep costs down.  As there is no room for a conventional turntable, the black rectangle might give a clue to an alternative solution which will be liberally dosed with modellers license

 

Onwards and upwards

 

Jim

[luckymucklebackit]

As scheduled, it was track preparation work tonight.  There is a modification that I like to make to all my Peco points, I don't like to rely on the wipers for electrical contact so I solder bridge wires on my inxulfrog points (this method will not work with Electrofrog)

 

 

I have never been able to work out why Peco points have a groove on the underside of the fifth sleeper from the end on the straight side, however I gouge a similar groove on the underside of the equivalent sleeper on the other side.

 

 

I solder lengths of wire to the existing frog bridging wires and run the wire to beyond the end of the sleeper as shown, you need to be careful to keep the solder to a minimum to ensure that there is no blob of solder to stop the point sitting on the baseboard

 

 

The wire is then soldered to the outside of the rail and when given a touch of brown paint are practically invisible.

 

 

Of course this destroys the points ability to isolate the track automatically, but an insulated rail joiner and a switched section overcomes this.  Did all the points tonight so tracklaying will commence on Friday evening.

 

Jim

[Alex TM]

Hi Jim,

 

Useful trick.  I do something similar, though I think I may have learned it from you back in the days of a certain club.  Just one question:  will you need more space to accommodate all those ex-NBR C classes that you'll be wanting?

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[luckymucklebackit]

Hi Jim,

 

Useful trick.  I do something similar, though I think I may have learned it from you back in the days of a certain club.  Just one question:  will you need more space to accommodate all those ex-NBR C classes that you'll be wanting?

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

 

Hi Alex - yep this depot will be home to at least one J36, hopefully from July if Hattons forecast is correct, I have pre ordered "Haig" but may well get another if they release a late logo version/

 

Jim

.;

[luckymucklebackit]

Tonight was a bit of a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of a night.  Straight away I discovered I had only two insuiating rail joiners in my stock, not nearly enough for tracklaying.  So I t did a mock up to position the holes for the point actuators.  I drilled an 8mm hole in the required positions and marked out a line to the edge to position the holes to take the bicycle spokes.  am 4mm hole in the frame was required to take the spoke

 

 

My initial idea was to use pins for the actuators, but I had difficulty fixing them to the spokes.  A quick delve into the stock box brought up some 0.8 brass rod that I bought last year, this is quite stiff so I coiled a loop round the spoke and then threaded the spoke through the hoie that was formed once the spoke was in place.  This was then soldered

 

 

 

 

 

I tried a point in place and the mechanism works fine, will finish this off on Monday, will get down to the Uddinston Model Centre tomorrow for insulating rail joiners.

 

Jim

[Legend]

Jim, finally got a chance to read through your layout thread after coming across your link in the Model Rail Scotland thread. What a terrific layout . You have done what many fail to do and captured the Glasgow and Edinburgh scene very well . That tenement is excellent . The layout just oozes 60s Glaswegian charm.

[luckymucklebackit]

Jim, finally got a chance to read through your layout thread after coming across your link in the Model Rail Scotland thread. What a terrific layout . You have done what many fail to do and captured the Glasgow and Edinburgh scene very well . That tenement is excellent . The layout just oozes 60s Glaswegian charm.

 

 

Thanks Legend, still trying to get the latest bit of the layout finished, been struggling with a cold which has subdued my modelling desires

 

Jim

[Marly51]

I have finished off a cutting blank/brick paper for a Glasgow Tenement. This will become a building which will sit opposite Gateside Buchanan Street Station as a scenic break, in place of the current area of scrub. In the absence of a suitable card kit or even a currently available brick paper, the building is based on an actual scale drawing of a Glasgow Tenement, with the stonework pattern copied from Streetview and the brick colours sampled from the same source, although I then washed the colours through an editor to darken the brick up as 99% of modern tenements have been sand blasted to remove the years of soot and dirt and they now look distinctly "redder" than the 1960s period in which the layout is based. One thing that I have discovered during my research is that there is no such thing as a "standard" Glasgow Tenement, there are many variations in window layout, sandstone colour and general finishing features so this is once again a bit of a compromiseI then added features like the old shop sign and doors harvested from photographs on "Urban Glasgow" and "Hidden Glasgow". Lot of work to do as I want to try and capture a run-down "distressed" building with a grotty Glasgow Pub typical of the period. The windows that are surrounded by a rather neutral beige will have bay windows added in front which will have their own stonework, the grey areas will have ledges and cornices added as overlaystenament with pub and shops.jpg.Jim

I’m experimenting with scratchbuilding/designing buildings as well - quite involved process, as you say, but very rewarding.

 

Marlyn

[Marly51]

It is with great relief that I can announce that the tenement building is finished, I took it down to the garden yesterday evening to take some shots of it in natural light, as the flash sometimes makes it look unnatural.The back is a total fudge, I took some screenshots from the rear of a tenement that overlooks one of the stations on the Cathcart Circle and printed it off on a sheet of A3, it is all that it needs as it will be very difficult to see once the building is on the layout.Jim

Great result - just found your layout thread. Very impressed with your layout.

 

Marlyn

[danstercivicman]

Tonight was a bit of a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of a night. Straight away I discovered I had only two insuiating rail joiners in my stock, not nearly enough for tracklaying. So I t did a mock up to position the holes for the point actuators. I drilled an 8mm hole in the required positions and marked out a line to the edge to position the holes to take the bicycle spokes. am 4mm hole in the frame was required to take the spoke

 

 

My initial idea was to use pins for the actuators, but I had difficulty fixing them to the spokes. A quick delve into the stock box brought up some 0.8 brass rod that I bought last year, this is quite stiff so I coiled a loop round the spoke and then threaded the spoke through the hoie that was formed once the spoke was in place. This was then soldered

 

 

 

 

 

I tried a point in place and the mechanism works fine, will finish this off on Monday, will get down to the Uddinston Model Centre tomorrow for insulating rail joiners.

 

Jim

Clever idea using the spokes Edited March 5, 2018 by danstercivicman

[luckymucklebackit]

As always guys I appreciate the kind comments

 

Jim

[luckymucklebackit]

Progress has been made with the new steam shed for Northbridge, I built up the card to sleeper height and added the sand to give the initial texture, I filled the voids between the sleepers with Hornby dark grey grit which is finer than most ballast and therefore more prototypical for steam sheds where ash was the most common method of bedding in track.  I sprayed the whole lot matt black and then applied Peco coal dust to bring up the highlights.

 

 

I finally go round to assembling the home made static grass applicator that I bought the parts for last summer (fly zapper+metal tea strainer) and was amazed to see that it works quite well with the static grass that I bought at the Glasgow show.  Bear in mind that this is my first attempt at static grass so I probably need more practise, the buffer stop also needs straightened up!

 

 

Or using the flash

 

 

That's all for now

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[gordon s]

It is with great relief that I can announce that the tenement building is finished, I took it down to the garden yesterday evening to take some shots of it in natural light, as the flash sometimes makes it look unnatural.

 

 

 

The back is a total fudge, I took some screenshots from the rear of a tenement that overlooks one of the stations on the Cathcart Circle and printed it off on a sheet of A3, it is all that it needs as it will be very difficult to see once the building is on the layout.

 

 

Jim

 

Just stumbled across your thread Jim and seeing these buildings, brought memories of my summers spent in Glasgow flooding back.  My grand parents lived in Thornliebank in a newer version of a tenement block and I used to take the tram from Thornliebank into Glasgow several times each week to go on my spotting pilgrimages of Central, St Enoch, Buchanan St and Queen Street stations. As someone from North London every single loco was a rarity.  Thought I'd died and gone to heaven as a 10 year old....

 

The tram journey in through Pollokshaws, Shawlands Cross and Eglington Toll was lined with the sandstone tenement blocks that you have modelled.

 

Time to start from page 1 and enjoy the rest of your layout.

[luckymucklebackit]

Hi Everyone from a very snowy Eaglesham, looks more like January outside rather than April, we are almost exactly on the 200m contour line so when it says snow above 200m - we get it!   Before I position the new depot in its place on the layout I wanted to improve the embankment behind Mavisbank Locomotive Depot as it had been one of the first parts of the layout that I had applied scenic materials to, and it shows.  Before the snow fell I had managed to prune off last years Hydrangea flowers and salvaged quite a few for tree making purposes.  I went into mass production mode last night and made about fourteen trees and planted them on the embankment.

 

 

 

 

That retaining wall still looks poor though but I think that I will leave it.

 

The depot facia, done last week.

 

 

Hope to get the depot into place later this week.

 

Cheers all

 

Jim

[Signaller69]

The new depot is looking great Jim, a super addition to the layout. Really like the mess office and "drive through" water tower, latter is a great space saving idea.

 

As such it could almost be a neat stand alone micro-layout!

 

Martyn.

[luckymucklebackit]

The new depot is looking great Jim, a super addition to the layout. Really like the mess office and "drive through" water tower, latter is a great space saving idea.

 

As such it could almost be a neat stand alone micro-layout!

 

Martyn.

 

Thanks Martyn - The original idea was to have it as a removable section in the event of something going badly wrong at the back corner of the layout, but it was a the back of my mind when I started the build that if I set it up that it could be a stand alone or be modified to plug into something smaller then in the event of the big layout having to be dismantled then I would have something to operate.  The wife often takes unpredictable flights of fancy about moving to the coast so it might be best to plan ahead.  I do have an outstanding idea to build a removable inglenook above the fiddle yard as another potential standalone project.

 

Jim

[Marly51]

Hi Everyone from a very snowy Eaglesham, looks more like January outside rather than April, we are almost exactly on the 200m contour line so when it says snow above 200m - we get it!   Before I position the new depot in its place on the layout I wanted to improve the embankment behind Mavisbank Locomotive Depot as it had been one of the first parts of the layout that I had applied scenic materials to, and it shows.  Before the snow fell I had managed to prune off last years Hydrangea flowers and salvaged quite a few for tree making purposes.  I went into mass production mode last night and made about fourteen trees and planted them on the embankment.

 

Cheers all

 

Jim

Congratulations on tree production Jim. I have a stash to produce for two layouts and already made a first attempt on about ten which still need some tweaking! Just returned to the sunny Northern Highlands myself! Had to dig out my friend’s car in Balerno yesterday after the snow storm!

 

Marlyn