Hinksey Yard (c.2010)

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

Following on from Brian's very useful photo of the Abingdon Road (Red) bridge, Andy has now repainted the bridge:

 

And added some foliage (the odd white patches are wet glue):

 

He's had the foliage in stock since the 80's and said it was originally a hedge:

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

Some more progress as Steve has started on the ballast pile:

Ignore the stray tank next to Bill's excavator (it's fallen off an MOD train).

 

 

The white plastic strip in front is the base for the barrier fence.

 

Meanwhile, I have acquired a Silloutte cutter and made another attempt on the northern footbridges stairs this time from 10 thou plastic card layers:

 

Starting with 12 layers (three for each side)

 

Bonded into the four sides of the staircases.

 

The cutter has handled the small sizes very well.

 

Now to add the steps and mesh sides.which fit between the inner and outer layers of the sides.

 

Each week sees a little more scenic progress, so we should be ready for our next outing to Warley in November.

 

Cheers,

Dave

 

[ess1uk]

looking great.

[roundhouse]

Dave

 

Look forward to seeing the layout again at Warley - I wonder if they will put Banbury next to Hinskey yard. Just need some one to do Oxford station to fit in between!!

 

Ian

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

A question - the yard has a large number of lights on post of different heights:

 

Can anyone tell me the size of the heads, the different post diameters and approximate heights of the two styles shown. I'm guessing the shorter ones are about 14ft high.

 

I'm sure adding them will make track cleaning a nightmare 

 

Many thanks,

 

Cheers,

Dave

[roundhouse]

Dave

 

This is what we use to clean the tracks.

Might be useful to avoid the lamps when you install them

 

http://www.micromark.com/n-gauge-track-cleaner,8310.html

 

We have put clips in the lighting pelmet so it can clip in there for transport / storage

 

Ian

[Grafarman]

Dave

 

This is what we use to clean the tracks.

Might be useful to avoid the lamps when you install them

 

http://www.micromark.com/n-gauge-track-cleaner,8310.html

 

We have put clips in the lighting pelmet so it can clip in there for transport / storage

 

Ian

 

Now that's a good idea; do you know if it's available in the UK?  A quick Google didn't bring that one up...

 

Thanks

 

 

David

[roundhouse]

Model Junction do get the Micromark items in now and again.

 

To order from USA the shipping is quite pricy unless a few people group together to buy them.

 

They do spare ends in various scales. Its worth buying some of these at the same time as they do wear out quickly when doing quite a few shows.

[bobster]

Hi Dave

 

At a guess I would say those large posts are about 30/32ft in height and the Heads approx 2ft across - Diameter looks about 4/5" with the base diameter between 6/8" - this takes into account the Increased height - Only my thoughts of course, and I may be completely wrong

 

The diameter for new standard lamp posts in my area is 3" and the larger diameter at the bottom is 5", and stcks out of the ground about 3ft 6".

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers.

Bob.

Edited March 6, 2014 by bobster

[Dave Searle]

Thanks Bob, that's close to what we estimated.

 

Ian, I think we might make up a similar track cleaning device.  We already have a couple of Minitrix track cleaning wagons for difficult to get to areas, so that would be another tool in our armoury.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Oldddudders]

The prototype often hinges lighting columns, so maintenance can be undertaken. Is that an option for you when cleaning track? 

[big jim]

i got to hinksey last night and realised i'd left my tape at home, was going to measure the shorter ones for you!!

 

next time im there i'll try and remember but im not on it this coming week

[roundhouse]

The prototype often hinges lighting columns, so maintenance can be undertaken. Is that an option for you when cleaning track? 

 

I suspect that would make them more fragile.

 

Ben A did mention a while back that he uses magnets on the bottom of fragile masts so if they get knocked then they tend to just fall over. That might be a possibility  fto consider for these tall lights.

 

i build the poles out of brass rod and the wider bottom bit out of brass tube. The lamps are often shaped styrene .

 

i tend to do more damage to my self on the brass and if the lamps break then they can be glued back together with solvent then superglue to put them back on the top.

 

I am considering  3D printed lamp tops in the future

 

Hope the above helps with some ideas.

 

 

Ian

Edited March 7, 2014 by roundhouse

[Dave Searle]

We were thinking of possibly plugging them in using a small plug & socket, which would help with the track cleaning and replacement of damaged ones. One of the guys is determined to make them work!

 

Ben's idea sounds worth following up but they would have to be non-working then.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Dave Searle]

i got to hinksey last night and realised i'd left my tape at home, was going to measure the shorter ones for you!!

 

next time im there i'll try and remember but im not on it this coming week

 

Hi Jim,

 

That would be great if you can next time you're there - many thanks,

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi there,

 

We've only used magnets in the really tall, but delicate, lighting yard towers and Mobile phone mast. And as you say, magnets would probably preclude them working.

 

A thought: if you're going to light them with fibre optics, what about having the posts simply push into a hole in the baseboard. If the fibre optics are very slightly over length (the extra length hidden below the baseboard) then the posts could just be pulled out to lay beside the track for cleaning, and the fibre optic would stop them falling off or being lost.

 

Cheers

 

Ben A.

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

Brian S & Steve have been extending the afforestation at the north (Oxford) end.  This is the "hidden" exit to the fiddle yard through the backscene:

 

Andy has been busy with more trees at the south (Didcot) end (ignore the "tumble weed" on the track):

 

Brian H has been detailing the stream near the copse between the tracks:

 

Steve has made a test piece for the barrier fence in front of the ballast pile to check heights and appearance:

 

And I'm making progress with the northern foot bridge steps using a very fine 100 TPI stainless steel mesh:

 

Cheers,

Dave

[D1059]

Andy has been busy with more trees at the south (Didcot) end (ignore the "tumble weed" on the track):

2014-04-02-south-01.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

 

And there I was thinking what a good representation of the modern railway it was

[bobster]

Looks good - Nice modelling.

 

Cheers, Bob.

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

I finally finished the northern foot bridge:

 

And then gave it a coat of grey ready for weathering:

 

A useful morning.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[Gloucester Road]

That looks brilliant.

[bobster]

A super looking modern footbridge - Top work there Dave.

 

Cheers, Bob.

[Steadfast]

Nice work on the footbridge Dave, easily recognisable from a visit there a few months back!

 

jo

[Dave Searle]

Hi,

 

Another enjoyable working Saturday and we cleared away the paint brushes to have a look at where we are:

 

You can see Steve's new modifications to our add-on front "mini-boards". The 2 inch square aluminium now has a low perspex shield added to prevent us damaging the scenery when removing them from the layout. He and Brian H have also started adding scenery to them. Most trees are in place, but we need to do a bit of weeding out of some which don't look quite right, but we're nearly there. Andy has nearly stopped making trees in his sleep. There is still a lot of undergrowth infill to add which Brian S is working on.

 

A view looking northwards over the south part of the yard.

 

Brian S has finished his scratch-built Pylon:

 

I've weathered the north footbridge and put it temporarily in place, Mike has repainted the backscene to fit in with the bridge:

 

Steve and Andy have finished the barrier fence and we test fitted it.

 

So we are making good progress.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[roundhouse]

Dave

 

It's really looking good now.

 

How are you getting on with the 3D printed 165's?

 

I still need to sort out decals for my unit.

 

Ian