'O' gauge ? first tentative steps. Corrugated goods shed part 3: Painting and weathering

[David Siddall]

Happy new year to you too David. Liking the new plan, have you moved now?

Thanks Barnaby... but no, we're staying put. Thoughts of moving have been put away in the cupboard labelled wishful thinking. However, even though I've still got a reasonably sized room to model in researches into what can be achieved in a modest space and on a very modest budget resulted in an enthusiasm to try something no more than 8' long including fiddle yard using only the smallest of standard gauge motive power a few wagons and no passenger traffic whatsoever.

 

 

Glad to see renewed inspiration in O gauge. One question, with an A5 and that trackplan, how will you be running round, or is it a push-pull set up? Smashing progress thus far.

Thanks Sean... the wonderful thing about Croft is that it was an ultra-compact single-ended goods yard into which wagons were always propelled, the perfect prototype (IMO) to use as inspiration for a small space shunting layout . Here's a link to a photo of a J94 propelling wagons into the real Croft. :-)

 

TTFN...

 

David

[switcher 1]

Croft = Inglenook - size of layout still dependant on size of turnouts.

 

Edit: For a few extra inches on the headshunt you can use any loco(s) you like.

[Rob Pulham]

 

Thanks Sean... the wonderful thing about Croft is that it was an ultra-compact single-ended goods yard into which wagons were always propelled, the perfect prototype IMO to use as inspiration for a small space shunting layout . Here's a link to a photo of a J94 propelling wagons into the real Croft. :-)

 

TTFN...

 

David

 A cracking picture David, by coincidence I received a kit to build a J94 for Christmas.

[CME and Bottlewasher]

Hi David/Fellas,

 

Happy and prosperous New Year to you all.

 

Looking forward to the progress David, nice work!

 

Kindest,

 

CME

[David Siddall]

A cracking picture David, by coincidence I received a kit to build a J94 for Christmas.

Thanks Rob... if it's in 7-mil I look forward to seeing the outcome. I, on the other hand, have all sorts of bits crossed in the hope that DJ Models succeed with their 'OO' r-t-r model and go ahead with their proposal to produce one in the senior scale. The chances are (he said only slightly tongue-in-cheek) that if they do it'll probably arrive before Dapol's 08!

 

Croft = Inglenook - size of layout still dependant on size of turnouts. Edit: For a few extra inches on the headshunt you can use any loco(s) you like.

I'm rather pleased that I'll be building an 'Inglenook' Mac – albeit  I didn't realise I was! However if we're talking equations here is one which fits my plan: fewer inches of loco length = fewer of our English pounds, an important consideration when there's not a lot of dosh around. Apart from anything else I suspect anything bigger than a small 0-6-0 tender engine and four wagons might be a bit hefty for Croft's minimalist facilities – see photo.

 

And here we have further evidence of near terminal meanness, I mean prudence! A foam sleeping roll from the days when we used to camp (before I became older, creakier and hence a caravan convert) recycled as underlay. It's a very similar in density to commercial underlay and seems to do the job rather well – it's just a bit (well) blue. I stuck it down with some left-over spray carpet adhesive which worked equally effectively. Important note... if trying this I'd suggest the type of adhesive that's intended for foam back carpets otherwise the results might be a bit of a sticky mess :-/.

 

 

And finally for today... the timber baulks (9mm square ramin) over the coal drops ready to have their rails attached.

 

 

All in all not a bad afternoon...

 

TTFN

 

David

[Donw]

Good to see you making progress again. One thing with a layout like that you can make good use of quite a lot of locos the J94 or an 08 or perhaps the terrier., a dock tank, Ixon's fowler or the industrial tank or one of them diseasels.

Don

[Barnaby]

Verrrrrry nice David.  I have 3 of those matts 1 yellow, 1 dark olive green and 1 grey which I had been thinking about using one of them.  I was going to use double sided carpet tape across the board every 18ins or so but after some test I have gone for track laid straight on top of my 9mm thick ply board.   Test didn't show any real noise saving as the base boards act as a sound box amplifier.  Better sound deadening was had when white foam was added under the boards. 

Still thinking about how to do this and allow access to points and wires at the same time.  Clip in snug panels seems the best if a bit messy which will probably mean I don't bother and just turn the radio/tv/railway sound track up a bit more.

 

Yours does look snug though.

 

Regards

[David Siddall]

I have gone for track laid straight on top of my 9mm thick ply board.   Test didn't show any real noise saving as the base boards act as a sound box amplifier.  Better sound deadening was had when white foam was added under the boards. 

Still thinking about how to do this and allow access to points and wires at the same time.  Clip in snug panels seems the best if a bit messy which will probably mean I don't bother and just turn the radio/tv/railway sound track up a bit more.

Have you ballasted yet Barnaby because that's when the noise issue struck during my last attempt. Packing the boards from underneath did help but not hugely in my case as they were super-light-weight (3mm throughout) and therefore performed exactly as you describes... as highly effective 'sound-box amplifiers'.

 

This time I was determined try some kind of underlay having seen an article some time ago in which Norman Soloman laid track on a sheet of quite thick closed-cell foam so that it was both secure yet acoustically insulated from the baseboard tops. I've also seen the technique deployed in a couple of in-build layouts on here using the type of foam which goes under laminate flooring. Other techniques which were recommended when I was discussing the racket my previous boards produced was not to have solid tops and to use Copydex not PVA for securing ballast.

 

D

[Barnaby]

Thank you David.

 

For my small test I used carpet tape to hold the foam down then spots of neat copydex to hold the track in position and watered down copydex to hold the ballast in place.

 

I was involved many moons ago when I was working at Liverpool University Electrical/electronic research dept with some experimentation into "noise abatement" or sound quashing.  I recall they had a room that you could go into and SCREAM but you couldn't hear your own voice, rather startling to say the least.

 

This was done by all surfaces having adjustable egg box style panels and I remember some work on reflection so that a harmonic at 1/2 wavelength would cancel the noise nearly completely I think. 

Now combining all these I wonder if I don.t have any holes ie I fit a solid but removable piece to my base board would that kill the sound box effect because it has nowhere to go but bounce back and forth trapped inside eventually nulling itself.  Or add the egg box absorbing material to further crush the unwanted sound.  Or is it just not worth all the hassle.

 

I need a further play I think and I still like your all over foam covering which looks great and I do have 3 similar mats myself.

 

Regards 
 

[Warspite]

David

 

Happy New Year.

 

Wow, you don't hang about, do you! This is coming on very nicely and a really interesting and evocative prototype. Coal drops make attractive models with the variation in height adding extra perspective, especially in a relatively small location. Good choice.

 

In my youth (a long time ago ......), I had a small rake of OO coal hoppers with working discharge doors which were activated by rather over scale 'triggers'. It was the only gimmick I had as I resisted the operating giraffe wagon which lowered the giraffe's head as it approached a tunnel! Happy days! Perhaps you could replicate something in O gauge - the coal wagons that is, not the giraffe!

 

Glad you got your 7mm mojo back. Can't wait to see this one develop.

 

Best wishes.

 

Stephen

[Donw]

While working for Xpelair as a development engineer I used a sound proofed room to measure noise levels. The room was supported on rubber and the walls had these tapering firbreglass wedges so that no sound would be reflected.  However this is rather ott for a layout. I find some noise or rumble from wheels running along the rails quite acceptable. What I do not enjoy is motor gearboxes that sound noisy and hence prefer decent gearboxes that run quiet.

Don

[David Siddall]

Happy New Year... Coal drops make attractive models with the variation in height adding extra perspective, especially in a relatively small location. Good choice.

 

In my youth (a long time ago ......), I had a small rake of OO coal hoppers with working discharge doors which were activated by rather over scale 'triggers'. It was the only gimmick I had as I resisted the operating giraffe wagon which lowered the giraffe's head as it approached a tunnel! Happy days! Perhaps you could replicate something in O gauge - the coal wagons that is, not the giraffe!

 

Thanks Stephen, and Happy New Year bakatcha. Good to see your 50014 profile pic' again :-)

 

The thought of how to operate the drops convincingly has crossed my mind – especially after I discovered that the DJH 'Piercy' range includes a suitable timber-bodied LNER hopper wagon in kit form.

 

Actually, the 'Piercy' range also includes the slope-sided timber version and both the welded and rivetted steel hoppers (albeit the latter are in brass which has me thinking I'd be more likely to go for Parkside's version of the 20-tonner in plastic after successfully building their Grampus kit).

 

I'm seriously enjoying investigating things 'eastern' for a change.

 

D

 

PS: I Googled the giraffe wagon which had slipped my memory. Looks it came from the same Triang era as the fondly remembered, if now looked on as slightly daft, 'Battlespace' range ;-)

[David Siddall]

Progress with the coal-drops...

 

 

 

 

 

...I know the wagon in the final photo isn't a hopper wagon (but if you read the previous post you'll see I have a plan!); it's presence is purely to prove the trackwork.). Think I'll leave the handrails until I've finished any construction tasks which could involve their accidental destruction ;-)

[David Siddall]

Back down the other end of this mighty layout from the coal drops (about two feet way in actual fact) I've installed the first of what will be two Cobalt point machines (it's astonishing what you find squirreled away if you have a thorough sort out of your modelling room!)

 

 

Now despite some fairly assiduous Googling I'm still a bit unsure about wiring the crossing (vee, frog, call it what you will) so that it's switched by the action of the point machine.

 

Can anybody assist?

[Donw]

Connecting up the crossing is fairly easy.  For DCC you always have a break in the rails connecting to the crossing. If it is a Peco turnout you either rely on the blade contact or modify the turnout by cutting the connections. However even if you are using the blade contact an auxiliary connections via the pm contacts will work fine. The contacts will be a changeover the common goes to the crossing  the two contacts go to the stock rails.

Don

[two tone green]

 

connect a wire to the frog and connect it to one of the contacts marked C.

 

From each stock rail connect one wire to S1 and one to S2 in the same group as the contact C you have used.

 

The secret is to make sure the wire that is connected to S1 is at the same polarity as C when that route is set that corresponds to that switch position. Same for S2.

 

That way the frog and stock rail are at the same polarity for each route set.

 

A multimeter is useful for checking it all out. Put it on ohms setting with the track dead and if its zero ohms between the frog and stock rail when the point is set for that route you have it right.

 

Full instructions for the point motor here. http://www.dccconcepts.com/PDF_Downloads/cobalt_instructions.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

[two tone green]

Page 16 of the manual show exactly what to do to wire an electrofrog point. Nice colour diagram.

[David Siddall]

Thanks Don, and thanks for for the clarifying which connections to use at turnout machine end Andy. I had found the diagram on p16 which confirmed that I've gapped and wired the turnouts correctly but without your explanation I would have got the stock rail connections to the Cobalt wrong. It wasn't immediately clear (to me anyway who couldn't ready a circuit diagram if my life depended on it) that there are two separate switches available to perform two separate functions.

 

David

[two tone green]

Good you have it right David.

 

The other set of contacts can be used for anything you want them for.

 

Panel indication using LED's is one option. But beware that just because the LED changes does not always mean the point has changed. All the LED shows is that the switch has changed.  

 

Hopefully the point has followed along as well !

[Donw]

True it doesn't show that the point motor has actually moved the point but it does show you have thrown the right switch often the most common fault.

Don

[Debs.]

........a sound proofed room to measure noise levels. The room was supported on rubber and the walls had these tapering firbreglass wedges so that no sound would be reflected.

 

One of Hammer`s less-known house of horror films:

 

The Anechoic Chamber........where nobody can hear you scream!

[David Siddall]

Not a bad weekend, a few hours of productive modelling fitted around the domestic stuff comprised installing the layout's two turnouts and some track-laying (the first of the three sidings), some wiring, some rail-side painting punctuated by a little bit of ripe language as I finally sorted the two Cobalt point machines (I've only ever used solenoid point motors before). Whilst  the paint-brushes were out, I also decided to have a go at some of the brickwork around the coal-drops.

 

 

David

[greenglade]

I'm liking that David.. very nice...

 

Pete

[Barnaby]

That's rather tasty David is it going to be an ACTIVE drop or will the waggons arrive coaled and leave the same way?

[Donw]

I cannot actually recall seeing working bottom doors. I have shovelled coal into wagons using a spoon when operating a a friends exhibition layout.

Don