Camden Shed

[1BCamden]

very impressive !!

these two are a slightly later type fitted with a head valve, the one you have was the slightly earlier LMS type all found at Camden in your period

Edited August 25, 2014 by 1BCamden

[92220]

Very kind, Stanley. Thank you.

 

A few pics of further progress on the shed roads. I bought my calculated 7 packs of Exactoscale bridge chairs, but haven't enough to complete road 5, the 2 pits at the N end in front of the turntable, nor the two machine shop roads where the wheel drop is. So basically I can't count...... Or I can count but can't multiply....

 

 

 

 

 

The shed floor is 40 thou plasticard, which matches the thickness of the filed down Peco pits, and the height of the C&L plain track. The shed spans the main baseboard join, which meant I had to make the pits shorter so as not to have to cut through the join.

 

I'm pondering the wheel drop. The machine shop roads are going to be considerably shortened, and views inside will probably be obstructed so I'm not sure whether it's even worth it. It looks complicated to model too:

 

http://www.georgelaw.co.uk/casestudies/actual/bridgnorthwheeldrop.aspx shows something of what it might have looked like. I've got to make a few compromises to make the build time achievable. The wheel drop may not happen.

 

You can also see in the background that the backscene board behind the station building and including the Roundhouse is completed, while the one behind the goods depot building is being completed now. I'll show both in more detail when they're together, but I really like what Alan has done. He's not the quickest, but he could say much the same about me.......

 

Other progress has involved a forest of wiring and more tortoises than the reptile house at the zoo.

 

I really need to finish both of the signal boxes, and complete all the scenic work on those two boards, so that they can be fully installed and left alone.

 

I'm struggling a bit to do the windows on the ARP box at Camden no. 1. I think the only way to get the proportions right on the thin metal frames is to use a bowpen directly onto clear plasticard. Colour - looks like dark grey in the best pic I have but I haven't got any real confidence in that being right. That's one challenge. The other is that the windows sit close to the outside of some thick apertures, so they have to be exactly the correct size and then stuck inside the aperture.

 

Headaches.....

 

Iain

[Jol Wilkinson]

Iain,

 

excellent work as usual.

 

Could the window frames be heavily weathered white? I tend to think that the railways would use whatever colours were "normal" for them, which could then be affected by atmospheric conditions. I guess the frames weren't cleaned that often, either.

 

Jol

[92220]

Hi Jol,

 

Thanks. I could use white microstrip but I thought that since the only bits of the layout that would definitely have been kept clean would be the signal box windows? Since the metal frames on the ARP box are so narrow, I'm not even sure that microstrip could be thin enough to look acceptable anyway. Painting them once applied is just not within my compass. I nearly ruined some of what I'd done on the station buildings by painting the window frames of the ground floor buildings. Luckily, they need and will receive a good deal of weathering so should be ok, but I shied away from trying that on the 1st floor windows.

 

Iain

[LNER4479]

Ooh, those pit roads starting to look 'the business' now

 

Forest of wiring? - tell me about it! (good when it all works though)

[TerryD1471]

Ooh, those pit roads starting to look 'the business' now

 

Forest of wiring? - tell me about it! (good when it all works though)

 

Can I endorse "Robert's", comments, Iain. The inspection pits really do look good and trackwork behind also looks wholly convincing. Quick question, whose ballast do you use? It looks rather darker than the granite that I've got tons of.

 

TerryD

[92220]

Thanks to both of you.

 

LNER4479/Robert/other various names you may have been given (!) - I think that compared to the wiring for all of your wonderful interlocked signalling, my "forest" is probably no more than a few isolated saplings! It looks worse than it is because I won't clip it all into some kind of neatness until it's complete, in case it needs some kind of rerouting. It's just a whole load of droppers to the main bus from all these relatively short rail lengths in the yard trackwork really.

 

Terry - The ballast in the yard area is Carr's Ash ballast. The main running lines are ballasted with some sort of fine ballast, though the brand escapes me at the moment. I will need to add quite a lot to the yard surface and it will need painting and weathering too. There are a number of different textures, depths and colours all over the yard area, from near black coal overspill to quite dark black-grey through the greys of clinker, ash and so forth, to browner shades and the rust on rails and chairs accelerated by acidic deposits. Then some bits are dry and others wet by water cranes, and there is a good deal of oil in other parts too. Should be fun, if a little daunting: if I mess that up it won't be pretty......

 

In reality the concrete in the 6ft was at rail height inside the shed. But I am not going to replicate that!

 

Iain

[TerryD1471]

Thanks to both of you.

 

LNER4479/Robert/other various names you may have been given (!) - I think that compared to the wiring for all of your wonderful interlocked signalling, my "forest" is probably no more than a few isolated saplings! It looks worse than it is because I won't clip it all into some kind of neatness until it's complete, in case it needs some kind of rerouting. It's just a whole load of droppers to the main bus from all these relatively short rail lengths in the yard trackwork really.

 

Terry - The ballast in the yard area is Carr's Ash ballast. The main running lines are ballasted with some sort of fine ballast, though the brand escapes me at the moment. I will need to add quite a lot to the yard surface and it will need painting and weathering too. There are a number of different textures, depths and colours all over the yard area, from near black coal overspill to quite dark black-grey through the greys of clinker, ash and so forth, to browner shades and the rust on rails and chairs accelerated by acidic deposits. Then some bits are dry and others wet by water cranes, and there is a good deal of oil in other parts too. Should be fun, if a little daunting: if I mess that up it won't be pretty......

 

In reality the concrete in the 6ft was at rail height inside the shed. But I am not going to replicate that!

 

Iain

Iain

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, I'm sure you will have a field day replicating the various shades of muck and filth. Good luck.

 

All the best

 

T

[farren]

What a fantastic thread how did I miss this one. Right I'm of to Page 1 to catch up

[George Leacon]

Great to see this progressing, keep it up.

 

Ben

Edited November 12, 2013 by George Leacon

[jrg1]

Read this all the way through, and apart from being very impressed, would like to know more about your ballasting-most realistic.  Can you point me in the right direction, please?

[92220]

Hi jrg1

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

My ballasting on the mainlines is partly explained at:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52339-camden-shed/?p=735637

 

And the ash ballasting in the shed area here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52339-camden-shed/?p=1109426

 

I've copied parts of the methods used by Captain Kernow, Gordon S, Norman Solomon and no doubt many others. I can't claim it's perfect, but I am happy enough with the effect. I think the very thin sleepers of C&L track seem to help the effect - it appears as if the sleepers and timbers are in the ballast not on it most of the time at least. Another observation is that it does pay you either to paint the pva very accurately between the sleepers of already laid track, or to sit the track into a very even depth of painted pva. It does need painting and weathering but so does any method. By all means ask if I can give any further info.

 

A further update:

 

I've been agonising over the windows of the ARP box for a while. It has now become more urgent because Alan has completed the two main backscene boards, so I need to complete the goods depot board and the station board and fix them in place before getting on with the rest of the layout.

 

Take 1

I tried to make the 1930's thin steel frames out of microstrip, which is what I'd used on other buildings, and indeed on the toilet window of this one. Too thick, plus painting them a dark grey colour (which seems to be what they were) was never going to work without me slopping paint all over the glazing.

 

Take 2

I sliced up very thin strips of black insulation tape. Better, but too hard to get the strips straight, and being so thin, they would twist and so the adhesive side would be on the wrong side at times. I tried to make the outer frame in carefully sliced strips of 0.020 black plasticard.

 

 

So that wasn't going to work either.

 

Take 3

Time to learn how to use the bowpen. Larry is not allowed to laugh at this.....!

 

I drew out the glazing bar grids onto a larger sheet of quite thick clear plastic glazing material bought from one of the traders at some show or other:

 

 

Outer frames made from 0.5 mm grey plastic rod. It's not perfect but it's a lot better than previous efforts

 

 

 

The frames need to be set back from face of the outer wall by only about 0.25-0.5mm. The outer frames were stuck with plastic weld, and then once dry the glazing could be fixed to those frames from the inside using Limonene.

 

 

 

I definitely now wish I hadn't done the toilet window in microstrip!

 

Iain

 

Edit: spelling

Edited May 16, 2014 by 92220

[gordon s]

Iain, just a suggestion.  Have you tried drawing the frames on a computer and then printing on clear acetate sheet?  I'm pretty sure you will be able to print very thin lines and still retain definition...

[92220]

I then had a go at the roof.

 

Masking tape strips to give some texture and hopefully simulate some kind of felt:

 

 

 

Painted the roof with a mix of grey, black and a tiny bit of leather.

 

In position by the goods depot and footbridge:

 

 

 

A few more of the completed backscenes in place, with incomplete stuff in front of them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iain

[92220]

Iain, just a suggestion.  Have you tried drawing the frames on a computer and then printing on clear acetate sheet?  I'm pretty sure you will be able to print very thin lines and still retain definition...

Hi Gordon,

 

No I hadn't tried that......it's such a monumentally good idea that I probably wouldn't have tried all this other guff if I had! It's also so simple I can't believe I missed it.

We could be looking at a rebuild - of the glazing at least.

 

Thanks as always,

 

Iain

 

PS. I'm rapidly coming round to the attraction of etched window frames too!

[JeffP]

How does one print on clear acetate sheet? Will any printer do it? Laser printer?

[Arthur]

I've printed, with an ink jet, the gearbox overlays from High Level and Comet onto clear acetate. I think that the acetates I used had to be printed on a particular side. They came out clear and crisp, I'd have thought printing metal window frames would be well worth a try.

 

Edit: Just searched on eBay for 'ink jet acetates' and there are some sold specifically for the job. Whether any old acetate would work just as well I wouldn't know.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Arthur

[92220]

I could also print the grids onto paper and then copy them onto acetate sheets: that would bring back memories of the days of ohp.

 

I'm going to give it a bit of thought, and it will be pretty easy to try at least the printing. I've been thinking about these windows for months so another day or two won't hurt!

 

Iain

[fishytrains]

I use Inkjet OHP transparency film, which works very well for printing out window frames.

 

Mike

[92220]

Thanks for suggestions everyone. I am experimenting with some acetate printing and will post some results.

 

I've posted in the electrics section http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79544-help-required-to-wire-this-formation-please/?p=1255342 to ask for some advice about wiring this:

 

 

Any help you can give would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Iain

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks for suggestions everyone. I am experimenting with some acetate printing and will post some results.

 

I've posted in the electrics section http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79544-help-required-to-wire-this-formation-please/?p=1255342 to ask for some advice about wiring this:

 

image.jpg

 

Any help you can give would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Iain

 

Iain,

 

Just a small tip on this sort of thing.  I've always found it useful to do as you have done and draw a '2 rail' diagram when not sure about how to wire something - then it all becomes amatter of logic and you're probably half way there, viz -

1. Identify the available routes through the pointwork and use that information to -

2. Identify by colours any section of rail which will always be the positive side and which will always be the negative side (in connection from controller etc terms.

3. That will leave the sections of rail which have to be switched - identify each of those (you can use separate colours if you wish) AND identify which set of point switches 'control' that part of the trackwork by switching the feed to it.

If necessary draw up a table for each route showing which rail is the +ve and which is the -ve. (I think that would be helpful in this particular case)

4. Do it all again to check what you have done (several times if you wish, remembering all the time that for every route there must always be a positive side rail and a negative side rail - that will also help you to identify the gaps.

 

It is also always useful to consider prototypical point locking as this can help you - for instance (using the crossing numbers) in this track arrangement, if worked from a signalbox, 1 reverse would lock 2 & 3 normal, 2 reverse would lock 1 & 3 normal, and 3 reverse would lock 1 & 2 normal.  If your point controls comply with that logic you might find it helpful

[92220]

Hi Mike,

Many thanks. That is what I was trying to do really, but despite a good deal of drawing and even more thought, I definitely needed some confirmation.

I think Keith's suggestion in the other thread makes clear sense - and it would have been arrived at by your process, so thank you.

Iain

[92220]

The coachmann trackliftingitis disease has struck. Not quite as virulent a strain as that which afflicted gordon s, so the baseboards are still here at least.

 

Water to loosen the pva

 

 

And up comes the track

 

 

It was only about 10" that had to be relaid, thankfully.

 

Plenty more track to build though...... Here is a bit of it under construction

 

Vee and wing rails bonded together with fret waste pieces on the templot plan. The templot plan isn't followed absolutely perfectly because I did the entire layout in one of the other OO gauge options before I knew about OO-SF. Hence the wing rails are slightly tighter to the vee. I also have used 16.5mm instead of 16.2 as the stock gauge. It means there is a 0.3 mm more clearance on the checkrails, but I can live with that as it improves the running.

 

 

 

 

Remove wing rail shims and check alignment

 

 

Complete

 

 

Trim and file back fret waste

 

 

Then begin the build onto the ply timbering. Here, kI use a variety of complete and cut 3 bolt chairs, along with trimmed slide chairs. Not exactly inventing the method.....

 

 

 

Iain

[philbax]

re the diamond crossings

Are you DCC? If so have you looked at the autoreversing products, digitrax do one that I know of, If I understand the logic (I'm electrical illiterate) when the loco hits the crossing of the polatity os wrong the auto reverser changes the polarity in milliseconds.

Again if this is the case then linking to the points would not be necessary but the diamond crossings would need to be electrically isolated from the points and fed seperately (through the reverser I presume)

 

Perhaps someone with knowledge can provide a diagram of the setup

 

Philbax

[92220]

Thanks Philbax. I am wiring it so that it can go DCC (soon), but the plan was always to keep a more traditional operation of the turnouts. Hence, I think I'm going to go with the simplest solution in my mind which was suggested by Keith, and means that I just need to set the route correctly. I could adapt it later to a module like the one you suggest, but I think I would only do that if I go entirely DCC and use frog juicers etc.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

A little more progress. What do people think of this view?

 

 

The Gilbey warehouse needs blending into the other board, which Alan is going to do in situ in the next week or two. It isn't easy to make this join work. But so far, it is a very decent representation of the real thing.

 

On another note, this pic courtesy of 53A models on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/7149637505/

 

 

Shows the end of the siding off the coal wagon road, which was often used for loco storage.

 

Can anyone help with the buffer stop, or lack of one? It looks as if there is a miniature one. On another view that I can't post, there is a definite rail crosspiece, but maybe only 12" above the rail head.

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

Iain

 

Edited as I pressed post before I'd finished!

Edited December 12, 2013 by 92220