RMweb Gold ChrisN Posted October 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 29, 2012 I can't see myself building kits - at the moment - due to time pressures. However, who knows what will happen? I vehemently opposed the idea of building my own turnouts, but have been persuaded to have a go on the next layout. I've got a large stock of open wagons and tankers, but haven't got any hoppers of the era. So Mr Bachmann may get an order for 10...or 20!! At the moment is the key phrase. I am sure someone of your modelling skills once you have built the scenics and all the structures will want something more to do. Although 20 or more of the same kit might be a bit soul destroying, so perhaps you could build the 'odd and interesting' items. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 29, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2012 At the moment is the key phrase. I am sure someone of your modelling skills once you have built the scenics and all the structures will want something more to do. Although 20 or more of the same kit might be a bit soul destroying, so perhaps you could build the 'odd and interesting' items. Thanks for the compliment Chris. It also made me chuckle. I don't really think of myself as having "modelling skills" - I really do think I'm a bit of a plodder. I can plan/design, enjoy woodwork, electrics and problem solving - especially if it requires using maths. But I'm learning all the time from those around me on the Forum, where I see amazing examples of the modeller's art. All I suppose I ever do is try my best, and it's nice when those efforts are appreciated. Cheers, Jeff ps. you may well be right about those kits!! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberdare Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 There are times when things go well and there are times when everything seems to go wrong! This afternoon being the latter: soldering, mis-cut lengths of track, melted sleepers, droppers snapping off, scalpel blades snapping. Hopefully, if it's all happened this afternoon, things might be better this evening! Limited targets tonight: solder-up 3 or 4 turnouts with droppers...correctly! More photos when progress has been made. Jeff Hi Jeff I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a bad spell then, I hope your mistakes weren't some sort of modelling E-virus caught from reading my thread, A short break, a cup of coffee and a chocolate hobnob worked for me. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 29, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hi Jeff I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a bad spell then, I hope your mistakes weren't some sort of modelling E-virus caught from reading my thread, A short break, a cup of coffee and a chocolate hobnob worked for me. Jim A short break, some curry and rice and a cup of coffee has worked for me! I went back out and got some more track down with minimal problems - but there's always tomorrow lying in wait to cause problems!! Lol. Good to hear from you Jim. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 Another day commences. Heater on in the bunker and the soldering iron is warming up. I'll fit a couple more turnouts and take some photos. Not really a proper test, but a guards van and a couple of open wagons have been pushed around the trackwork - bit tricky in places as the Cobalt actuator wires are still untrimmed, in most cases. Seems to be ok. More later. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 30, 2012 Another day commences. Heater on in the bunker and the soldering iron is warming up. I'll fit a couple more turnouts and take some photos. Not really a proper test, but a guards van and a couple of open wagons have been pushed around the trackwork - bit tricky in places as the Cobalt actuator wires are still untrimmed, in most cases. Seems to be ok. More later. Jeff Go on Jeff, get a loco out and let's have a pic of one on what you've done so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 Go on Jeff, get a loco out and let's have a pic of one on what you've done so far. Will do. Tune in at lunchtime and I'll see what I come up with! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted October 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 30, 2012 Jeff, I'd look at pictures of the S&C from your chosen period as ballast did change from one line to another. The GW always had a "pinky" appearance which was very different to the S&C in the 1950s/60s. Today I am doing some armchair modelling, going through my book collection gathering references for locos that worked on my chosen line. Found a marvellous ballast photo. Sorry I cant share it because it's in a book (copyright) but if you can get hold of a copy of "on Didcot Newbury and Southampton Lines" by Kevin Robertson, page 21 has a photo of Highclere Station in the early 60s. The platform lines are two different colours altogether - brown on one line, and quite pale grey on the other, almost the colour of foam underlay. The reason is that the latter had just been re-ballasted. Prototype for everything! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) Today I am doing some armchair modelling, going through my book collection gathering references for locos that worked on my chosen line. Found a marvellous ballast photo. Sorry I cant share it because it's in a book (copyright) but if you can get hold of a copy of "on Didcot Newbury and Southampton Lines" by Kevin Robertson, page 21 has a photo of Highclere Station in the early 60s. The platform lines are two different colours altogether - brown on one line, and quite pale grey on the other, almost the colour of foam underlay. The reason is that the latter had just been re-ballasted. Prototype for everything! Hi Colin. What you said ties in with my scans of main lines around the country and the posts in this thread. It seems that ballast comes in a huge range of "tints" - of course it tends towards "grot", irrespective of the line, after a while! The only colour NOT to model on your layout is bland grey - unless the line has just been re-ballasted - what a coincidence! Thanks for the info. Hope the digression onto ballast colours hasn't been too boring!! Jeff Edited October 30, 2012 by Physicsman 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 As promised to Jonathan this morning - a loco on the line... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 Here's a better view of the Brit and a view right along the line of the station site... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted October 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 30, 2012 Great stuff Jeff. Are those some Parkside Dundas kits? I hope it won't be too long before the Bachy Midland brake van is out and then I can compare it to the numerous versions I have built, HBO,AVB, with duckets, without etc. I hope it won't show them up too much. Right no more pushing those wagons through the turnouts, get some more track down. Larry would have had a full circle by now . As to starting a thread on Layout Topics for Derwent (that's what I think I'll call my mainline station) I'll wait until I actually start to build something. As you can see it's still at the "what if" stage at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schubert Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Looking good Jeff. I assume you've sorted out the issues with the slips? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) Looking good Jeff. I assume you've sorted out the issues with the slips? Hi Al. Yes, sorted. Two things were happening. First, the point blades were catching on either the paint on top of the copper (on the PCB) or on the odd bit of solder on the PCB. Second, some of the point blades are long enough so the ends were scraping on the following sleeper. The needle files sorted all that out. This has happened with a few of the turnouts. I've fitted 18 with Cobalts so far. One or two of them are still only 90%. The rest throw true even at 6V. You're very welcome whenever you are passing. Progress has been slow, but it's getting there! Jeff Edited October 30, 2012 by Physicsman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 Great stuff Jeff. Are those some Parkside Dundas kits? I hope it won't be too long before the Bachy Midland brake van is out and then I can compare it to the numerous versions I have built, HBO,AVB, with duckets, without etc. I hope it won't show them up too much. Right no more pushing those wagons through the turnouts, get some more track down. Larry would have had a full circle by now . As to starting a thread on Layout Topics for Derwent (that's what I think I'll call my mainline station) I'll wait until I actually start to build something. As you can see it's still at the "what if" stage at the moment. The wagons were bog-standard out-of-the-box Bachmann offerings. Kit-bashing is a future temptation. Thanks for offering to be my slave-driver. I shall work through the night 'til I run out of candles. Mind you, soldering isn't very effective with candles as the solder has too high a melting point! And btw, Larry would have completed the track-laying, taken it up and re-laid it all in the time I've taken! Lol. Jeff 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelW Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Wow! I go away for a couple of days and another hundred ish posts appear! Thanks all for the ballast colour discussion - it gives me plenty of scope for working on my home layout. Jeff - a few comments on what I missed: Super-elevation - looks really good if done well, causes no end of trouble if done poorly (particularly with transitions and pointwork), I have a few tales to tell... Bringing back the curved crossover by the viaduct - definitely, I think you restricted the play value operational possibilities when that disappeared. Good to see more trackwork going down, but I have a question - you appear to have a gap in the sleepering around the points, how are you intending to fill them in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 30, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2012 Wow! I go away for a couple of days and another hundred ish posts appear! Thanks all for the ballast colour discussion - it gives me plenty of scope for working on my home layout. Jeff - a few comments on what I missed: Super-elevation - looks really good if done well, causes no end of trouble if done poorly (particularly with transitions and pointwork), I have a few tales to tell... Bringing back the curved crossover by the viaduct - definitely, I think you restricted the play value operational possibilities when that disappeared. Good to see more trackwork going down, but I have a question - you appear to have a gap in the sleepering around the points, how are you intending to fill them in? Evening Michael. I've ordered a different radius curved point and normal point which I think should do the trick with the trailing crossover. Hope so - will find out when I receive the order from Marcway. Re. the gap in the sleepering. I originally filled the gaps with sleepers from SMP track. This looked ok, but I decided on an alternative. So I've ordered a length of the PCB sleepers used to make the turnouts. I'll cut these to length and slide them into place - no soldering, the PVA during ballasting will hold them. Gaps between SMP I'll fill with SMP sleepers (there are a few gaps) and spray the whole lot so the basic sleeper colour is the same for track and turnouts. As for the posts, well, they just keep coming. I now find that I'm responsible for less than half of them. Some good, relevant discussions, which I'm pleased about. Jeff 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Don't forget to gap those PCB sleepers before you insert them, Jeff... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 31, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 31, 2012 Don't forget to gap those PCB sleepers before you insert them, Jeff... Will do. I'm not trusting the insulation properties of the coat of paint I put on top of the copper! Thanks for reminding me - I wouldn't have thought to do it... and thanks for the PM. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jason T Posted October 31, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 31, 2012 Out of interest Jeff, why aren't you going to solder the PCB sleepers to the rails? It takes two seconds, adds rigidity and also possible future points for droppers if the current ones prove unreliable for any reason. If it is because you are worried about the gauge being affected, pm me your address and I will post you one as I have spares. Up so early as I am off to London, in case you were wondering Cheers, Jason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 31, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 31, 2012 Out of interest Jeff, why aren't you going to solder the PCB sleepers to the rails? It takes two seconds, adds rigidity and also possible future points for droppers if the current ones prove unreliable for any reason. If it is because you are worried about the gauge being affected, pm me your address and I will post you one as I have spares. Up so early as I am off to London, in case you were wondering Cheers, Jason. Morning Earlybird - you are up before me today... To be honest, I hadn't even thought about soldering them. Yet another thing I'd not considered, probably because I haven't used this stuff before now. I'll give it a go and see how it turns out. Hadn't thought about the gauge being affected - will PM you anyway. Thanks Jason. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gringo Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Hi Jeff, I like that shot of Brit 15 a lot. It brings back happy memories of sitting in the cab, when we had the locomotive at Stockport Edgeley shed in the last years of steam. We used to keep it fairly clean too, and "Apollo" was used on a couple of specials, not long before it was transferred up to Kingmoor to join its classmates. As you can see from my avatar pic. taken in 1968 at Speke Junction, I have a soft spot for Brits and am really looking forward to seeing 70015 working on your layout. More Power to your soldering iron! All the best, John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 31, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) Hi Jeff, I like that shot of Brit 15 a lot. It brings back happy memories of sitting in the cab, when we had the locomotive at Stockport Edgeley shed in the last years of steam. We used to keep it fairly clean too, and "Apollo" was used on a couple of specials, not long before it was transferred up to Kingmoor to join its classmates. As you can see from my avatar pic. taken in 1968 at Speke Junction, I have a soft spot for Brits and am really looking forward to seeing 70015 working on your layout. More Power to your soldering iron! All the best, John Soft spot for Brits - me too! Enjoyed seeing 70000 at Grosmont, on the NYMR, in May. As fine a loco as another of my favourites, the 9Fs. Most of my fleet are Bachmann locos, but the Brit is one of Hornby's best. A bu**er to get the bodyshell off - I think the more recent models have the decoder in the tender. As, and when, Hornby release more late crest Brits I'll up my stock. Fitting more trackwork now. I've spent 7 days on the job so far. I am speeding up and find the process strangely enjoyable! Cheers, Jeff Edited October 31, 2012 by Physicsman 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted October 31, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 31, 2012 Here you are John. A pic of Apollo from my old layout, taken August 2008... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I bet that trackwork (above) seems a world away now in terms of fidelity, Jeff! Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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