Intercity125 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Welcome to Lovett Upham, a branch line terminus that can be modelled in Western/Southern/London Midland Region guise with the option of multiple eras too to add further interest and allow me to utilise the variety of stock that I already possess. The lineside buildings will also be interchangeable to reflect operating region/era also. Lovett Upham is also my entry for the 2010 challenge and it is my intention to provide regular updates on its construction on here as well as the 2010 challenge forum. Now it is time for the fiction. Lovett Upham is a small market town (population 20,000) at the end of a 12 mile branch line. The other end connects to the city of Fulchester which sits at an important junction of the mainline to "that there London". Passenger traffic consists of 2 coach steam hauled trains or 2 car DMUs dependent upon era, with services bolstered to 3 coach/car at peak times. Freight traffic includes the daily local pick up goods, coal, parcels, and of course raw materials to the brewery and finished product out. The town is starting to expand as a commuter belt for the nearby city of Fulchester and has started to see the arrival of new rail served industry such as the cement works 2 miles further up the line. Moving back to reality, I started work on the layout just over a month ago before I came across details of the 2010 challenge with baseboard construction, track laying and wiring now complete. I will detail the construction completed so far in the next update. The layout measures 6 foot 6 inches in length by 18 inches wide with a small extension of 5 inches or so to the fiddle yard and consists of a single baseboard so fitting it into the back of my car might be a tight squeeze!!! It sits on two trestle legs about 3 foot high for the time being mainly cos I acquired several of them several months ago. I have posted some pictures of the construction so far and hope you enjoy them. More details on its construction to follow shortly....... Paul aka Intercity 125 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Picture taken from the fiddle yard (left) and Brewery end (right) Picture taken from the scenic end including goods siding Aerial view Use of Brewery/Provender Store/Bridge to give some idea of how it will look Brewery sidings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lost track Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Look's good , I am looking forward to whatching this thread. 'Lovett Upham' ahh I do like being English. Nice brewery building by the way. regards, Shaun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Thanks Sean. The Brewery just consists of the Warehouse building from the Scenecraft range by Bachmann. Unfortunately I don't have room (nor the budget) for the other Brewery buildings they've issued. By the way I like your profile picture of the Terrier - definitely a favourite loco of mine, and one that is useful for branch line modelling in a small space. Regards, Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentskj Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Just the sort of shunting layout i admire I will follow closely Sam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 I have been posting details of the layout on the 2010 challenge forum, but thought I would provide some details and bring things up to date on here also. The story so far..............The baseboard is made from approximately 4mm ply top measuring 6' 6" x 18" with 3" x 1" softwood framing. The timber was glued and screwed and then using cork flooring tiles from Wickes, I then laid them on the top and glued them using PVA before painting them in grey emulsion to act as a base colour. The track was then laid out using old pieces of flexi and set track to help determine the final plan. Once this was complete the track was temporarilly laid using new pieces of Peco code 100 flexi track and Electrofrog pointwork. Power feeds were soldered to nickel silver fishplates and then fitted to the track. Insulated fishplates were utilised where the points oppose one another and additional power feeds were installed. Once this work was completed and the track tested, I then decided to fit pieces of cork sheet to act as a raised track bed and help create the ballast shoulder. I used PVA again, though my intention was to use copydex. However, the drying time required for Copydex was too great and a decision was made to revert back to PVA. I decided to use the new Peco PL11 side mounted point motors along with a gaugemaster Capacitor Discharge Unit (CDU) to prevent the solenoids from buring out. I strongly recommend the use of a CDU as the Peco point motor got very hot within a few switches of the point blades. It also has the advantage of giving a quick positive throw. The fact that the point motors came pre-wired and could easilly be fixed direct to the point made using them a no brainer for me. I will attempt to disguise them as best as I can with buildings or vegetation. Well this brings us up to date (17 March) and the track has now been treated to sleeper grime spray paint and the ballasting has begun. This time I've opted to used a 50/50 mix of Copydex and water with a few drops of washing up liquid. Assuming you haven't fallen asleep by now, here are some pics taken today/yesterday: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted March 22, 2010 Author Share Posted March 22, 2010 I've been busy the last couple of days fitting Wills granite sets to the goods yard area, constructing a barrow crossing, adding a hint of grass (more grass seed to be planted lol) and using finely crushed coal (thanks to Rushden Historical Transport Society) for the Brewery/sidings area to represent ashes and cinder ballast. Next time I might raid the fire grate and try that instead. Next jobs to be done this week are to finish ballasting by the point blades (caution required here), some general scenic work, and installing a second road over bridge for the brewery sidings............. Regards, Paul (aka Intercity125) "A modeller's work is never done" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 A little more progress has taken place on Lovett Upham, my opum minimus, for this year's 2010 challenge. Two new additions have included an extended platform section, and extra platform width to accomodate the rear of the station buildings and signal box. I used an old Wills country halt kit to source the extended wooden platform required to fit underneath the scenic break of the stone bridge. I utilised two straights and one down ramp with the supports and then painted it using humbrol natural wood and I am pleased with the overall result. The extra platform width to accomodate the rear of the station buildings was made using 19mm x 44mm planed timber, painted using a black emulsion tester pot, and then silica sand carefully sprinkled on while wet. This produces a much more pleasing result than using wet and dry paper. I used Metcalfe red brick platform edging to finish it off. This layout is all about perfecting/developing new scenic techniques for me and so far I've been pleased by the results. I'm now debating whether to use my tried and tested method of scenery construction - polystyrene sheets, pva glued, and then coated in patching plaster.......................or if I should opt for crumpled newspaper covered in impregnated plaster cloth........ More news soon.......assuming I havent bored the a*se off you. Regards, Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 After several months of in-activity, work has been progressing on Lovett Upham and I will post some pictures on here later today. The idea of this layout is to allow multiple regions to be modelled eg. BR (LMR), BR (WR), BR (SR) and finally BR (ScR). The Midland style station is almost complete and once the rest of the scenery is finished, then work will progress on the station buildings for the other regions. Thank you to all those who've commented on the layout so far. The other layouts on here have been inspirational. More detailed report and pictures to follow very very shortly. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Hi, Looking good so far! I partically like the part of the platform under the bridge, really well done! Love the name as well! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Several months on since the last photos appeared on here and in that time i've concentrated on the scenic aspects of Lovett Upham, especially around the station area and goods yard. I will post some details of the work carried out and the methods used later this week. In the meantime here are some pics......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Hi, Looking good so far! I partically like the part of the platform under the bridge, really well done! Love the name as well! Simon Hi Simon, Thanks for the kind comments. I'm not sure if I should replace the Bridge with a tunnel mouth or not. It's something I will have to give some thought to. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 Attention will now divert to the Brewery sidings. I originally used crushed coal to try and create an ash and cinders type ballast, but despite my best efforts the overall result has been disappointing (see earlier pics). I noticed that Woodland Scenics or Gaugemaster have a more suitable product in their range. I want to be able to cover the sleepers to represent well worn and run down sidings. Any ideas or suggestions are most welcome. Paul aka Intercity125 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Now considering the use of clay or plaster as an infill between the sleepers in the brewery sidings. Has anyone had experience of using these methods and if so what are the top tips i.e. the Do's and Don'ts. Paul aka Intercity125 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 3, 2010 Author Share Posted December 3, 2010 Some more pics taken this lunchtime Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I will post another update as it's been nearly 12 months since the previous posting. Not sure if this site is still viewed by fellow modellers, but I guess a couple more pics and text won't do any harm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
witherbrow Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 fantastic! ive no idea why i havn't seen this before its brilliant! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Hi Witherbrow, Thanks for your kind comments. I will post some more pictures later this week when I'm back from my business trip. Regards, Paul aka Intercity125 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 5, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2011 I will post another update as it's been nearly 12 months since the previous posting. Not sure if this site is still viewed by fellow modellers, but I guess a couple more pics and text won't do any harm. I think there's plenty of life in RMWeb, so post away and we'll enjoy! I do like the idea of a sensibly-sized layout that allows change of era or locale - it makes more from less, I think, in an era when few of us have as much space as we'd like, but may have divided loyalties about the trains we buy. I liked the original idea of a major scenic break in the middle of the layout, too. I can see why that was changed to a tunnelmouth, but would have enjoyed seeing how it worked when all the scenery was in place. It might have made the layout seem bigger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I think there's plenty of life in RMWeb, so post away and we'll enjoy! I do like the idea of a sensibly-sized layout that allows change of era or locale - it makes more from less, I think, in an era when few of us have as much space as we'd like, but may have divided loyalties about the trains we buy. I liked the original idea of a major scenic break in the middle of the layout, too. I can see why that was changed to a tunnelmouth, but would have enjoyed seeing how it worked when all the scenery was in place. It might have made the layout seem bigger. Thanks Ian. My idea of multiple eras/regions was to generate interest and utilise my eclectic mix of stock. I have since replaced the tunnel mouth with a skaledale stone bridge (which I originally started with), and have scratchbuilt a girder/brick bridge which butts up against the stone one. This bridge passes over the brewery siding. Though I'm fairly happy with the scratch built bridge, I feel I could have made a better job if I had modelled it on an actual photograph rather than freelance, and if I had been more patient. However, I learnt quite a bit as a result and would feel much more confident in attempting to scratch build a structure again. Updated pics to be posted later this week. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Haggard Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 So glad you updated this thread Intercity125 This is exactly the kind of layout I'm attempting to create. Will look forward to further updates If my attempt is half as good as this I'll be delighted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Thanks Merle. I'll be posting an update later this week when I get back home. I'm confident you will be able to match or exceed my efforts as my modelling skills are fairly basic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Here are a couple more pics which show the reinstatement of the skaledale stone built bridge, plus my first attempt at scratchbuilding the second bridge using sheets of embossed brick (Slaters I think) and offcuts of wood. Unfortunately the pictures had to be taken just before dusk and the flash rather than natural light was used. I have some way to go to improve the structure and it may well be that another bridge will have to be constructed to higher standards this time. The biggest problem I have is that the stone bridge is around 4 - 4.5 inches high rather than 3 inches high of most off-the-shelf bridges, so I've had no choice but to construct the second bridge to cross the brewery sidings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intercity125 Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I've started to experiment with static grass by the cheapest method possible - the Noch Static Grass Puffer Bottle (around £4) and Javis static grass (£1.80/bag). Ideally I'd like to buy the Noch Static Grass Applicator, but at around £130 it's out of my league. Though the grass looks adequate, I think a little weathering is required as some of the Javis static grass colours can appear slightly bright. I've also weathered the granite sets in the goods yard by using some old black paint left in the bottom of an emulsion tester pot. I applied it liberally to the stone sets and then gently wiped off most of it to leave a dirty weathered look. Normally I'd use acrylic, but figured that if I didn't like the results, I could always remove with a damp sponge. A more detailed update will be posted next weekend with pictures of the whole of the layout taken in natural light. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heruss Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Fantastic little layout that. Really like the scenery on it. What's the eclectic mix of stock then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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