Bakewell - Peak District Line BR - Layout Views

[Alister_G]

Cheers Andy,

 

Yep, I'll stick with the 4mm version, I think, most railway hardware seems to be built of large lumps of metal, which is great for longevity, but a of a thing to work on.

 

I tried lifting an old spectacle plate and that was enough to make me think twice.

 

Next up will be the double signal - two for the price of one

 

Al.

[ChrisN]

Well done Al.  It was brave to start on the signal as a first venture into soldering.

[Alister_G]

Well done Al.  It was brave to start on the signal as a first venture into soldering.

 

Thanks Chris, that's what I thought too

 

But actually, having started, (and having previously read everything I could on here about best ways to solder) it all went very smoothly.

 

Al

[Andrew P]

WOW Al, great work, well done, and YES very brave.

[Alister_G]

WOW Al, great work, well done, and YES very brave.

 

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

 

Great to see you are back in your comfort zone and turning out another couple of layouts.

 

Al.

[Mrkirtley800]

Made a good job there Al, should look very good in place on the layout.

Derek

[Sweven]

I like what you did, adding the wire to the sides of the ladder to give it some depth (wish I had thought of that). Nice work!

Cheers

John

[Highlandman]

That's a fantastic bit of work for your first signal. Like you I was really daunted when it came to build my first signals but, after plucking up the courage, I've now built several for my layout, including working ground signals.

If you haven't all ready, may I suggest you look at two excellent topics regarding signal building. One is by Steve Hewitt, who help build the signals for LIverpool Lime Street and others. The other, in 7mm, is by John FItness. Both are full of tips, ideas and guides to building.

 

These two gentlemen helped me get started building my own signals by following their topics and gentle encouragement.

 

Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing further progress.

 

All the best

 

Andy

[georgeT]

Great work on the signal, theres no stopping you now, whats next ?

[Jock67B]

Morning Al,

Most impressive start mate - I have been thinking of using Ratio LMS ones but now???

Thanks for the tutorial mate, ideal for a novice to follow.

I noticed a couple of burn marks on the cheese board, so I guess that has now become the soldering station! (I've retained an old teak chopping board in the garage for that purpose which Joanna thinks went with the rubbish!) Did you manage to get through without any burns on the hands?

It's truly great to have you back modelling,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Alister_G]

That's a fantastic bit of work for your first signal. Like you I was really daunted when it came to build my first signals but, after plucking up the courage, I've now built several for my layout, including working ground signals.

If you haven't all ready, may I suggest you look at two excellent topics regarding signal building. One is by Steve Hewitt, who help build the signals for LIverpool Lime Street and others. The other, in 7mm, is by John FItness. Both are full of tips, ideas and guides to building.

 

These two gentlemen helped me get started building my own signals by following their topics and gentle encouragement.

 

Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing further progress.

 

All the best

 

Andy

 

Thanks very much Andy. I do intend to have working ground signals as well, as there are a number of them on the prototype, as you can see from the discussions earlier in the thread.

 

Thank you, yes, I've seen and read Steve's and John's threads, as well as many others on here about soldering in general, and signalling in particular. There's so much good information on this forum.

 

Cheers,

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

Great work on the signal, theres no stopping you now, whats next ?

 

Thanks mate, I've finally taken the plunge, after all your prompting

 

Al.

[C&WR]

It comes as no surprise that the signal turned out really well!

[Alister_G]

Morning Al,

Most impressive start mate - I have been thinking of using Ratio LMS ones but now???

Thanks for the tutorial mate, ideal for a novice to follow.

I noticed a couple of burn marks on the cheese board, so I guess that has now become the soldering station! (I've retained an old teak chopping board in the garage for that purpose which Joanna thinks went with the rubbish!) Did you manage to get through without any burns on the hands?

It's truly great to have you back modelling,

Kind regards,

Jock.

 

Cheers Jock,

 

The cheese board was bought with the sole intention to use it for soldering on, so a few burn marks are no problem

 

You may also notice in a few photos I used some old wooden lollipop sticks to hold stuff in position, and I also used some tweezers at one point, so no burnt fingers yet. I did manage to solder my steel ruler to the side of the ladder at one point, but we won't mention that...

 

The biggest tip which I would pass on is use plenty of flux! I found the solder flowed onto the work area so much easier if I'd drowned it in flux first, and I didn't have to hold the iron on the work for more than a second.

 

Take care mate,

 

Al.

[georgeT]

A good idea is to buy a wide fibre pen, and give the brass / white metal a clean to help the solder run better, also 70 degree low-melt solder is not very strong l would go for 145 degree as its much stonger and will do for everything, just my preference but it works, keep up the good work mate... 

[Alister_G]

It comes as no surprise that the signal turned out really well!

 

It came as a big surprise to me, I can tell you

 

As you know, I've done electrical and electronic soldering for years, but that didn't give me any confidence in approaching this task, so I was very pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out.

 

It's a bit rough in places, but that's just refinement of technique, I think. I was a bit heavy handed with the solder in places, leading to much filing fileage afterwards.

 

Cheers mate.

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

A good idea is to buy a wide fibre pen, and give the brass / white metal a clean to help the solder run better, also 70 degree low-melt solder is not very strong l would go for 145 degree as its much stonger and will do for everything, just my preference but it works, keep up the good work mate... 

 

Thanks mate, I did religiously clean the fret and the whitemetal bits before I started, using household cleaner and a kitchen scouring pad, followed by a good rinse of cold water, and it did seem to go well.

 

You surprise me with saying that 145 degree solder is OK, I thought that the whitemetal would start to melt before that temperature?

 

As it happened, I think using the two different solders helped me a lot, as I built up the various brass bits using the 145 degree solder, and then because I used the 70 degree to join them to the post, I was in no danger of previous work melting (except the axle to the signal arm, which was initially a poor joint).

 

Cheers,

 

Al.

[Jason T]

You're right Al, the temperature needed to heat 145 degree solder would likely melt the whitemetal. I too was nervous about building MSE signals but take your time and it's not too bad. I drilled holes in my wooden board to hold the bearing tubed and wires vertical when soldering (also used for many other similar jobs now) and as well as having burn marks aplenty, it looks like it has woodworm.

[Alister_G]

Thanks Jason,

 

Drilling holes to keep things square sounds a good idea, why didn't I think of that?

 

I'll defo do it for the next one.

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

I notice there haven't been any photos of the layout for a bit, so any newcomers to the thread would have to start digging backwards to find any.

 

I thought I'd take the opportunity to try out the backscenes I had printed, so I temporarily set one up to try.

 

Those of you who are regulars will know I had two different backscenes done, printed from a series of photos I took around the area.

 

For this trial I'm using the little one, I say little, but it's still 2foot tall and 6foot long, and quite cumbersome.

 

The backscene was basically unrolled and propped up in various locations, so the end result isn't brilliant, but it gives an idea of what things could look like.

 

You can see that there are lots of folds and kinks which catch the light;

 

 

 

But it gives an idea of things to come.

 

These are better, I managed to get it quite flat here:

 

 

This one's quite atmospheric - a storm on the way?

 

 

and these are ok:

 

 

 

That's all for now, thanks for looking.

 

Al.

 

[freebs]

Al - the back scene, even wrinkled, brings the scenes to life wonderfully!

[Highlandman]

If you're a Costa's or Starbucks man the free stirrer sticks make a great tool for holding peices together. If you sharpen the end you can use them to place flux paste and they'll even stir paint. A great little tool.

 

Just hate to think what will happen when they realise how useful they are.

[westerhamstation]

Hi Al, great work with the signal, I would be down the burns unit by now with my fingers soldered to the cheese board. The backscene certainly will add the atmosphere and enhance your already great modelling. all the best Adrian.

[Mrkirtley800]

The back scene really makes it, Al.  Sets off the station within the landscape beautifully.  Now for a Midland compound of three and some clerestory coaches!!

Derek

[Jock67B]

Al,

For holding small items together, I have some pretty special clothes pegs which I bought ostensibly for Joanna from Cooper's of Stortford. They are stainless steel with 'soft pads' to grip and the spring strength can be weakened. Great for rolling stock and building modelling. They're on special offer at the moment - 40 for £9.99 with another 40 free! I use them all over the place, holding the edges of the large barbecue cover in place for instance. Some go on the washing line! Thy have an easy to use web site. Usual disclaimer. no connection other than satisfied customer.

Kind regards,

Jock.