Dunster. OOgauge on the GWR West Somerset line.

[Sasquatch]

More stuff this week, including the tubular post with the down home and calling on signal. I used an LMS post with a new finial and scratch built the calling on arm. I will forgo the illumination of the lamps because they wont be visible.

 

 

I hooked up the ground signal operating mechanism as discussed on Andy P's Pencarne  thread, by gluing the disc to its axel and made the back blinder a push fit thus the disc is fully adjustable!

 

 

Yesterday I built the base of the signal box from Wills Flemish bond brick  and 0.030" plastic sheet.  Any gaps were filled with wood filler and wiped while wet with a damp paper towel. This was then washed with a mortar colour acrylic and wiped off followed by dry brushed mix of brick and terracotta. The engineers blue brick picked out last.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Sasquatch

[Sasquatch]

A steady hand today along with a train load of patience found me tackling the bracket signals for Crowcombe.

It took about 5 attempts at getting the wires and cranks just right, they always seemed to foul somewhere or other. The wires for the lamp are hidden in grooves scored in the posts covered by plastic card. The electrical tape idea didn't work out!

 

 

I then started the junction signal. The main post comes from the LMS kit and was drilled out to take the wires for the lamps. Other bits are from the GWR kit and the doll posts are Evergreen tube.

 

Shaun.

[Andrew P]

I HAVE NEITHER, a steady hand or patience, that look superb mate,  well done.

[Sasquatch]

Had a stressful day today so had to sit and relax and what better way can you think of to relax than building yet more signals!

 

The tubular post with the #28 home and #27 calling on arm received all the attention.

The bulbs arrived today from Minatronics. These differ from those used previously being only 1.5 volts and will require some experiments with wiring in series and resistance to achieve the correct combination of lower voltage use to prolong life and diming effect.

 

Just need to paint the ball on the top.

 

To demonstrate the new bulbs. Two wired in series across a AAA battery.

[The Stationmaster]

Nice but am I being misled by the visible colour in the pic?   A Calling On Arm (and the other sub arms of the later pattern) all show a white light when 'on'.

[The Great Bear]

Nice but am I being misled by the visible colour in the pic?   A Calling On Arm (and the other sub arms of the later pattern) all show a white light when 'on'.

Oops...something to add to my to do list

[Sasquatch]

Nice but am I being misled by the visible colour in the pic?   A Calling On Arm (and the other sub arms of the later pattern) all show a white light when 'on'.

 

 

You are a mind of information Mike. I wasn't aware of that so will change it. Thank you.

 

Decided to illuminate the lamps on that post after all. I'll use filament wire which is now possible due to the lower voltage lamps!

 

The scratch built arm I originally made was way over size and was replaced by one I found in the box of signal parts. It comes from an ancient Ratio kit that I built the junction signal on Dunster with. Never throw anything away.

 

Regards Shaun

[Sasquatch]

After finding this Picture I realize that the post is silver grey and my arm is a little wrong.

Image: Sarah Charlesworth [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Aren't preserved railways wonderful. Where else would you find a beast of a steam engine from this century waiting for a beast of a diesel from the middle of the last century. I bet the noise was something never to forget.

 

Dr. Beechings axe has fallen on one section of the layout this morning. Surplus to requirements all the hardware from this board has been saved intact for use on the new Crowcombe section. I will take it to my band saw and remove Mrs. Sasquatches green house section. She was a little put out when I told her this board had to go. One lesson I learnt was to never use OSB for layout construction ever again. It swells and is way too heavy.

 

Shaun

[Jock67B]

Evening Shaun,

I love the signals mate, but luckily there is little need on a steam loco shed layout! Phew says Me.

Kind regards mate,

Jock.

[Sasquatch]

Hi Jock.
Very nice to hear from you matey!
The last signal is half way done and I found myself needing a break from signal construction...
 
 
....I was saving this until it was finished but I know you'll like it...

 

... Several pictures have been taken to show its construction, nothing much off the beaten path of my usual methods really just a different subject. The railwaymen's cottages that stand behind Crowcome station.
There's not any pictures of them on the internet, not even a ground view on Google earth to work from. So I found a Youtube video taken by a drone and paused it then took stills of the computer screen. 

Having real fun building this.

I started by getting some measurements from google earth and drawing out onto foam board.


Then scribed on all the stonework starting with the quoins... About 3 hours work.


Gave it all a base coat of stone colour acrylic. This ws allowed to dry overnight.


A wash of grime wiped off with paper towels.


I then picked out all the quoins in a sandstone shade, various individual stones in lighter and darker shades. Even picked out some mortar courses.


Cruel close up.


Then I made the windows (about two evenings work) from thick clear plastic super glued in place and micro strip added for the frames and bars.


Mitered the front corner joints by scoring the back, folding the walls back on themselves and carefully sanding on my little bench sander. The whole lot was checked for squareness, super glued and held with Peco track pins.


There was some leftover Plastruct pan tile roofing used for the roof. Cut to fit and taped together at the ridge from the inside.


A little trimming was needed to get them to fit.


More later, I'm making the rather ornate chimneys at present.


Lastly a picture of the real thing from Peter Russell's video and the video link. (It won't embed for some reason)


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FXO4YrXJZGw"frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>








 

[Sasquatch]

Quick post on the progress with the chimneys this evening.

 

I started by ripping some poplar on my table saw to 6mm sq. then rebated out 3mm x 3mm. I super glued two L sections and one square for the end wall stacks and 4 L sections in a sort of swastika arrangement  for the center one.

 

 

After cutting to length they were clad with brick plastic card and some ornate tops.

 

Quite happy with them so far.

[Sasquatch]

Lots of details from Wills parts and much painting. I still need to add the flashing around the chimneys and perhaps some curtains.

 

Signal box next!

[Jules]

That is a lovely looking building

[GreenDiesel]

Looks great, excellent work! I also had the Hornsby Dunster Station but tried to convert it into Wellow Station on the Somerset and Dorset Line. Rob

[westerhamstation]

Hi Shaun, cracking job on the building, beautifully executed and painted. All the best Adrian.

[Andrew P]

CRIKEY Shaun, that's a stunner mate, the level of detail is fantastic, really looking forward to seeing the finished Signal Box now.

[Edwardian]

Somehow I have missed this topic until now.  Excellent station building, subtly painted.

[Jock67B]

Shaun,

You certainly haven't lost your touch mate.

Thanks again for the inspiration,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Sasquatch]

Thank you for all your kind remarks, it's all highly encouraging.

 

Today I got on with the signal cabin. Nothing too exciting just Evergreen strip and siding. I made a sub floor and a wood planked "drop in" floor so as to make the interior easier to do.

[Sasquatch]

The roof took two attempts to get right, it's not as easy as it looks. Lots of glue and taped down to a flat surface until set.

 

 

Next thing I found I'd done a booboo. The cabin was far too high, so set about reducing the height by two planks. Very tricky!

To represent the brackets I took a length of Wills sprure and scored two grooves in it before cutting 1.5mm sections off.

 

 

Then I spent an hour painting it.

 

 

 

More tomorrow.

[phil.c]

Lovely work with the station building Shaun.

 

Phil

[Sasquatch]

The clouds cleared last week so out doors activities such as mushroom hunting and grass mowing had to be pursued. We walked 7 miles through the tick infested woodland mountainside only to find some morels next to the dog house at home. It was nice to be out in a T-shirt all day however.

This morning I noticed that the posting of trains has been neglected of late so here are a couple of quickies taken of BR standard mogul 76079, (normally found up on the North Yorkshire Moors) pulling a mixed van train. Note that the bananas are behind the engine and the unfitted vans are positioned mid rake. Not a prototypical train for the Minehead branch but it gets boring running the same old push pull and holiday excursions!

 

A period of no trains running is imminent while Goathland is being extended, repaired, signaled etc. and Dunster is reconfigured to accommodate Crowcombe and to fit better in the attic room.

I don't think I'll get around to starting Minehead until next winter. If you're wondering why on earth two layouts are under construction at once it makes sense to me to have one for inside when its cold outside and one for outside when it's too warm in the attic! I've got the space so why not!

    

[Andrew P]

Excellent pics Shaun, thanks for more inspiration, looking very good.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks Andy.

It's difficult taking good pictures up there. One of the windows is blow the height of the layout and the ceiling slopes at an awkward shallow angle! 

[Sasquatch]

Inspired by you Bodge mate, I moved on to the 60s.

Ivatt class 2 arrives from Minehead with the pick up goods and gets shunted to make way for a local passenger.

 

There are some buildings for Grim-Up-North in this first pic., where the pub normally goes. The section with the pub wont fit because of the sloping roof. What I need to build is an oil storage facility to represent the one that once stood there. The stone workshops don't look too bad though.

 

The 1960s local passenger service arrives in the form of a 121 bubble car unit. The interior has been detailed and lighting circuits fitted. Now I need to detail the buffer beams and weather it. It's fitted with extra pick ups and runs quite well. To be honest I forgot I had it. Makes a nice change don't ya think.

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Sasquatch