Small, Broad and Totally Pointless!

[BG John]

I've now added the roof. This was cut from 1mm greyboard, and I experimented with applying shellac to it to see if it made it more rigid. I used knotting, rather than pure shellac, and applied it with some kitchen paper to save cleaning a brush. I just put it on the underside, as I didn't know if it would affect sticking on the slate paper. It does seem to make it more rigid. The slate paper is Superquick, from my stock of ancient materials. I stuck it on in one piece rather than individual strips, as I'd probably lose the will to live doing the roof of the new train shed when I built it otherwise! If I have an urge to improve it, I can always add strips of slate over the top later. Before sticking it in place, I added extra roof supports, and stuck the chimneys in place.

 

 

 

I decided I was trying to make the building too complicated, as it will be quite hidden behind the train shed, and I'm trying to do everything to a consistent, rather than a very high, standard. The layout is supposed to be a scenic test track for running stock as I build it, and when I have enough stock to operate it, and nothing else to do, I can upgrade it if I want to. So I simplified my plans for it a bit.

 

I adapted the temporary train shed to take the new building, and repaired it a bit, although it will need replacing as it's not in good enough condition to upgrade. I'll do that later though. I also gave it a bit of colour using highlight pens. They don't come in the right colours, but that's the nearest I could get to light and dark stone! You can see from the following photos that the station building can't be seen very clearly. The only really obvious part is the roof and chimneys.

 

 

 

 

That's where I'm leaving it for a while. I need to add doors and windows, lintels, and downpipes, and finish the chimneys. I think I'm going to print the windows, and maybe the glazed part of the doors, on OHP film, so I'll do that when I've got enough to fill an A4 sheet. There's no point wasting it, and I don't want to risk putting part sheets through the laser printer. I've got 11 windows to print for the next building, so it shouldn't be long before I get back to it.

[BG John]

Onto the next building. This is another low-relief warehouse, and is going at the back of the layout, on the edge of the goods yard. It's mostly the same part of the Scalescenes Low Relief High Street Backs as the previous one, using the same technique to splice in new windows, but is twice the width. I've also added the doorways from the sticky out bit of the first warehouse I made, but this time flat on the wall as there isn't room to build it out. I've cut openings for the doorways this time, as just sticking doors on the outside, as the kit is designed, doesn't look quite right to me. I'm going to print the windows onto OHP film, rather than cut out the paper ones. The kits provides both options.

 

 

[Spitfire2865]

Progress. Looks good. I rather like the shed with skylights. How will you glaze it?

[BG John]

Progress. Looks good. I rather like the shed with skylights. How will you glaze it?

Like this hopefully, but I need to make sure it's not possible to see the traverser hidden under it.

http://www.aardstorm-models.com/Models/GalleryView.php?Model=GWRMoretonhampstead&Image=GWRMoretonhampstead-1013314

[BG John]

Got stoned tonight! I should have done the lintels before adding the doors really, but I got carried away!

[Spitfire2865]

If seeing into it is a problem, why not spray matt varnish on the inside? Frost the glazing?

[BG John]

If seeing into it is a problem, why not spray matt varnish on the inside? Frost the glazing?

I imagine the glass would have got quite smoke blackened, but may also have been regularly cleaned in the days when labour was cheap.

[BG John]

I haven't posted an update for some time, as I haven't got much further. I've started on two more buildings to go along the back, next to the double width one I was working on. Both are fairly violently butchered versions of the Scalescenes High Street Shop Backs again. The one on the left started off as the timber framed building. I haven't got the windows ready to print yet, which is why work has stopped. The lumps of expanded polystyrene may turn into a rock face, as a change from filling the board with buildings.

 

[BG John]

I've been experimenting with fiddle yard sector plates, using the non-stick baking sheets that Shortliner sent me. This one is actually for my new EM layout, that I haven't started a topic on yet, but apart from the length I'm aiming to make the one for SB&TP identical (if it works!).

 

This is where I've got to today. The deck is cut from 2mm Tufnol, and with the non-stick sheet is close enough to the thickness of the supposedly 1/8" cork not to matter:

 

It pivots on a good olde fashioned round head woodscrew, screwed into the solid wood at the end of the interior door the baseboard is made from. The washer, that's a fairly good fit, will be stuck to the Tufnol to, hopefully, reduce wear on the hole:

 

I stuck double sided tape to the non-stick baking sheet, then cut off a strip the width of the tape. The baseboard has been painted with blackboard paint, as the original paintwork was a bit rough and quite a lot came off when I sanded it. The fiddle yard is 30 inches long, and I've used four strips. The one for SB&TP will be about 24 inches long:

 

I'm not sure if the Tufnol will stay flat. The original single track version didn't, and I had to add another sprung bolt to the middle to hold it down. I've decided that I'll add strengthening only if it's needed. I can't use the bolt and spring running in a slot on the new version of SB&TP, as there is baseboard framing in the way, and on the EM layout I can't either, without cutting a hole in the underside of the door it's built on. So the idea is for the track from the scenic section to slightly overhang the sector plate to hold it down. To do this, I've cut a strip of copper clad sheet to overhang the Tufnol by about 6mm, and cut to the same curve as the end of the sector plate. I'll stick non-stick baking sheet to the bottom, then screw it down. The ends of the rails will be soldered to the copper, hopefully making everything nice and solid. There will be a road overbridge to hide it on the EM layout, but I may need to do it more subtly on SB&TP, which is a good reason for doing the EM one first:

 

I'm hoping I can get away with aligning the tracks by eye on both layouts. With three fiddle yard tracks needing to align with five scenic ones on SB&TP, and four on the EM layout, any form of locking is going to be quite complicated, and need some precision alignment. If it works with four tracks in EM, it may not work with five to P4 standards on SB&TP, but again it's probably best experimenting in EM first.

[BG John]

A bit of progress tonight. I've been building track recently, so after making the two points I need for the EM layout, and a multi-gauge test track for the four gauges I'm working in, I made the quay siding. It's bridge rail on copper clad cross sleepers at one inch spacing, as it will be hidden by paving. It's not stuck down yet, but I'll do that soon. I can do this siding because it joins to existing track, but I can't make the rear siding until the fiddle yard is done.

 

[BG John]

The fiddle yard for my EM layout is now done, I hope! As I said earlier, I'm planning to make the one for SB&TP the same as this, but it just so happened that the EM baseboard was in the workshop, so I did this one first. I may learn a bit from making this one, and may even get some useful suggestions here, before building the broad gauge version.

 

While clearing out the junk behind one of my garden sheds, I uncovered most of a greenhouse frame. As it's incomplete, and will need alterations if I use it, I decided there was no reason why I couldn't pinch all the plain aluminium angle from it for a better use! So I've bolted it to both sides and the pivoting end, to make the 2mm Tufnol more rigid. I used 4mm countersunk nylon bolts and nuts, to avoid any problems with chemical reactions between metal bolts and the aluminium. As the photo shows, I've added more strips of non-stick baking sheet, as the Tufnol seemed to be rubbing on the baseboard. I've now used almost a whole sheet.

 

 

The scenic end of the sector plate is held down by an overhanging piece of copper clad sheet. I got several sheets on eBay at a pretty good price, and have plans to use part of it for another small sector plate I need. It's attached to 2mm Tufnol that it overhangs by about 6mm, and held in place with double sided tape. I then screwed it to the baseboard.

 

 

 

The track from the scenic section will have the rails soldered to the copper strip. It shouldn't be visible as the overbridge will cover it on the EM layout, but may be harder to hide on SB&TP where there is no bridge to hide the exit, so I may have to do it a bit different.

 

I cut this sector plate from the sheet of Tufnol I bought for SB&TP, and I don't have enough left to cut the SB&TP sector plate in one piece, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make it in two large pieces and one small one, held together with the aluminium angle.

[BG John]

I've just made a multi-gauge test track, so I now have somewhere for testing locos and rolling stock. It's mostly Peco Code 75 flatbottom rail, but with one length of Code 75 bullhead, as it's what I had spare, soldered to copper clad sleepers. I've now used up the stock of flatbottom that was left over from my first broad gauge layout 30 years ago! The front rail is common for 18.2mm (EM), 28.08mm (broad) and 32mm (O) gauges. The second rail and the 28.08mm one is 16.5mm (OO and O-16.5) gauge. My Gaugemaster Combi plugs into the socket at the far end. This photo was taken before I stuck the track down, and it's now not parallel to the board, as it makes it easier to handle O gauge stock, with a wider space at the back at one end.

 

The board is fake wood veneer chipboard from some old furniture. I may add a backscene and do something to improve the look of the track sometime, to make it more photogenic, but for now I need to get on with making things run. My Bachrus Rolling Road works on it, and despite being labelled as suitable for 10.5 to 23mm gauges, it actually opens up to 32mm gauge. I wouldn't like to run big O gauge locos on it, but my small ones are fine.

 

My broad gauge Hornby Smokey Joe has run up and down it, so I have one broad gauge loco that works, but my 4-4-0ST "Corsair" won't move at the moment.

 

[Charlie586]

This looks excellent. I'm a broad gauge fan myself (though my BGS membership lapsed a few years ago) and am still planning my eventual retirement BG loft layout (I'm hoping someone invents 3d printed BG points in the next ten years!)

[BG John]

This looks excellent. I'm a broad gauge fan myself (though my BGS membership lapsed a few years ago) and am still planning my eventual retirement BG loft layout (I'm hoping someone invents 3d printed BG points in the next ten years!)

Rejoin the BGS Charlie, and encourage more people to try it. There may be more stuff available when you're ready then.

 

I've got an idea forming in my head to try cutting baulk road track bases on my Silhouette Portrait, or even better might be a laser cutter, if I can find an excuse to buy one. I won't be doing anything about it for some time though. If not, plenty of BG track was on cross sleepers, so you can build conventional pointwork.

[Charlie586]

Rejoin the BGS Charlie, and encourage more people to try it. There may be more stuff available when you're ready then.

 

I've got an idea forming in my head to try cutting baulk road track bases on my Silhouette Portrait, or even better might be a laser cutter, if I can find an excuse to buy one. I won't be doing anything about it for some time though. If not, plenty of BG track was on cross sleepers, so you can build conventional pointwork.

 

The layout I've got planned is as much of Wantage Road as I can fit - there's a short period of mixed gauge and the Wantage Tramway at the same time. I brought some 4mm bits (and a corsair kit) when I was a member but I think it'll end up 7mm due to eyesight. I was thinking of rechargeable battery power to at least save on the wiring (and hoping they improve in the next ten years). You're right about rejoining though. I could have already missed something on the area I'm planning to do.

[BG John]

Having had rather a long break from modelling, I wasn't sure about eyesight and 4mm scale, which is partly why I'm now dabbling in 7mm too. But the 4mm is going OK so far. What I'd like to do in broad gauge probably needs to be in 4mm because of the size and cost, but will only happen if I can master the technology for batch building enough locos and rolling stock. If I can, I hope fiddly bits will be designed on a computer screen, and produced by a machine, helping with the failing eyesight!

[Charlie586]

I've got boxes full of 4mm stuff I've picked up over the years, and don't look forward to the cost of going 7mm but I think it'll lead to unnecessary frustration if I don't. I'll probably just end up with a few locos and a handful of stock, for me most of the fun is in the making, plus I've never actually finished any of the 4mm ones I've tried as real life and other hobbies keep getting in the way. I've got no room at all at the moment for anything significant but am thinking of a small double-boxfile type layout, probably O16.5 or oo9 but it could end up being anything.

 

Have you seen this on ebay? I half thought of bidding, but talked myself round in the end!  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUILT-PAINTED-OO-GAUGE-1-76-GWR-LEO-CLASS-SADDLE-TANK-2-4-0-BROAD-GAUGE-LOCO-/381590378273?hash=item58d88f1721:g:g5oAAOSwAvJXAVk~

[BG John]

Have you seen this on ebay? I half thought of bidding, but talked myself round in the end!  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUILT-PAINTED-OO-GAUGE-1-76-GWR-LEO-CLASS-SADDLE-TANK-2-4-0-BROAD-GAUGE-LOCO-/381590378273?hash=item58d88f1721:g:g5oAAOSwAvJXAVk~

It hasn't got a motor, so I don't know how much work would be needed to make it work. There have been several different locos offered recently, and none of them have looked quite right to me. I'd rather get the locos I've got working, then have a look at the various unbuilt and part built kits I've also got.

[BG John]

I started on the sector plate for SB&TP today, using the same method as for the EM one I showed in earlier posts. The only differences so far are that it's shorter, I've taken the aluminium angle on the sides almost up to the scenic end, and the pivot goes through the rear piece of angle. The Tufnol is in two pieces, and the join seems rigid enough so far.

 

As the last photo shows, I'll need to work around the existing track, or cut a piece out and redo it. There will need to be some packing somewhere to get the height of the sector plate right. I had to pack the track to line up with the old sector plate, but the new one is thinner. I'll have a think about it before doing something I may regret later!

 

 

 

[Edwardian]

Groovy.  I do admire the planning and engineering skill such things require.

[BG John]

Groovy.  I do admire the planning and engineering skill such things require.

The what???

 

I mostly make it up as I go along, with long thinking breaks between stages. The aluminium angle was supposed to be added only if not having it caused problems, and it's pure chance that I cleared out the junk behind the shed at the right time, to find a free supply that I thought I may as well use now! I didn't have a clue how I was going to handle aligning the tracks to the scenic bit when I started, but whatever ideas I did have weren't what I'm actually doing! The engineering part is just having a decent bench and some fairly suitable tools, plus a bit of knowledge picked up from being part of a family of engineers, despite having spent my working life sitting at a desk!

[BG John]

I cut the first bit of Tufnol for the thing that connects the sector plate to the rest of the layout today. Now I need some thinking time before making the next bit, as doing it exactly like the EM layout won't line up the tops of the rails. More action will occur whenever the next flash of inspiration happens!

[Edwardian]

The what???

 

I mostly make it up as I go along, with long thinking breaks between stages. The aluminium angle was supposed to be added only if not having it caused problems, and it's pure chance that I cleared out the junk behind the shed at the right time, to find a free supply that I thought I may as well use now! I didn't have a clue how I was going to handle aligning the tracks to the scenic bit when I started, but whatever ideas I did have weren't what I'm actually doing! The engineering part is just having a decent bench and some fairly suitable tools, plus a bit of knowledge picked up from being part of a family of engineers, despite having spent my working life sitting at a desk!

 

I mostly make it up as I go along followed by long post mortems.

[BG John]

I mostly make it up as I go along followed by long post mortems.

That's what the long thinking periods are intended to avoid!

[BG John]

I've been losing the plot lately, but am starting to get back on track. The sector plate is now ready for track laying. It has a curved copper clad strip holding the track end down, just like the EM one I described in more detail earlier. I hope to start a track laying session on several layouts soon, but this one will be a bit slow as I need to make all the track:

 

 

I'm currently getting on with the warehouses for the back of the layout. These need to be at the stage they are now as they affect where the sidings go. All but two of the windows are in, and the fronts fixed to the two big buildings. The windows are Scalescenes printed on OHP film. I've changed the colour, and added dirt to the ones that didn't already come with it. I think they're probably too dark now, but at least it's not obvious that the buildings are empty, in most lights!

 

 

I've decided to use a water tank between the main line and sidings to help block the view into the fiddle yard. This altered Wills one was on my first broad gauge layout. I want it to be a bit higher, and it needs covering in stone paper to match the other buildings, so I'll probably build a new base, and just reuse the tank:

 

 

Here are a couple of general views to show progress so far: