Layout design case study

[colin penfold]

today I have completed the cobbled area in the back corner which is going to be the small yard serving a low-relief bonded warehouse. I used Busch 7088 self-adhesive cobbles on a base of foam board and plasticard. It could look better if i used finer wheel standard but as a 00 compromise I'm happy.

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2016 by colin penfold

[Guest]

Looking good Colin. Never heard of the Busch product but it does look good. I would never have the patience to carve Das or similar and as such I'm always on the lookout for a timesaver! Apologies if it's still a "work in progress", but have you had a good run through with some stock? It just looks like there might be a couple of pinch points...

 

 

Edited to include image.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Pete 75C

[colin penfold]

Looking good Colin. Never heard of the Busch product but it does look good. I would never have the patience to carve Das or similar and as such I'm always on the lookout for a timesaver! Apologies if it's still a "work in progress", but have you had a good run through with some stock? It just looks like there might be a couple of pinch points...

 

post-12721.jpg

 

Edited to include image.

Thanks Pete, my contractors loco, a Dapol terrier, has safely negotiated all areas. I think that the bits that look like pinch points are what i could have got away with all over if I'd been braver. What the camera doesn't show is that the cobbles are not level with the rail top so the flanges go over.

 

What the camera does show is that i didnt curve the setts to follow the rail. My method was to stick the whole sheet down and then expose the rails with a scalpel.

Edited March 19, 2016 by colin penfold

[colin penfold]

Still on the whole question of levels and ground cover i need to decide where the cattle dock and weighbridge will go.

 

Version 1 requires slight angled narrowing of the Ratio dock to fit, and using the ramp cobbles as a roadway

 

 

Version 2 requires me to narrow the dock but keeps it square. The ramp section becomes an extension to the dock. The extra flagstone on the weighbridge is where the scales stand. Wont be hard to move it to the other end near the hut.

 

 

Opinions welcome!

Edited March 19, 2016 by colin penfold

[Guest]

I think it looks a little better set slightly back from the buffers (version 2) but don't have a clue about what would be prototypically correct. Probably best to go with your instincts on that one, Colin.

[colin penfold]

Getting away from worrying about keeping the dock height continuous has resulted in version 3 with a side ramp on the cattle dock

 

 

Quite like this one

[colin penfold]

OK those of you with sensitive ears or nervous dispositions please look away now.

 

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just spent the afternoon carefully surfacing 10 feet of roadway with Busch self adhesive tarmac road. Nice job till I tested it with my Magnorail and found it's got too much bloomin friction and they wont work

 

And to top it off the stuff is absolutely impossible to remove.

 

DOUBLE AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Probably have to replace the plasticard road surface.

 

Very glum Colin

Edited March 20, 2016 by colin penfold

[Guest]

Ouch. Life 1 : Penfold 0.

 

Is the Busch road surface that flexible neoprene-like stuff? I can see why it might add unexpected friction into the equation. If assuming the worst-case-scenario, and the plasticard has to be replaced, I'd be tempted to spray-primer it, add a coat of textured spray, then black primer as a top coat. You can dull the road surface with weathering powders and then seal it all with a matt varnish. That *may* keep friction to a minimum and allow the vehicles to do their thing? I was going to suggest printing Scalescenes tarmac onto self-adhesive A4 sheets, but I'd worry the vehicles would wear through a paper surface. I think you'll need to experiment before committing. Keep us posted.

 

Edit: Lighter fluid gets rid of all known sticky residue. I've used it on plastic and it doesn't melt or warp the plastic. Alternatively, Cillit Bang (the purple one) does a good job of getting rid of sticky stuff. Try heating the road with a hair drier to loosen it first.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Pete 75C

[colin penfold]

Thanks Pete some good ideas there. I have sent off for new plasticard to replace if i can't clean it off but i will try your suggestions, and a good old razor blade too. Its really a gamble of time to clean off against time to replace. Cost is not that high either way. The Busch stuff is a foamy looking product with a layer of adhesive bonded on. It breaks into tiny bits when u try to peel it, and leaves the sticky residue behind. Sent off for greenscenes tarmac paint to try as a replacement. I reckon I can add some further textures if I avoid the line the magnet follows.

[colin penfold]

Well. I got home with razor blades from Sainsburys and since when were old school razor blades so thin and pliable???? No way can i lift the foam stuff with them. I think it's a definite replace the plasticard job. I suppose i might be able to re-use the plasticard with the other side outermost on other jobs.

[sp1]

Try a glass scraper (Wilkinsons sell them for a pound or two) - these are intended for removing paint etc from glass - much better than a flimsy razor blade.

[colin penfold]

The problem i encountered with the blade was that the plasticard is soft underneath and so the blade digs in rather than scraping along the surface. I wonder if the glass scraper would be similarly challenged

[Campaman]

The glass scraper is basically a stanley knife type blade held on its side at an angle, the corners could still dig into a soft surface, WD40 is also good at removing sticky residue as it softens it to aid removal.

[Barnaby]

The "glass scraper" should work if you hold it square to the direction of pressure ie don't let a corner lead when scraping.  Also keep it as flat as possible to further aid no dig in, you need to play about with the angle to get max glue shift -v- digging in.

Sounds a fiddle but it comes quite quickly.

[colin penfold]

today i finished replacing the ill-fated road surface. Its 0.5mm plasticard covered with mid grey matt fablon from a sign writing store on ebay. I then smoothed off the level changes around the station forecourt with polyfilla coloured with poster paint. Pavements are embossed plasticard with microstrip kerbs.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2016 by colin penfold

[colin penfold]

So lets just go back into the world of planning and research for a minute. I'm not confident i have really nailed the WR coach formations for the DNS. I've currently got three car sets of BRMk1, Hawksworths and Collets (old Bacchy and new Hornby) I had always intended to run them in "type sets" but lately I get the impression that the WR mixed things up a lot. Leaving the old bacchys to one side I have 9 coaches in three sets, all blood & custard. Should i use matching types together? Should I shuffle the 9? Or could I put in a bit more variety?

 

If I went for variety im thinking maybe a newly painted maroon coach and one or two crimson ones would break up the liveries. In terms of types, would an LMS porthole work? What about non-corridor types in witb corridor types? Thinking Mk1 suburban or LNER Gresley or Thompson ones.

 

Perming three from that lot would give 12 vehicles to be shuffled into 4 non-uniform rakes.

 

Views welcome, especially any actual evidence of DNS workings with such vehicles in. I have lots of books on the DNS but none really touch this subject.

 

Thanks all

Edited March 30, 2016 by colin penfold

[The Stationmaster]

So lets just go back into the world of planning and research for a minute. I'm not confident i have really nailed the WR coach formations for the DNS. I've currently got three car sets of BRMk1, Hawksworths and Collets (old Bacchy and new Hornby) I had always intended to run them in "type sets" but lately I get the impression that the WR mixed things up a lot. Leaving the old bacchys to one side I have 9 coaches in three sets, all blood & custard. Should i use matching types together? Should I shuffle the 9? Or could I put in a bit more variety?

 

If I went for variety im thinking maybe a newly painted maroon coach and one or two crimson ones would break up the liveries. In terms of types, would an LMS porthole work? What about non-corridor types in witb corridor types? Thinking Mk1 suburban or LNER Gresley or Thompson ones.

 

Perming three from that lot would give 12 vehicles to be shuffled into 4 non-uniform rakes.

 

Views welcome, especially any actual evidence of DNS workings with such vehicles in. I have lots of books on the DNS but none really touch this subject.

 

Thanks all

 

Long way back to remember something that in any case I saw very little of but I reckon Mk1s would have been very much in a minority Colin.

[wagonman]

So lets just go back into the world of planning and research for a minute. I'm not confident i have really nailed the WR coach formations for the DNS. I've currently got three car sets of BRMk1, Hawksworths and Collets (old Bacchy and new Hornby) I had always intended to run them in "type sets" but lately I get the impression that the WR mixed things up a lot. Leaving the old bacchys to one side I have 9 coaches in three sets, all blood & custard. Should i use matching types together? Should I shuffle the 9? Or could I put in a bit more variety?

 

If I went for variety im thinking maybe a newly painted maroon coach and one or two crimson ones would break up the liveries. In terms of types, would an LMS porthole work? What about non-corridor types in witb corridor types? Thinking Mk1 suburban or LNER Gresley or Thompson ones.

 

Perming three from that lot would give 12 vehicles to be shuffled into 4 non-uniform rakes.

 

Views welcome, especially any actual evidence of DNS workings with such vehicles in. I have lots of books on the DNS but none really touch this subject.

 

Thanks all

 

 

I've looked at lots of photos of the DN&S over the years and never have I seen a Mk1 coach in use. Lots of Colletts starting with the bow-ended stock, then the Sunshine – often mixed in the same train – with latterly a Hawkesworth or two. Using Mk1s, except in full sets, would have meant digging out adaptors for the corridor connections. Also no non-corridor stock, not even a B-set as far I can see. All in crimson and cream until after 1956 when the odd maroon might turn up.

 

I presume you've been bulk-buying Collett Goods locos...

[wagonman]

PS: If you're going as far back as 1943 then you can sneak in a few late surviving toplights.

[colin penfold]

PS: If you're going as far back as 1943 then you can sneak in a few late surviving toplights.

Thats excellent stuff, thank you very much. I will restrict the Mk1s and non-corridor stock to Southampton services. Yes I normally reckon you only need one of each type of loco but have 3 collets, 2 GW moguls and 2 T9s for balance. I will probably run a sequence from the building of Burghclere box in 1943 to closure. That gives me a good variety of liveries, workings and stock.

Edited April 3, 2016 by colin penfold

[gwrrob]

Here's hoping your moguls are the filthy type...

[colin penfold]

Here's hoping your moguls are the filthy type...

Grime mega pack on standby.....

[B McG]

Shouldn't the taxi be an audi? 

Edited April 5, 2016 by B McG

[colin penfold]

here's something a bit different. Some 3d planning of the structures at the left hand end of Southampton. Anove the retaining wall will be a pub and a terrace of housebacks. The latter may have a corner shop. The bridge will have a building in front of it on the nearside. I will mock up the rest of the buildings next time.

 

 

[gwrrob]

Did you get your Scalelink spear fencing you were after Col.