Cwm Bach - A South Wales Branch Line

[81A Oldoak]

Looks great, but to be brutal and unfair, it's too neat, too perfect, too consistent, and too green.

 

 

It's definitely too neat - try adding some straw coloured grass too as well as some darker coloured grass, plus bushes, flowers and some railway detritus.

 

The line behind the signal cabin is to the colliery(?), maybe add a couple of lumps of spilled coal that might have escaped from a wagon at some point.

 

 

This early first stage lay down of grassing is looking very good Chris.   Can't wait until that lived in look has been applied but already imagining the hiss of steam and the hum of a diesel.

 

Regards

 

 

I agree that it looks too neat and tidy as I wrote in the original post. The second application of longer fibres is called Golden Harvest and is a straw-like colour, but the contrast is not very apparant in the photographs. I am, though, happy with the base shade of green as seen through my Mark 1 eyeball rather than the camera lens. I have been going through my many colour albums of the prototype and was quite surprised to see how bright were some of the green hues of grassy embankments taken in late spring/early summer. They were almost as gaudy as those bright green grass mats so beloved by the Germans in general and Noch in particular.

 

The line behind is the colliery branch and needs to be ballasted and detailed.  Meanwhile, it would be helpful to see some photos of other people's finished grasswork to help point me in the right direction. 

[DanielB]

Mine is a little far removed from Wales I'm afraid Chris, but hopefully this might help/inspire you. Oh, and this is N scale, btw.

 

 

 

 

[Donw]

I agree that it looks too neat and tidy as I wrote in the original post. The second application of longer fibres is called Golden Harvest and is a straw-like colour, but the contrast is not very apparant in the photographs. I am, though, happy with the base shade of green as seen through my Mark 1 eyeball rather than the camera lens. I have been going through my many colour albums of the prototype and was quite surprised to see how bright were some of the green hues of grassy embankments taken in late spring/early summer. They were almost as gaudy as those bright green grass mats so beloved by the Germans in general and Noch in particular.

 

The line behind is the colliery branch and needs to be ballasted and detailed.  Meanwhile, it would be helpful to see some photos of other people's finished grasswork to help point me in the right direction. 

Is that after the rain has just washed the coal dust off

I think it look quite good myself.

Don

[Kev_Lewis]

I'm with Don on this.

The grass does look good.

[Giles]

This is a bit of The End of The Line, using 4.5mm and 6mm mixed applied by machine, and then with added 'clumps' on top by hand.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2014 by Giles

[81A Oldoak]

This is a bit of The Ens of the line, using 4.5mm and 6mm mixed applied by machine, and then with added 'clumps' on top by hand.

 

The clumps are very effective Giles. Are they home- or ready-made?

 

Chris

[Giles]

Hi. Chris - they're not made separately at all - it's much easier than that (I'll be demonstrating at Coventry on the 13th!).

 

You take a small hand-full of your chosen grass mix, and rub it between tour palms, as if you were making a plasticsene snake. This aligns the fibres. Having dabbed some PVA onto the existing grass or ground where you want your clump, you gently pull the end off your 'snake', and place it vertically into the PVA. WAIT FOR IT TO DRY. It looks stupid, and like nothing on earth at the moment, but once it has dried, you can vacuum it vigorously to reveal a very nice grass clump that matches the rest of your grass perfectly.

 

I also vary the grass with autumn colours for newer growth when I do this. It's great fun, and it really brings it to life!

 

G.

[81A Oldoak]

Hi. Chris - they're not made separately at all - it's much easier than that (I'll be demonstrating at Coventry on the 13th!).

 

You take a small hand-full of your chosen grass mix, and rub it between tour palms, as if you were making a plasticsene snake. This aligns the fibres. Having dabbed some PVA onto the existing grass or ground where you want your clump, you gently pull the end off your 'snake', and place it vertically into the PVA. WAIT FOR IT TO DRY. It looks stupid, and like nothing on earth at the moment, but once it has dried, you can vacuum it vigorously to reveal a very nice grass clump that matches the rest of your grass perfectly.

 

I also vary the grass with autumn colours for newer growth when I do this. It's great fun, and it really brings it to life!

 

G.

Giles,

It worked, but you do need bright, low back-light to see them at their best.

 

C

[Barnaby]

Ref Giles's comment. I have a vid somewhere showing an USA modeller demoing this style of grass laydown. He rolled up a mix of grass into a cigar shape knocked one end square then dabbed into tacky pre applied adhesive. He gave it as a way to get upstanding grass without the use of a staic app.

It was quick and worked very well, I'll see if the link stIll works and add it here later.

 

Regards

[81A Oldoak]

Having retired wounded from my last foray into the landscaping battlefield, I have, like every good soldier, re-grouped, re-armed and launched a counter-attack to re-take the lost ground. Here are some pictures of the embankment after some detailing over the past couple of days. The small bushes were cut from redundant sea moss trees rescued from the demolition of Boduan Junction. They are intended for the rather tedious smaller scales, but I think they look quite effective in the proper scale. Other dressings include good old-fashioned flock and ground foam used sparingly to represent various wild growth. Giles Flavell's clumping technique has worked and a couple are just visible to the left of the dumped sleepers; more are needed. I may add a couple more items of detritus in the form of a 40 gallon oil drum and a sheet of rusting wriggly tin, but  I am anxious not to over do the effect. It is important to remember that the main line companies tended to keep embankments quite tidy and reasonably well-trimmed to minimise the risk of fire from sparks emitted by passing steam locomotives. The need to ballast the colliery branch becomes ever more evident.

[Giles]

That's a smashing improvement, Chris!

 

It occurred to me that a couple of years ago I put up a couple of videos which might be of some use - I find them acutely embarrassing, but you may find them useful. Please feel entirely free to ignore, disregard and so on - but they're meant to be helpful! (Long and tedious.)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2014 by Giles

[DanielB]

Brilliant improvement Chris, it's looking the part now!

 

Thanks for those videos Giles, they will prove most useful for my own layout!

[The Stationmaster]

If it's an NCB line to the colliery I think the term 'ballast' might be a slight exaggeration.  At best it is likely to be ash but quite heavily contaminated with 'small coal' and lumps of coal spilt from wagons as they were braked down the bank plus a good smattering of brake block dust as the wagons would be worked down with their handbrakes applied.

 

Admittedly my 'inside the fence' experience in such areas was post steam age but there seemed to be an awful lot of black in the lineside grass around colliery lines - presumably from coal dust (?).   And yes - spot on - the grass will be short in the steam age, especially on the WR where the usual practice was to burn it back twice a year.

[81A Oldoak]

If it's an NCB line to the colliery I think the term 'ballast' might be a slight exaggeration.  At best it is likely to be ash but quite heavily contaminated with 'small coal' and lumps of coal spilt from wagons as they were braked down the bank plus a good smattering of brake block dust as the wagons would be worked down with their handbrakes applied.

 

Admittedly my 'inside the fence' experience in such areas was post steam age but there seemed to be an awful lot of black in the lineside grass around colliery lines - presumably from coal dust (?).   And yes - spot on - the grass will be short in the steam age, especially on the WR where the usual practice was to burn it back twice a year.

You're right Mike. I use the word ballast here in its very loosest meaning as a substance to hold the track more or less in the intended place.

[DanielB]

Chris, sorry to divert the thread somewhat, but your Kerr Stuart Victory, which wheels did you use?

 

Do unique wheels come as part of the kit or is there a particular kind I should purchase?

 

I've looked at the Slaters wheel sets, and they do not appear to make a 4', 15 spoke wheel, which is what I believe the Victory used.

[81A Oldoak]

Chris, sorry to divert the thread somewhat, but your Kerr Stuart Victory, which wheels did you use?

 

Do unique wheels come as part of the kit or is there a particular kind I should purchase?

 

I've looked at the Slaters wheel sets, and they do not appear to make a 4', 15 spoke wheel, which is what I believe the Victory used.

The wheels are Slater's. I bought the set recommended by Agenoria, but can't remember the reference code. I suggest you contact Agenoria.

[DanielB]

Cheers Chris, I've contact Agenoria but I'm yet to receive a response so I thought I'd ask someone who I knew had built one.

[81A Oldoak]

Cheers Chris, I've contact Agenoria but I'm yet to receive a response so I thought I'd ask someone who I knew had built one.

It was a long time ago, albeit in a place not far, far away, the workshop in my garage, in fact.

[Boatman]

SEF brick and stone sheets are vac-formed rather than embossed.  Just splittin' hairs, but I know Dave is way too busy to let on how he does them. They sell like hot cakes and the poor man is rushed off his feet.  As one of the few trustworthy w/m contract casters left he is busy as Hell with that side of things too.

 

Don't forget the lovely vehicles he does too.

 

Regards,

Boatman

[81A Oldoak]

Another 4 feet of ballasting completed today.

[81A Oldoak]

How many more miles to go then?

Almost half way.

[chaz]

Chris,

 

do you have photo' evidence that sloping retaining walls can have sloping courses?Looks pretty dodgy to me

[81A Oldoak]

Chris,

 

do you have photo' evidence that sloping retaining walls can have sloping courses?Looks pretty dodgy to me

It's just a temporary and loosely placed of Slater's. Finished item will be very different, and level.

[chaz]

It's just a temporary and loosely placed of Slater's. Finished item will be very different, and level.

 

That's all right then!  

[81A Oldoak]

Over on Dock Green my friend Chaz Harrison is giving his Ixion Hudswell Clarke a make-over. In particular he wants to fit larger buffer heads. Prompted by this I decided to change the buffers on one my Hudswell Clarkes. The subject was my black version named Hawkesbury. The procedure was quick and easy, but viewers of a sensitive engineering disposition are advised to look away or switch to another forum. I used 9.1mm diameter brass drawing pins to replace the buffer heads. The procedure is as follows:

 

1. Gently remove the buffer from the buffer beam using a pair of pliers. The buffer is a stiff interference fit but will come loose.

2. Clamp the buffer in a vice and saw off the head.

3. Clean up and level of with a file.

4. Drill a 1.1mm dimater hole in the centre of the decapitated ram.

5. Trim the pin to length and glue it into the ram using superglue. I suppose it could be soldered, but  gluing  was simpler.

6. Reinsert the buffers into the buffer beams.

7. Touch up the shanks and paint the buffer heads. I painted mine matt black and followed with a dry brushing of Humbrol Metalcote Polished Steel 27003.

 

Each buffer took about 5 minutes to change. Total job excluding paint drying time was about 30 minutes.  I know it is crude and probably offensive to engineers - sorry David Smith (Isambard UK) - but it does the job and made a pleasant diversion from ballasting track. While I was at it I also squeezed the links on the coupling chains to get rid of the unfortunate bath plug appearance of the originals.

 

Regards,

 

Chris