The Bigbee Line Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Pete, I've got a single slip on the way. It will be used on another 6' x 1'6" set up. Look familiar? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Pete, I've got a single slip on the way. It will be used on another 6' x 1'6" set up. Look familiar? Waddon Marsh DSCF7818.JPG And if you stand on the Purley Way bridge and look in the other direction..! Excellent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 And if you stand on the Purley Way bridge and look in the other direction..! Excellent. Ernie and Pete, I can see the basis of Ernie's original query. West of the Purley Way bridge, it is Croydon B that would be the best backscene while east of it for just the Halt section, the Waddon Marsh estate makes a low height backscene. I hope that if in future the two were to come together for exhibitions then the south side of the line would provide the best backscene. Pete's work is coming along beautifully and I hope he can easily change the backscene side in future. I would like to think his 'blocker' bridge is modelled on the former Wandle Park Curve bridge which could be affixed to a temporary end piece for relocation whenever the next extension is ever built. Certainly in that situation, I would want to change sides for the backscene to avoid the height created by Croydon A's cooling towers!!! Keep up the good work, Colin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 That would be useful, I only have some long distance shots of the house backs. My scratchbuilding skills are relatively limited and the houses will only be a representation, not an exact copy, but it would be great to have a good reference to work from. If you could take a shot or two, that would be great. Many thanks, Pete. Pete, I attach three views to cover the Waddon Marsh estate from west to east. I have taken much closer views of the properties and if you need them please contact me direct. The original SR high concrete posts and wire mesh boundary fences are still in place although now lost in many places in the undergrowth! Colin. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Exhibit? Good God no. I am forever destined to be on the entrance fee-paying side of the barriers! Colin, thanks for those house pics - much appreciated. I'll PM you with my email address as a close-up would be handy. At the moment, the plan is to butcher a selection of Dapol ex-Airfix house kits as there are some similarities to reality. Take away the bays, and they're not too far off. Pete. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Exhibit? Good God no. I am forever destined to be on the entrance fee-paying side of the barriers! Colin, thanks for those house pics - much appreciated. I'll PM you with my email address as a close-up would be handy. At the moment, the plan is to butcher a selection of Dapol ex-Airfix house kits as there are some similarities to reality. Take away the bays, and they're not too far off. Pete. Dapol.jpg Pete, from your layout photos I do not think you have the depth for low-relief buildings as the gardens between the boundary fence and the houses is greater. You may find it better for the houses to be 'printed' on the backscene with only the boundary fence, trees and foliage in the gardens added. Colin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted April 4, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 4, 2014 At the moment, the plan is to butcher a selection of Dapol ex-Airfix house kits as there are some similarities to reality. Take away the bays, and they're not too far off. Pete. The Dapol houses don't have bays at the rear, which is helpful as the roof is a single moulding. Easy to fit as intended, but a pain to alter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) Pete. Be careful. Placing a flash gun tube too close to something can burn it out very quickly. With extra bright LEDs these days being so small, why not fit two and face them at the viewer? Dave Not wishing to cause an international incident here but the flash system here mentioned does not use a "flash gun tube" but the whole unit complete with the plastic lens still attached. I have successfully used flash guns for a flash effect on six different layouts over the last 30 something years and would certainly not recommend their use by anyone else if I though there was any chance of a fire risk. I advocate the dimming of the flash effect by covering the hole that it emerges from in the baseboard with a plastic membrane which I paint and scenify. I would refer you to my posting on the building and operating of my present layout "Meopham East Junction" in the layouts section, in particular, the flash effect. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79969-meopham-east-junction/?p=1281164 Edited April 4, 2014 by Judge Dread 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Colin, you're right, there's not a lot of room, but I have an irrational dislike of printed backscenes which is why I usually reach for the primer and emulsion! I'll have to see if I can butcher the Dapols in such a way that even if compressed, the effect is retained. The home-owners may have to have a very small back garden (if any). I'm not anticipating any problems with the flash units as they are obviously self-contained units, not just tubes or bare bulbs, but I will have to experiment, as I've never attempted this before. If I get it wrong and one of them does burn out, at a fiver a go, it will just be a lesson learned. I did see one of the Lord & Butler EPBs demonstrated the other week and I just didn't think the LED effect was particularly effective. As for any fire risk, I'll stick a Bedford TK on the Purley Way bridge just in case. Thanks folks. Pete. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Colin, you're right, there's not a lot of room, but I have an irrational dislike of printed backscenes which is why I usually reach for the primer and emulsion! I'll have to see if I can butcher the Dapols in such a way that even if compressed, the effect is retained. The home-owners may have to have a very small back garden (if any). I'm not anticipating any problems with the flash units as they are obviously self-contained units, not just tubes or bare bulbs, but I will have to experiment, as I've never attempted this before. If I get it wrong and one of them does burn out, at a fiver a go, it will just be a lesson learned. I did see one of the Lord & Butler EPBs demonstrated the other week and I just didn't think the LED effect was particularly effective. As for any fire risk, I'll stick a Bedford TK on the Purley Way bridge just in case. Thanks folks. Pete. tk.jpg Pete, you might find the other photos I took more rewarding so look forward to hearing from you in due course. Colin.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) Pete, you might find the other photos I took more rewarding so look forward to hearing from you in due course. Colin.. Sorry Colin, I forgot - I'll PM you now. Meanwhile, I've been giving the road bridge components a "dry run" to hopefully get an idea if it will look ok. The abutments and girders are just in red primer for now. Also, using my trusty tile adhesive method, I made a former from an offcut of MDF to give the road surface a very slight but prototypical "camber". It's a bit hard to see the camber from the photo but I'm hoping when dry and sanded, the effort will be worth it. Pete. Edited April 4, 2014 by Pete 75C 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Sorry Colin, I forgot - I'll PM you now. Meanwhile, I've been giving the road bridge components a "dry run" to hopefully get an idea if it will look ok. The abutments and girders are just in red primer for now. Also, using my trusty tile adhesive method, I made a former from an offcut of MDF to give the road surface a very slight but prototypical "camber". It's a bit hard to see the camber from the photo but I'm hoping when dry and sanded, the effort will be worth it. Pete. waddon_012.jpg waddon_013.jpg Give us chapter and verse as I'll need to do the other side of the same bridge....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 This is the best picture I've found (from a modelling point of view) of the Purley Way road bridge: "purley.way.bridge construction" on Flickr by Roger Perriss. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Bridge looking good Pete, nice work. Cheers, Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Bathurst Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Just found your layout topic enjoyed seeing the progress you have made. Look forward to more pictures of further progress Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Further to my rant which I hope you will forgive me for but I cannot have my work being misconstrued. May I suggest that if you have the space underneath your baseboard, you mount a flash unit underneath your road over-bridge. Here's a view of one of the units fitted to "Brockley Green SE4". The bridge deck actually spanned the baseboard joint and therefore was re-moveable. Please PM me if you require any further help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Judge, that would be pretty much the perfect place for the flash unit but alas, I've got just a little too much going on underneath the board at that point... cross-members, point motor, bus wiring etc etc. I just don't think I can fit it there. Had I planned for the flash a little better, I could have left some room. At the moment, it's looking like one of the flash units will need to live in the gap between tracks roughly where the signal box is planned to go. Before actually cutting any holes, I want to roughen some clear perspex with some wet&dry and then give it a fine mist with some track colour from an aerosol, hopefully the light transmission will still be acceptable. It's all trial and error isn't it? Thanks for the advice, it's all much appreciated and if I get stuck, expect a PM in the future! Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Judge, that would be pretty much the perfect place for the flash unit but alas, I've got just a little too much going on underneath the board at that point... cross-members, point motor, bus wiring etc etc. I just don't think I can fit it there. Had I planned for the flash a little better, I could have left some room. At the moment, it's looking like one of the flash units will need to live in the gap between tracks roughly where the signal box is planned to go. Before actually cutting any holes, I want to roughen some clear perspex with some wet&dry and then give it a fine mist with some track colour from an aerosol, hopefully the light transmission will still be acceptable. It's all trial and error isn't it? Thanks for the advice, it's all much appreciated and if I get stuck, expect a PM in the future! Pete. Forward planning, the bane of my live too. I think I have mentioned this in an article but the MK1 flash unit was surface mounted in the fiddleyard and as a train passed it, obscured from the public view, I pressed the test button. I think certain people are also losing the plot when then talk about LED's mounted on shoegear. That setup then requires the viewer to be at the scene to see the results. "Blink and you miss it". True you can operate the flash at any time and at any place but in the meanwhile the train ploughs into the bufferstops etc etc. My system makes the operation automatic and unattended. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The offer stands, if you wish any advice, please PM me. By the way, I shall be at the show in Southwold, 2nd & 3rd August, not a millon miles from you. See you there? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 By the way, I shall be at the show in Southwold, 2nd & 3rd August, not a millon miles from you. See you there? Yes, hopefully. I've always liked St Felix as a venue for the Southwold show. Hoping to make a day of it, I can hopefully deposit wife and kids in town as we all know Southwold quite well. We even had a look at houses on RightMove a couple of years ago until it dawned on me I was too poor to afford even a beach hut! Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 This is the best picture I've found (from a modelling point of view) of the Purley Way road bridge: rogerperriss.jpg "purley.way.bridge construction" on Flickr by Roger Perriss. Pete, the X girders between the pillars under the bridge of the original are larger that yours. It was a pity that I did not continue my walk along the pedestrian way that goes under the bridge as I could have photographed the original for Ernie and yourself. This I can do the next time I fill up with diesel - alas the tram does 80k on that stretch so impossible to take from that! Please do not forget to email me as the other photos are much closer so I do not wish to place in the public domain. Colin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) Hi Colin, I thought I had PM'ed you, sorry. Don't trouble yourself too much about the x-braces under the bridge, mine may not be exact, but then neither am I! They'll look fine when it's all done. Pete. Edit: RMWeb PM sent, check your messages! Pete. Edited April 5, 2014 by Pete 75C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The 33+VEP Motor Coach+ED combination... now that appeals to my liking of the unusual! A Hornby VEP was never going to be on my stock list for this layout because of the length of a 4 car unit and the fact that they wouldn't have been seen on this line. Now if I can just find a broken motor coach on ebay... Colin - my brother who is just over 10 years older than me spent some time annexed in Carew Manor in the park before joining the main school. I can't remember the reason or for how long that arrangement lasted. Nick, it is a pleasant change to have a simple flat-top baseboard to work with after a couple of open-frame efforts of mine which were a touch too complicated with different track levels etc. I like the idea of traffic backed up in one lane on the bridge, it's little details like that that can bring a layout to life. My thoughts are now turning to tracklaying and wiring but there is something or rather two "somethings" that I want to incorporate into this layout. I saw the South Eastern layout Meopham East a while back and the use of cheap camera flashguns to simulate 3rd rail arcing as the shoe left the conductor rail was, in my mind, very effective. Having decided to go for DCC, I'm aware that arcing can be simulated by a tiny LED in place of a pick-up shoe and controlled by one of the decoder functions, but the tiny blue flash from the LED is to my mind a little unrealistic and you have to be looking right at the shoe to even notice it at all. Having spent the latter part of my railway career driving VEPs and sliding door stock out of Selhurst and Horsham, I'm very familiar with the real-life white arc flash and I think the camera flash replicates that extremely well in miniature. One flashgun will be concealed under the baseboard close to the pointwork at either end of the island platform to simulate arcing as the unit leaves the station under power in each direction. Just a small aperture needs to cut through the baseboard and covered with a weathered piece of perspex. A very simple idea and one that I plan to shamelessly copy! With a couple of cheap flashguns and a packet of reed switches and magnets, it's certainly worth experimenting with, I think. More soon, Pete. flash.jpg Pete, further info on the use of the VEP driving trailer. Geoff Smith confirmed that the trials took place on Sundays, 15th and 22nd February, 1970 and again on Sunday 20th February, 1972. The driving trailer was S76370 from VEP unit 7739. I read that the Swanage Railway volunteers salvaged from Waddon Marsh station, platform edge coping slabs (platform was on a brick base), seats, lamp posts, fencing and the arris rails. So if you have not been there to get the right colour, here is your excuse!!! Colin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 (edited) A rather busy weekend that involved a couple (or more) pints down in Suffolk, but was able to mock up the road bridge and check clearances etc. Nothing's fixed down yet as I still need to ballast and weather the track under the bridge. Before anyone says anything, yes, I know the crewbus would be more at home on a Scottish layout! I've had to scrape out some of the cork under the road bridge to be able to fit the cross braces. That'll teach me to measure first! I tried out the salt-weathering technique on the girder sides for the first time. The pictures don't do it justice but I think it's worked quite well for a first attempt. Edited April 7, 2014 by Pete 75C 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 A rather busy weekend that involved a couple (or more) pints down in Suffolk, but was able to mock up the road bridge and check clearances etc. Nothing's fixed down yet as I still need to ballast and weather the track under the bridge. Before anyone says anything, yes, I know the crewbus would be more at home on a Scottish layout! I've had to scrape out some of the cork under the road bridge to be able to fit the cross braces. That'll teach me to measure first! I tried out the salt-weathering technique on the girder sides for the first time. The pictures don't do it justice but I think it's worked quite well for a first attempt. waddon_014.jpg Pete, I am waiting to see the first RT bus on service 115 cross the bridge! Trust you got the close-ups OK? Colin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coline33 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Give us chapter and verse as I'll need to do the other side of the same bridge....... Ernie, your patience is now rewarded and Pete can see the other side!!! In the lower part of the centre of the second picture can be seen a rusting piece of old iron. It is in fact the remnant of one side of the rail-built buffer stop of the gas works headshunt. So who will volunteer to derust it, giving it a preserving coat and a plaque in memory of the part it played in Croydon's industrial past??? Annoyingly, my battery went as the next eastbound tram was a Stadler working one of the Bombardier duties on service 3 to New Addington. For the past three weeks I have seen one Stadler on this service and assume it is part of driver orientation for when the next four arrive in 2015, followed by the doubling of most of the single track between Therapia Lane and Wimbledon with a second platform at the latter. Then with two throughout services on this section due in 2016, the frequency will be about 4 minutes - what a contrast it will be to the service provided twenty-one years beforehand!!! Looking forward to seeing photos of the original bridge (with a number 115 bus) in model form, Colin. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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