Croydon North Street - NSE 3rd Rail 1980s/90s

[CourthsVeil]

Hi Pete,

I can only repeat what others already have said: fantastic layout comin along nicely & I like that etc.

Thanks for sharing.

Watching with much interest

  Armin

 

PS: IIRC I've read that when using the grassthingy one should make sure that all digital devices on the layout are shut off. x000-volt potential near a decoder – not so good!

[roundhouse]

Pete

 

Another thing to watch after using the grass gun, once it's dried vacuum up the loose bits then us some cheap non scented hairspray from the pound shops to seal what's left in place. I didn't do this at first so when I painted a surface nearby it attracted bits of the grass that were still loose!!

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips about using the applicator. I won't be using it on North Street but I'll probably glue some left-over track to a scrap of MDF and have a play in the near future ready for the next one! I have very little understanding of the science behind static grass but keeping it away from other electronics would seem to be a top tip.

I mentioned that I downloaded the Scalescenes modern station kit and was planning to chop it into a low relief version... With little else to do yesterday I printed the kit, spread out all the sheets and then just stared at them for about 20 minutes... In the end I just pinched the dimensions and scratchbuilt one instead. I had plenty of plastic sheet lying around and I've been threatening to actually make something from scratch for a while. Well, this was a first for me and I think I may have discovered a new dimension to modelling... I really enjoyed the process. For far too long, I've just built a plastic kit or stuck a resin building in place. Yes, I can be lazy when it comes to modelling and if someone produces an "off-the-shelf" version of what I'm looking for, why would I bother to go to the effort of making one? This little low-relief station building is only small and rather basic but it's a first step for me and I can see myself doing it more often. I'll upload a couple of pictures soon - it still needs poster boards and guttering etc.

Ian, have a good weekend at Warley with Banbury!

[Smiffy2]

I've only just found this for some reason, Pete. My gob is thoroughly smacked, excellent work - and so fast!

[Guest]

I've only just found this for some reason, Pete. My gob is thoroughly smacked, excellent work - and so fast!

 

Thanks Dick. I needed something to do whilst not decorating pretending to decorate... The closest Louise gets to the unfinished top floor of the house is to stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell at me, so let's keep it a secret...

[Guest]

I've added the poster board to the front of the station building and have added guttering and barge boards to the roofline. A quick shot below before it gets stuck in place. Through the door, you can just see a representation of the ticket window and, for "out of hours", there's a Network SouthEast ticket machine on the outside wall. I've only just noticed from the picture that I've used a different brick paper to cover the lean-to on the right and now it looks a little odd and is bugging me! I might redo that bit. The whole thing only takes up about 6 inches of the backscene but for a first attempt, I'm quite pleased.

 

 

 

[rob D2]

Super modelling ! Following this now - can't believe I didn't see it before.

I like the look of the Heljan 33 but us the typeface for the numbers right ?

 

What colour are your roads ?, some if the best I've seen

[Guest]

Hi Rob. The roads couldn't be simpler. I used to use fine emery paper for tarmac and those little individual die-cut Metcalfe paving slabs for pavements and platforms but went off that look. The roads themselves are just lightly sanded thin MDF sheets cut in one piece on a table saw as I don't like visible joins! They're sprayed with grey car primer and then irregular "repair" patches are masked. These are sprayed with Plastikote Suede Touch paint to give some depth and texture and when dry, sprayed matt black. When the masking tape's removed, the repaired patches stand a fraction proud of the road surface. Everything is then toned down with Humbrol weathering powders but the repaired patches remain a slightly darker shade of grey because black paint was used in the first place. For the platforms and the pavements, cheap coloured filler is used and then sanded back when dry. The same technique is used for repaired tarmac. In reality, I doubt there are many pavements that are tarmac and not "slabbed" (especially in town centres) but they do exist. In fact the pavement outside my house leading into the town is one long ribbon of tarmac that has been patched up over the years. As for the cabside numbers on the Heljan Crompton, I've never noticed, sorry! I can forgive any printing errors as I haven't even bothered to weather it - it's sitting there straight out of the box.

[richard60098]

Great layout and good to see 80's 90's modelling too

[colin penfold]

Great stuff Pete, please don't replicate the illegally parked vehicles from Sheringham. Unlike the lax local Norfolk plod, I can categorically tell you the Met boys in late 80s Croydon would have had any such vehicles on the removal truck and away to the pound before you could bell "line blocked" I should know, I was a PC in the borough from 87 to 2000

[ess1uk]

Just been catching up, quality work.

[Guest]

Great stuff Pete, please don't replicate the illegally parked vehicles from Sheringham. Unlike the lax local Norfolk plod, I can categorically tell you the Met boys in late 80s Croydon would have had any such vehicles on the removal truck and away to the pound before you could bell "line blocked" I should know, I was a PC in the borough from 87 to 2000

 

I've never quite understood the arrangement in Sheringham. The marked parking bays at the Network Rail station are painted directly over the railway line! I appreciate that movements between Network Rail and the North Norfolk Railway only occur once in a blue moon but it does seem odd. There are only about 5 parking spaces and as they were there before the connection was made... that probably set a precedent and they had to be reinstated once the work was done. No such worries at North Street though!

I sometimes used to walk back to Wallington from Selhurst depot in the early hours if I finished a late shift and had no transport or couldn't get a lift home. Got my collar felt a couple of times wandering through West Croydon bus station at 3am. Wasn't you, was it?

[colin penfold]

I've never quite understood the arrangement in Sheringham. The marked parking bays at the Network Rail station are painted directly over the railway line! I appreciate that movements between Network Rail and the North Norfolk Railway only occur once in a blue moon but it does seem odd. There are only about 5 parking spaces and as they were there before the connection was made... that probably set a precedent and they had to be reinstated once the work was done. No such worries at North Street though!

I sometimes used to walk back to Wallington from Selhurst depot in the early hours if I finished a late shift and had no transport or couldn't get a lift home. Got my collar felt a couple of times wandering through West Croydon bus station at 3am. Wasn't you, was it?

Pete, I could tell an upstanding citizen from a dodgy character and wouldn't bother the former. So yes, it probably was me

My abiding memory of night duty round there was the mothers pride bakery and the smell of freshly baking bread. That used to be torture.

[Guest]

...my fault for wearing a balaclava and carrying a holdall full of crowbars.

[Oldddudders]

Pete, I could tell an upstanding citizen from a dodgy character and wouldn't bother the former. So yes, it probably was me

My abiding memory of night duty round there was the mothers pride bakery and the smell of freshly baking bread. That used to be torture.

Yeah - having lived nearby (Lodge Road) the smell was pervasive, but not persuasive, as you just knew the bread was solid cotton wool!

[Guest]

Low relief station building in place, just needs to be bedded in a little and yes, I did change the lean-to as the mis-matched brickwork was bugging me! Weather in Norfolk (and probably elsewhere) is truly awful today, so a good chance to crack on with some modelling. I've been looking for a basic metal or concrete platform waiting shelter and couldn't find anything suitable so I've had a go at making one from plastic sheet and plastic strip. When the paint's dry and it's had some dirt thrown at it, I'll see if it works.

 

 

 

[Guest]

Waiting shelter's in place. It's a manky late 60/70s sectional concrete thing that could still be seen right up to the dawn of today's modern "bus shelter" type structure. Looking at it, I think I may have made it a bit too tall. The roof's not fixed in place (for access to the seats) so I may snip a quarter of an inch off the uprights so the roof sits lower. I'm unsure if the modern TV-screen departure monitors were around in the early 90s, but they were too cute not to have. The buildings at the high street end are loosely in place. They need to be weathered and fixed down. Walls and fences need to be built to surround their back yards. The L-shaped corner shop will have the largest back yard, so a cameo of a double-parked truck delivering to the back entrance (gate open) might be nice. There's not a lot of detailing that can be done to a shop front, so it's nice to have a bit of room at the back of the shops to work with. Apart from a couple more station nameboards, some benches, some more vehicles, a scattering of people (Bachmann's figures are quite nice although I have some underscale Preiser) and the back yard clutter, I think I may be almost done with this board. As mentioned, the right-hand board isn't even ballasted yet, so that'll keep me going!

 

 

[roundhouse]

Pete

 

That looks superb. You are going to have to take to a few shows!!!

 

Ian

[Grimleygrid]

Very nice. The Low relief station building is a great piece of modelling to go with what is a lovely looking layout.

[hybridangel77]

WOW this layout looks pretty damn good mate.....lots of interesting little detail added.

 

Terry

[Guest]

Pete

 

That looks superb. You are going to have to take to a few shows!!!

 

Ian

 

I'm flattered Ian. Especially as a certain Mr Waterman came looking for you at Warley on Sunday clutching a Best in Show trophy! Thoroughly deserved, btw.

In all honesty, I'm more of a home layout person. I get great pleasure building a layout, I'm just not sure I'd derive the same pleasure from showing it. I'm also beginning to wonder about the operating potential of this track plan. I'd also be terrified in case anyone thought it was cr*p! Besides, I don't have a great deal of stock... one 2EPB, a Dutch Crompton and a handful of wagons might be a bit boring after, say, 30 seconds...

I think I'll continue bumbling along making lots of mistakes and learning from them. That's the great thing about RMWeb in my view. There's loads of great ideas to steal borrow and I always have one eye on the next project! I can bounce ideas around on the forum and look forward to criticism and "why don't you do it this way?" type posts. Maybe in a few years (if I ever do something interesting enough) I might think about it.

Thanks for your kind comments guys, but it's not finished yet!

[cromptonnut]

I'm sure if you asked you'd get offers of help to supply stock and provide relief operation. 

 

Your layout era/location is very similar to mine, although I don't have a lot of small stuff that would suit.  However there are pictures of Class 119 DMU's (as per the forthcoming Kernow model) on Tonbridge to Reading services around your time period as well as 101's for the early 90's and there's no reason one couldn't do a through working.

Edited November 25, 2014 by cromptonnut

[Guest]

I'm sure if you asked you'd get offers of help to supply stock and provide relief operation. 

 

Your layout era/location is very similar to mine, although I don't have a lot of small stuff that would suit.  However there are pictures of Class 119 DMU's (as per the forthcoming Kernow model) on Tonbridge to Reading services around your time period as well as 101's for the early 90's and there's no reason one couldn't do a through working.

 

That's one of the main things that's putting me off. Lack of stock. I'm as guilty as anyone of visiting a show (not something I do too often nowadays) and quickly moving on because either nothing's happening, or the same multiple unit/loco/14xx + autocoach is just shuttling backwards and forwards. I get a bit bored and I certainly wouldn't want to inflict the same scenario on anyone else. I'm not heavily into shunting as my own personal preference is for a main line roundy, I'm just screwed for lack of space at the moment. Everything's a compromise, isn't it?

The other thing that puts me off is authenticity. I know North Street is a total figment of my imagination, but as an example... the semaphores are LMS pattern (wrong) and I doubt those little TV screen monitors were around in 1990 showing train departures, so they're wrong as well. I don't see why anyone should pay a small percentage of any show's entrance fee to see a catalogue of errors on my little effort. Don't think I'm riddled with self-doubt, I'm not, I've said before that these layouts are all part of a learning curve for me and I enjoy building them. I'm just beginning to wonder if I should research the prototype a little more and if something's out of place or out of character, I don't use it. I must stop being lazy!

[kipford]

Pete

Brighton East is totally fictional in layout just aiming like you to give an impression of the area and the period. Your layout is 100 x better than some others I have seen at shows and I would love to seeuite it at our own club show (quick plug for the SHMRC Exhibition in Portsmouth this Saturday). It would equally hold its own at DEMU. Try a small local show to see if you like exhibiting, you never know, The only thing I would suggest even for home use is to frame the layout and use a decent lighting rig it makes a huge difference even at home. Brighton is always opperated with lights on,

[Guest]

Thanks Dave. I certainly appreciate the comments about a lighting rig - that's something I've always wanted to experiment with... I think it would add another dimension, even for a layout that never leaves home. For photographic purposes, can I assume daylight bulbs are a must-have? I must confess to a flicker of self-doubt when Ian (roundhouse) mentioned exhibitions as I'd genuinely never even considered that. I've only been modelling one step up from a track mat trainset for what seems like 5 minutes and I'm quite happy bumbling along as I am. North Street will probably be only the second layout that actually gets finished. A bit of a lone ranger when it comes to model railways, I've never belonged to a club, even though I did consider popping along to the Carshalton & Sutton club when I was younger and lived locally. I'll give it some thought.

I've started work on the buildings at the high street end. The back of the corner shop has been weathered to mimic grubby damp-stained render and a little cameo will feature the back wall getting a fresh lick of white paint. The 3 buildings on the high street are all from the Hornby Skaledale range as I couldn't expect to make anything better! A lick of paint and some weathering will at least make them look a little different from their "out-of-the-box" state. The end of terrace shop opposite the corner shop might get a billboard on the blank end wall.