BG John Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I'm always mystified when I see track layed with no sleepers at the joins. I've always cut the chairs off the end sleepers and slid them along to fill the gap when I lay the track, rather than fill in gaps later. It's the way I learned to do it from whatever books, magazines or advice I got when I started. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi David, Things are really starting to come together. Just shows what can be achieved in a relatively small space in n gauge, lots of operational interest but easy to set up and store. The terraced houses look excellent, really impressed with them. Keep the updates coming, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Hi everyone, Thanks for the comments above, Not a lot of progress recently, other than splodging on some sleeper grime on the tracks in readiness for ballasting, however a couple of new wagons have arrived. I know I'm a little late to this party, but these really are stunning models! I'm not sure what you'd do with these at the docks, but once I'd decided that this layout was going to be set in Cornwall I wanted a couple of these! I have read a little criticism of Rails of Sheffield's eBay prices, but I have always used the "Make an Offer" function and more-often-than-not, they've accepted an offer I feel is reasonable. Cheers David 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi everyone, I thought I'd posted this update on Sunday night, but looking back clearly I didn't actually post it after checking the preview. Ballasting is now complete, and everything is running smoothly. Having tried three methods for ballasting in the last couple of years, I went back to the classic PVA/Water/drop of Fairy this time around as it has proved the most satisfactory method for me. I added a good slug of Railmatch Acrylic Sleeper Grime to the mix too. Fine grey granite chippings were applied dry and pushed into place with a soft brush as per usual, the whole lot was then soaked with water from a Domestic Surface Cleaner bottle salvaged from the recycling, before the PVA/water/Paint/Fairy mix was applied through a cheap pipette. Once dry it was all hoovered and then any gaps filled using the same method. After thoroughly testing with an 08 (with a v.short wheelbase it won't mask any problems like a larger loco), I sprayed the whole lot with a 4:2:1 mix of Railmatch Enamel Sleeper Grime, Flint Grey, and White, to tone everything down and blend it all together. On interesting note was that I discovered that the point blades of the Peco SL-E399 3-way point are not linked to the frogs electrically. I had wired up the points to electrically switch the polarity of the frogs, but unlike the "normal" 2-way points the point blades rely on a physical connection with the rails for their power. This took a little time with a fibre-glass pen and knife blade to restore smooth running through the 3-way point. I have started work on the scenic break, with this slightly kit-bashed Scalescenes over bridge. It requires a little bit of weathering with the airbrush to tone it down and mask a couple of dodgy edges, but it has come out OK. Cheers David 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Evening Everyone, I am still making progress with Poldeen.... This week some contours have been created. First of all the basic shapes were built up using 5mm foam board. It is nice and light, cuts easily and mainly I have access to loads of off-cuts from various "mood boards" and presentations I have put together in the last couple of years at work. Using the foamboard allowed me to leave a tunnel for the wire-in-tube point control to flex under the terrain, without being clamped in place by the scenery. Once this had dried overnight, plaster bandage was built up over the top.. Over the next couple of weeks I will paint, then add scatter and flock to start to make this look like Cornish village countryside. (hopefully!) Cheers David 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Testing, testing 1.2.3....... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Good evening, I have decided that the cottages (as happy with them as I was) just wouldn't fit into the layout. The space is so small the composition of the layout just didn't really permit their location. It looked as though I was trying to fit in a row of slightly incongruous cottages, rather than they actually fitted the space. Luckily since I had hacked out the cork base to create a recess for the cottages, I had a slightly lower area to work with. I have decided to turn this into a small pond. Therefore this evening I have added a load more plaster bandages to create the recess for the pond. The strange effect of unpainted white plaster bandage doesn't show it particularly well, but the surface of the pond is quite a bit lower than the track level, which sits on 5mm cork above the baseboard surface. The bridges (Scalescenes again) which provide the scenic break are in situ, and I have started to bed them in, but I am not yet happy with the finish or the colours (a bit unnatural) of the scatter materials in some cases. A bit of subtle spraying with the airbrush should tone it all down and blend it together. I am very conscious that the brown landscape looks like plaster bandage painted brown rather than the rolling Cornish countryside at this point, I am hopeful that once lots of static grass, bushes, fence posts and a few sheep are in place it will look a lot better. The framework for the platform (Scalescenes), and the higher platform of land behind it for the approach have been installed. I need to fit the top of the platform next. It all looks a bit of a mess at the moment, with lots of flat brown paint, rough contours, splashes of plaster etc but I think it is coming together! It is odd having no backscene to speak of - I am trying to crop the photos where possible to avoid showing too much of our kitchen, washing, furniture etc... Cheers David 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Love small layouts! In the hour since "Coalition" finished on C4 (was it meant to be as funny as it was? V.Good!) I have completed the first pass of static grass using my homemade "fly-swat" applicator. A lot of the greenery in the pics will undoubtedly be removed by the hoover in the morning, but a couple more applications with varying shades and lengths should get the grass ready for my Cornish sheep! What a difference this makes! Cheers David 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Decision made! I have built the small station building, which places Poldeen firmly post 2000! 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cklammer Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hello David, Suggestions: Re: lack of back-scene and pictures: you could use a temporary (plain white or just blue sky) back-scene for taking the pictures to post ... just my 0,02€ Re: use other builds of the (same?) station building to swap out for depicting different eras as you like/require - just don't glue the station down permanently. I like this layout a lot and admire what you are achieving with it. Best Regards, Christian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Poldeen progress... The station and platform are in place, and fencing and foliage are appearing. A nice little discovery has been various dried mosses which I found for around £1.50 a bag in the "flower arranging" section of Hobbycraft. Cheers David 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 (edited) Hi everyone, I've had a bit of a leap in progress since the last update, and today, after a bit of effort everything was running perfectly (even the Farish 08 was able to creep through the points for a bit of slow speed shunting). I've pretty much finished - last things on the list are to: pour some "realistic water" into the pond, add a few (very few) people to the platform and touch up the edges of the box. It's amazing the difference that a bit of natural light and a tripod for the camera make to your pictures. Overview looking towards the bridge Overview looking towards the station. The sheep are the standard Peco, with black bits added with a Sharpie permanent marker! Class 67 waits for the road. I wanted the signals to look like the modernised semaphores that you see on many Cornish branchlines. They are the basic Ratio kits with all the bits grafted to a round plastic rod instead of the supplied post. "Dad, are we going to the beach today?" "Hang on kids, realtimetrains seems to show a light engine move at the station..." Shunting 67 leaves light engine. A typical local train down here at the minute! (although I note there is now only one left in London Midland colours now I've bought one!) Edited April 26, 2015 by David41283 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 A few more pics which wouldn't fit on the last post... I'm starting to try and write a bit of a timetable/operating sequence to play with. Cheers David 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60006 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Looking very smart indeed. I'm very much a fan of your modelling. Keep it coming! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Evening everyone, I have pretty much finished Poldeen - it's taken 5 months since buying the bundle just after Christmas. In such a small space progress is rapid, even with only a relaxing 30-45mins of tinkering with the layout in the evening after the rest of the family have gone to bed. The pictures aren't nearly as good as the last lot - the lack of layout lighting is most noticable in artificial light. I have spent the last few evenings painting swans, ducks, seagulls and people! I have also added the "Realistic Water" (remarkable stuff!) to the pond. Thanks for all the views and comments. Cheers David 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60012 Commonwealth of Australia Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Hi David, The layout looks absolutely amazing! Congratulations! I have always wanted to have a small layout like that, however me restricting myself to one scale - OO, means I cant do a lot. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Fox 34F Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 What a delightfully light railway. It goes to show that you don't need as much space as you think! More please Paul 4475 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted May 13, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 13, 2015 You've done a top job there - I remember the sad circumstances in which you acquired the basics - I'm sure the previous owner would have been more than happy with this. Looking forward to your next project! Regards, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 (edited) I have been working on a timetable for Poldeen, Using realtimetrains.co.uk I have taken the 6 passenger trains a day from the Newquay branch, the three freights a day from the Portishead line and added a daily path for an MOD train and an "open" path for an engineers or Network Rail working. Headcodes are "educated guesses" but I'm sure some are incorrect. I've run the whole thing, and at sensible speeds, with a little dwell time at the platform for passenger trains it takes about an hour to run through. The only real point to work on, is that this makes clear to me that I need some sort of cassette system in order to do anything like this - the amount of taking things on and off the track was incredible! Poldeen WTT.pdf Edited May 24, 2015 by David41283 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 I have been weighing up making some substantial changes to Poldeen in the last few weeks. With an exhibition invite in the offing, I was considering converting the layout to a more traditional format with backscene, lighting etc.. I have also been exploring the possibility of constructing a separate fiddle yard or sector plate, but this would have meant cutting holes through the box for the tracks to pass through. I have decided to leave things as they are - it is the "layout in a box" concept which makes this a bit more unique. The only work done recently therefore, has been the fitting of a carrying handle and a bit more static grass on a couple of areas which were looking a bit thin. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cklammer Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 This is a marvellous layout. You are right in keeping to the original simple but elegant concept. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Evening everyone, I have been playing trains today - after some minor housekeeping - a good hoover after adding some more ground cover and a good clean of the tracks, everything has been working well, so I've been using a few items of stock I've been working on in the past few weeks... With three crew in each cab, 47773 is route learning, perhaps in readiness for a railtour? After an overnight possession a rake of autoballasters are stabled in the back siding. The MOD train arrives to run round. Also left after the engineering work - a tatty OBA full of junk! A long way from it's usual patch 73213 has been hired in by NR for the engineering works. The crew of 73213 have their high-vis on ready to uncouple. Class 67 arrives with the MOD train. Engineers wagons in the back siding. MOD vans wait collection from the platform. You'll note mid-way through my taking photos, I propped the lid of the box up to act as a backscene. I don't miss a backscene at all, and I am planning on exhibiting the layout "portrait" rather than "landscape" so people can view from both sides or the end, the lid merely kept out the detritus from the spare room from the photos! More to follow... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 On a more pragmatic note, I commented about the addition of a carrying handle a couple of posts ago, today I also tidied up the outside of the box a bit, as the blue has been marked and chipped during construction. The very slim layout in a box! The wiring is now all neatly hiden behind a sheet of hardboard. It really is a layout you can carry under one arm (or in one hand!). Please excuse this photo - my first go at using the timer, with the rest of my family laughing at my efforts! What you get when you open the box! Cheers David 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cklammer Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Hello David, Smart, neat and way beyond cool. Would make sense to paint the bottom hardboard sheet in the same blue colour, too? Or black, maybe? Best Regards, Christian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hi everyone, I am taking Poldeen to it's (and my) first ever exhibition next weekend! I am exhibiting Poldeen at Thorncombe on 7th November. I am really pleased and excited as exhibiting is something I've always fancied doing, but a little apprehensive as I have been invited solely on the basis of the photos in this thread, so I hope the layout lives up to expectations. From what I ahve read Thorncombe is a small show with quite some pedigree, a lot of very good layouts have visited in recent years, so I am in esteemed company! Poldeen is also far from a conventional exhibition layout, with the lack of a backscene or lighting, due to the box design, I hope it showcases something a bit different and shows you can have a very practical home layout, in very little space. This evening, I have had the layout out and given everything a thorough test run. I am pleased to say it ran beautifully and my Farish 08 crept around the layout at a snails pace. This is bound to mean nothing works next Saturday! I have added, checked and adjusted Dapol couplers on various items of stock, and given numerous loco wheels a clean! I also added a few more bits of detail I had been making from scraps of plastic and wire. We now have a milepost on the main line, approaching the station, signifying it is a very long way from Paddington: A gradient marker for the docks branch. (ignore the text - recycling spare transfers!) Non-working buffer stop lights (apparently a strict necessity at the end of any signalled line) And some safety signage at the end of the platform. A stop board at the end of the non-signalled siding. Cheers David 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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