Andy C Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 It's coming along nicely Andy! I think some might say you're brave making comments about DCC not being best for all layouts! Some DCC layouts work really well, Widnes Vine Yard is a good example, but some the operation just isn't right. Lasyouts at shows where all points, for example, are done from the operators keypads are very frustrating as they spend so long setting a route! I dont think theres anything particularly brave about speaking the truth James, its a clear fact that it isnt the best for all layouts - you quote a good example of why technology doesnt actually make an improvement. Its all right for the geeks and the taliban, but it doesnt make for particularly good exhibition viewing. End of the day Im a pragmatist, and I have to consider both those operating the layout and those viewing it, hence my decision to go to the halfway house! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 The 26 and 27, recently converted to P4 following the arrival of a package from Ultrascale turned their first wheels tonight at the MMRS running evening. Photographed on Slattocks the 26 is pulling its intended formation for the layout, a GUV heavily weathered, an SK and a BSK. The loco and GUV perambulated the layout with ease but the commonwealth bogies on the Sk and BSK had no lateral movement and derailed on the less kind bits of track - I think the solution is guite simple by taking some of the plastic on the underframe out to allow the bogies to pivot laterally and therefore become self compensating. Next job is to detail and weather them, plus add couplings - and much to the displeasure of the P4 group members around, DGs ;-) taken with my Nokia (for those in on the current RMRG joke!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 They sure looked nice to me, Andy! Be really nice when we can see them in their 'natural' setting John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Coming on really well nice flowing curves looking forward to seeing scenery ,did you enjoy the TDF? Coming on really well nice flowing curves looking forward to seeing scenery ,did you enjoy the TDF? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Work on the boards has tailed off a bit over the last few weeks, principally as my eldest Son gets married next weekend in Oslo, so the preparations for it and the logistics of getting the whole family including my mother who's not so agile these days, across to Norway at various stages over the coming week have quite rightfully taken precedence over layout progress. Whilst I should have been starting to pack, and phone our kid to discuss suitable boozing rendezvous that are less than the usual £8-9 a pint in Oslo, I decided, as Mrs C had gone down to her dads, to put a second coat of primer on the baseboards. I didn't use to bother priming the main boards, but a problem with a tiny bit of New Heys baseboard swelling when moisture gets in convinced me its worth doing. Not only that, but Ive realised that priming the underside white has the added advantage of giving more reflected light underneath the baseboard, so at a show if you get a dry joint or need to trace an electrical fault theres very little thrutching about in the dark upside down, as its all very plain to see when painted white. The baseboard surfaces will be varnished to seal them. Ive also painted the sides white as eventualy all the sides will be covered with the scenery formers anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 After a 6 week hiatus caused by Sons wedding, Blackburn and Expo north Shows, then an appearance at the National Brass Band Finals at Cheltenham (we - Boarshurst Siver- came 5th) and then Manchester Show, its time to get the nose to the grindstone to get a demo with the three baseboards ready for the Rochdale Show on 5/6 November for me to do a layout planning demo at the show. One of the many virtues of Templot is when you put the full size plan on the baseboard and find it takes a bit more space than intended in the corner - a quick change of trackplan ensued to ensure I can get the main road, cottages and church in. All this entailed was swapping the goods yard round ar*e about face. NB4.doc And so, back to work..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60091 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Just joined the site after following North Ballachulish as a guest. This looks a great project. A fantastic location for a "what might have been" extention to the existing system. Like you I know the area well as I love climbing and walking in the West Highlands. Your choice of 1970-71 is also a good one...that blue/green diesel era which seems to have been neglected by modellers, and a simple track plan flowing nicely across the baseboards. I was particularly interested in your idea to view the layout from outside the L shape, looking downhill across the station area. I,ll be interested to know your thoughts about this as the scenery develops .You'll be suprised at the different perspective this gives to a layout. I speak from experience...as my layout developed I found the view downhill, ( from what was to have been the back) far more interesting and unusual than from the front. As a result I now have a back to front layout! Look forward to your posts to watch this project develop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Preparation work for the "layout planning" demo at Rochdale show - see www.rmrg.co..uk for details of the show - continued this weekend as other than give the lawn its last mow before winter I actually had no committments either model railway or band wise, a first in over 2 months. The baseboards are all now fully primed, tops varnished etc so this should keep the moisture out of the woodwork, especially the baseboard surfaces when I come to ballast and do the scenics etc. I thought the white edging looked a bit stark, even though this will be eventually covered up by the front and rear scenic formers, so that been duly painted a ScR blue (ish) colour. Well it was the nearest and most appropriate colour of all the "left over" paint cans in the garage The baseboard tops will require a bit of sanding to ensure there are no "bumps" caused by the painting, particularly at the baseboard joints before anything else happens now. I've also finally decided on using cork sheet to lay the track on - I had thought of using balsawood, but got put off by some tales from fellow MMRS club members so decided to stick with what I know and trust. Two rolls were duly acquired from Trevor off Cheltenham models at the Manchester show two weeks ago. Next job will be to put some leg stanchions in to ensure the main board in particular is absolutely rigid when its up. When the boards come back from the Rochdale show they will then be put up in the back bedroom where I can work in comfort on the layout from then on until its eventual show debut in the year ahem....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suddaby Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Looking forward to seeing this at the Rochdale Show Andy. Kevin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 Well that was fun - Rochdale show and the North Ballachulish demo meant the first viewing to the public of the layouts baseboards and the track plan. If folk were expecting to see work done i apologise, as i spent most of the time explaining how I had done things, baseboard construction, Templot, how it would work, various types of goods waggons and workings which were used in the area, including of course the quest for a Timber P. It seemed at times I never stopped talking to people so from that point of view very successful. Not only that but the bare baseboards now have a total of 6 exhibition invites for when its finished! Not just that but as usual the more you talk to people the more you learn so a few ideas have been put on the backburner for the future!What became apparent though was that the inside L cofiguration is a winner, with the height of the layout, and when done, high backscenes of the Glecoe ranges - Bidean, The Anoch Eagach ridge and the Pap, and the Mamores on the north facing boards will give feeling of actually of walking into the layout, and an impression you will get of the trains passing around you. Heres some pics: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 The move of the layout into the "hobby" room started today s i had a "recovery" day off after the Rochdale show. Nowhere near as easy as you would think, for a start I realised I had better fix all the leg adjusters on (I hadn't bothered prior to the show as i wouldnt be doing anything critical). This called for a bit of woodwork as well so out came the chisel. basically they are a stainless steel plate, drilled and countersunk towards each end for the fixing screws, with a 10mm bolt going through a hole in the plate and through a captive nut. The nut has been welded on, so thats going nowhere! Voila! Having then done a few other jobs which included a trip to Kwik Fit to get a puncture sorted (for once they didnt replace the tyre but actually repaired it but quick? my backside!) I set about clearing the corner out. Over a hour and a half later, which included finding my Brassmasters Jubilee kit not seen for a while, I managed to get the corner board up, but by the time I had sorted out all the detritus from the corner, thrown some out then reconfigured the rest of the storage, I took one look at Mrs C's stuff and thought no way - Then once Ive cleared that and put the Oban end board up, there remains the little matter of moving my workbench 9 inches to the left of its current position to accomodate the Fort Wiliam end board. I did say this was going to be a long project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 I wish Id seen this before last week to put on the demo stand at Rochdale: I was displaying a few photos of St Brides church on the demo on the site on the baseboard which it will occupy several comments were made at the show of how much like the Airfix church it was - this prompted me to go down to the stand of a trader at the show who was selling Dapol equivalents and have a look - in a misguided hope that they may provide a "temp" model to get a feel how things looked once in place, or even use as a starting base. Suffice to say one look at the Dapol offering was enough to mouth the comment en francais "Merde" and walk away, especially as what can only be described as plastic junk was £9. Funny, it was OK when I was a kid, but things have moved on a long way since the halcyon days of the 60's. A temporary card structure will be erected once I have measured it up, and my pocket is still heavier of 9 of our British beer tokens. As further reference sites go for Scotland you cant get better than RailScot http://www.railbrit....hulish%20Branch From where I got this lovely shot of he waiting shelter on the down line at Kentallen. Another project I cannot wait to start cutting plasticard for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Suffice to say one look at the Dapol offering was enough to mouth the comment en francais "Merde" and walk away, From where I got this lovely shot of he waiting shelter on the down line at Kentallen. Another project I cannot wait to start cutting plasticard for. I think you will have found that the Dapol church was tiny too. Even small chapels are substantial buildings! The waiting shelter is rather nice isn't it? I take it that it is still there, as that looks like a fresh photo? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Whilst the owner and builder of layout has been making his feelings about the threat to his retirement plans known, Im glad to say the NUR has been at work today. The day off gave me a chance after taking New Hey to Warley to finally get that tip of a work bench sorted out and the layout fully up and levelled in preparation for tracklaying. Its taken the best part of the day but we are now there and i just need to take the sander to the baseboard tops to ensure there are no little bumps to upset the tracklaying. The Fort William end board in place at last - I knew the fit across the back wall was going to be tight but at the near end it can be best described as an interference fit between the side wall and the airing cupboard! (please note tweed jacket handily placed on the door ready for use ) The Dubdee residing temporarily on the middle section is a spare intended for New Hey - a project which was started years ago, but got put to the back of the cupboard until at Warley last week Vulcan reminded me we could do with a spare - its back out and the conversion about to take place, but Ive lost the front bogie locating screw - anyone got a spare? !! Don't mention this too loudly, but it is a Swindon built loco but will be renumbered to one of the engines based at Lees shed, much beloved of Coachman. So hopefully over the next few weeks trackbuilding and laying will commence. Out with the P4 track co kits and easitrack and off we go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 I'm Jake the Peg I did some final levelling of the boards today and was a bit dismayed by a sag which seems to have appeared on the long front piece over the last 3 days its been up as a whole - I thought that as the centre board was made as a very strong table construction it would be OK, but clearly the long overhang, along with Fort William end board hanging off it has conspired against this. I adjusted the legs to try and level things out but clearly a more bombproof solution was required. Remembering that old Rolf Harris classic???? I returned to the now freezing cold garage and found the requisite piece of timber - have you guessed what it is yet? Before: After: Now its all dead level, and Ive been able to sand absolutely flat the baseboard top joints where there was a few humps caused by paint and varnish running in there and pooling during the drying proces - maybe about a half mil if that but the trackbed has GOT to be absolutely flat and level. All ready now for trackbuilding to commence EDIT: For those curious the blue boxes are the stock boxes for New Hey made by "Really useful boxes" and they are absolutely brilliant for stock, obtained fro Staples. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1X Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 love the flowing of the track work nice to look at! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I'm Jake the Peg : EDIT: For those curious the blue boxes are the stock boxes for New Hey made by "Really useful boxes" and they are absolutely brilliant for stock, obtained fro Staples. But they are capable of bursting open as the handles that clip them secure are not that tight. I thus made up some belts that go around them and use cheap clasps meant for rucksacks and the like to hold the belt together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Trackbuilding has sort of commenced today when the first P4 track company B8 turnout was ceremonialy brought out of its plastic box. That was as far as it went unfortunately as i decided to actually read the 6 pages of instructions before actually starting to put it together Now having had many years experience of building my own track and pointwork (25 years by my reckoning) I'd only bought the kits as i do like the idea of having the correct chairs for each location on the turnout - they do look so good - but I even I found the instructions confusing to an extent, requiring several read throughs before I was absolutely clear what order things were done in. I've my own way of working when point building, and this "modus operandi" was relatively alien to me until i actually saw the logic on the second read through. It does make sense given the materials and the preconstructed components in the kit. End of story by the time I was called down to domestic duties from the modelling room, all I'd done was open the box, but i'd a bl**dy good idea where I was going. I suspect over the coming weeks (apart from a sojourn for a week to Malta in two weeks time) a good amount of progress will be made. Speaking of Malta. my eldest son is working there as a client rep on a ship surveying the line of a cable between Valetta and Sicily. Heres an interesting posting he made on facebook today. He does have an exciting job but he did confide given his findings on the seabed today that the true colour of adrenalin is brown. Eventful day.... found a plane wreck, 2 depth charges, 3 (LARGE) shells and a dump of small calibre ammunition. Feel slightly vindicated in my decision to do a few more ROV dives than planned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Are you going to get a deer stalker hat to go with the tweed jacketAndy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rannoch Moor Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 End of story by the time I was called down to domestic duties from the modelling room, all I'd done was open the box, but i'd a bl**dy good idea where I was going. I suspect over the coming weeks (apart from a sojourn for a week to Malta in two weeks time) a good amount of progress will be made. Story of my modelling life! Either that or the phone rings....! Great work, and as a son of Lochaber originally, love the location. (My ideal layout would be Ballachulish - I used to love looking at the derelict remains of the station when my folks drove past on the way to my Grandparents' from Fort William in the early 70's). Gus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Are you going to get a deer stalker hat to go with the tweed jacketAndy? Now theres a thought - I could also borrow my sons rather nice Beretta 12 bore, and exchange the Border Collies for a brace of retrievers! To be honest my West Highland gear for this time of year consists of a Berghaus Ice jacket, a pair of Asolo 4 season boots, crampons and ice axes! (and the two collies) Started point construction by prepping up a piece of MDF and blu tacking the plan and the timber bases to it before taking the tuba out to band practice! more work tomorrow methinks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Story of my modelling life! Either that or the phone rings....! Great work, and as a son of Lochaber originally, love the location. (My ideal layout would be Ballachulish - I used to love looking at the derelict remains of the station when my folks drove past on the way to my Grandparents' from Fort William in the early 70's). Gus Its a very atmospheric place I find and would make a great model, but you would have to find a method of getting in the quarry behind the station buildings - its such an imposing feature. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks for the 'heads up' about how many times to read the instructions, Andy! That will be useful when I break open my new point kit in the near future! Cheers, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 Work commenced on the points today following another read through - as its the first build of these kits and i've no rush on, I'm taking it easy, letting things set before moving onto the next part of the process. first crossing fix Completed crossing assembly Got to say i'm very impressed with the kit so far, whilst the instructions do take a bit of reading, they are very comprehensive and relatively easy to follow once you have orientated yourself with the kit. Would have done some more but now off to play our band Xmas concert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Got to say i'm very impressed with the kit so far, whilst the instructions do take a bit of reading, they are very comprehensive and relatively easy to follow once you have orientated yourself with the kit. Would have done some more but now off to play our band Xmas concert. A lot of the complexity of the instructions is to do with telling you which of the full and particularly half chairs go where. The sprue with the special chairs on does a number (maybe all excepting the slips?) of the turnouts in the range so it necessarilly has more than you need on it. The main look outs with the Exactoscale kits, I found, is making sure things do not get under gauge through the switch (I tend to use the +one band gauge in this area) and that the crossing assembly is truely straight through the V onto the wing rails (look carefully at it with a straight edge). I also assemble with a piece of scrap plasticard holding the two moulded base sections together, they are a bit prone to seperating otherwise. It can't happen when it is stuck down but is a pain when you are still making the thing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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