St James Station. BR Southern Region.

[StJamesStation]

Well it's been a month since I have posted anything on here and I have managed to do some more on the layout after quite some time away from it.

I walked in to the room this morning and wasn't sure what to do, so after a quick tidy up of all the junk that had accumulated on the baseboards I got stuck into a bit of scenic work.

I had a heap of polystyrene that had been accumulated so that was to form the basis for the areas I was working on.

I glued it to the baseboards using PVA then used wallpaper adhesive to stick the strips of polystyrene on top of each other.

Once dry they were then painted with some brown acrylic paint, then using Woodlands scatter materials and Mini-Natur static grass and the Noch Grassmaster I finished them off.

I need to track down some plumbers hemp or rubberised horse hair to make some brambles for the embankment. I also have some Mini-Natur flowers which I will adorn the hillsides and fields with. I have placed a row of poplar trees along the station halt and a few fruit trees and larger trees near the pub and the Station Master's house.

I finished off the models of the spits and hurricanes with the decals last night so I've included a couple of shots of the airfield.

Enough typing here are the pictures.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gazmanjack]

Looking good. Spring has certainly sprung up in autumn...! I do like the finish to the hard stand area around the hanger, very effective.

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

Thanks Gary. There will be some detailing to do such as weeds in the cracks but it looks ok for the moment.

I may even pour some woodlands scenics water in a few places to make some puddles. Water seems to pool a bit on the the old hard stands. I need to put some tracks in for the hangar doors and detail the interior o the hangar as well.

[gazmanjack]

Take a look at this ; http://www.scenicmodelrailways.com/modellingtips.html Scroll down to tip 15. Maybe of some interest to you.

 

Cheers, gary.

[StJamesStation]

Brilliant!! Thank you very much.

I've attached some photos from a previous layout that had a stream on it.

I'm thinking that I will need to have one on this layout as well.

 

 

 

 

 

[gazmanjack]

Very nice. The water looks clear enough to drink !

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

Yes it turned out nicely that one. I was really impressed with the woodlands scenics water.

[StJamesStation]

Once again a month has passed between posts so here is an update of the small amount of progress made on the layout.

I had typed a whole page of details but then closed chrome by mistake and lost the lot, so here is the abridged version....

 

1. Track at the airfield end re adjusted and cork underlay set under the track. I've also decided a road bridge will be appropriate coming from the edge of the airfield

2. 400mm wide board added to station end of layout to enable more scenic area. Another one will be added at the farm end next week.

3. Town area placed on new scenic board for approval of town planner.

4. Scenic areas developed with plants and flowers, road and walling.

Photos as always......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gazmanjack]

Been busy, have you ??  That has come along a long way since your last post. Keep it coming.

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

Thanks mate I feel like I've achieved very little to be honest but anyway I'll get there.

I had tried to make a start on the lower level this week. I got to measure up the timber needed and headed to bunnings, only to pull up in the carpark and realise that I had left my wallet at home...... Oh well.

I have three days off next week so I may get a chance to do some then.

Cheers Steve.

[gazmanjack]

Well I guess with all the rain we are getting in Sydney, you won't be out in the garden...!

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

Quick update..... No progress made on the layout due to 'training' of a different kind.

 

8 weeks old and bounding around the yard full of energy. I will need to find a way of incorporating her into my train time.

 

[gazmanjack]

Nice pup ! My other half thinks she is adorable...  Come to think of it, about 3 months ago I came home from work and there was this black thing under my feet ! My wife inheretd a Shitzu (I think that's the correct spelling) from a owner who didn't want her as it was given as an unsuspecting gift...She's ok now (the dog, not the missus) and the cat has settled down too !

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

PROGRESS!!!!!!
Today was a train day, I declared to my wife that on my one day off, I, The Lord of the manor would be doing my own thing. A nod and and ok was the response. So some quick calculations were made and off to the hardware store to purchase timber and ply for the long awaited second level beneath the layout.
The truth is I had ventured down to the hardware store two weeks ago all prepared to purchase said timber and ply but I left my wallet at home. Apparently to take the timber home I needed to pay for it.
Anyway I digress.
So I got cracking and made one of the lower baseboards then put up the supports for it. I cut enough supports for the rest of the layout at the same time and have put several other supports up ready for more lower baseboards tomorrow. We have a builder doing some work in the house at the moment so he has been able to give some advise on building the ramps between the two levels. I have an old solid door in the garage which I think will make a very good ramp that won't warp. I would post photos but they aren't very interesting as they are just pieces of timber screwed to other pieces of timber.

[StJamesStation]

Just a quick update, after a couple of days of work I have completed all the baseboards for the lower level.
The next step will be to build the up and down ramps and that should happen over the next few days.
I will put some photos up in the next update but here is a photo of my latest aquisiton to the workshop. It makes woodworking
Very very easy.

[gazmanjack]

Very nice saw. I see you bought quality in Makita. I inherited a drop saw (cheap Bunnings/GMC) from a mate who left it with me two years ago and hasn't been back for it, and NO, it isn't stolen !

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

A very quick update with some more progress made tonight. Whilst cleaning out the garage I happened upon a large sheet of 20mm structural ply, which I have cut into 120mm x 1375mm lengths for the ramp sections down to the new level. I have started doing some gradient testing and can get five coaches behind a West Country up the slope but I'd like to be able to get at least seven up.

I will test my Q1s with wagons before settling on a final gradient. At the moment it is 1:34 and if I could get it closer to 1:50 I would be very happy. The drop from the top level to the bottom is 150mm which is ample room to reach under and pick up derailed carriages should the need arise.

[StJamesStation]

I had a win today....

I was at the local hardware store this afternoon with the good wife looking at some bookshelf packs and general wardrobe type things and I picked up a few sundry item for home when a very generous employee offered me a pile of 3mm ply for $1.00

Well I couldn't say no as they were going to throw it out if I didn't buy it and I reckon there was at least $20.00 worth of ply there. So now I have plenty of stock to be able to build a viaduct or some buildings for the layout. I am inspired to create something after following the Abott's Bridge thread.

[StJamesStation]

Once again more than a month has past since an update despite some more progress being made. I have all the the lower baseboards in place and the ramps down set up with a gradient of 1:46. I have run the Battle of Britain, a 4MT and a Q1 up the incline with 5 non lit coaches without issues. I need to try the lit Pullmans out before securing everything in place as they are somewhat heavier than the non lit coaches and I fear that the locos may slip with too many in tow.

The other fairly big change is to the room itself, with underlay and carpet on the floor now. We have re carpeted the house so I saved a 5 x 4 metre section to put in the train room. It is so much better now as it has made the room quieter and it's certainly a lot easier on the feet and knees when I'm crawling around under the layout.

 

As an aside I was in Perth last weekend so I dropped in to visit my old club, the Southern Railways Modellers Group and the club layout of Alton. It was great to see so many good friends again and I do miss their company and dry wit. I've included a couple of photos of the club layout from the running night. There a shot of a DMU with a mini camera on the front. It is about 10mm x 30mm and saves to a mini SD card, very impressive video too.

[StJamesStation]

A quick update on the small amount of progress made this week.

It has really just been about getting the gradient right which has meant cutting some of the baseboard away

and some of the supports to ensure a suitable amount of clearance for the rolling stock.

I'm hoping that now i can get on with the task of laying the lower level track and start running trains again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[StJamesStation]

DCC...... Decoders........ Decoders that don't do what they are told........ Decoders that do what they are told but don't show that when they are questioned.

This is more like trying to deal with a four year old than a piece of PCB and components.

I have a Hornby Elite controller, which also was not behaving last night (1 hour to do a simple (not so simple) software upgrade). So 1 hour and two laptops later we have

a working controller again, but back to the original problem of the Disobedient Controlling Card (See what I did there, I created a new definition for the acronym DCC) 

Anyway how this all came about...... I have two Q1s and I was double heading them up my new gradient but one of the locos was accelerating faster than the other so i put them on the programming track to read the CVs.

What I discovered was that I could read one decoder but not another. However I could write to both and change both, but on one of them I could not adjust the top speed no matter what I did to the CV.

Anyway I'm heading back in there now to try and sort this little problem out. 

 

It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.

Clive James

[gazmanjack]

Time to change over to NCE...??  Question, which brand of decoders do you use ?

 

Cheers, Gary.

[StJamesStation]

Time to change over to NCE...??  Question, which brand of decoders do you use ?

 

Cheers, Gary.

Trust me Gary the NCE is on the wishlist. I guess I bought the elite to get started in DCC and just havent upgraded yet because I havent had the need to date. I have Hornby decoders in most of the locos and unfortunately I now realise that many of these dont support being read for CV data.

[StJamesStation]

So the DCC decoder issue has been sorted and I spent the night fitting an ESU Loksound 4 decoder and speaker to a West Country.

After spending a couple of hours trying to sync the sound to the movement the loco started to stutter at slow speed. Turns out the motor was moving about so off with the locking plate out with the motor, a small amount of silicone on the mounting point and the motor is back in.

As it is nearly midnight its a good time to pack it it in for the night anyway. I fear that all I will be able to hear as i try to go to sleep is that steam engine chuffing away. 

I thought I was close to getting the sound set but it seems to precess a bit, so I adjust the timing and then it goes the other way.

Some more reading is required I feel so that I can master this. But that will have to happen tomorrow.

[StJamesStation]

The West Country is now done. It already had nano LEDs fitted for the headlamps, cabin light and the firebox, so I played with the CV settings and adjusted the brightness and set the lamps to come on and off slowly rather than instantly.

I also spent considerable time exploring the detailed CV settings available on the decoder. There is the ability to set up macro events that happen when you take an action. So many options it boggles the mind.