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Andy Y

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Blog Entries posted by Andy Y

  1. Andy Y

    The scene's setting

    By Andy Y,

    I've had an itch for a long time. An itch to model a canal interchange shed; I'd initially looked at the still intact Chillington Wharf on the west side of the Stour Valley route from Wolverhampton High level.
     

    Photo by D.J.Norton
     

     
    I came across this picture in the steel terminal's office whilst I was given a tour of Chillington Wharf by staff showing pre-nationalisation activity with bolsters and opens with the sort of loads which would come from a rolling mill.
     

     
    This would have required a board depth greater than the space I wish to now place the scene in.
     
    Moving onwards; not a million miles away from the spot though was a similar interchange shed, built by the Midland Railway off the Wolverhampton to Walsall line tucked away behind the British Steel site which sits beneath the level of the junction just SE of Wolverhampton High level station. The shed disappeared in the 1950s when the land was acquired by the steelworks but it's not a ridiculous premise to see that shed last a few decades more in the shadow of an expanding works.
     

     

     
    The shed and basin are long gone now but the site can still be seen from the access road to the works here.
     
    Details are scant as it wasn't of conventional photographer's interest really, a couple of line drawings on a local history site including side elevations plus an end photo from Bob Yate's book shown in the introductory blog entry.
     

     

     
     
    The scene will not be a true recreation due to some compression needed, realignment to fit a workable space and the wish to give something with a little more operational interest.
  2. Andy Y
    Some people keep their diplomas, certificates and Oscars in the smallest room; I just make do with a small ever-revolving library. I'm sure I can't be the only one can I?
     
    Anyway, a shot of three books coming out of the reading room neatly summarise what this project will be about.
     

  3. Andy Y
    This month's BRM marks the coming thirtieth anniversary of the creation of Network SouthEast with an interview with Chris Green. There's some useful reference information in the article too and one of the pieces of the article was to show how easy it would be to give a fairly ordinary station the same sprucing up that the division started thirty years ago. The simple 'how-to' got squeezed just leaving a couple of images as part of the article so I thought it worth adding the rest here.
     
    Before:
     

     

     
    And after the bins were delivered, the digital clock fitted and the painters paid a visit with the tins of red paint.
     

     

     

     

     
    The station buildings, digital clock, vending machines are courtesy of Bachmann Scenecraft, the platform lamps from Gaugemaster and the red is simply Humbrol Acrylic 'Buffer beam red'. Scalescenes produce a download pdf where your own station name can be added - http://scalescenes.com/product/r001a-station-signs-and-posterboards/.
  4. Andy Y
    It's quite shameful to admit that there's a preserved railway little more than an hour from home that I hadn't visited before, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway at the edge of Wirksworth, Derbyshire. I suppose it had been a little off the radar as not being the conventional steam-centred family day out type railway and I've done it a substantial injustice in thinking that way. Ecclesbourne is far more about the railway that I grew up with definite leaning towards some interesting DMUs. On most preserved railways these are very much the low cost early empty services early on in the day but instead they're quite a feature at Ecclesbourne, and that's a good thing.
     

     
    Ben and I were there as a research visit and there was certainly a chance for me to capture bags of reference pictures for future projects. We were treated to a behind the scenes look at the stock and the workshops but first of all it was time for a spot of breakfast; again this was a little bit different with the kitchen set up in a Pullman-liveried Gatwick luggage van attached to Mark 2 TSO and FO, again from an earlier life on the Gatwick Express.
     

     

     

     
    A trip up to the workshop gave us chance to look at the Severn Tunnel Rescue vehicles, converted in 2001 from Class 121.
     

     

     
    Ben and I took the chance for a look inside the sister vehicle, thanks to our mobile's torches.
     

     
    We had a run down to Shottle which gave chance to see the Pway team and the road-railer in action.
     

     

     
    It's not often there's chance to see point mechanisms in such pristine condition; some more useful reference pics grabbed.
     

     
    A dig under a few wagons, worthwhile for a future project.
     

     
    The 108 DMBS headed our service back to Wirksworth with suitably nostalgic bouncy seats.
     

     
    Although this was an out of school holiday Tuesday it was good to see services well used and so it was on the dining service down to Duffield. Their Crompton, 33103 'Swordfish' sounded very well on its runs and it was a pleasure to sit back in an FK on a fine summer's day with the familiar smells and sounds.
     

     

     

     
    The railway is currently holding an appeal to build a traditional style booking office for the platform at Duffield - http://www.e-v-r.com/documents/duffieldbhproject.pdf. They're looking to raise £25,000 and they're well over halfway there, we've chipped in so hopefully we'll see that in use next season. If you visit the railway over the next week or so they're holding a raffle with some great prizes including driver experience days and railway membership.
     
    The scenery is gentle but superb along the route with all the former station buildings occupied as residences, the train's third man operates the level crossings so there's plenty of chance to take the scenery in along the way and see the railway's operations.
     
    Much as I enjoyed the Crompton I don't think you can beat the view from the front seat of a DMU so please take time to visit Ecclesbourne and relive your youth!
  5. Andy Y

    Ride on a railbus

    By Andy Y,

    I must confess that today was the first time I've been to the Ribble Steam railway and it'll be 10 years old next year. I wanted to go and get some reference details from the substantial collection of industrial locos they have both steam and diesel.
     

     

     
    Fortuitously there was a midweek operational day featuring the Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus which gave the chance to bring you a run along the length of the railway. It's slightly unusual to see a preserved railway within an urban environment, add in a stretch of road-running and especially when mixed in with operational bitumen traffic in TEA tanks; keep an eye open for the unusual signalling and the sand drags to protect the road section!
     

     
    For anyone who fancies detailing the interior of their Heljan model here's a couple of reference shots.
     

     

     
    If you ever get chance the Ribble Steam Railway is well worth a visit for a look around the museum and workshops as well as the ride.
  6. Andy Y
    I took down to London town to visit the 3D Printshow in the old Billingsgate fish market the other day and was joined a little later by Phil and we took the chance to see some fascinating developments which may, or may not, filter through to the domain of consumers in the future. It was a great blend of being able to walk away from the show with some products and to see some stuff which definitely isn't in the pocket money bracket as yet.
     

     
    It was my first chance to have a play with the 3doodler (available from Maplins for £99.99) which is a handheld pen which feeds ABS or PLA rods through allowing you draw things in three dimensions. Some time back I though it may show some potential for creating trees so Phil and I are going to have an earnest attempt at that in due course.
     

     
    I've had a bit more of a practice when back home but there's a way to go but I've learned a few techniques already.
     

     

     
    I dropped by for a chat with Chris Thorpe of I can make who will be at RMweb Live next weekend. I can make are gearing up to the educational project market to make 3D printing more accessible to educationalists through a range of projects. As with many stands who weren't actually promoting their brand of printers Chris has an Ultimaker in use and this will be seen at RMweb Live creating a topical model, some components of which can be seen in this shot.
     

     
    If someone fancies a minime on their layout it's now perfectly possible, my3Dtwin had a 360 degree photo booth which takes pics from all around and blends them together to create a 3D file which is then sent to a printer to produce a full colour figure available in a variety of scales (a 1/12th model would cost £120).
     

     
    The same group of stands include Cadventure who offer training on use of the technology and included a rather nice section of trackwork used within a recent meeting.
     

     
    Sculpteo.com offer a similar figure print service for around 85 Euros in full colour and this par wouldn't look out of place in a model railway show queue.
     

     
    3D Modelling is obviously of interest to architectural modellers in visualising planned development and several nice examples were on display.
     

     

     

     
    Shapeways as a marketing site and printing service had a significant presence and examples of models from different materials including various metals which are created via a lost wax process.
     

     

     
    There were alternatives to Shapeways of course and 3DPrintUK provide a print bureau service that delivers some low cost options if you plan the prints well enough.
     

     
    Stepping outside the back of Billingsgate for a breather there was a great view of the river which provided inspiration to some of the models shown on stands including 3D modelling using a soil and seed mix placed onto an absorbent bed to grow plants (intended for promotional floral displays) but if you could find a very short growing variety of grass there's a tool to make a diorama come alive!
     

     

     

     
    Current printing technology and materials can be great for some items but the textured surface of plastics can be a a problem and even working to improve the finish can be hard work but we did see some great results via a resin printer which with some finishing work provided some fantastically smooth surfaces making locos and rolling stock more appealing whilst achieving some very fine detail.
     

     

     
    The Formlabs Form 1+ resin printer is currently £2799 but I can see such technology becoming available at more competitive prices into the future.
     
    The guys at Makerbot were really helpful in explaining the differences between their models and Hattons will be showing of the Makerbot replicator at RMweb Live next weekend if you want a closer look.
     

     

     
    Matter and Form showed off an incredibly tidy 3D scanner for home use available for around £350 and shipped from the UK which has a scanning envelope of 120 x 120 x 160mm envelope and converts the input into an .stl file for sending to a printer. Potentially that could lead to abuse of design ownership but it's an interesting way to create masters and convert to digital form.
     

     

     
    There were many printers for sales including build your own kits such as this from bq.com
     

     
    Through to this £34,000 monster.......
     
    For me the most fascinating item was a 3D paper printer from Mcor which prints with an ink which bleeds into the paper and feeds the sheet through for cutting and bonding of each sheet.
     

     

     
    It takes about an hour to create around 6mm of height to the 3D model but it produces some fascinating models ready-coloured.
     

    (That's what it's printing in the images above)
     

     

     

     
    It would take an eternity but what a beautiful model of a station building could be made for example.
     
    That's just a very brief overview of what was on show, the show finishes today but it's worth keeping an eye out for next year if you're interested in 3D printing.
  7. Andy Y
    As announced here Bachmann Europe have announced they are to produce the L&NWR 0-6-2T Webb coal tank available in approximately 18 months. For the last few years Bachmann have held events for the members of the Bachmann Collectors Club and this year chose the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway on the 30th August. If there isn't enough speculation and wishlisting on RMweb virtually everyone had missed the clues to this one; Bachmann followed their announcements for the 2014/2015 catalogue with the caveat that more announcements were to come, this was shortly followed by the announcement of the GNR Ivatt Atlantic as an exclusive edition for Locomotion Models and there was even an invitation to Bachmann Colcetors' Club members to the event at the K&WVR where a significant announcement was to be made. Following previous tie-ins between location of the events and announcements it was obvious that it would be a loco closely associated with the K&WVR; still there was no speculation or chatter.
     
    Generally if I'm out in the wide world, especially on a preserved railway, there's generally a poor data signal so I'd pre-prepared the announcement hoping that the cards were dealt the way I expected. Thankfully it was a wise decision as mobile and wi-fi signals miraculously disappeared at the given moment.
     
    Arriving early it was a chance to have a mooch around and take a look in the display cabinets which had been set up in Ingrow's loco shed and there was a chance to get first sight of the EP sample of the forthcoming grain wagon and a livery sample of the Railway Children train pack which obviously has close associations with the K&WVR.
     

     

     
    I'd invited Old Gringo as something of an L&NWR aficionado along given the subject matter so he could help me out with more background info. The early morning Met-Camm DMU pottered back and forth rasping and smoking its way toward Ingrow's short tunnel. John declared this tunnel a bit rubbish and obviously another Midland Railway bodge. It's of interest to modellers though as it doesn't have much above it and hence any reason for being there and shows there is a prototype for all those tunnels we see with no land of any height above the tunnel.
     

     
    The Collectors Club members were allocated to groups for tours of the sheds at Ingrow, Haworth and Oxenhope and the first group looked around Ingrow shed and the Bachmann display before being asked to be back at the station for 11.45 to await an announcement.
     

     

     
    MC Lovett took to his podium to thank the railway and the Bahamas Locomotive Society for their support and assistance in developing the model as he duly gazed expectantly for Webb Coal Tank to burst forth from the tunnel on cue. It was slightly delayed but all the same it created a statement that here was another attractive pre-grouping design which Bachmann will tackle. I'm sure many of those gathered will be wanting on of the Coal Tanks after a day like this.
     

     

     
    We were treated to a run down to Keighley and dropping off groups at Haworth and Oxehope on the return run for their tours. Old Gringo and I considered our options and that another run behind this delightful loco was in order as we could always do the other things on a return visit and as the sun broke through there was a chance to lose ourselves a little on a virtually empty train and experience some spirited running.
     

    Graham Hubbard and Dennis Lovett pose with the commemorative headboard.
     

     

     

     

     

     

    We realised at this point there'd be an opportunity for the impressive sight of the train working non-stop through stations including Oakworth.
     

    The service train was in the care of the S160; a fine sight!
     

     

     

    John came suitably attired for a day in Yorkshire but I don't think he's got the headwear etiquette sorted yet.
     
    We then headed off lineside to watch the Coal Tank through the level crossing at Oakworth. Ahead of time we looked inside the station and kindly 'Mr Perks' let us have an improptu look around inside the booking office which is a superb display of Edwardiana. If you're ever there on a quiet day it's worth seeing.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I felt the cold hand of CK on my shoulder as we came across half a pound of sausages in a box, it was of course of interest to us as BCB modellers.
     
    Can there be any better way to spend a late summer afternoon than watching a quiet station with a rare treat of a steady climb by the tank?
     

     
    A wonderful day was topped off by a visit to see Jason and Sofia and drop off a bottle of bubbly congratulating them on their recent wedding and a tour of Bacup for John who left Jason's clutching yet another book for inspiration. Jason's our next cover girl for the October issue of BRM where you can read all about Bacup.
     

  8. Andy Y

    RAF Manston Museum

    By Andy Y,

    Whilst on a whistlestop tour of Kent last week Phil and I dropped into RAF Manston Musem which is chocked full with interesting memorabilia and artefacts.
     

     
    There's a cracking railway-related model in there, even if it looks somewhat tired, depicting one of the main stores building pre-WW2 with a rail siding. Pop 20p in and you can watch a Bachmann C-Class tootle back and forth shunting for a few minutes.
     

     
    The buildings are quite delightful.
     

     
    Outside I turned into a rivet-counter (except a V1 is largely welded rather than rivetted) and spotted that the Nazis were apparently early-adopters of Helvetica font despite it not being in use until the 50s.
  9. Andy Y

    Ratty LYP

    By Andy Y,

    Sorry; did I say tidy up in the previous blog entry? A slip of the tongue.
     

     
    Hopefully ready for action on BCB at DEMU Showcase this weekend - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78016-demu-showcase-2014-burton-upon-trent-31-may-1-june-2014/ - even if you're not a D&E modeller it's a show well worth a visit for the quality of the layouts.
  11. Andy Y

    LYP - more pruning

    By Andy Y,

    Another chance to grab an hour at the bench after visitors have left sees the decoder (Hornby 4-pin) hard-wired and hidden behind the dashboard.
     

     
    This means the decoder housing can be stripped away from the floor leaving room for a flat false floor and just enough space for something extra in the cab which should arrive in a few days.
     
    It's amazing how much space you can find in here when you look for it!
     
    LYP - Part 1 - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1535/entry-13941-little-yellow-project/
  12. Andy Y
    A chance to get a bit of personal modelling done as it seems as we've been doing Sentinels to death of late (although this one's slightly different so I'm videoing it as I go along as a test of video more than anything else) but someone may find it of use later on.
     
    The intention is to get to something close to the pictured Sentinel in Sheffield's back streets at Grimesthorpe so it's a case of subtraction and addition to get the right result.
     

     
    An hour later the destruction's complete and it's time to move onto the construction phase (when some extras have arrived) and hopefully have it on BCB at the end of the month at DEMU Showcase.
     

  13. Andy Y
    Whilst on a visit to the Ricoh Arena ahead of RMweb Live in September it was all too tempting to stage a shot which combines a couple of elements of the weekend with Phil Parker's pizza layout grafted onto the roulette wheel in Britiain's largest casino which is on the same site.
     

     
    For those who know Phil he's quite a funghi.
     

  14. Andy Y

    Loveless Deltic

    By Andy Y,

    Out on a photoshoot and video job today we had chance to take a look at and run the new Loveless Deltic.
     
    Just a snap for now but a full review will feature in the mag soon.
     

  15. Andy Y

    A big little world

    By Andy Y,

    As I mentioned in this month's BRM topic ......

     
    Please do make time to go and see this model if you get chance; if it were an exhibition layout (which it never will be as it weighs a ton!) and the trackwork was infilled it would certainly draw the crowds as I can't think of any exhibit which has as many buildings, windows and chimney pots. The model shows Burton as it was on Monday 10th October 1921. Why that day? A local photographer had been out recording town scenes which were invaluable to the modellers who made this impressive panorama.
     

     

     
    The full article about the museum is in this month's BRM - http://www.pocketmags.com/viewmagazine.aspx?titleid=856&title=British+Railway+Modelling&utm_source=modelrailwayslive&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=warnersgroup#5243f79396678
     
    Right now there's a special offer to subscribe to the digital edition for £19.99 if you click the link above.
     

  16. Andy Y
    Several people have asked me several times in person, at talks or on RMweb to write a bit of a 'how-to' on the 'photoshopping' of images for the magazine.
     
    I've taken a scene from Tim Maddock's excellent 'Engine Wood' layout as featured in the May 2014 issue of BRM to show the whole process but somewhat condensed as an image typically takes a couple of hours to fully work through and gone from this:
     

     
    To this:
     

     
    This has been done as a video and narrative tutorial using screen capture software here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/84168-whats-involved-with-processing-an-image-for-the-magazine/
     
    Various images of me sticking the camera into places I shouldn't on reader's layouts have appeared from time to time so I thought it would be good to show what happens when the photos get back to base. Andy Peters took this shot of me taking the pictures for 'Trebudoc' which also appears in the May 2014 issue of BRM.
     

     
    See if you can spot which image was being taken when you get the mag!
  17. Andy Y
    Related questions periodically crop up on sleeper spacing, rail and sleeper painting in addition to ballasting. At a couple of recent demos I was playing with a short plank and talking folk through some of the materials used. I thought it may be a useful reference point for future questions.
     
     

     
    Peco track is the staple diet of modellers moving on from train set track. A basic limitation of the prototypical accuracy of the track is obviously the fact that it is OO gauge and any acceptance of it as it comes or to what it can be altered to is always a question of compromise. Improvements can be made that take the basic product beyond the common lay and ballast approach.
     
    The first step is to turn the track over and cut away the plastic webbing between all of the sleepers. A sharp craft knife will suffice but don't go too heavy handed as too much pressure will cause the sleeper to to spring away where the narrow clasp of the rails chairs grip the base of the rail.
     
    The sleeper spacing is then widened to a more acceptable compromise of around 7.5mm; PH Designs produce a useful tool if you have a lot of track to do - http://www.phd-desig...spacingtool.htm. The whole length of track to be used has the sleeper web cut away and spaced using the tool.
     
    I fix the track using latex based adhesive (e.g. Copydex) or a thin line of PVA glue beneath each sleeper. The track is then laid and positioned. It will be necessary to use the sleeper spacing tool to tidy up any movement in the individual sleepers which will inevitably happen during handling, gluing and laying.
     
    This makes a significant difference to the appearance making the track look lighter weight.
     

     
    Once the track is laid and tidied I use Tan Plasikote Suede Touch spray paint to give a base coat onto the plastic sleepers and nickel silver rails.
     

     
     
    Once the base coat has dried I then paint each sleeper with a mix of acrylic paints; in this case a mix of Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52), Buff (XF-57) and Light Grey (XF-66). Before steaming ahead in painting the sleepers take some photos showing the actual track you wish to model; you should ideally do this in different weathers and observe the difference in appearance in dry sunny, cloudy and wet weather conditions. The colour that you then choose will at least have some foundation in fact rather than just a guesstimate and it will then be appropriate to the area and conditions you are modelling. In this case the sleepers are intended to look dry and sun-bleached with some time having passed since any treatment was used.
     
    The same research criteria is relevant to the colour of the rail sides and chairs. The colour will vary with traffic types and volumes and the ambient light. A little used track in sunny conditions will look rusty orange whereas a busy track seen in dreary light on a wet day may look a very dark grey. In this case I use a mix of Tamiya acrylics Nato Brown (XF-68) and Nato Black (XF-69) to taste and with tones varying slightly on different lengths of rail.
     

     
     
    Once the final colours have dried and all of the track is laid it's time to consider ballasting. Rewinding to the research really look at the type of ballast that's there. The chances are the actual chippings will be smaller than the size of most of the ballast sold. If the grains in your model ballast are over 1mm in length that means each stone would be 3". Were they really that big. The easy solution is to then use finer ballast intended for the 2mm modeller. Rewind again and look at the colour of the real ballast. Is it uniform in colour? What colour is it? Take care to select something that looks right for your model.
     
    In this case I've used Green Scenes GS408 ballast which has fine grains (intended for 2mm) and a nice variation in colours (light grey in this case).
     
    There are tools that make the job of laying ballast quickly easier but I find something very therapeutic in laying the ballast. I like it to sit a little below the level of the sleeper and rail to preserve the lightness obtained earlier on with the removal of the sleeper webbing.
     
    Along the side of the laid track I'll lay some masking tape to achieve a tidy straight line at the edge or cess. The ballast is gently spread between the sleepers with a brush and tamped down with a fingertip. Ballast is laid along the edge of the track and gently brushed into the spaces between the sleeper ends. Running a fingertip over the sleeper ends moves loose ballast grains into position forming a gentle slope down to the edge of the masking tape. Run your finger along the masking tape to remove loose ballast and tidy the edge.
     
    The loose ballast is then fixed in place with a 2:1 mix of Johnson's Klear or Pledge floor wax and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with a few drops of detergent. This is the new formulation which is readily available at supermarkets (I keep the old Klear for other varnishing!).
     

     
     
    The mixture is then sprayed on with a cheap plastic bottle spray or perfume atomoizer, these are available from Boots for £1.65. Give the ballast a good soaking so the varnish can penetrate and adhere to the ballast garnules through to the board.
     

     
     
    As this product is intended to form a shiny coat on hard floors there will be a sheen on the track which can be dulled down with a matt spray varnish.
     

     
    Once the ballast has set (normally overnight) I remove the paint on the top surface of the rail with a fine razor blade, the paint peels away leaving the clean rail head behind. It's worth checking that no ballast granules have moved and stuck to the sides of the rails; they wouldn't stick there in the real world so we'll try to make sure that reflected.
     
    The cess at the side of the track in this case is treated with a painting of Tamiya acrylic Flat earth (XF-52) with a sprinkling of Treemendus Earth Powder on top.
     
    The end product looks better for the time and attention given to it. This article isn't intended to be prescriptive but to get modellers at a certain stage to think a little more about the track appearance.
     

     
    Source: Improving Peco Code 75
  18. Andy Y
    Remembers those Solvite ads decades ago where they papered a bloke to a plane and flew around and the one where they pasted him to a board and swung him from a helicopter? I never believed them for one minute but I now reckon they used this stuff:
     

     
     
    It's 1mm thick, 38mm wide, double sided and self-adhesive on a thin core of foam. I thought it would be worth a go for laying the track on the train turntable onto expecting something that would allow secure fixing without the use of pins ( being unsatisfied with latex-based adhesive last weekend) and the ability to lift and adjust if necessary. WRONG.
     
    This stuff must rate high amongst 'sticky things that don't do what you want them to' with it's propensity to adhere to any organic substance within a 3 yard radius rather than where you want it to go. Face, body hair, clothing etc. Once it's in contact with wood or track that's it, fixed. Forever.
     

     
     
    Eventually I did get part of the TT and the approaches sorted; when I've got a day when I want something more agonising than a needle in the eyeball I'll get the other end done. I'll now be trying to work out how to slide some copper-clads under and solder for additional rigidity at the join as the only weakness is in the chairs - certainly not in the track being fixed to the board!
     
    Source: K2yhaven
  19. Andy Y
    Another day shower dodging.
     
    Baseboards connected, train turntable cut out, front scenic boards knocked together and the boards corked.
     

     

     
    I've not decided yet whether the water (front middle board) will be done as before with paint/PVA/varnish layers on the flat ply top or to invert the board and create some depth to the water within the well. I'll try a couple of ideas and see where it heads.
     
     
    When it's all locked together it's reasonably stable; I did manage to disassemble and get it back indoors inside 5 minutes as another shower headed our way.
     
     
     
    Source: K2yhaven
  20. Andy Y
    "Ooh, I didn't expect it to be that big", long time since I've heard that one.
     
    Whilst showers just about managed to hold off I was able to get the main baseboards and legs knocked together. I hadn't properly considered the leg issue when I made the previous board so that's also been replaced which now means the legs are interchangeable between boards with an easy slot in. No more bulky steel trestles!
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
    A little more time would have enabled me to fit the internal angle bracing and baseboard connectors but I don't think it's too bad for an afternoon's work. There's still two more boards to make for the front section but they're scenic only.
     
    Source: K2yhaven
  21. Andy Y
    Got the crayons out and had a scribble.
     

     
     
     
    And then tried to put it into a 'real world' context.
     

     
     
    That's definitely not to scale, that ferry would be huge!
     
    For anyone who hasn't been to Keyhaven (which is probably in excess of 99% of the population) this snap shows where the car ferry ramp would be.
     
    http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/19508
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Source: K2yhaven
  22. Andy Y
    After months years of chewing over the next phase of Keyhaven everywhere I turned there were self-created compatability issues and also the legacy of bits that could have been better so I'd decided some time back that its offspring would recreate some of the old but improve upon it, especially from an operation viewpoint, and take the idea a stage further.
     
    If I keep deliberating and looking for problems it'll never happen so now is the time of year to make a start, a time when you can traipse in and out of the house fetching and cutting things without turning the rest of the house distinctly nippy.
     

     
    A pile of wood, today.
     
    A picture of a pile of wood shouldn't really merit an illustration but it's there to say that I thought that part through too and saved myself a whole bundle of time in return for a fiver by getting Jewson to cut the ply. It seems fewer and fewer of the DIY tin sheds actually trust their staff to cut bent timber in straight lines or for customers to not end up with splinters and claim inordinate levels of dosh for psychological trauma of timber related injuries. It's hardly top quality but with the construction techniques I'll be using it won't be a problem.
     

     
     
    Within 30 minutes a ply sandwich forms the first 3'6" x 2' baseboard frame, fairly lightweight and reasonably rigid (well it will be when the cross-member goes in when I've finally decided on point locations). Another layer of ply or foamboard will sit upon the ply deck. I was tempted to go with foamboard for the whole thing but some recent experiences told me I'd possibly get frustrated with the amount of bracing required to eliminate any variations in level that could happen if unsupported.
     
    Another timesaver was to use a staple gun as the principal tool rather than ommer'n'nails or screwing it together.
     

     
     
    So what will K2yhaven look like? It will be the equivalent of turning the existing layout through 90 degrees (on the right of the plan) with the station at 90 degrees to the quay across the back of the layout. The station will be a terminus formed from a truncated branch route. The left foreground will be a boat yard with a ramp down onto a car ferry with the centre foreground being the harbour water.
     

     
     
    My target is to get it reasonably complete by Taunton next April.
     
    The topic will run here but significant posts will be copied over to the blog as a digest.
     
    Source: K2yhaven
  23. Andy Y
    Every now and again I suppose many of us go beyond what we'd normally expect as our own "it'll do for me" criteria and get carried away with something.
     
    Keyhaven wouldn't have been right without a late 60s Crompton rattling away on idle and so the saga of the 33/0 began with much hacking to get a 33/0 with decent roof profile and one thing just led to another. To follow on from the blog link above the Archer's rivet transfers never did surface so I got round to ordering some more. Once you start to look really close another 'find' creates more work and I thought I may as well make handles for the roof panels rather than Heljan's distorted nipples. Then there's the louvre/grille debate which, having gone an obsessive step too far, meant that I spent time creating ambiguity rather than a definitive action. See, it's getting silly isn't it?
     
    Whilst deciding to slim down the tanks a fraction rather than just slice out some unseen bits I decided that fitting a bass reflex speaker and mounting the tank sides onto that would be another way of upping the spec, adding unnecessary cost (but it don't 'arf sound beefy now!) and creating another to do task.
     
    Virtually every snap of a working Crompton shows the roof to be a fairly overall sooty charcoal but having taken some snaps of a 33 with a comparatively clean fibreglass roof I could make out there were some ribs under there which affected the uniformity of finish so it would be nice to give a hint of that. Oh, and I mustn't forget the slightly fibreglassy tone to those parts, and the normally less filthy exhaust (but of course some snaps show a hint of rust spots). And then cover it in grime. I must be mad.
     
    Now I'm not that stupid to have been at this weakness full time but I did start it 23 months ago and I've finished
     

     

     
    Now for the really silly bit:
     
    1 x Heljan 33/1 £55
    1 x Heljan 33/0 body £20
    1 x Howes sound decoder £115
    1 x Bass reflex speaker £10
    1 x Archers Rivets £11
    Transfers / Paint £15
    Replacement wheelsets £5
    Time @ minimum wage £don't even go there and it would have been even worse if I'd seen Pugsley's body scraping at some time in the process.
     
    Total > £230.00
     
    No thanks; I don't want one that much!
     
    Having learned some useful lessons along the way I fancy one in original livery. Utter madness.
     
     
    (don't be silly) done all that I can until Mr Hanson can get some extreme etches for the grilles and laser cut windows sorted*.*Other nags are on his list I'm sure.
     
    Source: Unhealthy obsessions .....
  24. Andy Y
    Whilst grazing over a cuppa  carrying out vital research for the Keyhaven extension I came across the following Pathe clip that fills in a few gaps for me on one of the components of the extension.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

     
     
     
    Ain't the 'net great?
  25. Andy Y
     I took the opportunity yesterday to take my last ride on these venerable and extremely comfortable machines on a route that I have a soft spot for. Years of memories of watching them trundle over the bridge at Lymington made it too hard to resist. The Lymington branch racks up another last to follow on from the last steam branch; I wonder if 2050 will be seeing the last Desiro service on the branch with as much interest?
     

     

     
    Anyway, I gather there will be a more professional video coming soon; more details in due course and for a good cause!
     
     
    Source: The 3-CIG 'Slammer's' last days.
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