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Hi Jeff I'm sure you are on the right lines here. From my own experience of ballasting, I'd add a couple of bits I've learned: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/52339-camden-shed/?p=735637 (Should link direct to the relevant post on p2 of Camden Shed....) Paint the PVA neat and reasonably thickly Vacuum the excess ballast soon after applying - only 5 or so minutes Then go along with a cocktail stick or bent nose forceps to tidy up along and around the sleeper edges Leave to set Credit to Captain Kernow and Gordon S for leading the way here. Iain

Thanks Ben. Just got back this morning on an overnight flight so I've been doing things to prevent me from falling asleep all day! I have got a few things done in the shed. The main section of the footbridge is complete: Made a start on the bridge supports. They are about 6" I beams as far as I can make out, with cross braces. The best thing I had to hand was bullhead rail, and I may yet replace these with brass section instead. Uprights cut to length, filed and drilled: Uprights and one crosspiece held in position ready to be soldered: Ready to be tidied up: Now the 0.5mm wire can be added through the ready drilled holes, and the whole assembly tidied up. I used a lower melting point solder for this bit so as not to melt the joins already made: I promise that they are a lot squarer than the camera distortion has made them seem! Iain

Thanks Chris. Do you just use fine sandpaper? I've got some major construction to do at some point - the loco shed, the old brick water tower, offices and stores - which may be best with the SEF sheets. It might also be best to get them designed and laser cut in mdf or whatever. But that is some way into the future. Not much chance to do anything the last two days, or for the next week. Iain

Thanks Sean, praise much appreciated! It is actually slightly shorter than the real thing, but there are supports to add as well. I wanted to build it strong enough so it would support its own weight without the supports though. The shell is 60 thou plasticard and pretty rigid, though its definitely not up to a Ron Heggs testing procedure! The Regents Park Road Bridge at the north end would be, but I'm not as confident of my engineering as Ron is of his. Iain

Thanks Jol, that sounds excellent reasoning. The b&w pictures of the LNWR box show it as fairly grubby by 1960-62 as well, so hopefully that will work ok. For the ARP box, I have a glimpse in the corner of one colour shot that shows it may have been redder brick. Thanks Mike. If I can do this, anyone can. Until a few months ago, I'd never built any plastic buildings, apart from the Airfix Oakham signal box when I was about 9.......built with one of those tubes of polystyrene cement and I bet I used most of it....... Be prepared to have a go, learn and occasionally discard to start afresh. Iain

Hi Jol, Indeed. Although I'd love a few more colour ones! In particular, I'm still a bit undecided what colour brickwork is on the LNWR and ARP boxes. The goods depot above has more hints of red brick to it than the brown/yellow of the station building I've previously done. Iain

That ground level view is spectacular Jason! Now that side is so much more usable, maybe a chance to add a little bit of darker weathering or deposits on the track and ballast around where the trains stand? Iain

Thanks Jol. Not sure I am that fast but I seem to do a lot of thinking about how I might construct something, then once I start it seems to flow ok. If I start and find I've embarked on a flawed method, I do bin it and start again before I've wasted too much time. I also accept a certain amount of compromise......some would say an unacceptable level in any case as it's 16.5mm gauge in the first place but let's not start that one! For example, the LNWR box should be double sided in that it served the goods yard more than anything. But this box on the layout is partly a scenic break in itself, so I've built it with just one side glazed. Weathered zinc sheet? No idea! I'm a complete novice with colours. I'm happy with the grey primer for the girder part of the footbridge but less sure so far for the top section, which appears to be creosoted timber heavily soot-stained. I may just paint it matt black then weather it. Even the glazing is caked in grime. (Courtesy of Gerald T Robinson's Flickr stream) Iain

Thanks David, that's very kind. I used Slaters 4mm English Bond throughout. It does have a problem that, while the courses are straight horizontally, it doesn't quite line up square vertically. Basically, it's a sheet of 89/91 degree parallelograms. So on the goods depot wall, the inner sheet plus the top and bottom outer layers are laid using the horizontal course alignment as a datum. Then the narrow vertical outer sections (are these buttresses?) are laid according to the vertical alignment because otherwise they would look very odd and slanted. They're narrow enough not to look odd in the horizontal when you do this. In retrospect the SE finecast brick sheet may have been better, although it would need treating to reduce the relief somewhat. Thanks Jason! That's praise indeed and thanks for all your help and inspiration. Glad the move went well. Iain

And a bit more....... I've primed the girder section and built most of the covered walkway. Hopefully it is visible in the second photo especially that every other vertical plate is tapered towards the top, as on the real thing. Also, there is a double vertical plate where the supporting frame sits. However, the effect of those tapered plates is that from some angles it looks as if the whole bridge has been built out of marzipan without ruler or square but with a healthy dose of LSD. It is pretty square in reality! Iain

A little more progress.... In the third shot you can also see the preparation for the painting of the backscene. Unfortunately the painter's mum has been taken ill so there is a bit of a delay, but there are way more important things in the world than a backscene painting. Iain

Hi Jeff, Thanks. I did run something for Gordon S when he came round a couple of weeks ago, but the backscene boards are all off the wall and laid across the baseboards for painting, so it's a bit difficult at present! Once they are painted, I should be able to complete and permanently fit everything beyond the mainlines - the goods depot, the signal boxes, the station and various huts, both bridges, plus all the ground debris. Then there should be the opportunity to take a few pictures of trains running even while I get on with completing the shed area, which is in itself a big undertaking..... But the idea has always been to get the mainlines and FY fully functional (which they are) and scenic where needed (which still has a way to go), and then to work further in towards the operating well. Iain

A little more progress on the footbridge: Sorry the pics aren't as clear as I'd like. Will get some better ones when I get a bit further. Hopefully the details will be clearly representative of the real thing when completed. The girder sides and riveted detail are nearly complete (I'm not doing the reverse as the footbridge will sit flush against the backscene. I need to add the covered walkway then, which is partly glazed. Iain

Hi Jamie I think it was Slaters sheet 0431. It comes as a big sheet 4mm and 7mm scale, at different spacings. We had a discussion earlier in the thread when I was contemplating how to add 20000 rivets to the road bridge at the other end. Iain

Thanks Stanley. I did actually get a massive pile of info that is not mine to share on here, but suffice to say it was priceless! I'm going to have to wait a little before painting both boxes because I'm not 100% certain what brick colours they should be. I suspect similar to the other buildings around - a mix of the yellow-brown London colour with some hints of red showing through. So a bit more progress on this area of the layout - the footbridge over to the goods depot. This will be the scenic break at the south end. Pic here (I have a copy of this one but it was provided by Stanley earlier in the thread). The overall structure under construction using a shell of 60 thou plasticard for a bit of strength: The shell in place roughly on the layout: Adding 10 thou strip for the girder edges: And some rivet strip: This close up it perhaps looks a bit heavy handed, but I hope the overall effect will work once completed, painted and weathered in place. 2 panels done.... Quite a few to go! Iain (Edit for mistyping)

The basic shell of the ARP box is done, seen here roughly in relation to the goods depot building. Iain

Thanks Jeff and Mike. No, not going to rebuild it! I allowed for one thickness of brick either side, but there are three on the front face and two on the rear, so I'm 45-60 thou overwidth in total. I think there remains just enough of a width difference to give the right impression. Once the walkways are installed, the cabin should have the illusion of being a fraction wider than it is anyway. Also, it sits side on to the layout so won't be too obviously the wrong profile. Iain

Yes, I've been inspired by that signal box thread too. Maybe if these work out I'll post completed pics there too. As you say, the peco tt is close enough to provide a basis for butchery! A bit more progress on the LNWR box, fairly self-explanatory: Of course, I failed to factor in the thickness of all these brick overlays when calculating the size of the locking room base, so while it remains fractionally narrower than the cabin, it is now a little too close to that. Hmmmm.... Iain

Thanks Stanley. I think I'm going to be expedient with the turntable and butcher a peco one. The Metalsmith C&S 70' one isn't available yet and although I might be able to scratchbuild something it does need to work as well! Iain

An update on recent progress, which has stalled a little, partly because I took the chance to visit Expo EM and Railex the last two Sundays, and well worth it too. All sorts of positive comments abound in their respective threads, and I can't add a lot to those except to say that they are exceptionally good exhibitions, and I'm lucky to live close enough to attend both. It was also great to meet up with a few helpful and friendly people I knew from before, among them Mike (Stationmaster), Tim and Mike Delamar, but also to meet several for the first time. Jason (Sandside) - good luck for the move and keep up the inspiration for the rest of us. Vincent Worthington - if you don't know what he's done, find a back copy of MRJ 172 and marvel at his portrayal of the whole of Camden Bank in EM, right the way from the station throat at Euston to Regents Park Road bridge. Vincent was very helpful and encouraging, and has offered all sorts of further assistance. Jol (LNWRmodeller) - it was a pleasure to see London Road and to be able to thank you in person for the help you've given already. I bought the two LNWR signal box kits and as you will see in a moment, I've begun to make something from them. Roy Jackson - Vincent introduced me to Roy and I spent a few minutes talking with him which was a great pleasure. Mick Moore and Geoff Kent were also very kind in giving up their time and advice. Where else can you meet the best in their field and have the benefit of such advice and interest? So, on to building..... I need to make both the signal boxes described in the preceding couple of pages, and have started both together. Not because they are the same - they are completely different - but because I can weld bits together and leave to completely harden before the next stage, while I attack the other box. The LNWR box just south of the road bridge utilises two LRM kits on a brick base made from plasticard. The LMS type 13 ARP box is just plasticard. Below are the basic shells, showing the need to marry the two etched LRM kits together. I need about 1.7 boxes but also had to go on sketchy info plus the background in the Richard Foster book. Then, a couple more photos of further progress - these are need various other layers adding plus filler, detailing etc. The locking room doorway of the LNWR box needs a slightly arched top. Still trying to work out the way the stairs work on the ARP box. And two shots of the ARP box sitting roughly in place on the backscene board next to the goods depot. (Though the backscene board is off the layout and on the FY...) Iain

Great to see the enthusiasm beginning to be rekindled Gordon and I look forward to seeing it develop. If my efforts have been even a tiny inspiration, that's a small repayment for the massive help that you have been to me and no doubt many others. Thank you. And err, see you on the first tee next week..... Iain

Thanks for those pics Andy. I've only managed to see pics and videos of the O Gauge Camden1B - if you get any tip offs where it might be exhibited do let me know as I'd like to see it in the flesh, for obvious reasons. Iain

Thanks, I have used GT's website a lot and have a number of etched window requirements for the rest of the buildings. I used the Gibson panels on my water tank, which isn't yet completed. The GT ones suit yours really well - they wouldn't have been quite right for the Camden one. I too will enjoy following Ellerby. And I doubt you're biased about Ella, but it doesn't matter if you are! Iain

Hi Jeff, I check in here all the time but haven't posted much, so thought I'd add some encouragement to the mix. It's a big project, as is mine, and the flow of massive progress followed by periods of gaining seemingly little ground, is part of the fun for me. It seems so for you too. It's always interesting to see what you've done. I'm intrigued by your order of progress though - and this is no criticism, just an observation - I'd have been painting and ballasting the track (and maybe weathering too) before the 245 tons of plaster went up. Can you get enough access to the various areas to do this? I guess it depends on method too......mine is from Captain Kernow and Gordon S and does involve painting PVA then applying ballast and vacuuming the excess, rather than the usual dripping PVA/water/detergent on top. Anyway, I know you'll have thought of this already, and the answer may be lurking somewhere in the thread so apologies if so. Iain

Great thread Jamie and some super modelling. As you can see, I went down the handbuilt track route which may have been overly ambitious but we will see..... Your method is safer and less likely to leave a massive problem! The cutting and splicing of the peco turnouts and crossings gives a far more realistic flow. Love the buildings, especially the water tower/coaling stage. Whose Braithwaite panels did you use? I was also helped a great deal by Geoff Taylor's instruction, but from the DVD rather than the book. Thanks and keep us posted. Wonderful times with the little daughter too I guess? Iain