latestarter

Thanks for all the advice (again) and @Ron Ron Ron one post was specific enough but all the help I can get is welcome.

@brossard Stephen King books scare me a lot less than your photo! @KingEdwardII I was actually aware of the slice connectors and even have some in my Amazon 'basket', saved for later (probably much later, if I can get someone to do it for me). Thanks again for all the help, guys. Much appreciated.

Thanks for the helpful replies @Robert Stokes and @Pete the Elaner. I taught at universities for 25 years and my mantra was...the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. So, I should know better and the boot (for me) is firmly on the other foot.

p.s. @Pete the Elaner I've got a fairly serious hifi system (bi-wired no less!) so, your analogy made a lot of sense.

Really sorry about this incredibly neophyte (posh for newbie) question on wiring for a DCC layout, but my experience is limited in both things electrical and model rail.

I've watched endless Youtube videos, and looked at a few diagrams on wiring bus layouts but no one seems to answer the following....

My basic understanding is  that bus wiring is basically a red and black wire of around 15 AMP gauge running under the baseboard, with dropper wires coming from various sections of the track - soldered to each side of the rails, fed through holes in the baseboard, and then soldered to the bared corresponding positive and negative (red or black) bus wires.

If I've got that about right, here's the question...how do the controller wires connect to the bus wires? No one seems to show this on YT etc, probably because it's so obvious it's not necessary. Is it simply a case of feeding the red and black wires through the side of the baseboard and soldering them to another part of each bus wire.

...see, I knew you would laugh!

On 14/03/2021 at 14:33, Butler said:

I have not used Superquick since I was a young lad, and that’s over 50 years ago, but I never really thought they were up to it. Have they improved in quality and more so in strength?

Very interesting thread for me, as I've now built 2 Metcalfe kits and bought 3 more, for my first layout. I've just downloaded the Superquick catalogue PDF, to see what they offer. Overall, I think I prefer the look of the Metcalfe models, but would like to see some smaller trackside and industrial scene items.

On 15/03/2021 at 13:17, Michael Hodgson said:

If they did Coronation Street in a standard modelling scale and low relief, it would probably sell well to railway modeller's wives

I have been a huge Corry fan since the mid 1960's. Last time I looked, I wasn't anybody's wife.

Thanks for all the help and the links guys, I really appreciate it.

3 minutes ago, ianLMS said:

Stunning!!! We had our wedding reception in The Dunraven Arms in Adare and my wife was living in Newcastle West when i met her. She orignally came from Foynes which is where we will be next week visiting her family.

Small world! I lived around the corner from the Dunraven Arms for 6 years, and I've done some photography work for them -including red-coated huntsmen with a pack of dogs outside the front door. That took a bit of organising, and I'm not sure who were the hardest the handle, the dogs or the American tourists.

I've also done a lot of photography inside the Foynes Flying Boat Museum for Tourism Ireland - definitely worth seeing if you haven't already - there's a mock up of a flying boat you can go inside. 

Just another quick question about weathering rails please...Will I need to clean the acrylic paint off areas where I will solder drop wires for the bus wiring?

Thanks again,

Stephen

44 minutes ago, young37215 said:

I would go for a simple, cheap and cheerful solution which will improve the appearance of your track in a short space of time. Firstly I personally I find enamel paint adheres to the rails better than acyrilic meaning it lasts for longer.

 

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and went a bought some cheap acrylic paint yesterday and have made a start on painting the rails of my (as yet un-laid) track. I'm still waiting for the baseboard, so I thought it would save time. I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie so far as model railways are concerned, at the moment, and there is a lot of conflicting advice. So I pumped for the cheapest method. It's not perfect even, and that's not a bad thing (I think), as rust is not always uniform.

1 hour ago, ianLMS said:

Welcome Latestarter! and Kerry is a beautiful part of the world. My wife's family is from Limerick with a branch living in Kerry. Will be there next week for a visit all being well!!!

 

Good luck and enjoy!!!

Thank you for the welcome Ian (my son's name actually). I'm originally from the NW of England with Irish ancestry going back to Limerick, for hundreds of years. I lived in County Limerick for 15 years when I first came to Ireland (Adare Village and then Newcastle West). I moved to South Kerry 5 years ago.

This photo shows The Kerry Cliffs near Portmagee, and was taken from my back garden with my drone. I've circled my house! Enjoy your visit to Ireland if you're heading this way - give me a shout.

Stephen 

 

UPDATE: I contacted Nick Metcalfe, who explained that although I had assembled the 3 sections of the rear wall correctly, I had fitted it to the building the wrong way around.

The stone wall with the plain card fixed to it with the door should be facing outwards and the workshop roof then sits on top of the plain card.

He hoped that I would be able to correct it, but I said I was stuck with it - as I had used Rocket Glue.

 

Thanks @Pete the Elaner I have actually been studying railway track recently, for a completely different reason. I'm a professional photographer and video producer, and have just completed a series of videos of a classical music festival in my (current) part of the world (Kerry in Ireland).

One of the videos was of a string quartet playing a 30 minute piece called 'Different Trains' by Steve Riech. I needed to superimpose footage of locos, trains and track over the music, so compiled a small library of video clips, and used about 15 of them for the finished video. I still have the rough footage, so I'll go back and have another look this week.

@andyman7 Brilliant advice and assistance - thank you.

I'm very new to railway modelling, but very enthusiastic! I'm currently buying a lot of track and stock, while I wait for a baseboard to be built. I thin intended to build an 8x4ft Trakplan Extension, from the Hornby Track Plans book.

I have the BRM 'Skills Week' Digital magazine, and have just read an interesting article on weathering track. However, the photos show track with light grey sleepers (not sure of the manufacturer). I can see how these may take weathering paint well, but what about the black plastic sleepers that Hornby produce? Can someone recommend the best way to weather these, when I am painting the rails I rust colour?

I assume acrylic paint is best for the rails - but what type of paint and colour would have an effect on the sleepers? 

Thanks for any assistance.

Stephen

 

1 hour ago, Mike Harvey said:

@latestarter Looking at figure 9 of the instructions, I think as pointed out in the second post, the printed wall should be seen from inside the shed, and the unprinted side should face the office. I think you have installed the wall the wrong way round.  As others have said, you can remedy with some stone paper. Matching stone is in the Metcalfe range. M0057.

Thanks very much for the information @Mike Harvey. I'm sure I got it the wrong way around; the first kit I did (a signal box) was near-perfect - but I knew it was going too well! Ironically, even though I'm a professional photographer, my colour printer is in mothballs - and I only have a working B/W laser printer, so I can't get the printable sheets others have mentioned. But, I'll see if I can order the Metcalfe sheet.

@brossardThank you John, that's very helpful. I've been on the Corry set too!

Thanks @grahame , I'll look for the brick paper. @john new I did wonder if I had had put it on the wrong way round. The instructions says to stick that wall and the adjoining (workshop wall back to back, and that wouldn't be possible (I think) any other way, to match up the door with the frame. I may (well) have got it wrong!  

I'm new to the forum, and to model railways and have started on my first layout at the age of 66. While I'm waiting for a purpose built 8x4ft baseboard to arrive, I've been buying track, locos and other stuff including 3 Metcalfe card kits. 

The first one (stone signal box) went well, and so I started to build the single track engine shed with workshop (PO332) yesterday. I was fairly sure that I followed the (excellent) instructions to the letter, but have found that the interior far wall of the shed and back on the interior door are not printed, and look like the back of a cornflake packet (see photos below).

As this will be the wall most easily seen as the loco approaches, I'm convinced that it was not intended to be that way. I've gone back over the instructions, but can't see my mistake. Can anyone who has made this kit offer a suggestion as to where I went wrong, please?

Stephen