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betehumane

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  1. betehumane
    I'm sure there have been thousands of these things built, described, photographed, analysed, discussed, praised, dismissed, rebuilt, relaid and thrown away by the good members of this fine community and the great wide world of railway modelling beyond.
     
    But none until now were made by me and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a huge sense of pride and achievement in finally being able to say "I've built some of me own track". Not to mention relief.
     
    So here it is in all its glory, one down 4 to go for the quay. Droppers and fishplates to add, ballasting, weathering and the small matter of installing it so that trains can run on it. But right now if I put a wagon on and hold the blades to one side or other, it rolls through in the appropriate direction, switching tracks just like it ought. Who'da thought it eh?
     
    If you happen to come across this entry while searching for advice and inspiration on how to get started (like I've doing for a long time now), all I can say is give it a go - I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised.
     
    Oh - and get Iain Rice's book on the subject, it is absolutely brilliant. The loop-to-quayside road is hereby dedicated to him.
  2. betehumane

    Foamboard Base

    By betehumane,

    I'm heavily indebted to Chris Nevard's excellent blog on Catcott Burtle for inspiration on using foamboard as a baseboard, not to mention the various threads on this site where the topic has been discussed - very usefully - at length. So here's my contribution for what it's worth. If theres anything worth noting its this...
     
    1) I used ordinary 5mm foamboard from Hobbycraft. I got 5 sheets at a 10% discount as they were very slightly scuffed at one corner. So far I've used 4 and a half of them
     
    2) Cutting and construction, using PVA to bond, was quick and easy, I think I acheived a lot more in the time than I would have in wood.
     
    3) With cross bracing the whole thing seems pretty rigid, and very light.
     
    4) Despite being very light, and despite my "kitchen table" constraint, I ended up cutting the whole thing in half after construction! At 5ft 6in by 2ft it was intended to be carried up the stairs and stored in the box room, within a very short time I got tired of maneouvring around bannistersa and lamp shades... So - I got an unexpectedly early entry into the art of baseboard joins - not got any photos to hand but 6mm ply end plates, M8 bolts and tee-nuts, and C&L dowels seem to have done the trick. I don't think I'll be building individual boards bigger than 3ft by 2 ft in future.
  3. betehumane
    Well all I can say at the moment is the next train to arrive will be...arriving at some point. I can't say when and I don't really know yet what it will look like when it does, but at least, for the moment anyway, I'm pretty sure where.
     
    Yes, as far as I'm concerned, the next train to arrive, will be arriving at St Germans Quay. It will have set off earlier in the day from somewhere in the westernmost reaches of East Cornwall, Liskeard possibly, or maybe on a shorter run from Menheniot. It will have busied itself for a while at Trerulefoot Junction, awaited the passing of a through or two bound for Penzance or Plymouth, then set off diverging hard right and down, seemingly with designs on Looe before revealing more modest intentions with a continued, curving descent to Polbathic. A brief stop, hisses, creaks and birdsong, then on again, hugging the creek almost at water level, the wooded valley rising opposite whilst ahead the broadening lake marks the joinging of three rivers ahead, and journey's end.
     
    A final tight curve, the outskirts of the village just visible on the hillside, and then the view is dominated by the towering spans of the viaduct, right across the valley, high above and carrying Castles, Halls and Counties on other prestigious business. Meanwhile down below, a more modest and ramshackle piece of railway forms our terminus: a single platform, clinkered sidings and crumbling quay wall.
     
    Time to run round, take water, prod lethargically at a few grubby wagons and then back the way it came. To be repeated, with a few variations, until the inevitable axe falls.
     
    But if it's going to arrive at all, I'd better get building.
  4. betehumane
    Have Templot, will plan track. Above all else I keep trying to remind myself that this is a first attempt and a trial effort to learn things, pick up skills and make mistakes. And so it needs to be small in scale and acheivable in time and resources. Luckily at the moment I don't have a cavernous loft/spare room/barn waiting to be filled with Venice-Simplon in gauge 1, so my kitchen table makes a handy size constraint onto which the whole thing should fit for construction and should the joyous day ever arrive, operation.
     
    I printed out the templot plan, stuck it all together and tried a first mock up on the table. Here a some fuzzy shots of how it looked. Keen-eyed observers may notice that the "warehouse" designed to view-block the exit road has its origins in Duplo medieval castle pieces - I think there may be a fair few other lego mockups along the way...
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