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Bomp

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  1. Bomp

    Class 87

    By Bomp,

    Trying a new format and a new venture in one.
     
    I have a Lima 87 and a second hand Heljan 86.
     
    I was initially going to cut the roof out of the 86 and put it on the 87, but then I checked the body shells, and it seems that they are the same. Certainly the same enough for my eye - which is along the lines of "if it looks right, it is right". So I plan instead to cut the cabs off each and swap them round. I'll use the 87 body and 86 cabs to practise and do the other way round for real. As it stands, I think I can do both cuts/joins at the inner door handrail recess, so it'll just be the roof to fill and sand back. I just happened to have some nameplates from a previous plan to do just a repaint. But that plan is about 20 years old, so it's bound to have changed by now.
     
    The photo shows the kit I have so far.
     

  2. Bomp
    I have now sprayed the ceiling and I am now almost ready to lay track. Just got to build another few feet of baseboard supports and then I can get the track bed set up. I reckon that by the end of my nearly two weeks off coming up, I will have track down, and maybe even trains running.
     
    The other day, at the chemist, I got myself a new tool. Illuminated tweezers. I think they are supposed to be for cosmetics purposes, but they will be very useful for all manner of tasks I have lined up.
     

  3. Bomp

    Stalled again

    By Bomp,

    It seems that I have to decorate the kitchen before I can carry on with the important work. But it's all more thinking time so that when I get the paint sprayer off a colleague so I can sort the ceiling and walls out, I should be able to get track beds cut and the track down. I sometimes think my proposed track plan (which hasn't really changed from the masking tape posted earlier) is too simple, but I can always stick a siding or two in for a loco at the end. And any excitement I need I can get from a low level yard. The possibilities are endless. I just hope I don't get bored of what I do. I haven't yet, I think mainly because I like watching the trains go by. In due course, I plan to have computer control and some degree of automatic operation. Not sure yet whether to go for occupancy detection or that thing like Hornby have where you programme a set of movements in. All more stuff to think about while I am painting.
  4. Bomp

    A story of two bogies

    By Bomp,

    I have been on and on about the failings of Hornby's bogies/pony trucks for as long as I've had locos. Somehow Bachmann escaped, but for how much longer?
     
    Anyway, there follow some pictures showing Hornby's bogie as supplied and a temporarily assembled whitemetal replacement.
     
    There are clearly some jobs that Honrby's bogie has to do that I will not be needing, such as holding a front coupling, and I may well find why the side lumpy sticky out bits (I should know their name and function, but I have to confess I don't).
     
    So now I have to learn to assemble whitemetal and find out how to do bearings. Maybe I have some. I don't know. I will cross that bridge when I come to it, and I may find out why Hornby chose the shape of bogie they did.
     

     

  5. Bomp

    Getting on again.

    By Bomp,

    This afternoon, I've started the inlaid track around where the goods shed is going. Originally I had planned to hack the kit to have a twin/staggered goods shed, but then I realised I'd be shunting into and out of it. Is that allowed? I can't find my rule book, so I can't check... I know I ought to have planned what was going where and all that, but this is the first time I've actually got as far as I have in terms of scenery and a cohesive whole. Anyway, it's an exercise in using what I've got and getting as much for free as I can. Or not, if you count the cost of the articles that came in the cardboard boxes I'm using for my layers.
     
    I've also extended slightly at one end to allow bigger locos onto the layout. After all, why shouldn't I have trains brought in and shunted by a Black 5 or an 8F? Being longer with more pickups, they perform better too! More photos when I've extracted a card from Mrs Bomp who went on a photographic day in Herm yetserday. It's a beautiful place. http://www.herm.com/
  6. Bomp
    The Doctor has told me to make my model for medical purposes!
     
    So I'll have to finish it now. I'm making the exchange sidings at the moment - the box from my pressure cleaner is coming in very handy. This is far more fun than putting boxes in skips!
     
    The first picture is my initial idea for an island exchange platform, but I decided it was too sharp, even allowing for that section being worked by muscle power.
    The second picture shows my second plan which is going to be permanent. The exchange sidings will also allow for passengers for the quarry at the top to change from standard to narrow gauge to complete their journey. I have a couple of Hornby four wheelers to chop up for a suitably ancient ex-mainline coach to fit my short sidings. The narrow gauge will also allow for a change of level within the layout giving a bit more visual interest. I must remember which is going to be the back, though, or I'll hide stuff so I can't see it. Perhaps there will be some sort of covered shed with the narrow gauge track running through it? Who knows. I'm very excited at the notion of actually making real progress on a model, and perhaps even getting some proper scenery done.
     


  7. Bomp

    Working DCC shunting locos

    By Bomp,

    I had never before known the joys of shunting. Now I have an 04 and an Austerity chipped, I can play in my modest brewery for hours! All I need now is a remote uncoupling system. My man is selling second hand stock with Kadee couplers - is it worth stocking up on the stock while he has them? How do you uncouple them? Would I find the answers to these questions with a tiny little bit of looking myself on the search function or internet rather than asking my helpful readership to do all the work for me? Maybe someone would like to come round and do it for me? Am I just getting silly now? Why are most of my phrases phrased as questions?
  8. Bomp
    Only two pictures this time, but they show what I've been up to.
     
    I'm behaving and doing things properly. I cleaned my rails before I painted them, and I've left things that I've glued (four layers of cardboard glued with woodglue for my raised areas) to dry overnight before I carry on. And, surprise surprise, it's all working better than in my impatient days of rushing ahead to get things done. And my son has been helping to paint the rails, which means I've got to let him play when it's done.
     
    Anyway, to the pictures.
     
    One shows the entire narrow gauge section as far as it goes at the moment. I don't have narrow gauge points, only long standard gauge ones. I'll have to disguise the sleepers as well as I can. I also don't have any functional narrow gauge locos, so I will be scratchbuilding an imaginary diesel to go on my Bachmann Bo-Bo chassis. The rationale behind the very sharp bend is that the loco runs around its train, or at least comes off the front and disappears into a siding, and then people push the wagons round to the other side by hand, and push them back the same, and the engine comes back to haul the empties back up. That may avoid the need for a run around loop... perhaps a horse for the full coal wagons? They must weigh a bit for people to push, and he could help with the passenger coaches as well. I'll think and devise a trackplan to suit.
     

     
    The other shows some of my painted rails (first coat with the prospect of some further coats of different colours/finishes for more realism) and the exchange sidings from a lower vantage point. (Post edited to replace bad blurred picture with sharp one...)
     

  9. Bomp

    Yet more progress

    By Bomp,

    I have now mainly lined the walls and need now just to put expanded polystyrene sheet up in the gaps and spray the ceiling to stop the concrete from falling. The kitchen flooring has been turned over to give a nice clean surface for the floor to go on, but that leaves the unavoidable dust and debris from building an extension on the underside, and it falls off all over the place, leaving dust and mank everywhere.
     
    And today I got my last order of the initial bout of purchasing through ready to cut the boards and get some track down. Another 25 yards of track, six sets of point and some underlay. I have gone for foam this time out because last time I tried using cork or nothing and then ballasting with crushed stone and PVA it was so noisy as to be unreal. I am going for silence this time, ready for getting the most out of DCC sound when I get there.
  10. Bomp
    <p>Last weekend I bought a pack of B&Q's finest layout planning hardware.
     
    A four pack of blue masking tape.  I can set out my track plan and see it as it will look in full size without making a single permanent mark on the board.  
     
    All I need now is to save up for my points.  I've decided that since I have the space, I'm going for nice long Tillig ones.
     
    The first photo is the view along the station throat.  The bendy route on the left will dive under to meet the right-most track.  Both of these will link to the lower level double track circuit, which hasn't made it to this plan yet.  I may have to invest in another colour of the layout planning hardware to show that.  Or blue but hatched in red.
     
    The other two similar pictures show other views of the same thing.
  11. Bomp
    It was my birthday yesterday. No trains (yet..), but I did get this: of course, when I say "this", I mean the wood not the people. They were already mine.
     

     
    Today, I have this:
     

     
    All the while I am thinking through a plan in my head. I am dithering over the four track mainline. I would like one, but my dad's locos require 5' preferably and 4'6" minimum radius (I have a few of his kit built locos: off the top of my head, two Saints and a Pannier, but for sure access to more), and my basement is only 10' wide at the narrower end. So... do I pair the tracks by use or by direction? That would get me at least 4'6" on the outer two tracks, but is it prototypical? It would also make it much easier for junctions, as I am having a separate double track circuit which will feed the under"ground" sidings and the above ground town.
     
    Tonight after I have finished the baseboard, I will read my books (okay, look at the pictures) to get some inspiration for my station. And tomorrow, I will build the frame for the other side. Soon, though, I will have to put track to board and make a start. That should be exciting, but first I have to get some track when I get paid. Code 75 for the actual circuits, and the old rerererecycled Code 100 for the sidings.
  12. Bomp

    The plan starts again

    By Bomp,

    I am currently clearing the basement ready to set up baseboards for my proper layout. The image shows what I hope will be the basics of the station.
     

     
    I plan to have only the ends of the platforms visible, with the rest of the station implied while the tracks curve round to continue the continuous run.
     
    It is going to be wired with overhead at least in due course, as I want to run electrics. I have plenty of pictures of Crewe with steam under wires, so I can simply extrapolate that to match whatever I fancy.
     
    The double track at the top is a branch leading, amongst other things, to below ground sidings and a brewery/branch terminus on an upper level. Once I work out better how these planning software set ups work, I'll do more, or possibly just do several for the bits which need planning and just run the track between those bits. The four track mainline will run around the room, unless I run out of space, in which case it will be down to the two for some/more of the circuit.
     
    All this is in the long run, though, as I have tons and tons of rubbish to sort through and throw away.
     
    Any comments on my trackplan so far would be welcome.
  13. Bomp
    Okay, the LED oil lamps light up as expected, but it turns out that in the dark, there is lots of bleeding light from the actual body. I think that next time, and before I fit them fast for sure, I will repaint the lamps. It would help with the delicate bits of trying to make it look like there is an iron on them as well. The single 1.5mm hole worked well, as opposed to the two .8mm holes suggested in the article.
     
    And a question. Nigel Burkin's book refers to shuffling CV values to get the lamps to stay on regardless of direction selected. Can I just solder in the wire that feeds the reverse direction lights into the circuit I've got to avoid that? Although I would, presumably still get the dwell between directions I get sometimes.
     
    Anyway, this has been so much fun, I'm going to determine a specific use for a loco and light it accordingly. Tail lamps too. At £3.50 a go, less VAT, the lamps are well worth it for the extra play. Just got to finish a layout now.
     
    Next project, probably to be started before this one is finished, is fitting running and interior lights to my 156. This is where my robotically qualified friend will come in. All will win. His son and my children will watch a film. Our wives can talk about babies and kittens or whatever, and we can work out a circuit to do what I want.
     
    I feel my humble Austerity may need a lamp or two. Didn't they go in for a red and a white on each of front and back? That would look good.
  14. Bomp
    Princess Alice now has a numberplate and nameplates on. She also has lighting up oil lamps on the front.
     
    Photographs of various stages follow.
     

    This one is my bench in the conservatory. It's brand new, hence the lack of sun protection at this young stage. For a change, I've actually got some prototype photographs for a project. Only two, but they helped in that I now know that there is some sort of pipe at the front of the frame which can be taken as being represented by the wires for the LED lamps at the front. Note also the perfectly timed edition of Model Rail with instructions on how to do exactly what I wanted to do!
     

    Pride comes before a fall, and I was careful to check and test before saying so, but I'm quite proud of my neat soldering and sheathing on this one. I also did the hosepipe trick on any exposed ends to be on the very safe side.
     

    Lamps fitted and wired in, but not reassembled.
     

    Princess Alice renamed, but not renumbered. If you look closely at the cabside, you can still see the outline of thicker paint where the numbers have come off, as well as where I appear to have rubbed through to plastic. I'll cross that bridge when someone builds it for me... I'm also slightly unconvinced by the red background - the donor, City of Manchester, came with a maroon backgound. Red looks good, but is it right?
     

    Princess Alice back together, lamps not lit.
     

    And the one I've been waiting for, Princess Alice, lamps lit, ready for finishing and a nice big layout to play on.
  15. Bomp
    So far I have spent several hours, as has my son, rubbing the numbers off my City of Manchester, so I can change her to Princess Alice.
    The numbers on the Hornby model are larger than those on my photos, and need to be taken off, as therefore for the same reasons do the tender letters.
    The problem is that on the right side, I have taken off enough to reveal the plastic underneath, but still I can see the shadow of the numbers , so I may have to go to Town on the weathering after. We’ll see how we go when we get there.
    The latest Model Rail has an article about fitting lights to steam locos, which is great, because I was going to fit lights and my Nigel BURKIN book doesn’t quite go into enough detail(or too much detail... hard to tell!).
     
    Saturday...
    Today I have finally found some small bits to make holes. It turns out that rather than the two 0.8mm holes both Model Rail and the intstructions suggest, one 1.5mm hole is good. Further, the model I’m using, 6246, has holes under the rear of the front buffer beam where the lamp irons are glued in, and these holes are in precisely the right place for the holes for the lamp wires. I will follow up with the success of these holes, namely whether they work and have damaged the lamps in putting them in the holes.
    As far as the rubbing off of numbers is concerned, I have got bored, so I have fitted the lights instead. I will continue to rub as and when I get the inspiration, but it is so dispiriting rubbing the numbers and still having bits left around the rivets, and anyway, there are still shadows showing where the printed numbers have come off. Will these disappear with the application of weathering? I am trying to persuade Mrs BOMP who is the artistic one to apply the weathering but she is taking some persuading.
     
    Now I am home, I just have to clear some space and test it all. I should add that although I've claimed above that one 1.5mm hole is good, I haven't yet wired it all up to check that it works. I'm pleased with the position, though, having checked the model against my prototype photos.
  16. Bomp
    I've wired the layout now, and I'm quite proud of the result. It looks neat and tidy underneath, and there's a feed to all areas.
     
    I've run my Bachmann 03 very slowly along all the routes, so that's good. I'll do a video in the daylight to show just how slowly it goes, and also show off my wiring and plug/socket.
     
    I'm going to bed now, to dream of more things to do.
  17. Bomp
    I've got running trains already! Space for four short vans/wagons, and a place for them to come from and go to. All I need now is to arrange the narrow gauge bit and I'll be ready to start ballast and inlaid bits.
     
    Photographs show the final (for now) track plan. Any weaknesses or improvements people can think of would be kindest now rather than when I've started the scenic bits. I'm hoping to be able to add to each end if need be, but for now I'll be having like a boxed in yard with buildings around it.



    This is most unusual, being happy with a small layout. I'm normally best off with full length trains going fast, I suppose because at my mum's house I had an outbuilding where I ran 20 coach expresses and 70 wagon freights. Those old tender drives were quite strong... Still, once I've honed my scenery on this one, I'll be looking to expand the basement layout all round the edges. That will be good. Just got to work out why I've got late Big-Four/Early British Railways and catenary. Somewhere around Manchester, I reckon, with a bit of regional strangeness (I'm mainly LMS/LMR and GWR/WR). Or Crewe got wired early? Perhaps Crewe-Birkenhead became the way to go and that got wired early too? It's my railway and I'll justify it if I like it!
  18. Bomp
    I think I stand a good chance of doing something with my next project. I've got an old wardrobe door and stripped it of hinges and stuff, put a frame round the bottom, and stuck a layer of cork/cardboard from an old notice board on top.
     
    The plan is to make something small enough to keep and work on upstairs and, I hope, to finish. Inspired partly by the latest Model Rail I'm going for a small shunting industry type set up, and inspired by a recent Model Rail, I'm going to have narrow-gauge exchange sidings as well.
     
    Here follow progress pictures thus far:
     

    The door.

    with the frame and cork.

    with the first track plan down (I only have those points etc so I've got to work with what I've got).
     
    Tonight I hope to decide on my track plan then lay it and fill in the plain track. I may well try some sort of point mechanism, like slidy rods or something. The cork is nice and thick for making grooves in.
  19. Bomp

    For my birthday

    By Bomp,

    I got City of Manchester, in black with the semi-streamlined smokebox.
     
    I also have a photograph of Princess Alice in the same condition (more or less, to my untutored eye), and a plan to rename/number my new one to go with my own Princess Alice. I won't post the photo of the steam Princess Alice, because I don't know who took it etc.
     
    However, I will put up a photo of my renamed loco when I've done it. I'll see about hacking the bogie as well to make it look better. I might even weather her slightly. After all, she will be running in an early British Raiways period.
  20. Bomp

    Project

    By Bomp,

    I've got a Fleischmann 0-4-0 electric loco which I'm never going to use unless I modify it in someway.
     
    So I'm planning on fitting a chip (I can't quite see how to go about it, but I'll keep at it and publish my results if I manage it), fitting lights, amending the couplings from the continental ones it's got, adding larger sprung industrial type buffers, carving off the cast handrails and fitting wire ones with knobs, fitting proper grills instead of the cast plastic ones and repainting either in a fictitious livery or based on what Bass/another Burton brewer may have painted it in if they'd had one. I'm retaining the pantograph as there are sidings with overhead served by a mainline out of sight, and it charges its batteries there as well. Did I mention that I'm modifying it in my head so it's got batteries as well as overhead?
     
    When I've got any pictures (I may have to reassemble it for a "before" picture), I'll put them up. Or I may leave it in pieces and find my £12 manky one rather than learn on the £80 new one. Anyway, they'll be pretty much of a muchness when they're done, as they share a chassis, and they'll both get lights etc.
     
    Now to hit eBay and get some LEDs unless anyone has a better source?
  21. Bomp

    Excuse

    By Bomp,

    Please may I be excused not making any more progress and not updating the blog recently? I've had to do that nasty work thing they make me do in good modelling time. On the plus side, I've only got 8 hours tomorrow, then I'm off until Friday at 5pm, and my brother's coming to see me tomorrow for a couple of days, and then I've got to entertain some children during half term, so I think a bout of Ben playing on my trains while I tidy the basement and lay more track and solder stuff together and what have you is in order.
     
    I used to be terrified that he would break things, but in all honesty, as long as I keep the particularly special things safe for playing with only by me or only while I'm close by and hands on, he can play with what he will. While I've always been into prototypicality to a degree, if he grows into it all well and good, if not, then let's make a completely fantasy layout for him. He likes dragons and knights and dinosaurs and things, so the possibilities are appealing. Maybe a large scale garden fantasy layout with the Bachmann G scale stuff I've got. That would be fun. And big enough that he can build stuff and paint it without having to worry too too much about balance.
     
    That's all for now, up early in the morning for another nasty early shift.
  23. Bomp
    In case anyone cares (and I know it's not to do with the layout, but the layout is laid out under the books - does that count?).
     
    The collection there is my older collection. I daren't re-read Asimov, as last time I tried, instead of being awestruck at the ideas, I was terribly disappointed by the clunky writing style, and I don't want to spoil it.
     
    I also have newer books, by the likes of Peter F Hamilton, Richard Morgan and Alistair Reynolds. And Iain M Banks.
  24. Bomp
    These pictures show most of my interests. The bookshelves hold most of my science fiction collection, mainly Asimov, Clarke and E.E. "Doc" Smith, much of my texts from my classics degree and some of my railway books. And a couple of buses parked on the front.
     
    Anyway, the first picture is the other end before being cleared:
     

     
    Then the board cleared ready for track laying to begin:
     

     

     
    Then three of work in progress getting towards the end result. This is not the end result now, but I'll get some more pictures done soon and stick them up.
     

     

     

  25. Bomp

    Third time lucky...

    By Bomp,

    Right. I've found the problem. They were too big! I'll just do this one, of one end of the new board before I cleared it for work, then I'll get to the rest of them once I've seen whether this works okay!
     
    Back soon, with luck.
     

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