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Graham Walters

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Blog Entries posted by Graham Walters

  1. Graham Walters
    It's only been five weeks since SWMBO mentioned that a move may be on the cards later in the year.
     
    Despite the cold, in that time I've seen the new baseboards delivered, new track and all the accessories come in brown boxes.
     
    This weekend a milestone has been reached, all the track hase been laid, the new DCC Cobalts have been installed and tested the main bus has been wired up, complete with droppers on every length of track.
     
    Next thing is to test the track, and get some trains running, then work can begin on the scenics.
  2. Graham Walters
    You know that feeling you get when things are going well.
     
    It has happened to me more than once, and it has happened again.
     
    Just as I completed the track laying, SWMBO announced that we should go house hunting, I was not amused, it came completely out of the blue, and had never been mentioned in the previous 5 yrs, so like a developer building on a flood plain, I thought I was safe.
     
    This meant some serious thinking, all layout work came to a spark emitting grinding halt as I considered the options, the baseboards had been built as one unit, so taking it apart would be the proverbial nightmare, no allowance for moving had been made in the wiring, or in the already built bits of scenics, after a couple of anxious weeks I came to the conclusion that nothing could be done but to rip it all up and start again, this time working around the fact that we would be moving in the future.
     
    I decided that the best way to go was the skeletal baseboard route, and build it as if it had to be transported for exhibition, it was to me the only answer.
     
    Yesterday my baseboards arrived flat packed supplied by Model Railway Solutions, no the cheapest on the net, or the most expensive to save money I went for their cheaper version.
     
    Today has been spent building the three modules, I was pleased to see that there was enough of everything, pins, glue and screws for the boards, although you do have to source your own screws to fix the squared off cuts, which bring it all square and true.
     
    As tomorrow is another day off I shall no doubt be heading off to a timber merchant for some legs, and MDF to continue with the build.
  3. Graham Walters
    At Model club last night (5-8-15) I asked the question what was the best way to model line fencing in 'N' gauge, the reply that I was given was basically that it would so small that I needn't bother, mainly because no-one would miss it.
     
    I thought ...."Challenge Accepted"
     
    With an afternoon off work I decided to set to and think about how I could build a lineside country fence within scale and most of all quite cheaply, I know you can buy fencing, but it works out very expensive when you want to do a whole layout, so there had to be an alternative.
     
    Matchsticks were out of scale, massively. Further digging in the shed led me to a box of wire I've had hanging around for a while, in there was all sizes.
     
    I dug out some twin and earth, it looked just right 1.2mm, after stripping off the sheath it was a bit twisted and bent.
     
    I drilled a 1mm hole through piece of wood and drew the wire through it, that helped to straighten it out, further straightening was done by rolling the wire between some softwood and the bench, that just about ironed out all the kinks in it. I cut it into 15mm lengths to give me a six foot post and some extra to put into the baseboard, the actual wire cam from some stranded wire, two strands twisted together looked about right.
     
    I made up a small jig to hold the posts and set about soldering the wire to them, my first effort looked OK, my soldering isn't the best, but a file here and there, then a coat of paint would hide a lot of the sins.
     

     
    I was quite pleased with the "trial run" so I decided to make a bigger jig and see how that went.
     
    I still need some practice with the soldering iron, getting totally different thickness copper wire to soldering temp is proving a problem, but I'm bound to improve with practice !
     

     
    The pins are there to hold the horizontal wires against the posts, one less thing to try and hold while I am soldering, I also discovered that having a clean iron tip is an aid to better soldering, only I was a bit too vigorous with the wire brush, so the tip is quite stubby now.
     
    Not a bad afternoon all things considered, I've got plenty of wire, and I can improve the jig a bit too.
  4. Graham Walters
    Isn't it great having a week off when no-one else is at home.
     
    So each morning after doing the chores that are expected of I can disappear into the shed and make some real progress.
     
    So far I've manged to bridge the gap by the door, with some crude buy nifty woodwork.
     
     

     
    I've made it so that in future years I can convert it to a lift out, rather than being a guzzunder !
     
    Doing this has meant I can at least make up two complete loops, which mean running trains is literally hours away.
     
    The other major job was installing the 12 point motors, not something I was looking forward to with a trapped nerve in my left shoulder, it too two days and a fair bit of pain to get them all working, on and a points position indicator which some how got wired up to the 19v supply instead of the 15v, the main processor went off like a firework Fizzzz....Whizzzzz....Pop ! £19 worth gone in a puff of smoke.
     
    I've also managed to wire up the control panel.
     
    I have been a busy bunny !
  5. Graham Walters

    We needed a bridge !

    By Graham Walters,

    My foray into scratchbuilding has taken a step toward the ambitious lately.
     
    I had a gap that needed a bridge, I first thought about an off the shelf solution, but what I wanted wasn't available and rather go for second best I decided to get out the styrene and build my own.
     
    I decided that I wanted the bridge to be functional as well, not just a piece of decoration hiding a bit of MDF !, so it had to be capable of carrying some weight.
     
    First I built a framework from "H" and "C" section Plastruct, adding cross members and diagonal trusses to give strength and rigidity, with function taking over in my mind I clad this framework with 20thou Plasticard, and then with a brick bond embossed styrene.
     
    The result of all this solvent and styrene was a rigid and firm white bridge with four arches, an Olfa cutter was used to cut the arches.
     
    I always find painting difficult, and usually regret the first coat ! this time I went for burnt umber, which didn't look very appealing, to soften that I dry brushed it with a Khaki colour, this again wasn't to my satisfaction, so once it had dried I set too with my home made weathering powders, made from artist pastels.
     
    Brushing in in varying amounts, red, green, grey and black, and after spending 5 mins or so chopping some foliage up to make it finer, I ended up with what looked like a reasonable effort.
     

     
     
    I think once some scenics are added around each end it will look a lot better, the plan is to have a road and a river going through each of the centre arches.
     
    I like to think my scratchbuilding is improving, and as I find the right tools to do the jobs I need done it gets a bit easier, and a bit more realistic each time.
  6. Graham Walters
    Many years ago when I was about eleven my parents bought me a train set for Christmas, train set was actually a very loose term for what was in the box, a loco, two carriages and a couple of coal wagons, the track was a just a circle, and a transformer/controller.
    This set was duly set up on the table, and I watched as my two older brothers played to their hearts content with my train set !, as dinner time approached the ‘set ‘ had to be packed away to make room for the laying of the table, as guests would be arriving after dinner, and Boxing Day would consist of visiting grandparents, I wouldn’t get my hands on it for at least a couple of days.
    Over the following weeks and years I saved pocket money, and amongst other things, I bought some straights to make an oval, I then added points to build a siding, gradually adding to the track until I had a sizeable layout, the main problem was having to put it away each time I used it, that was the boring bit, it also meant that rail joiners became less efficient and the loco suffered erratic running.
    School, exams and girls took over in that order, then football and a job in the Navy became the prime pastimes, but always at the back of my mind was that train set, and what I would like to have done with it.
    I’m now 58, my two sons have grown up and never had any interest in railways or trains, despite that I have the means and the time to build a layout, a shed has been purchased and my enthusiasm took over, rather too quickly I dived in head first, not really planning or thinking about anything.
    This blog is the story of what happened next, and the journey of building that layout I promised myself all those years ago.
  7. Graham Walters
    From what I've seen and read on here most people seem to have a firm idea of what they want to create and or re-create.
     
    For me the idea seemed relatively simple, I wanted a layout that reflected all the places that were prominent in my early years around where I lived.
     
    For those of you interested Chase Hill does exist, it stands 600ft high and watches over the town of Ross on Wye in Herefordshire, and whilst there never was a station at Chase Hill, I saw it every day, and ventured into it's woods on a very regular basis, it hid old Roman mines, quarries and walkways, our favourite haunt being what we called the the "Daffodil Tump" named obviously because in the spring wild daffodils grew in their millions, it was in fact an old quarry, with massive lumps of limestone strewn about the place, it was and probably still is a great place for kids to go, mainly because you are miles from adults, and you can't really break anything, it's a natural adventure playground.
     
    Ross itself had a station, and a large goods yard, it was a branch line which ran from Gloucester to Monmouth, and also to Hereford, at one time the station was very busy, and only really slowed down when the Beeching axe was wielded, the last goods train ran in 1965.
     
    Ross station has been recreated in full on the Severn Valley line, if you've been to Kidderminster Station, that is a replica of Ross, I remember it as a fine brick built, no expense spared, the station itself was a model of Victorian and Edwardian engineering at it's best, no expense was spared anywhere, and that was before the GWR absorbed it in the grouping stage.
     

     
    The ringed building is the goods shed, which is still standing, directly opposite it to the east, you can see the turntable and engine shed that existed at Ross, although the turntable is long gone, the engine shed is still there to see, and will be for ever as it is Grade 1 listed, it is the only remaining broad gauge shed left in the country, in another part of the town there are examples of the rails that the broad gauge used to run on.
     
    The two rows of hatched buildings were at the time of this map owned by the GWR and were railwaymans cottages, they are still standing.
     
    To sum up Chase Hill is as I said based on my early years, and the countryside around Ross, and how I remember it.
  8. Graham Walters
    In my quest to get some movement on the rails I have placed an order for some block signalling electronics.
     
    I chose to use SEEP point motors mainly because of the price, ( they were cheap), I soon found out that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if you want to use LED's as indicators on your control panel you need a points indicator thingy because the LED's need constant power.
     
    Two have been ordered, each will be able to run eight sets of points, with only twelve on the board so far, there is room for a little expansion, once those and the motors are all wired up, and a bust is laid, I shall be able to run the odd loco.
     
    Work has been progressing well on the scenics, (pics to be added later). The hill is complete, as is the first bit of woodland, I've decided where a level crossing will go, have constructed the keepers cottage and a shed for him to potter about in !
     
    I've also built a bridge from an Ancorton kit, it looks remarkably like Wilton Bridge which crosses the Wye at Wilton just outside Ross on Wye, that is before it was widened for military traffic in WW2, so that sort of fixes my era as pre WW2 !
  9. Graham Walters
    My visits to the shed have taken a bit of a back seat recently, I've had to go onto light duties at work because of a trapped nerve in my left shoulder, the pain at times was unbearable, sleeping was a no-go. Thankfully a prescription of tramadol has put a stop to the worst of the pain, but I'm having to wait for a scan to determine which nerve is actually causing the pain.
     
    The tramadol is so good that it has allowed me to get into the shed this weekend, the goal being to get a train running on the track!
     
    I'd already go the points fitted and working, but for the mimic board I wanted LED's to show the points position, this demanded the wiring of a point position indicator board, which involved a lot more wires, and a lot more soldering, after several hours I had working points and working LED's
     
    But the amount of wire hanging around was amazing.
     

     
    Hopefully there will be a lot less of it when I get the actual control panel built !
     
    With all that working there was now nothing in the way to get a loco running, I am using Hornby Railmaster and the Hornby E-Link for DCC control, that's when the real trouble started, on booting the system up, I was getting script errors while the program was loading, it was also failing to recognise the E-Link, even though it had been installed several months ago.
     
    After several re-installs and another boot I though I finally had it working, switching to program mode resulted in the power LED flashing, having not seen that before I was worried.
     
    I was even more worried when reading on the Hornby forum that there is no reason why it would do that, and that it shouldn't ever do it ! Scrolling down the page there was a reply from a Hornby guru, who said the E-Link should never have a flashing LED, all errors including any shorts are show on screen. The only way to solve the problem was to return the unit to Hornby for an under warranty replacement.
     
    Shot hits the fan as Graham realises his E-Link is no longer under warranty ...aarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
     
    I bit the bullet and ordered a Prodigy Express DCC01, I just hope its as good as it says on the tin ! It sounded ideal for me, entry level, will cope with long ID's, Ideal for smaller layouts.
  10. Graham Walters
    Having failed to get trains running ( see previous entry), I decided to turn my attention to trying to complete another build, last week I bought some lights from Kyte Lights and the Andover Model Railway Clubs Modelex, I got 10 for a very good price. Not strictly the GWR prototype, but nothing a coat of paint wouldn't help.
     
    It was handy that the moulded base could be separated, however the lamp part was fixed to the pole, painting it would be tricky, I gambled on the fact that I wouldn't complete obscure the grain of wheat lamp !
     
    I'd built the actual platform ages ago, and had started work on the station a few weeks back, I grabbed a cheap off the shelf country station Metcalfe kit off E-Bay for a fiver.
    One thing I didn't like about it was that it didn't look very GWR, so out came the paint, GWR Light and Dark stone soon altered the aesthetics and would fool most people ( rivet counters excepted !).
    Some Ratio fencing added a bit of extra, and the addition of advertising signs, strategically placed to hide the joins in the fence, it was beginning to look more like a station.
    Also added were some typical latticed canopy supports from York Model Making, drainpipes and guttering courtesy of Eileens Emporium plastruc stock.
     
    I'm quite pleased with the end result, it's my first major build for the layout, and my first major build in any hobby, the details I've added have come from what I've seen visiting preserved railways up and down the country, all I need to add now is some station clutter like baggage trucks/trolly's, porters and of course passengers.
     

     
    Yes I know I should tidy the workplace up a bit, but to be honest when I do that I can never find anything.

     
    The tree's in the background are my attempt at making my own, yes I realise the large one is a tad out of scale, but you have to start somewhere, 'N' gauge trees are difficult to get the proportions right, I'm never happy with what I've finished up with, so now I have bought some of the Woodland Scenics type, just to try and copy them.
     

     
    I soon realised that its more important for things to look right, rather than concentrate on scale all the time.
     
    I had to make the lamps taller than scale, because given their dimensions they would have looked very stocky when you place an N scale figure next to them, the one thing I have to remember now is not to place any figures standing near or next to a lamp post.
  11. Graham Walters
    Just in case you don't know what I 'm on about, I mean these bad boys :
     

     
    Now they are not cheap @ £17.95 each, but they do the job of several switches in one go, and they can be interlocked.
     
    Those in the picture are not mine btw, I see this chap had the same problem as me, getting all the guides lined up properly, unlike him i didn't glue mine down before thinking about it !
     
    I am a little confused about DCC's instructions in painting these, it says to polish the guides up to a bright steel finish using wet & dry, no problem there, except they don't seem to be made of steel, and neither are the levers, the handles of which you are also told to polish to a bright steel finish, the levers seem to be made of a copper/brass alloy with the copper being a touch on the heavy side. It looks as though I will be doing what this chap has done and resorting to painting them with silver paint.
     
    I'm still in the process of putting mine together, I've started by doing as advised and cleaning everything up, you need to do this anyway, because the castings are not what i would call "top quality2 which you would expect for the price, to get mine anywhere near decent I had to start working with an 800 grit paper, and so far I have worked down to a 400, with copious amounts of water, once I get them really bright I plan to clean them with alcohol before giving them a coat of varnish.
     
    The idea being to sink the bulk of the switches into the baseboard, so that only the top of the frame shows, then if my skills allow, I'll build a signal box like cover around them.
     
    So far I like the look of them, but I am yet to be covinced that they are actually worth £17.95 each.
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