JonKing

Never really noticed any of that....I renumebred mine to 37274 and removed the Bachmann weathering one side

You are right, in the scheme of things they are very minor - if I could find some split box noses it would become 37065 however there are none around at the moment, I have considered resin casting some but not sure how they would turn out.

The Bachmann weathering definitely needs removing like you have, factory weathering can be a bit hit or miss at times.

Looking forward to another fab update soon..

Thanks, a bit of progress has been made to the layout however I have been mostly focussing on rolling stock and making some timber cladding / access panels for the bottom of the layout to stop little hands & cats getting at the wiring (yes I learned the hard way!). I have also been fiddling about with my camera trying to take some "good" photos of the layout, not up to the quality of other RMWeb photos yet and still no backscene however the photos are below:

Amey tamper "Lynx" stands outside of the admin block with sister tamper "Puma" standing behind (must be engineering works this weekend). These are clockwork ideas tampers which I originally built and posted on RMWeb some time ago (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/93329-clockwork-ideas-08-16-c80-rt-tamper-kit/ ), I was however never happy with the shade of yellow I used so have recently re-sprayed both and added DCC chips. The transfers (logos, bodyside stripes etc are custom made by Precision Labels):

Whilst the layout is step in late 90s / early 00s I also have a modern collection which occasionally gets run, here 60054 (a re-spray of a Hornby 60) sits outside the Depot waiting its next turn:

Fastline unbranded 56301 (again a Hornby re-spray) waits outside of the admin block prior to working the Cattewater scrap for DCR:

Evening all, some progress has been made recently - ballasting and track weathering is now complete and some weed growth & clutter has been added to some areas making the layout suitably unkempt. The dodgy iPhone photo below gives a good indication of progress (it must be a quiet day as the only rolling stock in sight is a line of EWS scrap wagons waiting for the daily trip to Cattewater). Lights have also been added to the buildings (no pictures of those yet):

One minor disappointment this week is a Bachmann bodyshell for Mainline 37242 purchased off ebay, no complaints about the seller or transaction however when it arrived I was disappointed that Bachmann have got this one completely wrong - the bodyshell has the steam heat boiler filler panel and steps (which is incorrect for 37242 in Mainline livery) and features the trench below the cant rail grilles intended to replicate the removable grilles installed on the first 10 37s (and therefore completely incorrect for the majority of locos, particularly 37242 and anything without a split box). I was hoping not to have to do a full conversion and respray job but just can't find an appropriate prototype unless anyone else has any ideas?.

Any new bits done to your TMD Jon..

Progress has been a bit slow however all the track is now ballasted with excellent ballast form greenscenes, generally the 6 foot (bits between tracks) have been covered with very fine dk grey and ash ballast whereas the tracks have mixtures of dark grey and light grey ballast. I have then weathered the track with soot colored weathering powder and gloss varnish to give an oily sheen in places - not the traditional way of weathering track but it looks OK to me (please note as described previously the track was also painted before hand).

Next steps will be to add some weed growth, a back scene and lighting to the buildings at which point I will get the "proper" camera out and start taking some photos with that as opposed to my iPhone.

Jon

Nice work on SSA, I could do with some of those I think

Thanks Rob,

Its a 3d printed body on a Bachmann SSA chassis. I drew the body in CAD based on drawings in the railway wagon plans book, I did scale up the drawings slightly as the original width was a bit too small. It still looks slightly under size compared to the standard Bachmann SSA but looks acceptable.

As with all my wagons its hand painted (cant be bothered to airbrush wagons for some reason!), the body has been distressed by pressing it with a screwdriver (one of the advantages of the flexible 3d printed plastic). If you want some I can upload it to shapeways and send you a link, TBH (as with all 3d printing) they are expensive for what they are.

Jon

Thanks everyone for your feedback, especially Simon - those container pictures were very useful (especially the Freightliner box with the side removed). I think I have landed on using the container instead of grounded VEA vans, I did want to go for a grounded Railfreight VEA but it didn't look right and for some reason visually jarred with the privatisation era locos. My inspiration was "grounded van city" at Laira TMD where a number of grounded VDAs(?) were used as store vehicles, see the image below from Bing Maps where around 12 grounded vans are visible:

The layout is now fully wired and up and running, as a result of this progress has been fairly slow as I have been "playing trains!", this has delighted my 18 month old son who accompanies running sessions with shouts of "Choo, Choo", random clapping, laughing and concerned shouts of "oh no" or "gone" when a loco enters the shed. 

Some work has progressed on the hard standings, the skip area in front of the depot stores is now concrete slabs (painted with layers of beige, grey and brown and then weathered) and has some road markings in front of the stores area door. The yellow crash barrier (yet to be weathered) at the rear of the skip area is made from code 75 bullhead rail soldered together (the use of bullhead railway on the real railway to make this type of barrier is very common). A few photos below with 47287 and a heavily modified Bachmann SSA on shed (the SSA has a new body built to represent the re-bodied SSAs):

One major change has been to move one of the back roads from behind the admin block to infront of the admin block. I have done this as when playing trains it became apparent that with locos on shed the layout looked very constrained due to the close proximity of the admin block to the layout front, by moving this one road to the front of the admin block (three remain to the rear) the layout has opened out and feels less constrained:

Hi Jon.

 

I scratch built some ground position signals. After a bit of experimenting I found stuffing bluetak around/ behind the LEDs eliminated the light bled.

 

A few pictures of the build here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76254-laoson-valley-1990s-to-modern-day-tmd-oil-terminal-p-way-yard/?p=1614657

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks Sam, the bluetak idea has helped reduce some of the light bleed - with a bit more fettling I should be able to eliminate it entirely. It seems that the problem with the Eckon ground signals is that there is excessive bleed from the LEDs around the base of the fibre optics forming the signal aspects. I would be interested to hear if anyone has managed to get one of these working without having to modify as I am assuming that I have build them incorrectly but cant really see how!.

Photo below shows progress made from the last update:

The track has been weathered, first by spraying with Tamiya nato brown and then misting on matt black, as I am using standard Peco points the theory is that the darker colours will detract from their deficiencies and also be more representative of depot track which tends to be oily black, each individual sleeper has then been brush painted with a wash of sleeper grime. The weathering may look rather heavy in the picture but when ballasted with a contrasting grey ballast should look pretty good (well that's the plan anyway!).

A hardstanding has been installed around the depot formed from 0.75mm plasticard on a 1mm plasticard base (the 0.75mm plasticard creates a lip above the sleepers allowing it to be tight against the outside edge of the rail without fouling wheelsets), hardstanding in the 6ft is formed from 1.5mm plasticard. It took me about five attempts to cut the plasticard to shape and get a good fit, once complete this was then sprayed with Halfords light grey primer followed by misting of a beige coloured spray paint, edges were then sprayed with a weathered black colour using an airbrush.

I have also done the hard standing under the admin block but I'm not happy with this so its going to be redone, whilst working on this area I have also been considering how to create a view block at the end of the admin block where the end of one of the "false" sidings can be seen. As the layout is fairly small I am deliberately not going to over clutter as I want to create the illusion of space but wanted some form of view block here, so far I have three options a) - shipping container in use as a store, b) 2 grounded VEA vans or c) a parking area. Options a) & b) are shown in the photos below, I would welcome peoples comments on what they think works best (these are mock ups only - I will repaint the container if used, the plasticard base is not finished etc):

Point motors and some parts to get my powercab working are at the post office - so hopefully I will be able to run trains by the end of the week.

Evening all, not much progress to report - the layout is now wired and the track now just requires weathering prior to installation of hard standings / walkways before ballasting. Point motors are not yet installed, I am trying to source some DPDT rotary switches so that I can make a mini control panel based on a "proper" IFS panel to control the points.

I have also been assembling some old Eckon ground signals for use as the Depot Protection signals, I haven't really seen Depot Protection signals modelled but they are usually installed (in addition to derailers) to protect personnel working inside Depots by protecting against unauthorised movements into the shed building. Unfortunately the Eckon Ground Signals don't really work as expected as light bleed from the LEDs at the bottom make it look like all three aspects are lit (the red and white aspects at the bottom of the signal should be lit for danger with two diagonal white lights for proceed). The picture below shows the issue (LHS should be proceed and RHS should be danger):

Has anyone else experienced this problem and come up with a solution to stop the light bleed or is it a case of purchasing some alternative ground signals? (its not a cross connection as the correct LEDs are lit - it is purely light bleed leading to false aspects displaying)

Thanks,

Jon

Try this:

 

https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003102886-Recommended-Wire-Gauges-by-Scale

Thanks, a very useful link. I have calculated that 10/0.1 would equate to 28 AWG and therefore undersized for use as a dropper - that's saved me a lot of hassle installing the wrong sized wire!.

Evening, hopefully someone can assist me with this query. I am currently building a small TMD layout (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/123483-embankment-road-tmd/?p=2768210 ) and have got to the point where I am looking at installing the power droppers which will connect to the main layout bus.

I will be running the layout on DCC with my NCE Power Cab and I am intending to use some spare wire I have at home. I am however concerned that the wire I am using may be undersized, having looked at the serial numbers the wire appears to be 10/0.1mm Stranded Copper AWG - which appears to have a maximum current of 0.5A (if google is to be believed). Is this too small for the NCE Power Cab and should I use an alternative?.

Thanks in advance.

Jon

Nice progress Jon.

 

I've used both Peco and Gaugemaster layout wire with my NCE Powercab and never had any problems on my small layouts. 

 

 

Mal

Thanks Mal,

Having done some research it appears that the wire I have is 10/0.1mm Stranded Copper which appears to be slightly smaller than the Gaugemaster / Peco wire - I may just but some which is a similar gauge to the Maplin wire tomorrow.

Couldn't resist posing a pair of Freightliner Grey 47s this evening and taking a quick snap on the iPhone:

This looks like an interesting project, which I'll be following. Great work, particularly the depot building. You've caught the look of Cambois MPD very well. 

 

Just as I remember it!

 

 

Blyth Cambois TMD.jpg

Thanks, like your photo particularly the RF coal 56 with another one lurking in the background - I do have a soft spot for 56s but cant really justify them on the layout as they were never a common sight in Devon, in the future I may invest in a couple of Hornby ones and have some "northern" running days!.

Track laying has commenced and almost finished on the layout (helped by the fact the layout is fairly compact with only three turnouts), points are slightly modified Peco code 75 electrofrogs and new Peco code 75 bullhead track. I particularly like the new Peco bullhead track which looks the part and does not look too out of place with the standard turnouts:

I did give the track a quick spray of sleeper grime before installation in the hope this would reduce the amount of spraying I had to do indoors, unfortunately this proved to be a waste of time and the track will need to be weathered in the more traditional way later. Next step is wiring which is one of my least favourite tasks (particularly as I like every rail to be electrically bonded), I do have two spare roles of wire which I intend to use for the power droppers however it appears the wire diameter is less than 0.5mm which I am concerned is too thin for the amps put out by the NCE powercab - does anyone have any thoughts on this?!

Thanks,

Jon

Brilliant, thanks for that guide Jon, that's really helpful for a novice building builder like me!

No problem!, these buildings are the first large buildings I have constructed, having previously only built smaller half relief buildings and lineside huts etc.

Not much progress on the layout to report, I have the track which is in the garage in the process of being weathered however due to the weather (I much prefer sitting out on the Patio with a beer in the evenings whilst the weather is nice!) and some long days at work I haven't really progressed much. This is however slowly taking shape on my workbench:

Its a plasser tamper kit by clockwork ideas in the process of being re-sprayed as Amey Rail's DR 73912. I built this a couple of years ago but tried to take a short cut and sprayed the yellow using a Humbrol rattle can which I was assured would be a good match for warning panel yellow, unfortunately the yellow was far too lemony however I didn't fancy re-spraying so just persevered with it. I haven't been happy with it ever since and have finally bitten the bullet and stripped it down and re-sprayed with post 1998 WP yellow which is a much better colour, the picture shows it nearing completion (decals are by Precision Labels).

I must say that the Clockwork ideas tamper is the best kit I have ever built - really easy to build, clear instructions and quality parts. Originally I had built this as DC controlled however I am planning to update to DCC and possibly add working lighting, I am not however keen on hardwiring in a DCC chip (as this will make future maintenance / chip replacement difficult) - does anyone know if you can get the appropriate harnesses / sockets for DCC chips which I can then install?.

Some people will realise that the later style Amey logo I have used is slightly too late for my era (being introduced around 2001), there is a reason for this as my first "proper" job was working for Amey Rail and I have a particular soft spot for DR 73912 in this livery. I have another of these painted in the wrong shade of yellow, once DR 73912 is complete I am planning to do the second as DR 73911 in the original Amey livery with original Amey logo circa 1999 which is not something I have ever seen modelled but was a very common sight in the South West during the late 90s.

Nice looking layout plan of a very interesting location which isnt often modelled. When I worked for London Midland I was part of the team responsible for the maintenance of the wash plant at Soho Depot which was located on the depot headshunt adjacent to the junction - quite a long walk from the depot and probably something that would be pointed out as "it wouldn't have been built like that" if modelled.

I like the original idea of the column guided gas holders. They would make an impressive and intricate model in N gauge - just make sure that for anything post 2012 the lifts are modelled in the lowered position, you could also copy the holders at Aston which are still standing and painted in villa colours.

Great idea for a layout, I particularly like the backscene which gives no doubt of the layout location.

I would echo previous comments around basing the layout in the late 90s when a wide range of locos appeared on the bins (I remember 37s 47s and 58s).

You mentioned possibly stabling a tamper on the layout, as you are probably aware there was until very recently a tamper training depot at nearby Westerleigh adjacent to the fuel depot sidings which could be relocated with a bit of modellers licence.

Liking the look of this one! The buildings look great - do you have any more 'in progress' photos of their construction?

 

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing more!

Cheers,

 

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for your feedback, unfortunately I don't have any in progress photos (I was fully intending to take some but never got round to it!), I can however give a brief overview as to how I constructed the buildings:

1. I always base my buildings on prototype structures (although I don't ever make 100% copies), having chosen a suitable prototype I then trawl the internet for suitable reference photos and use the measurement tool on google earth to get some rough dimensions which I then use to estimate other dimensions such as height, door size etc. I have to admit that I am at a bit of an advantage here having spent 10 years in the construction industry I find it fairly easy to estimate approximate sizes.

2. Having gained enough information I then produce a scale drawing of my proposed building usually in CAD so I can export as a .dxf file. Once complete this drawing is then used as the cutting plan for the 2mm MDF building shells, I do however cheat a bit here as the 2mm MDF shells for both the Depot and Admin block were laser cut for me by York Model Making using the .dxf version of my drawing.

3. The 2mm MDF shell is then glued together using contact adhesive (not superglue as this doesn't allow enough curing time for adjustments etc).

4. Once the shell is glued together I laminate with embossed slaters plasticard using plastic weld to glue the plasticard to the MDF which provides a good bond. Door and window openings are cut and filled to size once the plasticard has been glued to the MDF. Other details such as flashings, plinths, fascias, rainwater goods etc are also then made from plasticard and added to the building - this made constructing the depot building particularly easy as rough joints between the cladding material can be hidden by flashing or fascia details.

5. Doors, door frames and windows are then fabricated using plasticard and installed in the openings (windows are glazed at the end of construction using whatever transparent plastic material I have available, usually old packaging). The admin block was slightly different to the depot building in that the doors were recessed into the brickwork by approximately 150mm, the door frames for these doors were therefore made oversize and stuck behind the door openings (the 2mm MDF giving almost a scale 150mm recess).

6. I then prime the entire structure using Halfords grey primer and paint all of the brickwork with humbrol red brick, once this is dry I paint the other areas (cladding etc) various greys and browns to suit the prototype. A light beige colour is then painted on the brickwork and wiped off to represent the mortar courses. Other items are painted an appropriate colour - I do however try and stay away from reds, yellows and other bright colours.

The photo below should give a good overview of the different construction layers / laminating used on the admin block (it looks a mess when viewed internally but no one will see that!).

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback, I am hoping to start laying track in the next week or so time permitting.

Great plan, I particularly like the idea of the scenic sidings (F) and the road (D) leading to the rest of the off scene world.

Perhaps place a sleeper across the end just before the baseboard edge and a red flag indicating some sort of possession is taking place hence why locos are only using it for temporary stabling. (Also a nice reminder to the operator to stop )

As for your "rough around the edges' buildings, I think you do yourself an injustice there, they both are fantastic! Judging just from the photos, I would say they were most definitely on a par, if not better than some RTP buildings.

Thanks for your feedback, I cant take credit for the road D idea - I first came across this idea on Lance Mindheim's layouts. Lance is an American modeller and his layouts are simply awesome, I would strongly recommend taking a look at www.lancemindheim.com.

The road D possession is a good idea, I had been thinking about how I would stop locos from developing an "earth fault" once the track is laid and road D in use.

Nice work
I'd be interested in your mainland grey 37 - was it easy to get sector logo off ?

Made a right hash of 694 trying to get coal logo off ?

Rob, I used T-Cut and cotton buds to remove the sector logos. The key was patience - leaving the T-Cut to soak in for a few minutes and then very gently rubbing with a cotton bud. Too heavy and the paintwork is damaged, I have a 37/9 waiting for a re-spray into Transrail livery for this reason, unfortunately once the Bachmann TTG livery is damaged its almost impossible to get a good matching paint job without a full respray (the exec. dark grey cant rail and bodyside grilles are a complete PITA to respray and require a level of patience I don't usually have!).

Looking good Rob, particularly liking 37274 - there was something about the Mainline Blue livery that made it very attractive. Once I can hold of a pair of split box nose ends I am intending to model 37065 in Mainline Blue (this was a bit of a pet loco of mine as it was unusual having split boxes one end and a flush front the other).

 

Then sprayed in Halfords ' warehouse orange ' that looked a dead ringer for load haul on the can

I tend to use Strathclyde Orange for my load haul locos as this appears to be a relatively good match, unfortunately I don't think Railmatch do an aerosol so its an airbrush or nothing.

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far, its good to see there is more interest in this era than I anticipated!.

 

Your locos and excellent buildings will ensure the depot has some individuality as well.

Thanks, whilst my slightly "rough around the edges" buildings are not as high quality as some of the RTP stuff I wanted to scratch build mine to give some flexibility to the track plan and a bit of individuality. I can however see why RTP buildings are so popular particularly the single road shed produced by Bachmann based on Peterborough fuel point - this building has so many possibilities for a small layout. 

 

Are your 37s Bachmann? Look very nicely weathered.

 

What other stock do you intend to run?

 

Thanks, glad you like them (as you probably guessed I am a fan of 37s!). Yes these are Bachmann models:

-  Mainline Grey 37705 is a straightforward rebrand and renumber of a Bachmann Petroleum 37/7.

- 37695 is a renumber of EWS liveried 37408 with sandite filler points added and other minor mods.

- 37717 was a bit more involved as I converted this from a TTG 37/5 before the heavyweight 37/7s became widely available. This involved body mods (including new bonnet grills, window filling etc) and a respray into EWS livery (getting the gold line straight & level being a particular challenge).

Other stock includes a few more 37s, I also want to run a fleet of RES 47s and Cross Country 47s (Cross Country 47s being a regular sight on EWS depots at the time):

I am also using the excuse that Freightliner operated a fictional container service from Devonport at the time enabling me to run a few Freightliner Grey 47s such as this pair:

Mine has to be the Fawley to Tavistock Junction fuel / bitumen train in the late 90s. I used to live 2 minutes walk from Rattery bank at Tigley and remember walking "up the railway" with my Dad after he finished work to specifically see this working which at the time was booked for a single heavy weight 37 which at the time could be in a myriad of liveries (i recall seeing triple grey, EWS, Mainline blue, Mainline grey and load haul).

I remember waiting with my Dad anxiously listening for the sound of the train leaving the loops at Totnes (where a down passenger working was booked to pass) and hearing the distant growl of the 37 as it began to climb towards Rattery. The noise would gradually get louder for the next 10-15 minutes until the train came into view by which time the train was at walking pace with the loco on full power trying to get its train up the steeply graded and sharply curved bank. The roar of the loco quite literally shook the ground as it passed and heat & sparks from the exhaust were particularly welcome on cold evenings. On summer evenings you could occasionally hear the fire bells ringing if the driver had the cab window open, set off by the combination of heat in the engine room and over sensitive heat sensors.

The Enterprise workings to Tavistock Junction and St Blazey hauled by pairs of 37s were also notable. Later on during my early railway career I would learn from a driver that the more "enthusiastic" drivers would operate the control cut out switch on the rear 37 (basically preventing it from taking power) to increase the thrash!.

The locos and trains are all gone now, there being only one booked freight through Totnes A WEEK now (there used to be 2 or 3 on a typically weekday EVENING when me and Dad went up to watch trains). I wish I had taken photos at the time but assumed they would be around forever.

Personally I don't get the extreme prices that supposed "professionally weathered" locos go for on eBay.

A case in point, surely no one is going to pay £119 for this garbage! http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-31-655-Class-47-47301-Centurion-BR-Railfreight-Heavy-Weathering-/311087048378?nav=SEARCH

I do all my resprays / weathering myself so items like this would be ideal for me if the prices asked actually reflected the work required to make something that looks acceptable.