Ch4lkst3r

It's been a while since the last update and not much has happened but the brewery buildings are now all finished and in place. Here we have an 08 shunting a couple of wagons into the brewery (and that's an Ale Van converted from a cattle van before anyone asks what are cows used for in making beer!) There is a Dapol easi-shunt magnet fitted under the cobbles to allow the wagons to be dropped off (fitting couplers to rolling stock is yet another job on the list!) Later on in the day the brewery continues working whilst the rest of the world goes to sleep! Whilst wiring in the lights for all the brewery buildings I took the opportunity to add in a dimmer so since this photo was taken the lights have been dimmed down a bit as they were rather bright. Anyway I'm now off under the baseboard to start fitting some block detection so there won't be much in the way of updates for a while!

The roof has now been completed and the big road doors added into the archway. Still not glued into place as I need to drill the baseboard for the lighting wiring but here it is again roughly in it's final resting place.

It's been a while since I last posted a layout update on here but the summer has meant that not a lot has taken place as other things have been going on. However, the Metcalfe brewery buildings were put into place and I then set about learning how to use Inkscape to enable me to create some bespoke textures for the Gatehouse/Office Building. After many hours of working stuff out I'd managed to create some textures and a kit of parts for the main building structure. These have now all been combined to form the Gatehouse/Office building although it still needs the doors and the roof to be completed. And here's a overall shot of the brewery area with the Metcalfe brewery all glued down and the new building roughly in place.

Ian, Sorry to hear that some keyboard warrior has upset you. I can only say that my experience of buying from you was excellent and you were more than happy to deal with my requests/queries. For the sake of other modellers out there like me who wouldn't know the first thing about how to combine all the various components together I hope that you do have a change of heart in the future. Unfortunately, there seem to be some people out there who are just out to moan about everything! Iain

So we're very nearly done. The building is now complete and just needs to be placed on the layout. A bridge has been built to connect this with the rest of the brewery complex.

The rebuild is still slowly getting there although it was on the back-burner for a while due to other real life tasks plus me having a look at stuff in JMRI with regards to getting the signals to work once they're installed. Anyway the remaining joists were added to the main roof before the roof was installed and the vent added to the top. Wires for the lighting for the row were all soldered together in the base of the building so there is one feed for the row. A new water tank was then added to complete the main building structure itself although the hoist shaft, platforms and canopies are still to be added. The final shot shows the row of 3 buildings awaiting the platforms etc.

Some photos of work continuing on the Metcalfe brewery starting with the ground floor and final staircase added. Doors were then fitted to the doorway on the wall shown in the photo above plus a lot on the other side where the sack hoist shaft will be before the side was fitted to the existing 2 sides. Also below is a photo taken at the last chance before the end wall was added. The front wall was then added and the nearly complete building was glued to the other 2 buildings. The below photos show the row of buildings. The front side still awaits a platform and canopy hence all the doors at platform height. Both front and back shots show why the windows and doors were moved from the original Metcalfe positions. Gutters made from half round styrene have now been added and the small roof tiled. The roof truss with the light/wiring in it is now glued into position and a small brick column added to cover the wires in the wall. Tasks still left to finish: Build/install 2 more roof trusses and main roof. New water tank on top of the tower. Platforms, canopies and sack hoist shaft. Downpipes. Hopefully it will be finished soon!

Thanks. They're really good kits but I do take my time on them to get everything square and finished neatly as much as I'd like to so as to get things on the layout quicker!

Well it's still been slow going as work shifts have got in the way but the first task before putting the floors in was to create the first of 3 roof trusses. This one had to be created before the floors were inserted as it has the light fitted into it and the wires then run down the outer wall so the floors would stop the wires going in after. The photo below shows the completed roof truss. The other 2 will be the same but minus the light so can be completed later. With that completed the floors were next to go in complete with the stairs. The top two main floors are now in and now just need to add the ground floor. Once that's in then the other 2 walls can be added fairly quickly and the building will finally have 4 walls!

So it's been a while since the last update. Work has slowed as other jobs brought work on the model railway to a halt for most of February and March. Anyway the Utility/Office building was completed during the start of March and attached to the completed Ale Store. On the rear of the building a little brick built lean-to type structure was added to the rear for the stairs to the ground floor loading area. (I even built stairs in the building even though you will never be able to see them! Does anyone else add features that only you will ever know are there?!) Once the final building is complete and adjoined to the other end then the platform and canopy will be added to the front. Moving on I'm now working on the final Metcalfe rebuild - the Brewhouse. I wanted to keep the original large arched windows but replace with Scalescenes textures as per the other buildings. To do this I've spent some time learning some of the things that the free Inkscape package can do. Using several textures and I created a new front wall also including panels with names matching the other buildings. After spending some time working out how to reconstruct the building in an order that I won't cause problems later the internal floors are now being added. At the moment the top floor is completed and the walls for the water tank have been added to complete the top bit of the building (roof and water tank itself still to be added). Next job is to complete the remaining floors and then add the roofs and water tank etc. Hopefully now I've got a plan it will go together quickly and will be done soon and the next update won't be so long in coming!

The other does indeed have L1 next to it. There's nothing else on the board so I'm going to remove it and then connect the wires accordingly once Pat has delivered the decoder. Thanks for the help everyone

That's my thinking too John. If that's the case can I just remove the board and attach the decoder to the relevant wires?

Following further research and a little test with a multimeter if my basic knowledge of electronics I think they're inductors still. I've tested the resistance using the ohm setting and it shows zero across the 6R8 thing (the same as if I connect the two probes together). Google searches seem to imply that this means they're inductors otherwise I'd get a figure for the resistance.

Doing some more research I think the 6R8's are inductors/chokes. There's nothing else on the board and the decoder I believe will do the job of those so I can just remove the PCB and connect the decoder to the wires accordingly. At least I think that's right?

Hi, I've acquired a Bachmann N Gauge Thomas (from America) which isn't DCC ready and is very small but my layout is DCC. I've taken him apart (somehow feels slightly wrong) and it has this little PCB inside with two things labelled 6R8 on the PCB (see picture) along with 4 wires helpfully labelled R, L, M+ and M-. Now I know the meaning of the wires (R = right hand wheel pickup, L = left hand wheel pickup, M+/M- = motor + and - connections) but as I'm adding a DCC chip can I just remove the existing PCB and replace it with the decoder connecting the wires accordingly? I don't know what the two 6R8's are or do so I've come to you helpful people. Thanks, Iain

Work has been continuing on rebuilding the Metcalfe brewery buildings. Started with the Ale Store building as the next of the remaining 3. As per the first building the four sides were split and covered with Scalescenes textures along with some alteration to the end that will connect to the other building to add some doorways and alter the window location. Duplicate inner walls were created and windows were added then the outer and inner walls glued together. Floors complete with joists (with slightly wider central joist to hide led lights and wires) and Plastruct staircase and handrails added. Extra brick column to cover wires added plus doors and the remaining end wall. Then gutters and roof was added to complete the rebuild. The end with the white around the doors joins to the next building so will not be visible when complete. Last few days I've been rebuilding the Utility/Office building. This will join onto the Ale Store over the doors in the previous picture. I've made it as if it's been an additional building built between 2 existing buildings (at least it will be when all finished) so it has blue brick window arches instead of stone and the brick texture has been wrapped around the end so no stone quoins. Just the roof left to do with this one now. Once that's done then it's on to the most complex to rebuild which is the Brewhouse. Stay tuned for the next instalment coming soon!

For the next buildings for the brewery I'm reusing a Metcalfe brewery kit however this is being completely rebuild using Scalescenes textures. Firstly I took the building apart and reskinned the sides. I then made an internal wall covered in painted brick. I then made some floors and added in another internal wall for a staircase although no actual staircase was built! Roof was added with a vent along with a platform awning and hoist shaft to complete the building. Front and rear views below showing the bricked up windows on the rear where the staircase is and the sliding doors where the bridges connect. Yesterday I made the first of the bridges. The sloping one to connect to the building along the backscene. And today I have now installed the building and bridge onto the layout Now onto rebuilding the rest of the Metcalfe brewery buildings!

Last few weeks has seen construction of the first brewery building completed and it's now finally in place today. Here are a few pictures of it during completion and in it's final resting place. I've also added a few bushes along the brewery access road (just requires the wall nearest the camera now).

Since the last update the road down to the industrial area has mostly been completed although there's one or two little finishing off jobs to do but I've moved on to working on the industrial area served by a siding off the line to the canal wharf. I've started on the largest of the buildings and also the most complex as it has multiple angles. The attached picture shows the current state of the building with the external wall complete but internal walls, roof etc. to be added roughly placed in it's final location. The painted wall section with the double doors will have a further building attached to it later and the missing window on the first floor is for the future addition of a bridge over to yet another building. Hope folks are interested in the updates and if you've got any comments then feel free to make them. I'm not easily offended!

A little update on October's progress. Under the baseboard a new 12v DC power circuit has been added for the purpose of powering the servos that will in the end work the semaphore signals in addition to the lighting on the layout. I've gone for a slightly expensive way of turning the lights on or off by using a Train-Tech RL1 relay so that I can turn the lights on and off from my DCC controller/computer - I know a normal on/off switch would have been cheaper but as I've gone DCC I wanted to be able to control everything from DCC. Above the layout the terraced houses have been installed and lighting connected to the new lighting circuit as well as the first of the street lights being installed. Back gardens have been built for the houses and the retaining wall has been finished off. A few pictures of the "completed" houses/street scene are below ("completed" as it's still lacking people and cars).

It's been a while since the last update but the layout has been slowly progressing due to other things (like rebuilding my PC and getting active on the bike!). The retaining wall is partially finished (photos to follow in a future post) but in a slight change of plan I've built the row of houses for the other side of the road. I've also decided to try a bit of building lighting so these are the first to be fitted with interior lights. Need to get the back gardens/walls etc. done and then the complete little module can be put onto the layout. Then I'll put up a post with the finished street scene (minus the last bits like people etc.)

The end of the street has been filled with a low relief warehouse. Next stage is to complete the retaining wall around the raised town area in this section. Hope you are enjoying the updates.

Started on the town buildings in the last couple of weeks. First build was a small row of Scalescenes low relief house fronts. Pictures below of building nearing completion and then in place on the layout.

So let's bring this up to date. Firstly, Adrian, you are correct and I consider myself told off I should know as we usually go for a narrow boat each year although this year's has been cancelled just like most things! There were 2 things that were under way at the beginning of the year. One was under the baseboard and out of view of the camera. The layout is DCC controlled with an NCE Procab which is in turn linked to my computer running JMRI which in the end will have panels to control points/signals etc. When the layout was originally wired I just had one DCC bus which did everything (i.e. track and accessories) but this caused issues when due to my own stupidity I hadn't set the points correctly as the DCC Concepts ADS-8fx boards that I use to fire the solenoid point motors and switch frog polarity would lose power and therefore I couldn't correct the point setting. I've now installed a separate circuit breaker to the existing track bus and a new accessory bus to which the point boards have been wired. I took this opportunity to move 4 of the 5 boards to a more sensible location (the other under the fiddle yard was already in a sensible location) than when they were originally installed. This however, has meant that I've had to extend frog wires and rewire point motors with longer cable runs accordingly and as there are 32 points across the 4 boards it's taken a while having been finished a couple of weeks ago. You can only spend so long under a baseboard! The second was the siding and factory area to the left of the hillside. This I had decided will be a brewery with the one siding into it but I wanted to include a common sight, the wagon turntable. Having looked online and during a trip to the NEC for the Warley show last year no readily available wagon turntable is in N gauge (discounting the PECO 00-9 version due to it being plastic or the Faller one for being too large) I opted to make my own. It wasn't planned to be operational but just to look the part so I began by taking a file to a piece of flexi track and some offcut remnants from the rest of the track laying and came up with this as the start. You will notice that I haven't filed all the way through on the main piece thus meaning that electrical continuity was maintained without lots of soldering. Once card was added and some timber decking paper stuck on I ended up with a wagon turntable. Now it was time to install the completed turntable onto the layout. The siding was laid and the start of the infill of the rest of the brewery sidings was started. You can see how this area looked back in February in the next photo. The hill above the tunnels is also visible and can now be seen populated with sheep and fences/hedgerows etc. Next task was to make a lot of trees for the area around the canal tunnel portal on the hillside plus a few for the hedgerows etc. Some 40 odd trees were created from seafoam (from the storage unit known as my parent's house) and planted on the hill. Some bulrushes were added to the canal and finally the hillside is complete and looking like this. For those who may be interested here are a couple more photos showing the removable section lifted out. Also, shows the remnants of the MPD which is having a slight redesign from the original plan hence the unpainted plywood! And that brings us pretty much up to date. Currently work continues on the brewery area and the start of the raised town section. The road down to the brewery is the current area of attack and the start of the retaining wall is in place and as of now is looking like this. So that's you all up to date. Hopefully progress will become quicker than previous years and there will be more updates to show you shortly once more buildings appear in the town/brewery. I still welcome all comments on what you've seen so far and hope you want to see more.

So we move onto 2019. The beginning of the year began by making the first building for the canal wharf area (the Scalescenes factory/warehouse) with some modifications to the windows to allow it to fit along the slope of the road which forms the scenic break. In mid-January it was complete ready to go into place. At the beginning of February it was installed along with track laid and infilled with cobbles. At the end of February the retaining walls and road was complete. Here's a few photos of the canal wharf area. The first shows the reason for the windows on the rear of the warehouse. Now of course you cannot have a canal without barges so March was spent making a couple of boats to install. Some old sewing pins were acquired from the wife and painted to form mooring pins and the boats were installed in the lock and wharf. For the rest of the year not much more happened or at least nothing that I took photos of! Tomorrow I'll bring you all up to date and if you've got any comments on what I've shown so far I'd like to hear it (good or bad!)