Northroader

On the weathering question, why not use artists pastel chalks, rather than cooking up diluted paint grunge which seems to be popular? Get them, in sticks from an art dealers, black, various greys (not fifty), umber brown, sienna brown. Then rub on emery paper to produce a powder, and scatter in small dollops where you want. Rub in with a dry paintbrush, and carry on from there. If you like the effect, you can leave it on, if not, you can wash it off to get back to where you were. You can do stiffer mixes with chalk and water, and dry brush over when dry, to get a dirtier look. This works well on the superstructure, but you might need a more oily look downstairs on the undercart.

They're white/black/white on this engine, aren't they? So you could do commercial transfers fairly easily. Normally I do them with enamel paint with a bow pen on ordinary paper, outer lines first then middle line. Then cut out, touch up edge of paper, then stick on with uhu. Without any 'proper' bands underneath. Just black/white at outer ends cab and smoke box. Over blue paint of course, I'm getting all excited!

Seeing it with some tangible items in place, it looks really good. Great promise.

What are you going on about? This job is coming together a treat, I particularly like how you've handled the splashers. I was only familiar with these engines from a couple of photos, seeing you get this model formed has given a real,appreciation of the proportions of the real thing, and from you done before with other locos. this will look great, we all know that. I just wish I could tidy up as well as do locos!

Two folks yesterday evening raised the question of baseboard height. The trouble with a loft layout is it's pretty well decided for you, the inward slope of the roof pushes it down to below eye level, particularly if you want any sort of back scene, which I always feel is a must. No, I'm glad to see it's shaping so well.

I thought that book was just up your street!

Can't you get the missus to buy you some ventilated soffits at M&S, if you're a bit sensitive about asking in Ann Summers? Seriously, though, (it's hard to do on this thread) I'm glad to hear your leaky bits are getting sorted. (there we go again) I was thinking today about the track laying and thought I might raise expansion joins. Somewhere in the maze that is RMweb, I was reading about a guy with a layout in a garden shed who'd bought a useful item, an electronic thermometer with max and min. The insulation you've put in should hold the temperature in sensible limits, have you any ideas if this is so? With the track lengths going in, presume you're using metal joiners. May I recommend you don't solder them, leave small gaps, and bridge them with flex wire jumpers, every 3' or so. You've got a big oval of track in a loft, and if the temperature does vary a lot, the expansion will be sufficient to mess things up.

We've noticed, what are you doing, are you sitting in a pile of reed switches? Has the loco got rectifiers ?? Have you hidden a hamster in the boiler??? Is the rickshaw wallah taking tightrope lessons???? Has the maharajah eaten the curry????? We need to know, Don't keep us in suspenders!

The right hand board is now a swathe of desolation all the way across. Before taking up the dummy track and crossing, I took a picture of it out of interest: It was easy to make as one track was electrically dead, so the dummy tracks on each side of the running rails could be soldered in on that side, and the copper clad filed off between just the running rails. Then the dummy tracks and check rails bridging the gap were made out of strip wood, and top painted with metallic paint. I think these crossings seem to be a typical feature of American lines, and pop up anywhere. It would have been nice to keep it, but I don't really have the room, and found the exit for the dummy track through the back scene was a total mess to get looking decent. On we go.

Panel pins, but drill holes for them in the sleepers first (granny and sucking eggs might apply)

Interesting contrast there, Mike. All the old GWR trains are highly picturesque, but to me the old train is more attractive than the Dean, which is always held as good looking. Am I being perverse? What do other folks think?

Wonder if a gaffer- tape kit would come in cheaper than a brass kit? I agree about the other great benefit of American outline modelling being the couplers. If you've been working on a British layout, fannying around with buffers, draw hooks, and 3link couplings, working with knuckle couplers is like coming out of jail. I always marvel at the design and build of the kadee job.

Well, the grading crew got down to the cork subsoil on the LH b/board, so now pushing on with track. There were two LH points in tandem wanted for this end. Everyone says not to have your running lines parallel with the b/board front edge, I wanted these points close to the front at this end, and nearer the back at the other end of the loop, forming a reverse curve thro the depot area, although there will be a siding at the front going parallel with the fascia. There was a point in about the right place, but it took up well over half the b/board length, so that had to come out. To get the geometry of the points right, I put a Peco settrack OO point in the scanner, upped it by 175%, (4mm. To 7mm) horizontal flip to get a LH and print off two. (One of the very rare flashes of foresight I've had was to get an A3 printer with the old computer) This fitted in well, so I built the two points, using a mix of recovered and new parts, all from Marcway of Sheffield, code 124 F/B N/S rail, copper clad glass fibre 6mm sleeper strip, and also their cast brass crossings (frogs) which save some fiddling. Sleeper spacing was done from a jig cut from a plastic strip, rather than the print out. (21" spacing). The points were then tacked in place temporary, with jumper feeds to a controller for testing. I've put a Peco medium radius point in the picture for comparison. The enlarged settrack point radius was calculated at 30", and measured at 28", so I needed to check that the trains would operate through this, it's very tight, but only for a short length. For me, the main practical advantage in modelling American outline is that mostly everything is mounted on bogies, and very good at passing through dodgy track. Sure enough, the Weaver Alco and the Atlas FM ran through a treat. I tried a heavyweight coach carcass which showed some clearance problems which could be sorted, and then on to steamers. I haven't invited any Big Boys to the party, just a small Mogul, and this went through ok, just problems on intermediate drawbar which is fixable, and I must remember to watch the clearance behind the cross heads when I get the slide bars sorted. The engine is intended to be a CNR E10a, a handful of which lasted into the early 60's. 6765, which you've already met and fixed for me, appeared around 1957, so you get an idea of the time window I'm working to. Having now done a check, I can paint, wire, and fix down these points. I'm intending to operate them with slider switches placed close by each one. Then off to the other end of the baseboard, and see about positioning a point at the far end of the loop.

Sorry, Steve, two apologies, first for my crude methods, second for not wishing you well after your hospital visit.

If you got a soldering iron, and you're putting metal knobs into a plastic body, why are you drilling them?

Anything you can do to slow that Hornby chassis down, I'm all ears. (I'm using one in On16.5 thingy, n.g. Types I talk to go on about re-gearing.) nice to see a little bit of brass here, a little bit of brass there. That new soldering iron is doing you a power of good!

Never mind the politics, folks; coming home this afternoon I saw it ain't just the earth wire that's up, there's roughly quarter mile of catenary as well gone in on the relief lines just to the south of Pangbourne. Nice to see a sign of progress!

That tankies shaping really well and looking good. With all the locos you're building I suppose the name for the new layout has got to be Polmadie?

I've been churning this over in my mind since posting yesterday. With small b/board a turntable to take a Jube, ( or an unrebuilt patriot, g'wan, g'wan) and the need to keep the shed entry lengths down, you can't do much else. I think it was just the great bare space behind the t/t which tripped me off. Once you've filled this with a high retaining wall with arches (I can see where your next blog is going?) it will look much better, I'm sure. I use the kirtley papers, by the way, repetitive pattern, yes, but it isn't that obvious once broken up into a structure. On your reference books list, have you seen/ got " LNWR portrayed" Jack Nelson Peco pubs. 1947? It has drawings of all the buildings/ structures you need for what you're doing. Come back if you ain't.

I've been finding the prototype information side of your blog highly useful, glad to know that's still available, and will be looking forward to seeing the layout side appear. Good luck and best wishes after your setbacks.

The funny thing about coal is you can take a full size lump and break it down to a model size lump, and it looks right. There's hardly any other material you can do that with. I find large pliers can be used to get a slightly more controlled way of breaking down than using a hammer.

Having the silhouette cutter to do the terribly fiddly panelling layer, and doing the colouring and lettering on the printer, has made it all dead easy, it seems. You've still had to mastermind the job, and get the layers to line up on the base box, so still not a total breeze, for a good looking little model. Glad to see some models appearing again.

Just a reaction looking at it, my feeling is everything is centred entirely on the turntable, which looks ?? Can't quite explain it. Then I don't know about the wagon road from the coaling stage on to the turntable. Sorry I sound wishy washy, I know an ex LNWR steam shed scene will have a lot going for it.

That garden railway looks really good, cypherman, with a pile of work going into great detail, but, looking out of my window right now at the weather, the scene will be very different from your great pictures! That was Summer, that was.

If the earth wire is going up, the copper fairies will think Christmas has come early.