Chris64B

What a brilliant thread! I've always had a soft spot for these first generation DMUs, I find them really characterful for some reason.

Thanks for all your contributions, last time I looked there were only 7 pages! I'm really enjoying the superb, atmospheric photos so please keep them coming - some great inspiration for my layout!

Cheers, Chris

Hi Sam,

Really like the layout and how it's progressing - great stuff!

Must be a nice feeling getting to the stage of adding some of these details and bringing various areas 'to life'.

Looking forward to seeing more!

Chris

Hah thanks Marcus! I like the scenic stuff and detailing locos etc so I can enjoy that while my son play trains (I enjoy that too)!

Although I'm having to consider how to make things a bit more robust/replaceable to contend with his three year old hands!

Hello!

As mentioned above I've now made a start on the ballasting - some photographic proof below...

I've gone for a bit of a home brew ballast - c.3 parts fine granite ballast from Cheltenham Model Centre (sieved to get rid of the bigger bits) to c.2 parts Woodland Scenics fine grey. Like all things it's subjective but I felt the CMC granite ballast was a little bit too big and the WS too small and uniform so to me, mixing them gives a good blend and provides a bit more texture and colour variety than using the WS on its own.

I applied it using the time honoured spooning, brushing and index finger method and fixed it all down with a dilute Copydex mix:

Once dry I gave it a very dilute wash with Vallejo burnt umber which really helped lose the pale blue/grey granite colour and the bright pale grey of the WS took the colour well - I'll do a bit more targeted colour washing and weathering later:

I'm pretty pleased with it for a first attempt and looking forward to doing more soon.

I've also started reconstructing the level crossing as my Plastruct rod and Wills sheet arrived (have posted this same update in that separate level crossing thread).

So far I've been focusing on the anti-trespass planks, see what you think....

First up I'm using the Plastruct 1mm wide quarter round rod - its a 10 pack and each is 26cm long. After a bit of trail and error I decided to cut it into 2cm lengths as it looked 'about right' by eye:

I went for 8 planks between the rails which matched the prototype in most photos and left enough space for the wheel flanges to run through without problems. I'm pretty pleased with the profile and although I did try sanding the round side slightly it really didn't make much difference visually so I stuck with the original profile:

Construction/glueing took place on the track to ensure the correct spacing. Two plasticard braces/frames were blue-tacked onto the sleepers temporarily and I superglued the planks to them:

I've been doing an hour or so over the last few evenings - they go together pretty quickly and look great when painted (I will be ballasting beneath them, they just resting there at present):

Overall I'm pleased how they're turing out - simple, cheap and effective (like me!)

A little bit more to do and I'll post another update when I move onto the roadway using the Wills sheets.

Cheers,

Chris

Thanks, guys, some real food for thought there. Because of the relatively tight curves on WW, my preference is for a bogie-mounted coupling, but I have yet to even come close to working out a way of doing it, so a buffer beam-mounted version it may have to be. 

 

Cheers

Dave

Hiya Dave,

I found the trouble with trying to do anything bogie mounted is that it means you can't have much/any buffer beam detail as it just gets in the way as soon as the track curves.

My layout has second and (whisper it) first radius curves and the Class 128 DPU with my wire coupling is fine pulling parcels vans round these. When pushing (to come back into the yard/pacels siding) it can get a bit of buffer interlock if the wire goes above or below the van coupling but I may be able to solve this by adjusting the height of the wire coupling on the DPU and/or making it stick out a little bit further.

Cheers,

Chris

On 27/07/2016 at 03:02, class"66" said:

Looking forward to another update now Chris..

I'm afraid all I can give you is my first painted buffer stop!

I'm quite pleased how it turned out and how much of an improvement these Peco ones are over the old Hornby ones that graced the layout originally.

To add a little bit more interest I've added a tiebar with a bit of thin wire and I painted it in matt black first, then the red and off white and finally a dry brush with some dust/rusty brown acrylic...several more to do but made a nice change!

I've also done my first bit of ballasting (pics soon) and purchased some plasticard/Wills cement rendering to re-construct the level crossing following some advice in a separate thread here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/113152-level-crossing-construction-advice/. I'm also planning to have a go at making the anti-tresspass planks you get too which should be a nice bit of detail.

Also have a new toy on order and an overdue update on another that arrived a little while back....

Cheers,

Chris

No problem, hopefully the pictures show what I'm trying to describe. The pictures are taken on my phone so not the best.

 

First up is the 56. As I said, the wire is attached through the sandboxes which makes it stand out a bit. I would've liked to have put them through the bufferbeam but they're made of metal and on the couple of occasions I tried I wound up snapping the drill bit. Once painted black and given a bit of weathering it's not too bad. The coal sector 56 has yet to be painted, while the Colas 56 has been painted and weathered.

 

The 60 is a bit harder to get a clearer picture of. Basically, the plastic valance has two square pegs that locate into the metal bufferbeam of the loco. Normally, there's a small indent in the back of the square pegs which I use as a guide to drill the holes. I'll then attach the valance to the loco and then produce the wire coupling to suit. It's all secured using superglue. Makes for a neater appearance compared to the 56.

 

Again, wire used is 0.45mm with the holes being the same size, although you can use a slighty larger or smaller diameter wire to suit.

 

Hope it helps!

 

Andy.

I've also done something similar to my new Heljan Class 128 DPU - popping a wire 'loop' behind the detachable buffer beam where there were some convenient recesses. The only difference being I made my wire loop slightly curved to match the original coupler shape and tried to avoid it having any 90deg bends so it could deal with the tighter curves on my layout without getting snagged - quick phone snap below:

Quite pleased how it turned out - it's very subtle when painted and works fine, apart from sometimes if the DPU is pushing a parcels van around tigher curves/points but with a bit of tweaking this could be improved further I think.

Cheers,

Chris

Hollow Sleepers, here is one from Unipart http://www.unipartrail.com/assets/j2540-hollow-sleepers-brochure-st1.pdf

Clever stuff! Although too modern for my 80s layout I guess

Thanks both!

Marcus, that's a helpful list, I'll have a think about where some of these things might be placed - I need to start a separate thread to get some ideas and help on signalling as I'd like to put some in to give a hint of realism (but in no way has to be prototypical as it is an 8x4 roundy roundy after all) but have no idea where to start!

Gaz - thanks for your input, helpful stuff! Might have a go at adding some drainage features like that, should be fairly simple and add to the 'lineside look'.

Cheers, Chris

Just looking back at Dave F's fantastic photo threads at a couple of images I'd saved for reference re troughing etc - do these few show the sort of things we are after?

See these photos of Pilmoor with a lot of concrete troughing and some curious concrete 'boxes' with lids....http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-20th-july/page-62&do=findComment&comment=1692411

And these from Paddington - again lots of troughing, some appearing to run under the track and several flat concrete slabs/lids in the ballast - what are they? http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-20th-july/page-119&do=findComment&comment=1864835

Thanks for your contributions everyone!

Keep the pictures coming Marcus - it'll be great to see one of a trough to trough connection/UTX - be it an orange pipe, or manhole etc. Well, as long as we aren't keeping you from your day job! Here's a beer to help -

Cheers, Chris

Hah, great stuff Marcus, thanks! That's a lot of orange pipe!

As you can see from the last picture there can be UTX under points. Also you can have UTX from troughing to troughing. There's an example at Branston Junction. In fact there's two orange pipes side by side which carry the cables across. I'll try and get a picture next time I'm there.

Yeah that'd be great, thanks!

Thanks guys! I'm modelling the 1980s.

Google image search throws up lots of very modern looking stuff like you describe which doesn't really seem right...

Just found this thread and thoroughly enjoyed flicking through over lunch!

Great to see proper locos out on the network still and fantastic photos - really atmospheric, particularly the ones at night when the stations are quiet.

Thanks for sharing and keep it up!

Chris

Further to the above - this is how I'd planned to lay out the trunking and orange pipe:

...but as you say Gary, perhaps this isnt the correct use of the orange pipe?

If anyone has got any photos or links of what an under track crossing (UTX) and the manholes look like that would be great! Are they concrete? Or do they have a metal cover like one in a road? What would they have been like in the '80s?

Thanks, Chris

Hi Andy,

Just discovered this thread - what a fantastic layout and inspirational modelling!

I can't believe this is all in 2mm! I keep looking through the photos and completely forgetting, until I suddenly spot something 1/1 scale in the foreground or background and it completely throws me - like this one:

The screwdriver and biro look massive!   And the same with your picture of the lineside hut next to the penny!

Cheers,

Chris

A bit of a trait of mine, going into too much detail (sometimes). But as each new phase of the layout build comes along I am exploring all options to hopefully come up with the best (for me) of layout build ideas and techniques.

 

I sort of agree that perhaps the Signalling is a bit over kill, but I have really enjoyed the research and discovery phase of it. Electronics is an area of skill that has always scared me a bit, but now I am more excited about the possibilities of what it can offer.

 

I note on your layout that you have tried out the Ten Comandements cable troughs, they look good, I will certainly have to get some of them. I bought some Wills ones but they looked over sized. I want to get some down on the layout before I start the ballasting, as I have noted that cable troughs tend to act as a bit of a ballast retainer in real life; creating the divide between the ballast shoulder and the more grassy cess. Plus they are mostly within the ballast not sat on top so need to be laid first.

I think that's spot on and similar for me - although the layout is one that the kids can enjoy, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy adding the detail, building things and getting stuck in with scenics and other modelling which is the aspect I really enjoy.

Signalling is something I know almost nothing about so i'm very impressed with what you've planned out - I'll have to read up on it a bit and ask for advice here. Not sure I'll ever get them all working and automated like you though!

I went with one of the larger pack of Ten Commandments troughs but could have still done with more so depending on how much you want to do get at least a couple of packs.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris,

 

Where you have the concrete troughing terminating it won't connect via orange pipe.

There will be an (UTX) under track crossing with a manhole either side of the track which the troughing connects to.

You would not put a UTX under a set of points it would be under plain line.

 

Orange pipe is only used to connect an item of equipment back to a troughing route.

 

If orange pipe formed part of a continuous cable containment system and it was damaged then you would have to relay whole cable lengths.

Thanks Gary, again, that's really helpful advice. I had planned to cross the track with an orange pipe to 'join' the troughs so I can change this before it's too late - do you happen to have any photos or links of what these UTXs and the manholes look like so I can have a go at making something?

Cheers,

Chris

Love the point motors and cable troughing Chris.  They certainly create the right feel trackside.

 

Depending upon how picky you want to be, watch the distance from the cabinets to the nearest running rail.  Currently with your doors parallel to the track (I assume this from the last photo) you do not want track workers getting squished from passing trains when working inside them.  So for cabinets that have to be close to the track they will be set perpendicular to it.  See my last photo http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106602-family-8x4-oo-layout-signalling-and-track-ballasting/?p=2367370

 

Looking forward to the next update.

 

Paul

Thanks Paul that's helpful - I'll aim to position the cabinets further away from the track in that case where there's a bit more space - safety first and all that!

EDIT - saying that, I've been checking out Dave F's fantastic photos thread for inspiration and I've found a few examples of cabinets pretty close and parallel to the rail - for example see here:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-12th-july/?p=2299705

...and here:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-12th-july/?p=1585617 (Image No C5231)

Do you think having them perpendicular is more recent practice perhaps? My layout is set in the 80s if that helps.

Woah! Seriously impressive stuff Jaggz! Great work! Have you got a bit carried away?!  

Like the cant you've added on the curves - I've done the same, it really does make a surprising difference even on our tighter curves.

Wish you could come and do my wiring and signalling!

Cheers,

Chris

Hi again everyone - sorry it's been a while!

There hasn't been too much to say recently and nothing very 'visual' - I've been plodding on rail painting and fixing and nearly there with that, including adding some isolating sections in the yard sidings so we can stable locos a bit more easily.

I've bought a few trackside detail bits like the Peco dummy point motors, the excellent Ten Commandments cable trunking and some Wills relay cabinets and have been playing with them as a bit of a break....

I started by cutting off the little pips on the points - before:

...and after:

Then I played around with the position of the point motors and trunking (there are some helpful posts on this forum about this):

In the last photo above, I wasn't quite sure if the first two points into the yard should be controlled by these 'motors' or by manual levers - my thinking was that the first one controls access to the headshunt and in effect acts as a trap point to protect the main line and the second controls access to the short bay platform used for parcels, so it seemed sensible that these would be 'automated' but I can't pretend to know anything about this subject really so no idea if this would be in any way prototypical (the other points in the yard will all be manual levers/ground frames) - any advice welcome!

Then I got a bit carried away adding detail to the point motors but quite pleased how it brings them to life a bit more:

Then I had a go at painting the trucking and point motors:

...and lightly weathering the relay cabinets:

With the idea that it will all look something like this when stuck to the layout!

Cheers,

Chris

Hmmm - I appear to have two accounts?! How odd!?

Anyway, I'll say it again - Always a good day when there are some new photos of Llanbourne!

The new scenic work looks great, great mix of grass colours and the hedge really helps blends the back scene and foreground together Looking forward to seeing more!

Fantastic stuff! Keep the pics coming - really inspirational modelling

Hi again everyone,

Sorry there hasn't been much to report recently - I've been making progress in the evenings, it's just not that exciting! I've been mostly....

...painting rails:


(I've found a nice blend and variation which changes around different parts of the layout, so I'm pretty happy how this is turning out and surprised what a difference it makes, even to unballasted track.)

...and gluing down track:

This technique, to use copydex on only a couple of sleepers across the length of the point or track length seems to work really well. Better than the first method I tried which was covering all the sleepers with glue. This fixed the track too firmly and allowed a lot more noise transmission through the baseboard. With only a few sleepers covered the point or length of track is held firmly but still has a degree of 'float' which makes a big difference on the noise front.

On the curves, I've had a go at making a slight camber/super-elevation on the track after reading several informative posts on here - I'm surprised how it looks so much more 'right'! I put together some thin strips of cereal box card and played around with different thicknesses until I was happy and the effect was obvious enough and reasonably to scale. This pic shows the most camber/super-elevation on this particular curve - some of the others have a layer or two less cardboard so the tilt of a train is a bit more subtle but still noticeable.

Finally, I've also had a practice ballasting with a copydex/water mix and some different grades of ballast on my test plank - see what you think...

Woodland Scenics fine grey:

Cheltenham Model Centre fine granite:

And my preference, a mix of the two - I think this helps to fill the gaps in the coarser granite ballast and give it a finer look overall:

A comparison shot of all three:

I'm thinking of using the 'mix' for the main lines and the Woodland Scenics fine grey in the yard, weathered as appropriate (which I'll play around with on my plank in due course!).

Cheers,

Chris