richard.h

A New Arrival

The latest Loco to join the fleet is the little Quarry Hunslet, I was a bit hesitant about buying such a small loco as I wondered how good the performance would but it turns out to be an excellent runner with lots of detail and with the loco specific crew from Osbourne Models it looks superb. The trickiest part was fitting the 6 pin decoder I couldn't get the recommended Bachmann one but managed to find an ESU equivalent that would just squeeze in.

Royal Scot Trials.

As City of Liverpool halts at the station the reason for the Dynamometer Car becomes clear.

It's the 1948 interchange trails and we are waiting for A4 Kingfisher to take over.

She duly arrives and prepares to take over The Royal Scot for the rest of the journey south.

Thank you Dave

The main reason I have been able to proceed quickly is that I tend to over-order when starting a project to avoid running out of items.

So. now over the years I've accumulated drawers full of modelling materials ( knew they would come in useful one day)

Richard

Platforms in Place

The next items that were fitted were the Platforms, for this I used Styrene Sheet, cut to fit and painted grey. I was going to texture them by sprinkling on a fine scatter material but they do have quite a convincing texture of their own providing you vary the grey surface colour to make it appear more realistic.

For the platform edging I used a strip of the printed sheets that were previously made for tiling my model buildings.

Up The Embankment

In this third video we show the process of building the embankment plus some detail of modifying the Tortoise point motors so that they will fit snugly under the baseboard.

The Royal Scot Trials

City of Liverpool is on duty today.

AS it emerges from High-Fell tunnel and then slows for the station entry restrictions.

And cruises to a  halt for an engine change.

A Sideways Tortoise

I have always used Tortoise point motors on my main layout and have been very pleased with their easy installation and reliability so I wanted to continue using them on this layout. The problem was that as mounted normally they have quite a depth and could be liable to damage so I found a way to mount them sideways which meant that they would be contained within the baseboard framework and the added bonus was that all the wiring was tucked safely out of harms way under the board.

The Water Mill

I recently purchased a Bachmann Water Mill which turned out to be quite a bit smaller than expected so it wouldn't really fit where it was intended to, any way after a re-think I decided make a small cameo with it by sitting it on a small corner of the layout.

I cut two pieces of 2mm ply to give the depth to make a small outlet stream.

The catchment pond was carved out of a piece of fine grain packing material.

This was all put together, painted and textured with a still water compound used for the pond and stream.

So, after a few final touches of scenery and building up the water level a couple of millimeters each day we end up with this, just need to find some finishing touches, such as people and accessories now.

Double Headers

 On the West Coast mainline the heavy prestige expresses were normally handled by Staniers big pacifics but if one wasn't available or failed then a double header would often be needed to provide the necessary power.

A common pairing would be a Jubilee assisted by an ex Midland Compound.

Which we see here heading North with a fully loaded train.

       A Fairlie Crew

I normally put crews to all my Locos but with the limited amount of space in this engine I was struggling to find suitable figures that would fit. Luckily Modelu have recently released some sets specifically for the Fairlie so some were duly ordered, painted and fitted

Building The Scenery

Starting with the Plain Woodland Scenics rock mouldings we give an overall coat of light grey and then start adding coats of progressively darker greys, applying them in patches and working the paint into the nooks and crevices of the rockface.

As a final touch I applied burnt umber onto any ledges where earth and vegetation might appear and also worked the paint up from the ground level, again to simulate soil and mineral contamination.

Many years ago when I didn't have money to go trainspotting the highlight of the day would be to go down to the local station, Saltaire, and wait for the Thames-Clyde Express to come through.

You always knew that it would be pulled by something decent like a Jubilee

But you kept your fingers crossed that as it was coming from Leeds it wasn't Alberta again

Here is a short video showing how the work progressed when building the rear scenic area

Building The Scenery

We start by building a framework of 2 and 4mm ply plus foam blocks to form the contours.

Then using bandages dipped in or painted with plaster of Paris we build up the hillside.

Then finally a coat of earth effect paint to form a base for the scatter materials to follow.

Totally Derelict

Living in Spain means that the postal service and charges have become more difficult since Brexit so I am always on the lookout for suitable European models that I can use on the layout. So, recently I came across this Noch model of a derelict farmhouse building that seemed to fit the bill.

I rounded off the base moulding so that it would fit the intended site better and started painting using Lifecolors Rubble And Debris paints and the ground was coloured with AKs muddy ground from their war-gaming range.

Once painted foliage was added plus a couple of twigs that were left over in my Sagebrush tree box to represent stunted tree growth.

A nice little project and a useful addition to the Layout.

The critical part of the layout is the reverse curve leading up to the higher level. By necessity it has to be 10inch radius when the minimum recommended 9 inches but it is also combined with a 1in 45 climb. This meant that it took some time making it smooth as possible so that the locos could negotiate it without problems.

So now we have our first video with a short review of the Fairlie Locomotive an incline loading test and a look around the layout after the first stages of tracklaying.

There have recently been some excellent new releases of Narrow Gauge items most notably the Double Fairlie from Bachmann and this has prompted me to try my hand at building a new layout in this gauge. It is something I have never worked with before so let's hope that I can cope with the small scale of some of the models.

Here is a photo of the item which triggered my interest, The Bachmann Double Fairlie Loco.

And shown below is a rough drawing of what I am trying to achieve in a space approximately 240by 60cms. As is obvious from the sketch I don't go into great detail with my plans, I just try to get an idea of what is possible in the space and then tweak it as I go along. The back of the layout has already been modified to provide a couple of storage loops so that you will get different trains entering and exiting the tunnel section.

This is intended to be the central board of three and is the only one that will provide a continuous running loop, to the left the second board will feature a climb to a Slate Quarry and on the right the line will drop down to a Station in the Port with fishing quay.

Here is the second video featuring the 1948 exchange trails with the Dynamometer Car and this time a GWR King Loco.

1 hour ago, Steve Hewitt said:

 

Great to be back together............

 

Things have moved on a lot since all the Lime Street Crew were last together to discuss the way forward.

Great moves have been made in developing our use of DCC and incorporating it into the existing control system.

Another few weeks should see the two control panels modified with the DCC controls integrated.

At present we are using the development versions of our new controllers.

Some "ground rules" have been agreed for how we will use DCC.

Each engine will use DCC for driving control, supported by Directional lighting, Sound synchronised with speed at about 15 mph, Modest amounts of Inertia and momentum, and a large "stay alive" capacitor. 

There will be  single set of control buttons which will execute similar but loco specific functions when used.

e.g.  Whistle/Horn, brakes, drain cocks, safety valves, shovelling coal etc. etc.

 

Yesterday saw the Crew gather at John's for updates and training/practice and an excellent lunch!

 

The Crew L-R:

John Holden; Noel Coates; Les Green; Steve Hewitt; John Rocca; Rob Harrison.

 

Her are some little video shots I managed to get on my phone.  Sorry for the shakes and fuzzy focus.

 

Very early, before the sun is up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are soon going to be having regular operating sessions, once the control panels are completed.

All the operators will have to go through several hours of practice as we all get to grips with our DCC.

 

More to follow as soon as possible..........

 

Steve

Just when we thought you couldn't make it any better you move forward again to even greater realism.

Richard H

I haven't posted for a while on this thread as I have been busy building a new Narrow Gauge layout but I was tempted to buy the recently re-released Dynometer Car as I think it is a superb model and have made a short video of it in use.

I recently completed a set of Cambrian kit built mermaid wagons as I needed something different to finish off a works train.

So here is a Stanier MT approaching

With the fishy train comprising three mermaid wagons.

Plus a Pilchard 2 grampuses? and 1 winkle with a sand truck thrown as well

Personally I think I will just stick with my Bachmann versions, they have all behaved well and can each haul around 26 wagons with ease which equals a train of about 8ft in total length which is the maximum my layout is set for,. So although the Hornby version seems to be more powerful how many of us are going to run super-long trains in reality.

Richard

To follow the photos here is a short video reviewing the Deltic and showing it in action.

4 hours ago, Carl L said:

Richard, 

 

yes there is a dock, although it’s so small compared to docks it might be better to call it a wharf. The sheds is a first attempt at scratch building and represents the fish loading sheds at Neptune Street itself. The corrugated roof is made from squares cut from foil baking trays and formed on the ribbed section of a carpet runner. 92 on each shed! 
 

The ‘Dead Bod’ is my homage to all trawler men, the original was painted as a drunken prank on the side of a shed at Alexandra Dock, Hull and came to be a familiar sign for trawler men sailing to and from Hull. It is now preserved in a Hull museum. As I keep saying, ‘scenery’ is a a basic level, and further detailing is to be added. This area needs lots and lots of quayside clutter and junk.

Excellent work.

Can I ask how you made the dockside walls as the finish on them looks really authentic

Richard

Looks interesting, you have managed to fit a lot of operating potential in your limited space.

Is the area on the left hand side going to be a Dock section.

I don't know much about the railways in Hull but I do remember there were a lot of industrial lines around the docks which I used to see when going to visit my grandparents in Withernsea.

Regards

Richard