Dave John

I keep looking at this thread. There is just something about the photos I really like, the whole thing works out really well. It all just works somehow, and its something I'm aiming for. 

Anyway, off to put a bit more paint on a viaduct. 

Kelvinbridge ( Caledonian Railway ) on the Glasgow low level lines had 6 mineral sidings and a goods shed, but no headshunt. The diverging point from the to the yard was only about 10 yards from the tunnel mouth, trains had to use a main line tunnel as a headshunt. There wasn't even room for a separate trap, so a twin trap was built into the goods shed point. 

In this picture the photographer is on Eldon street bridge, with the tunnel mouth immediately behind him; 

So , might be an interesting model control challenge, using a main line in a tunnel as a head shunt. 

And of course, to control it all, tunnel signals. 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-19153-a-tunnel-signal/

I'm sure the GWR modellers on here could point to something similar down there. 

Ok, out on a limb but I'd guess its a lubricator. There is a crank handle on it and a single pipe. I have looked at the pics I have of the connor and I can't see where the pipe goes. However the cylinders have the normal caley lubricators on the smokebox front, so the only other places would be internal bearings or the slides. 

A bit wild, but best guess. 

The Redutex ones are very good, I used them on this;

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2091/entry-18832-a-bit-of-a-scene/

However, I understand the company is having supply problems. They seem to be showing stock on their own website though. 

Aye, that cathedral is still one of the reference points for model buildings. 

Really I would love to see it on a layout, or in a townscape. Actually , I would love to have a go at floodlighting it as a model with LEDs . Why ? Well heres one I did earlier, as they say. Ok, its 12" to the foot scale but it is all LED , completed in May of this year. An awful lot of armoured cable went into that. So why put it on here ? Well, I have spent a long time messing about with the restoration of historic buildings in the Glasgow area. So I have come to love good stonework. I have worked with some of the few remaining masons who could actually carve a rose window, so when I see Allans work I connect the skill of those tradesmen to the skill of the modelmaker. I see history repeated in model form. 

Just for reference, its lansdowne parish church, Lieper , 1862. That is reputed to be the steepest stone spire in Europe , 175 foot high, 14 foot wide at the base. And I can see it from where I live......

Just another wee comment on colours. My model railway room ( of which there are general pics on the blog ) has large west facing windows so it gets a lot of evening sunlight. I suspect that has a big effect on the perceived colour of the "red oxide" paints that I use. Anyway, an interesting thread compound, lots of good models and prototype discussions. 

Some interesting research Andy ID. 

The idea of printing the rails as well might seem odd since most folk are used to the idea of the rail being the power for the trains. But I see others doing wonderful research with battery power and radio control, and I have tried it myself in the bigger scales in the past. ( Really , I made an armoured simplex that ran on 0 track and had a mini lead acid battery in way back when it was 27 MHz rc ) Throughout my entire model railway life the whole rail >wheel > bits of brass > motor thing has caused more hassle and repair time than any other aspect of the hobby. I know that it has frustrated others to the point of giving up. 

The whole CAD/CAM thing has now dropped in price to the individual user level. Modellers now regularly use software to design and print out track plans. All the variables can be set, even odd stuff for dafties like me that go for pre group 8' 11 1/2 " interleaved sleepers and my own slightly wider than EM gauge.  So, thinking forward its not a huge step to go from printing a track plan on paper to hitting a send button and getting it 3d printed by a specialist 3d model railway track printing company. Oh, and the obvious other thing is ballast. 3d print that as well, or rails set in paving.

Looking about at the young folk of today that is the sort of thing that might get them into model railways. 

So Andy, please continue with your pioneering efforts. I can see a huge potential in what you are doing.

I'm looking forward to seeing this. I fancy having a shot at one sometime, but I am still wondering about how to integrate body and chassis. Anyway, given the detail you have been getting with the silhouette in wagon building its definitely worth a go. 

Aye, all the best Allan. Not much else I can say other than thanks for all the ideas over many years. I'm kinda crap at this human stuff. 

Many thanks for that comprehensive thread Izzy. 

I keep hoping that one day Hornby will do one of the varieties of a CR Jumbo. If they did then the the similarity of size to a J15 would probably mean that the construction would be along the same lines, so your work here would give me a head start in converting one to EM. 

Not that I'm holding my breath...... 

Hmm, it would be great shame if the photos of Mimics stunning modelmaking vanished into the photobucket hole. They really should be available to inspire modelmakers of the future. 

( That also goes for a lot of very impressive models previously available via RM web and referenced to photobucket, but too many to list all of them) 

I do like the style of that factory building Allan. Something a bit different for sure.

Old father time must be catching up with me. I really rather fancy digging out my lego and building an intergalactic space ship or two..... 

I am enjoying all this. Some fantastic pre grouping pics, and much debate over dimensions. 

So, thanks Mikkel for starting it all, I might even be tempted to make a GWR wagon ... 

Might be worth researching the Glasgow low level lines, six underground stations still in use and historically an underground signal box at Stobcross. Plenty of info online and the CRA forums.

The layout I am building is based on Partick Central, which was the first overground station to the west of the lines that passed under the city centre.  I am modelling in the Edwardian era, but the lines now form part of a busy commuter system, so if you are looking for modern image then its all there . 

Heh, it wouldn't be the first time that some of us have been spotted wandering about a supermarket, verniers in pocket, surreptitiously measuring things to find a bit of tube the right size.... 

Good to see someone else having a go at EM. I have been playing with EM since 1988 , so I'm still learning and wouldn't try to give any advice other than to have fun and ask. Oh, and my EM isn't quite the same as other EMs , but thats a long story.... 

An interesting picture keefer, clearly shows the interleaved sleepering. 

I have had a go at this on "Kelvinbank" . There are some small speakers built into the layout. These are powered by a homebuild thing, in which there is a steam sound unit (chuffs faster when the dc to the track goes up ) and a mixer/amp . Input to the mixer is from an old iPod, on which there are some genuine CR sounds including a working westinghouse pump from an old ARGO record, EAF 74. Putting it into the mac and editing it took a while. I added a track of city noise from a sound effects cd to that. So now I get CR loco sounds over a city noise, with a distinct steam beat as trains move. 

All a bit simple in these days of DCC everything complete with sounds of tea being brewed on the footplate, but anyway. 

It impresses visitors a bit, but between ourselves gets rather annoying after a while. 

Just an idea, a bit of strip glued on at the edge before bending the louvres inwards  ? Also, looking at contemporary louvres I'd bend them to the inside, rather than the outside. Thats based on some restoration work a couple of years back. Ok it was a 1862 building, but the method originally was two side runners with cuts at 45 deg.   The slats were then made up as a panel and fixed behind the faceplate. 

I have a similar issue, but its a viaduct structure. So rail ends well anchored at the board joints, with expansion joints in the middle of the track sections. Make sure all rails have feeds for power. For ns rail you need about .5 mm /m of rail at the expansion joint. I am using code 75 Hi NI , but I would think that would be about the same for N. So far I have seen -2 to 27 deg C in the railway room with no problems, yet ... 

That really does look the part Mikkel, glad to see you enjoying the silhouette. 

Mind you, the house tends to fill up with boxes labelled "bits of styrene left over from cutting which might come in useful if I ever model Z gauge "....... 

"Maybe  in the future model railway exhibitions will be held in bus shelters just to take advantage of the built in back scenes"

Aye. The SECC. In terms of its architecture it really is just a bus shelter..... 

 ( Perhaps a bit harsh, its a good show and there were many fine layouts this year. ) 

Just took the pup for a walk. Now, as you may have gathered I just don't do tv. But on the way back I measured the video display on the bus shelter on the Great Western Road. Sad like me have a tape measure in the pocket when waliking the pup.  5 foot by 3 foot and held on by four m8 allen head ss bolts. 

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? 

Much has been written about backscenes. It seems to boil down to mood. And ambient lighting. Now, take a 10 foot layout, thats 2 displays, eight bolts. 

You see, I liked allen downes Idea of a layout that by swapping buildings you could run as SR or GWR. But the backscene?  It might sound a bit mad, but if you  "acquired" a couple of these large tv like bus shelter tvs , and then got someone who knows about CGI to program it, then you could have fully animated backscenes from any period.

Probably a bit much for me to cope with, but an idea for the next generation of modelmakers to think about. 

"Television? The word is half Latin and half Greek. No good can come of it."    CP Scott

He was right. I threw my last TV out of the window in 1995. Really. 

Hmm, its a fine idea, but all the action in an opera house is inside. Since you are building a hill why not go for an open air theatre? 

For example;

https://www.minack.com

Then you have all the fun of making the players, the audience , the sets .....