luke the train spotter

Looks like its running well now, nice rake of wagons. 

Thanks for the helpful suggestions! I'll have a look at scaling the large station down to 3.5mm scale and shifting it to the right. I suppose that's just a clever use of forced perspective! Looking at the prototypes most didn't have an additional shed but lots of platform furniture, I'll do some more research and see if there is anything I should include. 

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

I think you’ll have difficulty getting much of a station building on that platform width. Here’s a Pop Up Designs kit I’m using on a GNoS line that’s taking shape. (It has needed a bit of tailoring to be fully suitable)

It’s in 0 scale, and the board width is 10”, so equivalent to about 6” in 00.  Your goods siding and shed has required over half your board width, so there isn’t really enough left to get what you want. You might make do with the front half of a Colonel Stephens type building, perhaps in wood rather than corrugated iron, otherwise add a few inches on the back of the layout?

I'm enjoying the build, it is looking promising.

I'm thinking that I might be able to build it in half relief. The actual prototype scaled down would allow me to model the stone style building in that way. I've had a look at Pop Up Designs and have been very tempted by their kits, if they made a stone style station then I'd be sold! Unfortunately extending the depth of the layout isn't really an option but this angle from a couple weeks ago shows the amount of space I'm working with which is about 2.5cm.

Work continues on Dalmunach. Firstly a bit of impulsive backscene painting. This was done with thinned Vallejo acrylics, the same method as used on all my other layouts. I debated whether to use a printed backscene but quite like the painted look of some low mountains. 

These will be mostly covered  by low relief trees so I kept the backscene pretty basic. The next thing I did was begin work on the station building. From the GNSR Association I obtained scale drawings of Blacksboat which I scaled to 1:76 then printed and mounted on foamboard. However, I'm not sure if the full scale version dominates the station platform too much so have mocked up a full size and slightly cut down version. 

The full size one:

The cut down version:

The cutdown one looks slightly more in proportion with the rest of the layout but looks pretty small next to the railbus so I'm not sure which one to build. 

Plenty of thinking time as it's not really a high priority job but thought I'd post it on here to show the thought process. 

3 minutes ago, Kevin Johnson said:

Progressing nicely Luke. The different washes used on the bridge definitely makes the stones stand out as the capillary action gets in-between the gaps. That n gauge ballast Luke is something I'm going to try myself. Nice job.👍

I think using a finer grade ballast helps give the track a more finescale look even though it's off the shelf code 75. 

Full steam ahead on the workbench today. The bridge has been painted using a few different washes and acrylics. No special techniques but starting with a light primer gives plenty of scope when building up layers of colour.

Quickly afterwards I got on with some ballasting, a bit sooner than I had been expecting, but with such a small layout this doesn't take much time. The ballast was distributed using a tea spoon and tamped by tapping the rail with a paintbrush. It was thoroughly misted with water then watered down wood glue was applied with a pipette. 

The ballast in question is this n gauge blend of Legacy Ballast from DCC concepts. 

Whilst slightly skeptical about a ballast which seemed to have premium marketing vibes, it was very strongly recommended to me by a friend because of its accurate colour palette for steam era ash ballast. On this slightly crude close up of the platform track I'd have to agree.

Don't worry I was still tamping at this stage so the ballast level was lowered around the point rodding! Comparing it to this photo of Carron it looks like a pretty good choice though I suppose it could always be a finer size.

Work continues on Dalmunach today with a few more jobs ticked off. Firstly I did some thinking about the overbridge at the fiddle yard entrance and decided that the stonework/brickwork scratch build didn't fully appeal to me so opted for a simpler plasticard construction, loosely based off the road bridge at Blacksboat. I need to add some fences either side of the girder on and get it painted.

I think in situ it has the right proportions even though they were mostly guess-timated. The coach acting as a gauging train to check the clearances. You might just be able to see the Cheerios packet as the only free space to ever really set Dalmunach up is the kitchen!

As all the bridge glues were setting off I began some basic ground work. For this I've mixed a couple Vallejo earth texture paints before applying to the baseboard. I know you could probably make your own out of PVA, paint and sand but these tubs last a long time so they're not too bad. 

This sets me up to do some ballasting in the next couple of days and start some proper scenery.

On 10/02/2024 at 09:59, JimRead said:

Hello Luke,

 

Great stuff I like the trackplan it'll make for some very interesting shunting moves.

 

Point polarity is something I've tried in various ways, what I use now is a loop of copper wire under the board and pushed up so that the blades are in contact with it one at a time and a length of wire soldered to the vee when it fails the copper wire can be bent a bit without having to get under the board.

 

I'd put it on the top in the pic to illustrate it easier.

 

Cheers - Jim

That looks like a good option, I might have to give that a go on the next phase. The peco polarity switches are a bit pricey for what they are but hopefully are robust enough. 

Whilst I have some thinking time on how best to build the bridge and get the curves sort of right, I've made a start on the GNSR style goods shed. Scale drawings of Blacksboat were obtained through the GNSRA (well worth a join for any Scottish modellers) and scaled up then compressed a little to fit the space available. This is what I've got so far, plasticard shell clad with Wills 4mm clapboarding and a card roof.

And Blacksboat goods shed (still standing as a listed building) for reference.

The joys of cosmetic point rodding has continued tonight, seeing the other point connected up to the signal box base and 2 additional rods being run off towards the fiddle yard to control the unbuilt point and locking mechanism of the phase 2 plan. In my mind the distillery siding is a separate locked ground frame so isn't connected to the main signal box as it wouldn't be normally used and would be treated as a private siding. Looking down the layout the point rodding definitely adds a different dimension to the scene, as D5301 waits for the ground signal to clear its next shunting duty. 

Another bit of progress is a quick foamboard mock up of the bridge which acts as a scenic break. The foamboard cut out is a but rough in areas and needs a bit of fine tuning. The plan is to clad it in plasticard like the platform construction. 

I'm roughly basing the bridge off the one at Cromdale station, which still stands today thankfully, so there's plenty of good quality coloured photos to work from. 

As always, plenty to be getting on with, hopefully I'll be able to find a couple hours over the weekend to work on a few more bits.

2 hours ago, TechnicArrow said:

Nice work! Your signals may be static but your eye for colour is far better than mine! Your trackwork is looking excellent with that point rodding, it really adds a lot to the a layout and reminds me I need to buy some for Watchford. You're also making me think I should take up the ballast I've laid so far, and try repainting the trackwork before it gets too far...

 

Similarly, I agree with @Kevin Johnson about the platform stonework. What have you used for it? I really need to sort mine out, but the stonework I've got at the moment is a bit too overscale.

Thank you!  Tonight I've added the rest of the rodding which completes that point as its now connected to the base plate of the signal box. Not quite sure if I should add the deflection ramp which comes in the Wills kit, not many examples of it being used in the Speyside stations but I'm not sure why that might be.

I found finding the right stonework pretty challenging, but I ended up using Slaters 0420 7mm Stone Courses. I think this does a fairly good job at representing the large squared off stone blocks. Pretty widely available, I bought mine on ebay (link below). Hope that's useful!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404081988166

17 hours ago, Ian Blenk said:

$64,000 question, do you have a time frame for completion of phase 1?

I'm hoping to have most of the base scenery down and structures finished by summer. I've been starting to add some trackside details of shunt signals (inspired by @TechnicArrow 's use of ratio kits except mine are static) and Wills point rodding kit. Very fiddly jobs but will be worth it in the end. 

I thought that I'd share the long term vision for Dalmunach now that progress has started to pick up. Currently space, time and modelling budget are all a bit tight but in the future I plan to rebuild the current fiddle yard into an additional scenic board which forms Phase 2 of the project. Phase 1 is how Dalmunach is currently being built, with the distillery a part of my imagination when operating the layout. This is a pretty long term goal and would sit Dalmunach on the edge of the micro layout category but no need to worry about that now. 

Whilst the Distillery complex is very small and would never need its own shunter I plan on running the ruston which would be cleared to shunt the goods sidings within the station limits. Hopefully this is useful when placing the snapshot of the layout in its wider planned construction.

With a productive modelling Saturday afternoon the platform has taken shape quite quickly. The whole structure was painted in a light brown halfords spray paint before being heavily covered in different washes and dry brushing to bring out subtle toned. This was left to dry overnight before a white line was painted on. I'm really pleased with how the sandpaper surface has turned out with a little bit of drybrushing, much easier and quicker than having to glue down a load of fine sand/gravel! 

Comparing my efforts to the platforms at Craigellachie below, I think it looks the part and colours are fairly close to the area. 

Once I was happy with the colours and textures a class 26 and suburban brake ran a gauging train to check clearances before I could stick the platform down. Currently it's being weighed down to prevent any warping (other tinned goods are available).

The planning effect on that wagon is excellent! The sense of scale you get from the staithes is pretty immense too.

A couple more hours of work and ta da a slight GNSR-ified highland signal box. 

The name boards are from a fantastic pack from ScaleScenes and really lift it. A slate roof and chimney has been added. I used this angle of the box at Ballindalloch as reference for the height and style. 

All in all a very enjoyable little project. 

As mentioned above the signal box has been through a bit of a repaint. I started by sanding all the blue paint down and touching it up with the same white paint used on the rest of the building. I found that Vallejo flat earth was a good match for the GNSR brown so after some careful masking was used. I tried to mimick the painting on the box at Carron and I think it's definitely on the way. 

The paintwork needs a bit more touching up, a chimney adding, basic interior and a slate rough but I think I've overcome the mental block. 

Another job done is painting the fascia. This was just a light grey furniture paint but it gives a much tidier finish. 

On 25/01/2024 at 21:21, Wheatley said:

Found the ARC kit of the 12" Barclay, here's the comparison with the Hattons 16" version:

 

Rather than replace the signalbox why not repaint as per your photo of Carron further up ? Brown up to waist level and cream above, including the corner posts and other blue bits. 

I didn't realise that the boiler and tanks were so much smaller on the 12" barclay! Makes a lot of sense really but I had assumed that they had much more similar proportions. 

You must have read my mind as the signal box is currently being repainted. I'll post a proper progress report tomorrow when I've got some pictures of it all. 

The composition of this layout is fantastic. Enjoying watching the build on Facebook too. 

There has been some limited progress though. I managed to get the track all weathered up, just using an old brown rattle (Humbrol) can then wiping the rails clean. I'll come in and weather the track properly with washes and powders once the ballast is down. 

The other jump in progress is I've started to paint the backscene. This is the same method as all my other layouts and starts with a white household emulsion that has been ever so slightly tinted with a blue acrylic to give a light blue hue. These pictures show it whilst the paint is still wet so it'll loose its glossy look once its dried.

Another unexciting and rather dull job not worth its own photo was filling in all the counter sunk screws so I can paint the outside fascia. Once the fascia is painted I can get the name board attached and hopefully make a good start on the actual scenic elements of the layout.

So far the job list stands at: 

1. Platform needs finishing

2. Need to work out what to do with the signal box

3. Cosmetic point rodding

4. Bridge structure

5. Goods shed

6. Ballasting and track weathering

On 15/01/2024 at 19:35, Ian Blenk said:

How a bout a lever frame box like the one at Towiemoor?

Definitely something to consider. I'm torn between something like Towiemoor or a small platform mounted box. Since I'm struggling to find time to work on the layout I suppose I've got lots of thinking time.

Good progress has been made on Dalmunach's platform. After looking at some more pictures of Speyside platforms it appears that most of them are much lower than the height I've built mine too, not wanting to start again I managed to use a kitchen mandoline (aka finger killers) to slide about 3 to 4mm off the total platform height. I think with the extra surfacing on top this actually looks much closer. To get the large stoney blocks I've used a sheet of 7mm slaters plasticard. The coping stones on the edge of the platform are pieces of 1mm plasticard. Letting all the glues set off for a couple of days before I come in with a sandy plastery mix to do thr platform surface. 

I'm also beginning to have second thoughts on the signal box. Whilst I initially liked how it looked and it's bold colour scheme it definitely doesn't fit in with the Speyside theme. I'll have a think about it and see if it could be bashed about.

9 hours ago, Wheatley said:

The traditional way of modernising the Horny 29 is to use a Bachmann 25 chassis, but if you fit coach wheels you can use the original Hornby motor by separating the tyres from the plastic centre/gear moulding and cutting the gear ring off with a razor saw. Take about a millimetre of the wheel centre with it, then sand back so there's just a sliver of the wheel centre left and Evostick it to the back of the coach wheel.

 

Doing it this way keeps the hole in the wheel centre to align the gear, otherwise you'll need to take great care to get it concentric. You may need to mess about with 2mm axle washers to get it to align. I did this with a 25 years ago. The real 29 had spoked wheels but a) no-one makes 14mm 11 spoke wheels as far as I'm aware and b) you can hardly see them anyway. 

 

The Dapol model is one of the best 4mm deisels around imo. 

 

I first saw John Boyes' photos of Cromdale forty years ago - still haven't got round to building the model but I did get a resin small Barclay from ARC Modeks before he stopped production. 

Thank you! Very useful food for thought.

If I had continued with the Cromdale layout I was planning on getting one of Hattons second runs of Barclays and converting it up to be the Balmenach puggy with some transfers I've drawn up but given the current state of affairs I think I'll be bashing my pre-existing barclay about. Hopefully someone takes on the tooling and gives us another run at some point.

1 hour ago, 37Oban said:

Hi,

Ian is right about the effort to convert one.  The Hornby 29 is a bit of a mish-mash of 21 and 29.  I converted one to a 29 and EM a couple of years ago, which runs on ultrascale wheels, but it's a lot cheaper than the Dapol model and makes a decent layout model.  Unfortunately I didn't take any photo's and it's packed away, pending a house move (ongoing for the last 8 months!).  I sometimes get the urge to convert one to a 21, maybe later this year!

 

As you model oo I would think that it would be possible to rewheel it using coach wheels.  I believe quite a lot of modellers have done this with older models when they need them to run on finer scale track.

 

Roja

Very interesting, did you keep the chassis or build a new one for it? I'll have to look into the coach wheel idea, I wonder if they would fit into pancake motor block or if that would have to get replaced by a new mechanism. 

17 hours ago, Ian Blenk said:

 

I Have an old Hornby 29 which you can have, although they do need a lot of work

Thank you that would be very generous! I'll have to have a think about how best to re-wheel one so it clears the code 75 track. :)