Philou

@lezz01 I didn't have much choice as with having short arms (and deep pockets some might say), I didn't want to struggle working over laid track and getting it mucked up with scenic materials. I've seen layouts where that was done, lovely jobs, but a whole load of flock stuck in the ballast, for example. We'll see how I get on and hopefully this will be in the right order - many a slip and all that! Sorry to hear that you had problems - care to share for the benefit of others? Cheers, Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, The weekend is nearly over :( , but never mind, there's another one next week :)) ! The pilaster was wafted and glued in place which meant I could get on with the rock faced cutting of the branch as it dives under the main line. As a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some for today - lots to be done yet, but it won't be until Tuesday and even then limited, as we're having a lunchtime bash on Wednesday to celebrate belatedly Mrs Philou's birthday. Nothing meaningful will happen until Thursday most probably: ^ Now things are looking more as they should. The abutment needs toning down a bit as does the new pilaster - powders will do that after the rock face has been undercoated. Talking of rock face, here's one I did earlier: ^ The oak bark was roughly cut to size and then numbered. I trimmed the pieces using a jigsaw blade and stuck them in place, in order, with 'no screws, no nails' (other adhesives available). There's back-filling to be done with PVA dampened kitchen towel and plaster. Thinned plaster will be brushed over all the surfaces and then a coat of white vinyl over that (I will remember to protect the bridgeworks first!). (Apologies for the rockfall - I should have cleaned up before taking the photo). ^ A view looking down the incline of the branch. Crevices in the bark will represent water erosion, I've already had the hot-knife out and cut out the polystyrene to form gullies. They're a bit 'harsh' and need to be softened - the plasterwork will do that. ^ Bird's eye view of the rock face. I really, really want to get on with this as I'll be able to do the other side of the branch line as it drops alongside the mainline and then start on doing a bit of trackwork - yay! Perhaps a little more tomorrow. Cheers, Philip

Hello chums and chumesses, I was pilastered today - enough to drive one to drink. I managed to do all my tasks this morning and despite the very wet and windy weather that arrived unannounced, I managed to get into the barn and check on a couple of measurements and this evening, I had the missing pilaster done. A waft of matt varnish tomorrow and with a bit of luck, glued in place. It wasn't difficult to do, just very fiddly as the pieces of card were small and all had to be glued together and then papered and it just took time to do - s'done. Last night I wandered into the world of the web and I found quite by accident a RAIB report on a derailment that occurred on a section of elevated railway in the Forest Gate/Ilford area of London that destroyed about 8.5miles of track including a section of baulk timbered rail on a rail overbridge. The report was very interesting from how the investigation was undertaken but my greater interest was drawn to the 10 x 8 colour photos that were included in the report - especially as it showed details and measurements of the baulks. Added to that, the railway at that point was on a curve and the bridge skewed and it showed how the 6.0m baulks were laid to the curve, canted and the overlap at each end making a transition between baulk and ballast. There were also some nice pictures on Google Streetview showing the underside of the bridge (built in 1893) with all the rivetted details. I am indeed now very much wiser of how to tackle my model. The one thing that I did also note is the report stated that the curve was of a small radius and when I worked it out the 400m radius (1220' R) worked to be 'only' 5.25mR at 4mm scale - I've got curves greater than that on the layout! I was very surprised! More tomorrow, Cheers, Philip

Didn't Jackson do some at one time - or am I mis-remembering? I have some 'working' ones from the '60s on my whitmetal kit and tarted-up H/D locos in that you can use them to hook to another vehicle but you can't screw 'em up. They were well made and other than enlarging the slot in the buffer-beam, easy to fit. They were provided with a spring for fitting on the shaft behind the 'beam and a split-pin to hold it all in place. Cheers, Philip

Did I say I'd do the pilaster tomorrow? Well scrub the morning and I have a feeling Mrs Philou may have something lined up for the afternoon! If I have an hour or so, I should get it made up (takes time as it's in small sections of card that will need to be trimmed, then glued and papered). Hopefully more tomorrow and then underway again Sunday. Monday will definitely be scrubbed as Mrs Philou is having her repeat coloscopy and I'm taking her there and bringing her back - so I'll be out most of the day. Cheers everybody and enjoy your weekend (are we back there already!!?) Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, I didn't do any updates yesterday as there wasn't much to tell. Today, as I'd finished the wall and given it a waft of acrylic matt varnish, I thought I'd better get it into the railway room as soon as. My goodness, it was c-c-c-c-c-cold in there. Down to 5° but the trusty heater had it up to 10° by the time I was ready to go back into the house! The wall is in position but it doesn't tie absolutely with the adjoining abutment as the angles are not quite identical, it'll disappear under the bridge eventually. In any case, I need to tone the stonework of the abutments with a bit of weathering and it'll all marry together. I shall do a photo later. Feeling flushed with success, I started re-assembling and glueing the 'styrene decor and once in position I started to set out the bark as the rock face. I did most of the length but had to stop as I realised I hadn't done the opposite side pilaster and I shan't do the rock face until I have that in position, which was a good enough reason to go back indoors for a warm up! I shall assemble the pilaster on Saturday as tomorrow I'm again tied up - real life is definitely getting in the way especially as Christmas is calling! We're due a spell of damp but warmish weather this weekend - up to 15°! Cheers everyone, Philip

What a good effort! Especially in N!! I am a great fan of trolleybuses and I rode them a lot when I lived in Cardiff and it was with sadness I rode the last day special in January 1971 - was it really nearly 53 years ago? I really do wish local authorities would consider bringing them back - there was a-nearly-but-not-quite effort by Leeds a few years ago - cheaper and more flexible than trams and quite 'green' too. Cheers, Philip

Hello chum and chumesses, Despite being waylaid by a lunchtime birthday celebration (I did say party didn't I, but that's more birthday cake, pop and silly hats) I did manage to weather the wall - dirt in the upper areas normally unaffected by rain and a bit of green for moss and algae where it's more affected by damp plus a bit of 'weeping' from the mortar joints. I haven't yet given the wall a waft of varnish and I expect it will tone it down a bit (usually does). Here's a picture (and apologies for the quality of the photos): There you have it - fix in place tomorrow and continue with the scenic stuff behind and come back to the station area shortly. @lezz01 has kindly offered to get me some bits and pieces of rail to fabricate baulk-mounted rails for the bridge so I may be back to that sooner rather than later. More tomorrow, Philip

Dash! I knew I'd get it wrong - though in defence it was a couple of years ago - ahem! But thanks for the correction - at least @BluenGreyAnorak has the right description! Cheers, Philip

I don't know if this sort of thing would be of use to you - it's an old Ratio signal kit (probably 40+years) that I put together with Mike, @The Stationmaster 's help during the Covid lockdown ready for my proposed layout. It's non-working in that the display is 'fixed' but it is a calling-on signal, with working LEDs. When the theatre box light is off , the display 'disappears'. Cheers, Philip

Picture in-coming! The wall is finished, but tomorrow I will go find my coloured pastels and do a bit of weathering and then a waft of matt acrylic varnish to give some protection. It's going to have to be really well sealed anyway due to the need of ballasting alongside. (There is a water mark already on a buttress due to a wet cat shaking a paw going past.) I am pleased how the end buttress/pilaster came together in the end. Here we are: ^ Having done a dry run this afternoon, it should all go together with the abutment that's already in place. ^ The full wall. There is a short return wall at the far end to create and some more retaining wall parallel to the track - about 300mm worth. It gives an idea of the total length of the platform at Dymented. I think the next sections of wall will be simplified as this exercise has taken me a little longer than anticipated (I did have to re-learn a thing or two). What's next? I'm a little dependent on the weather at the moment - it's gone mighty cold and damp lately - and I really ought to do the scenic stuff first and then do the bridge - but it's very tempting to do the bridge in the warm and dry :) . Thanks to @lezz01 's suggestion, I now have options of doing the bridge - rail chairs direct onto the deck (I haven't seen that modelled before) or the more classical way of sleepers on ballast on deck. The other way is to have baulks bolted onto the deck - I saw a photo of Crumlin viaduct (I think it was) with that and timber planking laid to both outer sides of the rails - similar to a promenade. Anyway, all of that will be for Wednesday as we're off 'lunching' again tomorrow - the birthday party season has restarted! Toodle pip, Philip

@lezz01 What a man you are! That is a kind offer - and it certainly would be a bit different than having a deck covered in ballast. If I take up your offer I wouldn't need more than 4 pieces of bullhead no longer than 450mm each - that ought to pass in the post! Today I'm finally on the home run - been fabricating some odd-shaped bits of card to get the right profile as there is one very acute angle and the other very obtuse. I've been to the barn and checked the retaining wall against the station 'floor' and the mainline and it all seems to fit. Next step will be glueing the paper and two bits of corbelling and that should be that. Picture later. Cheers, Philip

^ What's with the partially lifted crossover? Asking for a friend ;) Looks nearly new.

Eh? All my Legrand (Mosaic) are all the same. I do take the point regarding cable colour though. All mine are brown/blue/green-yellow with the exception of the two-way lighting circuits where there's purple for the double interconnecting wires. In the UK I think they use black and grey (never had to do a UK two-way). Oh, and some red for the unswitched live circuit bringing power to the two-way. You USED to be able to do a ring circuit in France, but it was rather frowned upon - couldn't really understand why as there was a saving in cable size and it spread the power through the circuit - oh well, their country, their rules. Cheers, Philip

At least the modern electrics are very similar to UK domestic wiring (brown, blue and green/yellow) AND some socket manufacturers colour the inlets at the back so that everything SHOULD be the same. If I remember correctly, the phase is on the right hand side - same as the UK. Don't get me started on the safety guards inside the sockets, as unlike the UK earth pin being longer than the other two and also chamfered to depress the shutter inside, EU pins are round and there being no earth pin on the plug (the earth pin is part of the socket, if you didn't know) and a round-ended round pin isn't. the. easiest. to. PUSH. AGAINST. THE (straining now). SHUTTER! I have been known to take a persuader to the shutter (hammer and screwdriver) to force it or break it, and I'm not the only one - apparently. I get on fine with the plumbing as I tend to use 12mm only though I did find it very irritating at first.UK 10mm will join quite happily to French 10mm. Did you know that the majority of French iron or brass fittings are BSP threads? Usually 3/8, 1/2 or 3/4" threads to which UK plumbing will fit - there is a lot of metric coming on the market now though :( . Back to this retaining wall ....... progress was slooooowwwww, but I've done all the corbelling and plinths and just started doing the very end bridge support and pilaster. Should be done and dusted tomorrow. (No photo today). I have another bridge question and it follows on looking a plate girder bridge with channels on the underside. Do the sleepers sit inside the channels? If they don't, then there's 9" missing somewhere when counting bricks (3 courses). I thought the construction was that the channels gave support to a decking plate above upon which there would have been a thin layer (or perhaps not any) ballast with the sleepers on top. I don't think it's that at all now. I would have rathered post some photos to illustrate the point- the one picture is no problem as it's a Google Streetview but the other is one I - um - er - borrowed off t'intertubes and I shouldn't want it to cause a problem to @AY Mod - it's oldish but as with all these things, may be subject to copyright. Thinking caps on as I didn't find what I wanted going via @lezz01 's route of a couple of days ago. Cheers, Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, You know what I said about good intentions a couple of posts ago? Thwarted yet again as I was roped in to do the municipal Christmas decorations. M. le Maire and his helper were both inside a bucket of a 4w drive telescopic armed JCB-type (no straps! Eek!!) agricultural vehicle with the various ornaments clipping them to the lamp/electricity poles and plugging them in. I decided I'd be better off on the ground in my hi-vis jacket warning any on-coming vehicles. It was done and dusted in about 30mins but I had to suffer them plugging a double socket (non-waterproof) into one of the plugs on the column and then plugging one of the decorations into that plus an extension lead that was wired with a plug with exposed pins on the end (deliberately to plug into a wall socket to power up elsewhere). They also found themselves with an extension that was the wrong way about - socket at one end and nowt the other whereas it should have been a plug one end and nowt the other - could I look at it. I took the battered cover off the distribution box to fond two rows of 6 choc blocks - one for phase and the other neutral that had been daisy chained using green and yellow wiring. There was no earth either. The distribution box had more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese! I was not a happy bunny. I rewired it for the 'proper' extension lead and I did say to M. le Maire that it's all going to have to taken apart and rewired correctly and we shall use Wago connectors instead of choc blocks - he didn't say anything and it's not as if it's going cost the commune very much either £30 tops. Better that than someone getting a rude awakening when it rains or holding the live pin extension when it's powered up! Rant especially as I've got a CCS card which is worthless over here - elf'n'safety, eh? Today I only managed the capstones to the buttresses and a bit of the plinths. Tomorrow I'm on my own so I expect to be able to crack on! More tomorrow, Philip

Hello chums and chumesses, Today I was on the parapet. Eventually I glued the modules to the plywood backing piece and covered the gaps the joins I mean, with the buttresses. Unfortunately I lost a lot of time trying to work out how to scan and print at a bigger scale in one step as the .pdf file from which I was copying wouldn't allow me to select a part and print to a bigger size. Anyway, I got there and made up some parapets and their wrappers and stuck those to the wall. I have also made a start on the end abutment and pilaster - but I need to go in the barn just make sure of the proportions and position of the pilaster. After that, it should be the corbels and plinths and the capstones to the buttresses - all paper and glue tomorrow! I have a picture and the wall is self-supporting - which has surprised me somewhat: ^ And there it is - self-standing with the parapets in place and the corbels to be placed at the interface of the sandstone and brick work and the plinth to be placed at the junction of the angled recesses and the vertical face. The plinth should (note 'should') be at the height of the platform of Dymented station. (I have no idea why it's self standing - it should be falling over onto its back!) I shall to a bit of weathering afterwards - mainly dirt in the recesses and a bit of green to give an impression of dampness here and there. A waft of matt acrylic varnish to protect it a bit and it'll be good to go. Cheers everyone and enjoy the weekend, whatever you're doing. Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, There wasn't anything done yesterday but today was full of good intentions and we all know where that leads ....... I managed to get some more 2.5mm stiff card - brown rather than white - yesterday and I did get the modules done though there's a lot of fiddly bits to do yet. They are to be assembled and presently I've cut the buttresses and I'm making some wrappers for them. I need to tackle the very ends, the one with the pilaster and at the other end will be a corner buttress to do a section of return wall that will take us towards Pontrilas. Tomorrow should see more or less the end of it. I do have a picture and I'm quite happy with it though I should have liked a greater contrast between the various bricks/stoneworks: ^ The white card and joins will disappear under the buttresses and corbelling that has yet to be applied. I have the end buttress and pilaster to create and assemble at the end nearest the camera. The retaining wall is pegged temporarily to its piece of 5mm ply backing and the whole assembly will eventually be glued together. More tomorrow, Toodle pip, Philip

I really must to get to Specsavers as with all the 'odd' 'possible' 'maybes' and 'neverwazzas' liveries churned out by KR, I read that last one as 'furry' for the Great Bear, that would be really epic!!!!

Pilasters aside, I did do the 'eyebrows' to the arches yesterday evening so the modules were ready for their parapets with sandstone paper this morning. I had all 5 done with the parapets (that act as stiffeners to the card) and decided to do the bottom stiffener and edges - curses - out of 2.5mm card! What I thought was card was 3mm foamboard which is absolutely no use for stiffening. Mrs Philou and I were going to Big Town tomorrow anyway and they have a craft shop and an office suppliers there, so I should be able to get more card. Having plenty to do in the railway room and despite the cold weather, I ventured up there and griddling my loins (again!) I cut out the trackbed between the recently erected abutments and now have a gap for the bridge. I also have an idea where the pilasters are to go so a little, but useful, job done. I'm not sure how to go about the decking supports for the bridge - I did mention yesterday that I would do channelling underneath but I'm not so sure now as I can't see how I'm going to form all the channels so that they are identical whereas girders are just three pieces of thin card to form the 'I' beams (repeated a few times). The channelling needs to be formed into a flat-bottomed 'V' shape ............. hmmm decisions decisions. I could cheat and use corrugated cardboard, but I've none of a large enough size in stock :( . Shopping tomorrow may not leave much modelling time so perhaps no update either. Cheers, Philip

Ooh, what a good man you are - I would never had thought of an anatomy of a bridge - pilaster it is. I did also find a cross-section of a steel deck in an exploded view which is exactly what I was looking for especially as the drawing is of a skew bridge. Mine is on a skew but at a more extreme angle and I shall have a longitudinal mid-span plate girder that will also be above the ballast. This sort of thing but in rivetted plate: ^ It's from the free encyclopaedia of the steel construction industry but it didn't say if it was under a Commons Licence. If there's a problem, I'll remove it. I might try to recreate channelling on the underside rather than girders - we'll see. Today's workload was rather light but the 5 modules are completely brick papered with the exception of the brick arch above the recess. I might do them tonight and it'll be done. The stiffeners to do tomorrow (all the same size) and a bit of sandstone parapet. The buttresses can then be made and papered and I need to do a pilaster ( ;) ) at each end. There will be a bit of detailing to do regarding the plinth and corbel in sandstone. Once done they can be fixed to the 5mm ply base, and that'll be one retaining wall done. I'll then look at the opposite retaining wall to see how the pilaster can be modelled. Do you know, I think I've developed an itch to then do the plate girder bridge and go back to the scenery afterwards - especially as 4 big tubes of UHU were delivered today! Most definitely more tomorrow. Cheers, Philip

I would suggest that the loft be dry and not subject to great variations in temperature. Make sure that it is well covered to protect it from dust. Mice and spiders are not your friends either! Do make sure that it is flat as any sagging due to parts being unsupported will be very difficult to iron out when you want to use it next time. (Flat doesn't necessarily mean flat on the floor but if it is resting at an angle, try any support it regularly from behind - dependent on its length of course.) Cheers, Philip

Mass production commenced this afternoon and I have the other 5 modules papered and with their reveals (the wings to which I referred yesterday) and top arches in place. 2 are further advanced with the building paper glued to the reveals and the underside of the arch papered as well. If all goes well tomorrow they should be completely decorated and perhaps the strengtheners added too. What did set me back a bit, and I'm having to rethink the engineering, was when I went to glue the wing wall to the second abutment, I was stood above it and could see it all from the top, as, before, I was looking side on only and I could see that the wing wall would have served no useful purpose if I glued it there and then. I don't know the name (if there is a special name) of the little walls that are built alongside the railway line at the end of a bridge structure (seem to be about 2' x 3' x 4'). I don't know if it serves to protect the end of the bridge or what, but most steel plate bridges have them. Anyway, looking top-down, I could see that there wouldn't be anywhere for this little structure to go as it would be floating in mid air - unlike these two on the A465 (I'm going to be modelling this particular bridge later): https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Rc5qQ2AqU4JSYJT7 I'm going to amend the bridge abutment already in place by making a return to lie inline with the mainline extending it from the branchline and then form this little wall on top. My wing wall may become redundant - we'll see. There's more to this engineering stuff than you realise, and having seen it, I couldn't ignore it! Here's a picture of the back of the second module under construction showing the reveals (you may know them under another name): Toddle pip and more tomorrow, Philip

Thwarts'n'all ....... no pressie bought whilst in Dijon. Mrs Philou decided that it would be better if she and I went alone to do Xmas shopping. If any of you DO manage to escape HMS Britannia for a holiday on the continent and you're around this area, Dijon is worth a visit (don't go ANYWHERE near Paris this summer - there seems to be an athletics event or some such taking place) plenty of olde worlde buildings and lots of places to eat, both inexpensive and not cheap. Additionally, just to the south within a few miles, is some of the best wineries in France - definitely not cheap :) . I didn't post up yesterday as not a lot happened due to damp and cold - though I managed to set up and glue the second bridge abutment. Tomorrow, I'll glue the last wing wall. So what did I do today? I got the retaining wall to the main line as it passes alongside Dymented station started. I didn't realise just how awkward it is working in card if you've no instructions and you've to make your own as you go along. I did start off with various bits of card as below: ^ There are six modules. They were one complete length before but it was just too awkward too handle and so I cut them up into more user-friendly lengths. On the left is a module that has the recesses still attached with the paper 'mask' to put into place. It proved just too much of a faff to insert the wings into the slots alongside the recesses and off they came to make more traditional 'windows'. I ended up with this after ONE afternoon's worth of work: I'm going to go faster tomorrow as I shan't cut the openings before glueing as despite measuring, the cut openings in the paper and those already cut in the card didn't line up as intended. I shall glue the paper to the card first, and then when dry, cut the paper from behind through the openings to be able to fold back. What you can't see in the photo are the side wings to the opening over which the paper was folded to give the depth and likewise the header arches. The side wings (all those white bits at the top of the photo ^) were cut 5mm wide from 2.5mm thick card glued edge on. The header was cut from scored 1mm card to enable a curve to be formed to follow the arch. Thicker card just creased and folded. The header was papered first and the wings then folded back. The angled recess was simply papered in contrasting brick and threaded through from behind and a touch of glue is holding it in place. The header arch was papered using the same coloured brick. I wanted something more sombre but the blue would have been just too much, I think. Since the photo was taken, the white exposed card has been covered in the sandstone paper used on the bridge abutments just to tie it together and a sandstone corbel between the brickwork and the sandstone is to be added. There will be a similar plinth to be added at the bottom that will sit at the platform height of Dymented (about 20mm or so). These will be added when I do the buttresses that will cover the joins between the panels. Behind, two layered strips of 2.5mm card have been added to make up the thickness and as stiffening top and bottom. As I think I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I can now mass produce the other 5 modules. =:0 More tomorrow, Philip

I did wonder ........... :))