JustinDean

Just had a look at some photos of Minninglow embankment and reckon your dry stone wall technique would look bang on.

Regarding your stone embankment - wouldn’t using two materials look a bit disjointed?

Now the ‘girders’ are set I’ve been mocking the board set up over my full size plan cutting card templates for the end/joining boards. Doing it this way makes it far easier for me to visualise the model, hence avoiding the CAD route. Once I’m happy the templates match the profile of the real thing I’ll mark up 6mm ply and cut. I tend to spend breaks from the house renovation staring at each stage to check things over so it’s slow progress!

Basically this. It’s sometimes called a tone control:

Good idea to leave some area of cork unaffected so it retains its sound absorbing qualities. I’ve been thinking about this and mentioned the problem on my thread. The ply base essentially acts like a drum head so an additional method I’m going to try out will be a small metal arm attached to the end piece angled upwards pressing a rubber pad to the underside of the ply track bed. Basically like an old snare drum dampening system. The action of pressing the rubber to the timber should reduce any vibration in the material.

The siding will be there - I didn’t have any L/H points to hand when I took the photo. I suspect this had fallen out of use by the 60’s and I’ve never seen any photos with stock on it so will end up being overgrown and a bit lost on the layout. I’ve got a few photos showing the building but nothing particularly close up showing any detail. I definitely want to include it along with the other small metal shed just west of it.

In between building a kitchen for my cottage I’ve been making baseboard progress. Not the most exciting photo but then I do want to document the whole build. Started making timber girders from 6mm MDF and 18mm birch ply. Contoured board ends will be next using two layers of 6mm ply. The folks that run Derbyshire Countryside services / Middleton Top emailed me today with detailed, accurately measured plans of the winding/boiler house today which has got me itching to get cracking on some actual buildings.

I know right! On that note how come you’re still using oil on it?

I know right! On that note how come you’re still using oil on it?

That’s some lovely timber work going on there Geraint!

Might be worth getting a cheap A4 sheet for a test. The thicker stuff is good for constructing buildings too. Jay

Hi Al - have you ever considered using 1mm Palight for a backscene with a curve? This material doesn’t snap like foamboard yet is still nice and rigid. Jay https://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Animation/Set-Construction/Item/PVC-foamed-Palight-301-603mm/ITM6958

Hi Robin - I’ve admired your Sheep Pasture layout for some time! Thanks for the offer I’ll be sure to pick your brains at some point. Jay

Friden in June 1932 - silica works special. photo: D A Welpton

Currently I’m working on how the baseboards are going to be formed. This will be a mixture of timber types and thicknesses appropriate to their function. Ends of the boards will be 12mm birch ply with a pair of ‘girders’ made from 6mm MDF and spaced soft wood spacers. The track base and flat areas will also be 6mm MDF with scenic areas having a bass of sculpted Cellotex. I know for years modellers have used cork for sound deadening. I’m still not convinced this is a solution with the absorption qualities being compromised by glue and ballast forming a hard layer over it. I think the timber hollow box that the layout runs on is probably the main issue, with the top surface acting like a drum head and the sides resonating. Something I’m going to look at during the construction of this. For now here’s the full size layout in drawn out form on my dining room floor.

Great to see this getting going on here Geraint and I look forward to seeing your updates. Jay

Yep it’s the shed at Cromford - this is the only photo I can find when they located a water tank next to the shed. Cheers Jay

Just look at the state of these pair :-)

Get Cromford Wharf finished first pal! :-) Jay

I think that would be cracking! EVR in Wirksworth has just had a new station building ;-)

I will admit now that I'm more interested in creating the feel of the location rather than everything being precise (apart from the buildings!) so my first compromise is going to be shortening the loop on the left of the plan. I'm using Peco Code 75 in OO for this layout, along with Seep point motors with built in switches for frog polarity, Gaugemaster uncouplers for the planned Dingham couplers and a basic DCC set up for locos. I work as a music producer and also have a composition sound art piece installed at the real Cromford Wharf so I've got a few ideas when it comes to sound for this layout. More of that later. I didn't want to set this out in Templot so I lay the track loose on some sheets of lining wallpaper and sketched around the track, building locations and overall shape of the baseboard. This layout is going to be entirely curved with a steady rise from front to back to emulate those distant views I posted previously. The whole thing measures 9' and at its widest will be 3'.

The track layout for Middleton Top remained largely unaltered over the years. The siding on the North side at Redhill quarry was taken out of use quite late on and the incline was closed in 1963 (I believe) with Middleton Top being the end of the line.

Adjacent to the loco shed are a number of smaller building - a water tank, coal dock and workman's huts:

The winding house still stands and is in steam on Bank Holidays. I've started making detailed drawings of this structure from photographs while I wait for lockdown to end - Can't wait to get up there with a tape measure!

To accommodate this landscape some of the baseboards are going to be quite wide. I really want to capture the sprawling fields leading upto the winding house. Apart from the dominating winding house there are several other interesting buildings. The engine shed was a long and narrow building which lost it's roof twice. Once to a fire in 1906 and then to high winds in 1962. I was sent some CAD files by MIM for the shed and a friend is producing some parts from his 3D printer for me.