Keith Addenbrooke

I like the central location - it fits very well. But I admit that’s looking at it from the front in the photos, not the rear. As for the justification, I’m not an expert (so this may not be useful), but it does seem to be one of those: “I just need to find one prototype” situations. Par and Truro East (as cited) therefore help, and have the added advantage of being reasonably local. But I thought the line behind Par was a branch, not the other running line? To me that seems ‘different’ ? I also can’t help thinking there’d be a window in the back wall at some point, to give a view of the points ‘behind’ the signal box? (I’m loathe to suggest hacking about such a nice model though). Another factor might be the history of the line the model is based on, which I don’t know sorry. If it was originally single track and only later doubled - after the signal box was built and commissioned - would that be a justification? Keith.

I did run into a small challenge printing off a Code 83 #8 template on the home printer : at 321.3mm it’s longer than a piece of A4 paper. Questionmarks over Peco’s stated radii for their Code 100 / Code 75 Streamline points are well versed - you also have to be careful with the Peco website when looking at the Code 83 product line: it appears that a #8 turnout is marketed as “8th radius” (etc). This is particularly confusing for the #4 Wye, which is promoted as “4th radius” but I think actually matches the #8 turnouts (using American geometry I would expect this). If I’ve understood it right, the Peco #7 curved turnout uses curves of 19.5 degrees and 9.5 degrees - so gives a 10 degree relative angle of divergence on exit. (I’m not an expert, please correct me I’ve got this wrong. Thanks, Keith).

I came across an interesting take on the “time - space - money” equation recently, when reading about a basement empire HO Scale American Model Railroad. Contrary to what I’d expected, the owner had not set off at a great pace in the early days in order to get where he finally ended up. Rather, as a single parent with very limited finances, he intentionally worked slowly, handlaying his track and scratchbuilding his structures, so that the little money he had to spend on his hobby lasted longer. He’d worked out that if he’d used ready-to-lay track and building kits he’d have spent more and run out of things to do before he could afford anything else. Although I don’t think he actually said it, I formed the impression that this developed a habit in him of working at a sustainable pace, and it was that which perhaps proved the key to long-term success. I thought it was a lesson worth learning, and - noting @Lacathedrale’s comments above - may be of relevance here.

I like the way this comes across as spacious and doesn’t seem ‘squashed in’ - the industry serving the rear spur will presumably use background buildings to hide the narrow space between the track and the backscene (which is how I read the plans on the first page). I was trying to guess if the track is Code 75 or Code 100 (it looks like UK Peco)? Just wondered, Keith.

Very enjoyable lunchtime viewing.

Superb.

Day 13 (Now out of step) - Un sacapuntas It’s good to see some more cakebox build threads starting up. A build thread is not a requirement of course - nor is an RMweb account: the World of Railways website has details for cakebox modelling too. And there’s still plenty of time to get going (it’s fun, so do give it a go if you can). At this point I should perhaps introduce the real hero of this particular project however: apparently the Spanish word for ‘pencil sharpener’ is: Un sacapuntas. As I’m using regular pencils for marking out, I’m also using my sharpener a lot: Progress this weekend has been a mixture of Step 3 (walls), Step 5 (doors) - that’s the start of the loading bay door above, and Step 6 (loading dock). Here is the loading bay door in position. The top layer for the loading dock has been painted and scribed to represent wooden planking: One of the mistakes I’ve already made was to glue solid the two layers of the end wall at the passenger end of the depot (to hold the window frames in place) before making the door that was also supposed to go in between the two layers. I’ve therefore built it up in layers to compensate for this: The only modification I had to make was to thin the narrow frames for the lights above the door: they look a bit too much like bars across the window above: The doorstep could do with an extra layer of card to make it stick out a bit from the bottom of the frame - it is a separate piece (the longer strip in the previous photo. I also need a door handle of course. By way of comparison, these are doors for a OO Ratio Station I painted last year (note to self - must finish that kit sometime): Given my Depot door began life as a mince pie box probably made from recycled card, I’m happy enough: it’s rubbish, but not that rubbish. I need to carry on with the doors and walls when I get a chance, but these will just repeat what I’m doing so that’s all for now. Stay safe, Keith.

When we’ve moved house, the allocation of rooms hasn’t always stuck to the original plan, for various reasons. If I read the plans right earlier in the thread, there are matching spaces in bedrooms two and three. Given the progress being made with some good ideas for bedroom 3, the thought crosses my mind that - at this preliminary stage - they could be planned so that they could fit either bedroom 3 (first choice) or turned through 180 degrees for bedroom 2 if needed, thereby avoiding the need to start again. Just a thought, Keith. Edit: realised I was actually thinking of a mirror image ‘flipped’ along the adjoining wall (the ‘x’ axis) for use in bedroom 2, not rotated. Apologies all.

So it looks like I was half-right: I hadn’t guessed the roof would start to slope before the eaves storage. I’ve seen shelf layout which take advantage of this sloping roof: although scenery at the back has to be low (there’s always a catch) the ‘dead width’ before the ceiling gets tall enough for standing gives room for a shelf layout that doesn’t eat into the rest of the room. Like others, I think @Zomboid’s L-shape seems a good proposition for starters.

I wondered if it might be this one - having seen it on the Apocrypha thread. It is a very impressive piece of scratchbuilding.

The Campo Viejo Tempranillo Rioja is my favourite red wine - is there a bit of a theme developing here? US logging lines are fascinating - be great to see. Keith.

Day 12 Step 3 (Part III) - Getting the painters in The layout I’m working towards will be set in 1970, by which time I think Depots like this would have been painted mainly in cream. I’m painting this in a more colourful, older livery. This is my first attempt, on the rear wall: The yellow paint leaves a thin layer, so while it would have been helpful to rub out my pencil marking line, the upside is that it almost weathers itself. The green may be a bit dark - it’s a very old tin of Humbrol I think I’ve had for twenty-five years! Windows are not yet glued in place - this is just to see what it looks like, and I’m more than happy with this: the score lines on the bottom panel have come out OK. The yellow is actually a bright Humbrol gloss bought for a Dapol kit of Stephenson’s Rocket I made five years ago, when I was getting back into kit building with the help of my local Model Shop: The Airfix version my Dad made when I was a kid used to come in bright yellow plastic - the Dapol one comes in plain grey recycled plastic. I found the Dapol rolling stock kits to be are excellent value for money, and fun to build. Keith.

If @Lacathedrale will forgive the thread hi-jack for a moment, I would put the reversing loop along the longer wall, and the Terminus along the shorter wall to ease the S-curves. Curve the platforms of Seironim inwards (original version credit @Harlequin ) to compensate for the loss of length. Just a thought, Keith.

Most other switches seem to be available again now (albeit in limited quantities). My guess is that any #6 switches, being the ‘default item’, may get shipped to larger overseas markets (including the US) as a priority, and we’re way down the queue. Although Peco #5 switches aren’t much shorter along the straight, I’m not sure many will see them as a substitute.

Correct, but it may not have been an accident. I hadn’t thought of making a model just from leftover Home Improvement materials though.

If I’m reading the plans correctly, there is 10’2” x 9’ in the left hand end of the top-left bedroom that doesn’t block the door, and still gives some access to the wardrobe? But as you say, this is the room least likely to be available. Turning to Bedroom 3 (bottom left), it looks like the space off to the left is marked “Storage” - is that correct? A complete guess suggests it might be over a garage, but quite likely with a sloping roof down to nil headroom (ie: not a candidate for a layout)? However, if it is storage, I wonder if the doorway marked at the left of Bedroom 3 might be one that could be crossed with a lift out / lift up section, especially once you’ve properly moved in and unpacked? I think I’d bid for that.

Day 9 Step 4 (Part III) - New Windows I’m jumping about a bit, as I had an idea. The windows on the side of the Depot will be more visible than those at the rear, so I’ve tried what I hope will be a better window. Using card rather than paper, I tried a two part frame (for each window) - I marked out a full length frame first, then carefully cut a separate square piece to glue in front of it to represent the upper sash: I used paper for the thinner parts of the frame between the smaller lights, but the overall effect seems to work: I then glued the thick card inner wall behind it all - I won’t know until tomorrow how well this has stuck (as the card ‘sandwich’ between the inner and outer walls is thicker than the paper one on the rear wallow the Depot I tried first). ________________________________________ I’m not very accurate when it comes to marking out and cutting, and I’m making more mistakes than I should. I’m happy to be advised of better techniques, but there are four steps I’ve found seem to help minimise errors: 1. Mark out measurements as far either side of the piece I want to cut as possible: that way any mismatches between either side are minimised across the bit I’m actually cutting. 2. When cutting ‘outside edges’ start and end the cut beyond the piece I want. I do use a steel rule as a guide, and make several gentle cuts rather than one deep one. 3. When cutting ‘inside edges’ I try and work in from each corner: after making the four cuts shown in my diagram, I then make four more the other way (turning the card clockwise) so I am always cutting from, not into, the corners. 4. (Not on the diagram). I’ve found scissors better at cutting 1mm strips of card and paper for battens than a knife. Even using the knife carefully, there is a tendency to tear the layers of cereal packet card, which scissors avoid. I have no idea if these are recommended techniques for cutting card, but they do seem to be helping me give it a go.

Day 9 Steps 3 and 4 (Part II) - Hiding round the back Thank you for the nice comments and encouragement: hopefully I’ll live up to expectations. The next photo does look promising I think: I’ve added some thin card strip battens along the rear wall of the outside layer ready for painting. The windows and rear layers are not yet glued in place, but this mock-up looks OK to me: the paper window frames don’t look too thin, and there is some degree of texture / profile to the whole thing (the traditional problem with commercial card kits). The battens aren’t perfect, but I’ll see how they look when painted. Onwards and upwards, Keith.

Wow, the handles on the real one must have been massive when scaled up!

You could stop there and still find a prototype to back you up - reminds me of this photo I took a while back:

Thanks Kevin - good point about the card kits too, I agree 100% that the ingenuity and standard of kits today is incredible, both ready printed and downloadable.

Day 7 Step 4 (Part I) - Windows upgrade An unplanned free evening has given me some time to have a first think about the window frames I need. Santa Fe Depots often used a distinctive sash window, with an upper panel of six small lights over a larger, lower panel of nine. Window frames were white, with the surrounding woodwork in green. I found a small piece of left-over glazing sheet from a Ratio kit, and while it was bought for railway modelling, I think this can count as rubbish: If I had a budget for this project I’d be looking to buy pre-cut HO Tichy window frames, and if times were different I’d be going to a coffee-shop for some stirrers (and a Latté), but without any strips of wood lying around I’ve resorted to using paper for convenience. My first attempt involved cutting out individual small squares - total failure: Attempt 2 involved individual narrow strips of paper glued behind the card wall. It took a while to realise the absence of edge pieces was the problem - I’d painted the card wall edges white, but not given the window frames an edge. Unfortunately I’d glued the inner wall behind the windows before I realised, so I had to make new walls - second failure: Attempt 3 has been more successful - I cut a single paper template with holes for both windows that were each 1mm narrower than the holes in the card (along all edges), then placed longer strips of paper across both windows: They’re not perfect - the wider piece that is supposed to show the join between the upper and lower panels isn’t very distinctive, but as this is the rear wall of the depot I think it will pass a ‘good enough’ test at normal viewing distance. I’m sure there are better ways of doing this - with more time, skill and patience traditional matchsticks could be used, for example, but hopefully the overall effect will look OK when I’ve finished. Edit: after looking again with fresh eyes this morning, I’ve added an extra piece across the middle of the windows to simulate the separate upper and lower sash arrangement: I also checked the size of a match: it scales to around 7” square: too big for either a window frame or the battens I need to add to the walls, although I think I’ll be able to get away with using matches to support the loading dock. While I’m experimenting like this, and finding my limitations, I think it makes sense to continue assembling the rear wall of the depot first, where my mistakes will be hidden. The main thing I’ve learned so far is just how much respect is owed to the more experienced scratch builders who do such a fantastic job of inspiring us. Hats off to all, Keith.

Except I’m a bit colourblind and it looks more like green to me...

Mike, I’ve been a bit behind with reading updates on the Forum, so just learned of your misadventures - really sorry to read of what happened, hopefully the recovery process is continuing OK. All the best, Keith.

I’m fairly sure I’ve seen a recent video of a layout where there is a line of padlocks attached to the outside of the layout fascia, in line with the switches but not actually connected operationally. The operator just needs to remember to unlock / lock the padlock as part of each move - something which looked to have become a habit in the video so was no problem. I suppose you could have that as an ‘if all else fails’ back-up. Another approach could be to encase the operating mechanism for the gates in a small box of some sort, and the padlock opens the box to gain access to the gate control?