Multigauge

It's difficult to tell due to the lighting and shadows, but I suppose the beauty of these kits is that if you do something you don't like you can easily print off another and start again

Going back to London yellow brick. How weathered was it say 1940/50s? Did it even look yellow then? 

The only photos I've seen so far in that era have been back and white. 

2 hours ago, ManofKent said:

Useful to know. I imagine the only real issue is more careful positioning when shunting.  I was thinking of cutting one down and disguising it as a barrow crossing - I tried a few different neodymium blutacked in place and couldn't get the level of consistency I wanted (others appear to have used them successfully). What did you use to cut the magnet down?

I can't claim ownership of the idea - it came from elsewhere on this forum. I used a cutting disc, but it is a very tough thing to cut; it did seem to snap like a tile in the end. 

I was interested in using the neo mags but had the same issues under a test bed. I appear to have misplaced them now anyway. And yes, disguising them as some other part of the infrastructure should be easyish.

Some more Wills sheets cut and fitted today. I've found some issues with one section affecting the running of the Peckett. Seems like the sheet may be a smidgen too high so I need to sand it down a tad. 

I've also noticed problems with the Peckett stalling on the frog of the second Y. Problem solving tomorrow...

Managed to cut a kadee magnet in half and it still does a good job in pulling the knuckles apart. 

On 16/05/2021 at 09:00, jonny777 said:

I like these inner city industrial rail linked layouts. They give scope for adding lots of detail which seems to be missing from many larger industrial models. 

 

I spent ages looking at photos from the railway in the region of Moorgate and Farringdon in the 1950s/60s and it is amazing the wealth of detail which may not be seen at a first glance. I know that is below street level in places and therefore has a myriad of pipework and other bits and pieces which just add to the atmosphere. 

On 16/05/2021 at 09:00, jonny777 said:

I like these inner city industrial rail linked layouts. They give scope for adding lots of detail which seems to be missing from many larger industrial models. 

 

I spent ages looking at photos from the railway in the region of Moorgate and Farringdon in the 1950s/60s and it is amazing the wealth of detail which may not be seen at a first glance. I know that is below street level in places and therefore has a myriad of pipework and other bits and pieces which just add to the atmosphere. 

Now that's an area of London that really has a fascinating - and unsung - railway history. A real tangle of lines as well as pipe work. 

It's nice to see some AC electrics and knitting on a layout. Good stuff. 

Guy, that's an idea. I have a knackered Y that I can use as a guide off the layout too. 

Great work with the uncoupling mechanism. I love the way you used easy to find bits and bobs to good effect. 

9 hours ago, ManofKent said:

Are you planning on infilling the points - I played around with an old set and couldn't find a neat solution for the blades area. I've not found photos of a great example from other modellers either using standard commercial points.

Initially I was, but the more I've looked at it the more I've thought it could end in tears and broken points. Dunno in short. 

4 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

This was a second hand layout built by one of our former members, who did it in code 100. The harbour board was a new build extension to add more interest. If we were starting it as a new layout we would have used code 75 track.

 

All the best

Ray

Thanks for the pointers Ray. 

The finish that you've got with Crystal Palace HL is marvelous. 

I'd like to try and get a similar finish, but suspect it's probably out of my league at the moment. I've started trying to fit some Wills sheets for the time being. 

21 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

I think that tarmac or concrete hard-standing would be the likely surface in front of a modern building, but in the back streets of Sarf Lundun almost anything might appear.

 

I worked with a guy that used to get his car serviced at Lucky's!

I decided to to have a bash with some Wills stone setts and have been cutting out some sections and shaping/trimming accordingly. Of course I could have made things a whole easier if I had straightened each of the sidings out, but where's the fun in that?! And besides, I didn't want straight lines...

Now I'm not sure if I'm going to cover the whole area outside the more modern warehouse with stone setts or just part of it. I'm wondering if the area immediately Infront of the building should be more like concrete hard standing

@ManofKent the picture is really helpful, thank you. I shall have a crack at repainting the arches appropriately. I wonder if I should try and strip it? It was painted so long ago I can't remember what type of paint I used!

A slow day of modelling today, but I've finished the main structure of the second warehouse; it will need detailing and weathering but it can wait for a bit. 

@phil_sutters thanks for posting the map and picture of the barge in what looks like what is now Burgess Park?

I grew up in Camberwell from the age of 5 so yes, I'm familiar with the area.

Burgess Park was a destination for me and my brother's at times. The canal had been filled in by then, but there was still a lot of evidence of the canal - I seem to remember a large footbridge straddling the park at one point heading up towards North Peckham estate. 

The inspiration to much of this idea came from some research I was doing for the proposed Bakerloo line extension and possible sites for access to tunnel sections - the main one being around New Cross Gate - during construction. 

4 hours ago, Guy Rixon said:

The view along the viaduct wall in the first photo is particularly effective. Perhaps this mini-layout would benefit from mounting at eye level? It would look bigger that way.

 

The brickwork is all a bit red for London. Some stretches of yellow brick would place it better.

 

For the setts, you can buy rollers that fits 00/H0 track and imprint a pattern into DAS or similar. Those should sort out neat setts around the curves, but they wouldn't work well through the turnouts.

 

Rather than a canal basin, how about a barge dock connected to the Thames? If I had that layout to finish, I'd put a wagon turntable at the end of the longest siding, with another line running back from the turntable along the dockside. Then I'd hang a scenic extension on the front large enough for a model of a Thames sailing-barge. 

Thanks. Some good points to raise there and very helpful tips. 

It's interesting you mention brick colour as I always remember it dark and dirty so assumed it was a red brick mixed with engineers blue.

I like the idea of a wagon turntable and it crossed my mind when I was planning it though I was thinking of having some gates leading off to another imaginary area of street running like Grove St Deptford.

I've bought some Wills sheets and will see what finish I get on the stone setts front. At the moment I'm building up the base to the top of the sleepers. 

1 hour ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Nice work! Are the warehouse buildings from Fair Price Models? 

Thanks. Yes. They have crept up a little on price incidentally, but I think they are still gvfm. 

Yes, I know what you mean. That kinda of look down from the lines above as you pass overhead.

Cheers. It's slow going at the moment after a bit of a schoolboy error on the second warehouse construction.

Most of the rails were painted last night and I hope to complete the rest tonight. 

It will need a clean and test run after...  

I also need to fit some magnets as I want to use kadees.

If it's any consolation, I was planning on doing some modeling yesterday, but I only had the energy to write about it. 

Life does get in the way a lot and add to that health, (not to mention disappearing done a Google rabbit hole about the latest interest to tickle my fancy ) it can become frustrating when you see others forging ahead. However, I do take their efforts as inspiration; and your ramblings always strike a chord close to home in an amusing way. 

A little bit more info.

The board is 81cm by 31cm at its narrow end and 41cm at its widest. 

The track is peco code 75 with electrofrog Y's. 

The point control will be wire in tube or something similar - note to self, need to get some piano wire - and it will be wired for DC. 

I want some of the track work to incorporate stone setts - most likely the area running off between the buildings and right  - but I'm in a quandary. 

What do people think of:

Wills stone setts.

Metcalffe stone setts.

Using Das clay and a home made dai/stamp.

Using a good quality filler.

I'm also not sure how easy it will be to get a good finish through the second Y. 

The brick arches form the scenic break to the fiddle yard (it's one line with room for a loco and 3 wagons at a push so calling it a yard seems a bit OTT) and I haven't quite decided the angle I want them at, but they need to be at an angle to give the effect I want.

Technic arrow, it may be a long one, but it helps to explain the thought process and deliberation. I like the congested feel that you have but I'm pleased you've removed the small office and replaced it with the lorry; it didn't look right before. 

I love the gallery view of the supporting pillars and i agree that only covering it half way looks best, otherwise a large portion of you usable track will be covered; it probably makes cleaning easier too.

You animated GIFs are brilliant by the way! 

Last year I started Badsworth Rd with my daughter and although it has been mostly finished, personal circumstances mean that further work on it is unlikely in the short to medium term and playing with it is the same.

A left over bit of MDF seemed to be calling me to do something with it, and so I've been pondering another small shunting layout. The purchase of a B4 gave me the idea of a tight radius layout with a diamond for added interest, but I couldn't make it work the way I wanted to with the space I have, so it's become more inglenook.

It's not meant to be prototypical, and rule 1 will apply, but I want it to have a mild flavour of the area around New Cross/Deptford. 

Whilst rather diddy in size, I do want it to have an ability to extend, even if it is only to have a fiddle yard. 

I've been constructing some MDF buildings from an eBay seller which I've been adorning with brick papers which will hopefully go well and I have also trialed some Scalescenes freebies that I think work, so along with a left over section of Wills brick arches I found in my bit box, I've been working on view points and angles. 

I may add a canal basin at the front - it was seeing the Scalescenes kit that started that idea - too, but I'm not sure it it may be a tad over doing it. 

I'll post some better pics soon. 

Watching with interest.

Crikey, that's gonna be interesting to watch developments. 

Are they all Scale scenes kits?