Horsehay Railway Modeller

Work continues on the layout. The main lines have been ballasted. I tried to keep it neat and carefully brushed all the excess off of the sleepers as previous layouts had been rushed. I also 3d printed a ballast spreader that came in quite useful away from the pointeork and platforms. I shall wait over the weekend for everything to fully cure before I begin weathering. I will take some overall shots at a later date but I have this from during ballasting. I have also today painted the facia black and tidied them up. You may be able to see in this photo that I have began work on a das clay retaining wall. I don't mean to be too dramatic but I want to have it finished before I reveal it as it should look much better once it's painted. Thanks, David

Afternoon all, I have been working on the tunnels and bridges, however I will save that for a later date. A major milestone was reached today, I have ballasted two sections of mainline, one before and one just after the viaduct which itself will be ballasted after it is painted. I have also gotten my 04 running properly . I disconnected the connecting rods from the fly cranks as they are known to cause jams as well as a wobble. I also fitted a super capacitor stay alive from ebay. It's only tiny however it keeps the wheels turning for six seconds off the track! What started out running like a coffee grinder now runs supper smooth and slow. I did a test lap on speed step one which took a whole 27 minutes. This gif goes some way to showing her new performance, now. I just need to fit some. Kadees. Thanks for looking, David

Hi there, I have just tackled some of these problems myself having just dcc fitted one. I found to get the centre axle in you just have to rock it from side to side as you drop it in and make sure the connecting rods are all straight. As for the rocking motion I have just this afternoon cut the pins that hold the connecting rods to the flycranks and now it is almost completely smooth. The flycranks are now stationary however you can't really see them behind the steps anyway. Hope that helps, David

A bit more progress. I have finally got the 04 dcc fitted as well as with a cab light and all of the handrails etc, however I'm yet to fit kadees. I have also painted all of the new plaster brown which helps blend it in and it is finally starting to look less like a snow scene. And finally I have glued and sanded all of the joins in the facia. I had wanted to paint it black with hobby craft poster paint however the paint seems thin and inky and soaks into the wood so I shall be buying something different. Thanks, David

Good afternoon all, As mentioned above, over the past couple of days I have been working on the bridges and the Brook. I decided to scratch build the viaduct out of foam board and brick plasticard. To begin with I have done only what is essential to get the surrounding scenery plastered. I. E. Getting the shell of the viaduct and bridge supports made and covered in brick plasticard. I began by drawing out a template for the arches of the viaduct. This was then cut out of foam board and the front and back faces of the viaduct were glued in place. I then made the arches by cutting two pieces of flexible plasticard and glueing them inside the foam formers. They were first given a quick wash of white to Fill in the mortar as this will be hard once in place. The plasticard was then trimmed and I glued brick plasticard onto the front and back Of the viaduct. Once this basic viaduct was complete I filled in the embankments with screwed up wet paper. Finally the embankments where covered in the last of my sculptamold, and then having run out of sculptamold the bed of the stream was covered in polly filler. You can see that I have also made some basic abutments for what will be a girder bridge at the rear. This is just the basic start to scenery here and more progress will follow. Thanks, David

Hi Cam, Thank you so much for your advice. I love both suggestions, I may have a look at rearranging the yard and the building, I just have to be careful with what goes where so nothing gets damaged when the layout is flipped on itself. I just need all of the track to be back in stock and I'll be able to make a start on this layout. Thanks, David

Hi all, As promised here is the new control panel For the storage yard, it's a simple 3 switches on some thin ply again marked with the hot soldering iron. I've also just finished painting most of the track on the scenic section. All except the incline and goods yard which I may paint to be slightly rusty. Having tried to airbrush the rail match sleeper grime and having many clogging issues I purchased a rattle can which arrived today. I was a little disappointed with the size however I got the bulk of the track done and it looks quite good. I had to finish of the last metre or two by hand with the smaller acrylic pot as the rattle can ran out ( I may have been a little heavy handed). When it's ballasted I hope it will all blend in I'm now working on the two bridges so I can finish sculpting the land around them and then more scenic work will start. Thanks, David

Good evening all, Well I've been home Since sunday but progress has been slow. I Initially wanted to dcc chip my 04. However during my efforts I managed to break my cheapo soldering iron whilst swapping tips. Having purchased a similar chepo replacement next day, I managed to burn out the dcc chip I was using by leaving the iron on far to hot. Luckily it was a cheap liasdcc chip from ebay as I had one spare and didn't want to buy a lenz chip, however it has still set me back a few days and as I had just bought a new soldering iron I only had spare cash for another cheap lias dcc chip from ebay. Having attempted a few other jobs and encountering more problems, such as rail match paint clogging the airbrush, I set my focus on the board for my uni layout (link below). Which have me a day away from the main layout. That brings me to today. Whilst being away from the layout for the past month or so I have been thinking about my problems with operating. The big problem was the poorly designed storage yard which required trains to be reversed into sidings and had no runaround capability. So I had decided to rectify this. Initially I was going to buy some extra points and turn my existing sidings into runnarounds, however with pecos stock issues and being strapped for cash I decided to go for a rearrangement of my current track which would cost nothing and have no waiting time. Here is what I started with. I Initially removed all of the track that I thaught needed moving or that I would no Longer need. And then set about installing the points I. Their new locations. To get enough length in my siding for my 6 coach rake (plus loco) I had to install a point under the embankment. To do this I dremeld out a flap. Having cut a slot in the embankment I tried to get a right hand point to fit on the curve however the radius either side of the point was a little tight and caused the track to kink. To get the sweeping curve on the scenic section I had originally put in a quite a tight curve under the embankment, probably a set track third radius or so . To get the new point to fit I relaxed this curve a little which ended up creating a nice 's' bend off scene to get the tracks to realign. After almost a full day's work this is the finished result. Overall I much prefer the flow and hope I will make more use of the off scene tracks now I don't have to reverse trains in, as well as not having to walk around the back of the layout to reach the panel. I will do a quick post tomorrow morning on the new control panel. Thanks, David

Well that's it, the boards have been assembled for the first time. First I set about installing the allingment dowels. After carefully measuring, clamping, and drilling both boards together, I swore alot and made a second attempt. The first allingment was out because I couldn't quite fit the drill between the rungs in the board, among other issues. The second time around I used a very short drill bit for the pilot hole so I could fit the drill inbetween the rungs and ensure it was square, then seperated the boards and drilled the ends. I then installed the three clasps as shown in my original plans (one hidden under the front and two on the back). The hidden latch required a notch with the circular saw and a chisel. The back scenes were then screwed and glued before the rear two clasps were added. This is the result. The join in the centre isn't perfect but by the time I've added cork it will be fine. Next I need to work on getting it to fit together as a box, as well as adding a hinged flap behind the hidden sidings to allow access. ( you can see the cutout ready for it) Thanks, David

Well the second board is now Gluing up, I may even get onto joining them together this evening. I've added the cutout for the canal/dock

I'm back home now and work has begun on the baseboards. I cut all of the various components out of 9mm ply. Before making the corner braces out of 18mm ply screwed and glued into square timbers. After sanding all of the wood and drilling 25mm holes In the centre braces to allow for wiring I screwed and glued the first board together It's now sat with weight on so the glue can set over night, you can see the components for board 2 in front.

Hi there Thanks for the track idea but I'm pretty set in my current plan. I'm just waiting for peco to be back in stock. All of my CAD is done in Fusion 360 by auto desk. I have a free license through uni however I am entirely self taught so although they look pretty I'm sure none of my drawings are up to spec. Thanks, David

Hi all, The first cuts have been made! I won't be back home at my parents house until next week. However I made a socially distanced visit today to accept delivery of plywood for this layout. I didn't have time to cut all of the framework as I ended up working on the main layout, however I cut the sheet into 3 sections measured from my cutting list. This allowed me to lay them flat on the (sealed) workshop floor with gas canisters on top to hopefully take out the warp before work starts next week. Whilst home I also opened up my parcels, Including an order from station Road baseboards with alignment dowels and latches etc. And the first electronics order from cpc. Another delivery I opened was this lovely 04 from a popular auction site that will suit both layouts well. It's an older Bachmann model and I will be posting on my progress dcc fitting the split chassis, fitting kadees and weathering. Thanks, David.

3/3 Another reason for this afternoons visit was to open the parcels that have stacked up, mostly odd bits for the portable layout. But also including this lovely 04 from Ebay. I've read a few articles on dcc fitting split chassis 04s and have baught some bits which should arrive when I get home. I will use her as a goods / shunting loco on both this layout and my portable shunting layout. Well that's all for no. Felt good to get some actual work done on the layout and I'll be back in full swing when I get home next week. Thanks, David

2/3 I'm very happy with the facia so far, at the moment it is just screwed to the frame work, however when I move back home next week I will begin gluing the edges as well as filling and sanding before painting black. As you may see, whilst I was cutting wood etc. My girlfreind helped paint the sculptamold brown, creating a good base to start scenery on in the coming weeks. Here is an overall fisheye shot of today's work.

1/3 Hi all, As stated above I'm not moving back home until next week, however I made a social distanced visit today to wait for a plywood delivery for my little layout as well as to get some work done that I've been planning in my head for however long. The main job was to cut the hardboard facia that I had started last time I was home. I cut a 4' x8' sheet into 1ft strips with the circular saw, the end result varies from a full one foot down to as little as about 6 inches following the contours of the landscape. I tried a few methods of cutting along the contour lines. As I haven't yet got around to purchasing a jig saw I ended up using some strong scissors which worked quite well. Having already mounted control panels and such I ended up cutting carefully measured slots and drilling holes over the dcc throttle sockets, they ended out quite well aligned in the end. ...

I may well have a look about at some Point, thank you.

Sorry for the lack of posts here. I have been side tracked with other projects, as well as planning a portable layout. (link below). I have also been staying with the girlfreinds family for the past month, don't worry we waited until the law allowed covid free people to move into new households. But as the rules are relaxing again and we're all still symptom free I will be moving back into my parents house the second weekend of July and will get straight back to the main layout. I had been a little de motivated for the main layout recently, hence all of the planning work on the small layout thread. However having watched an hour long scenery video from one of our American cousins and then reading through several threads on here I have plenty of ideas to crack on with scenery when I get back. Until then we have been going on plenty of walks in the local area and much to my other half's delight... I have been dragging her towards interesting bits of railway. Here are a few shots. The Albert Edward Bridge over the river severn on the line just after Coalbrookdale Station. (taken with my trusty drone) And The new track bed (old track removed) and temporary end of the line at Horsehay steam trust. Probably some more prototype photos to follow for the next fortnight until I'm back into the garage and modelling. Thanks, David

Hi there, I have just seen this thread and read from start to finish. Absolutely beautiful modelling. I hope I can achieve similar (but smaller) effects in 4mm. I look forward to future development. David

Its fine! I happened to miss out on halls by ending up at a different uni than I expected but I am more than happy with my uni house, certainly after hearing many stories from friends in halls. Thus far I have not had the chance, however I am sure I'll be able to sneak some of the hobby into my course at some point. I may even be able to make use of some of the workshops, I think a freind mentioned being able to use the laser cutter provided own materials are supplied.

Hi there, Thank you so much for your interest. I have just finished my first year of an engineering degree, going onto my second in October. I was in a shared house first year and am lucky enough to be staying there again next year, I have a nice landlady and get on well with my housemates so there should be no dramas. I even have a small garden so I can set it up in the sun outside for photographs I shall have a look at that link Thanks, David

Hi there, Ive had a play with this idea. ive put some of the available warehosue backscene stickers as a place holder for the design to show where some low/ flat releif warehosues could go and then a single road. Ive aded the parapit wall at the back, perhaps i can play with tree tops or telagraph poles making it appear as though the line goes under the road and comes out behind it. In other news the full size track plans have arrived ( i had them laser printed a3 as i only have an a4 inkjet printer), as well as a load of bits and bobs from station road baseboards ready for when the ply arrives sometime in july.

More progress has been made drawing up the 'main' buildings and seing what fits. Im still not sure what to put above the fiddle yard. either warehouses or the backs of some terraced houses , what do you guys think? whatever goes there will be removable so the boards can be stacked on eachother. one big change is the addition of a canal at the front left of the layout as it helps give a reason for the yard being crammed in this space. I have also added a fence seperating off the mainline from the private yard, this will be on top of a small grass bank or mound between the tracks. The main buildings i have added are: A lean to shed / warehouse up against the retaining wall. A smaller building by the canal , which i imagine to be alot bigger off the front of the layout. a large walled in factory, again that should extend off the front of the layout. An engine shed This is the 'lean to' i have added. my current intention is for this to be a goods shed, however if i come to dislike the engine shed at the other end of the layout this may end up an engine shed This is the smaller warehouse end by the canal. I am very happy with this design, obviosly doors and windows will be added on the real thing. It came about by seeing what building fits neatly under the station stairs and road bridge wheen the boards are flipped. I am not sure what industry it could represent . Any ideas? Finally this is the large factory at the other end of the layout. It has a loading platform and a walled off yard , possibly for some sort of hut or small building. This will be one of the taller buildings and therefore the top half will be removable for when the boards are stacked. any industry suggestions welcome. i am quite happy with the building i have added, having them on the edge of the layout allows me to suggest the rest of the much larger warehouses and the rest of the canal are just off scene. The only building i am not too sure on is the free standing engine shed. The more i think about it the more i think that the lean to shed might be more suitible to lock up any valuable goods over night as well as keep the private loco inside. if i keep the shed it will definately need removing to stack the boards aswell. perhaps id be better off with a basic siding or maybe a small crane and possibly some small storage sheds. The final empty space is the gap in the runnaround. I was thinking of a collection of small buildings. such as toilets and mess facilities, or maybe a grounded van or two? Thanks, David

Ive made some progress drawing up the retaining wall and a vague platform. I think the station will be modelled as more run-down than the yard and will only be a small halt. what sort of building would be on the platform, i think a full station building / ticket office might look overbeaaring, perhaps a small hut or shelter? The mainline will be br western region. Im now carefully planning building placements so they dont interfere when the layout is flipped. I will probably have to remove anything on top of the retained area but that shouldnt be too much hastle.

Well... Baseboard materials purchased, 2 week wait for delivery! Looks like I have plenty of time to draw up plans for buildings etc.