Riccarton Junction

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Yes. If you enlarge the picture on the Hattons website you can see the instructions at the back.

The only instruction is how to hang the gate. Makes no mention of the plastic.

15 minutes ago, frobisher said:

Is the back of any of these three pre-scored or just plain?

No scores, just plain on the back. I'm all for flexibility but some basic instructions in the pack would have been nice.

Bought one of these as I particularly like the gate at each end. I didn't buy it here, but for info it's one of these:

Wills Kits SS56

Problem is I'm a bit stuck as to how to make it up. The kit has three bits of plastic - all the same size. One is grey cobblestones and the other two are brown planks. The adverts for this kit never mention a need to cut plastic. It's not one of the Craftsmen kits which do need cutting - just says glue/paint required. As such how the heck do these three bits pf plastic make up the level crossing?

Anyone have or seen this kit made up?

I'm sure this is something that happens a lot. The track is where you thought you wanted it, so it's glued down and tightly fitted together. Then you realise you actually want to replace a straight with right-had point or you need to replace a bit of broken track. Problem is the pieces are snuggly locked together with no wiggle room. Therefore the question is, how the heck do you remove and replace a single piece of track without needing to pull up an entire section i.e. it's not (easily) possible to remove a piece between two other pieces without almost (or actually) breaking one of the neighbouring pieces. I'm sure there is a trick to this, but I've not worked it out yet. Pulling up entire sections seems OTT but don't see how else to do it.

Seen this used on a couple of videos. Looks to me like thin/runny (i.e. watered down) PVA. Does the product specifically badged as "Static Grass Glue" have any properties which make it something which does a particularly good job with static grass (i.e. worth buying), or is it just watery PVA?

1 minute ago, Phil Parker said:

Hair spray. Get the cheapest marked "Extra hold" or similar. It's perfect for the job. Regular BRM readers will know I use gallons of the stuff. 

Excellent. I'll see what my wife has in stock before I head over to Amazon 

Bought a can of Adhesive spray so I can add some stickiness to trees, hedges, bushes etc so that I can then sprinkle on some scatter to make them look how I want them to look. Theory is fine and results and ok, only issue is the spray shoots out in a very strong/forceful jet of glue. Ideally I'd like something which has a more gentle delivery. Is there such a product or technique? The adhesive spray idea is fine, but if there was a way to get the same result in a more controlled way I'd like to know what it is.

Think I might resort to some butchery, Was just worried that these figures are so small and delicate that a broken arm may not glue back on convincingly - but I'll give it a go. The sets also look nice, if a bit expensive - but an option nonetheless. 

So far the only figures I've bought, painted and put on my layout are a couple of sets of Dapol figures. They are nice enough, but pretty limited/fixed in what they look like. I look at pictures of other layouts and see figures opening a door, hands on hips, shaking hands, leaning against a shed etc i.e. common actions, but not something I've seen any figures doing. As such is there any way you can get figures who are poseable i.e. you can move the arms etc into a desired position? Failing that are there better sets of figures out there who cover a greater range of positions?

1 minute ago, melmerby said:

 

Both OOS

Think I might have got the last one. Presume there was only a few available. There are 2 other similar tanks for the same price which are still available:

https://railsofsheffield.com/search/bargains

This seems like a heck of a bargain i.e. half price 

https://railsofsheffield.com/products/30436/Heljan-1322-oo-gauge-gwr-1366-class-0-6-0-tank-locomotive-no-1370-in-gwr-green

13 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Also worth looking at Chadwick Model Railway.  Charlie also has a video when he ballasted.  You'll see similar techniques used.

Thanks, it's very good and makes the process sound relatively simple.

Think I might manage without the hopper, but it seemed to be fairly handy if you're doing a lot of track.

If I sprayed this onto dry (unfixed) ballast, and the ballast is then stuck on the track (not rails obviously), does it come off? I'm worried about gluing ballast down and it getting permanently attached to the track, potentially making it difficult to re-use - which is an absolute must for me.

5 minutes ago, 5050 said:

Use an old window cleaner spray bottle or similar.  Better than chucking them away.  Approx 50:50 PVA/water, few drops of IPA and/or detergent (this breaks down the surface tension of the water allowing it to spread). 

So it's primarily a 50/50 mix of water and glue with just a smidgeon of some detergent? Is washing up liquid regarded as detergent or does it need to be more heavy duty?

I enjoy watching the lad at Everard Junction working on his layout and something he uses a lot on scenery (grass etc.) and ballast is what appears to be glue dispensed through a spray bottle. I think he says it's a mix of PVA, water, something called Isopropyl Alcohol and washing-up liquid. He uses this to "bed/settle things down" i.e. applying glue/adhesion but via a very fine spray and not blobs of white PVA. This sounds like a good idea to me. Is this a fairly common approach in modelling circles? If so what is a good mix of ingredients i.e. the ratios? 

Update: Leaving it overnight made no difference. Still dead. Still a faint melted plastic smell. Not happy.

Only had my EZ Command for a couple of weeks and it was working fine. Tonight I switched it on and one of the locos reversed and fell off the track. I quickly switched the controller off to pick up the loco and when I went to switch it back on it was dead i.e. no red light coming on. I disconnected everything and now just have the controller connected to the power, but still no red light.

Worryingly there is a slight burnt plastic smell from the controller. I've taken the lid off and I can't see anything obviously fried or melted. If this thing is buggered then I will be seriously dis-chuffed as I was led to believe these controllers were bullet proof.

Any thoughts? Is there any chance it will come back to life if left overnight ☹️

Look forward to it arriving through my letterbox.

For info, I got my hands on another 8 pin chip (thought it worth doing to see if the problem was the loco or the chip). As it happens this latest chip worked a treat. To summarise, in my early DCC days I have used 3 chips:

Zimo MX638D (21 pin) - Worked perfectly

Gaugemaster DCC92 Ruby Series 2fn Small 8 Pin - Worked perfectly

Bachmann 36-566 (8 pin) - Loco raced off the track i.e. useless.

2 hours ago, cessna152towser said:

 The Heljan Park Royal Railbus SC79974 with the Kilmarnock and Dalmellington destinations was on my must have list since it was first announced, as my mother was from Kilmarnock and we often saw the real railbus while it was in service

Looking on Google, the line could easily be restored to Dalmellington. Track still in place all the way to Waterside, and only the last couple of miles down to Dalmellington is bare trackbed. Unlikely, but you never know. 

50 minutes ago, Izzy said:

As such it should be easy, should you wish, to hike off the top and tart up the interior, add driver/s, passengers etc. The wiring isn't touched doing this, it all funnels down one side.

Aye, sent off for a bag of 20 seated figures and so will keep the lid off until they arrive and fit a few in. 

Not sure if I should paint the seats. Haven't yet seen a colour image of the interior - will need to seek one out.

21 minutes ago, 'CHARD said:

And given your user name aboard the good ship RMWeb, it seems you could be a Waverley route acolyte too!

Aye, Riccarton Junction has always been a fascination of mine. A totally isolated community (down a forest track) where the only way in or out was by train (other than a hike along the track) i.e. somewhere which existed only to serve the railway, specifically the junction between the Waverly and the Borders Counties. I live about an hour north and was down at Whitrope Siddings a few weeks ago - closed, but I had a look around anyway. Modelling Riccarton would be a long term ambition. One step at a time.

...and yes, the Railbus did arrive and is now chipped and working a treat (lights are superb) - wasn't actually too hard getting the lid off. Extra special to have the Killie-Dalmellington plates which is of course where the old Park Royal used to work before ending up rusting in Strathspey.

BTW thanks @Izzyfor the tip about the 21 pin Zimo, MX638D - did the job perfectly.

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

 

Assuming the PCB is common to all the Heljan Railbuses ( I can't see any reason why not) then the yellow CH1 will be the connection.

Cheers, @Izzy That would have been my guess but didn't want to guess in case it risked frying the chip.

Removed the blanking chip and am now waiting for its 21 pin chip to arrive. In the meantime I think I may have pulled out something I shouldn't have. Can someone take a look at the attached image. Watching the above video I'm assuming that the thing circled in blue has popped out of one of the 2 empty sockets i.e. the one with the yellow circle or the one with the blue circle. Can someone advise where it should go?

Actually managed to get the body off very easily once the 4 clips were held off the chassis. A spot of gentle leverage with a small flat headed screwdriver soon prised the body loose.