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Captain Kernow

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Blog Entries posted by Captain Kernow

  1. Captain Kernow
    Martin & Michelle McDermott (Mr & Mrs Pugsley) came for a visit yesterday, and whilst the ladies were keenly plotting some new cake recipes for the Taunton Members Day, Martin & I slipped into the next room and had a bit of a play around on Callow Lane. I'd earlier put all the buildings and other structures up on the layout; here are a few photos I took afterwards. In deference to Martin's preference for diesels, I kept the kettles in their boxes
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  2. Captain Kernow
    A couple of weeks ago - or thereabouts - I noticed on the Ultrascale website, that they were developing a drop-in conversion wheelset for the Hornby Sentinel, in both P4 and EM. One of the features of both P4 and EM sets was the fact that narrower than normal/scale wheel treads had been used, which enabled the drop-in sets to be used without having to remove the outside frames and create more space.
     
    For some reason, I read into their wording that these wheelsets might be available already, so I e-mailed David Rogers, asking to have a couple of sets reserved for me and Re6/6, in P4.
     
    Mr Rogers e-mailed back almost immediately, asking if I'd be interested in trialling a set of P4 wheels. I, of course, replied immediately myself, saying 'yes!'
     
    The P4 wheels arrived the following day by first class post!
     
    Well, the whole job took about 20 minutes, if that. It was ridiculously straightforward... just remove the brake rigging (carefully, with a pair of tweezers), and then unscrew the three screws that hold the chassis baseplate in situ (these are crosshead types, of course, but a conventional screwdriver worked best, as they were very tightly screwed in).
     
    Then remove the Hornby OO wheels, tweak the pick-ups out to the P4 spacing and place the new wheels in place. Replace the baseplate and test run.
     
    I found it ran well enough like that, but stalled occasionally. I was considering adding a bit more weight, but then decided to give the chassis a bit of running in, particularly to bed the pick-ups in against the backs of the new P4 flanges. This was done by hard-wiring the power to the pick ups and running the loco upside down for 30 mins or so in each direction.
     
    The photos then show the results, with the loco posing on Callow Lane. Once the pick-ups had been 'bedded in', the loco ran better, and I don't think I've been able to get it to stall since. The narrower-than-scale wheel treads certainly haven't been a problem. The loco is a lovely, smooth and slow runner on Callow Lane, and hasn't derailed anywhere. I'm really, really pleased with it.
     
    When e-mailed my report and some photos back to Ultrascale, I asked what I owed for the wheelsets, but David Rogers most kindly said that there was nothing to pay, as a 'thank you' for my help. Apparently the EM ones also tested out fine, so a pre-manufacturered number of sets were advertised in both P4 and EM, and apparently they have all sold out already...
     
    The new wheel sets in situ:

     

     
    The pick-ups being 'bedded in' with the loco under power, upside down:

     
    The loco posing with a Bachmann GWR shunters truck, (which I'd also just converted using Exactoscale spoked wagon wheels and a lump of lead):

     

     

     

     

     

  3. Captain Kernow
    I put 'Engine Wood' up for testing this morning (it is normally packed away at home), to ensure that all was well for a forthcoming session. The testing regime normally consists of running a loco up and down all roads, in all configurations, ensuring that the signals work etc.

     
    This time, apart from my usual pannier test loco, I deployed 82044 on the layout for the first time. This loco, which is a combination of Bachmann body and modified Comet chassis, featured in some of my earlier blogs a couple of years ago or so, but apart from running it up and down on my test track, it had never been run on either of my OO layouts.
     
    Fortunately, it seems to have acquitted itself OK today, and thus earns itself a place in the roster...
     
    82044 arriving with a train from Bristol TM to Templecombe:

     
    Waiting for the road:

     

     
    Pannier and local NCB loco stabled in the yard:

     

     
    82044 gets the road and re-starts the train:

     
    About to pass over the footpath crossing to the west of the station:

     
    Passing over the river bridge:

     
    View over the hedgerow:

     

  4. Captain Kernow
    One of my little 'conceits' with Callow Lane, in terms of it's putative location, is that the link to the old Coalpit Heath area collieries was re-orientated to run directly into Callow Lane, enabling a colliery tripper to run. The Coalpit Heath pits were all closed by shortly after the second world war, but in my world, one of them - Frog Lane Colliery - was modernised after new deposits of good coal were found. The NCB is now in charge, of course, and their locos are authorised to run onto BR metals as far as Callow Lane, in order to bring loaded coal wagons out of the colliery and to collect empties. Typically, a BR loco and brake van would be diagrammed to wait at Callow Lane for the colliery trip to arrive, and to then work the wagons forward to Westerleigh Yard and beyond...
     
    Here we see a view circa 1960, with 8701 and brake van sitting in the old platform, whilst RSH 'Thunderbolt' from Frog Lane arrives with some 16 tonners:

     

     

     

     

     
    We now fast-forward to circa 1970, and we see the same workings taking place, only now we have D7042 waiting for the colliery tripper, with the colliery's new Sentinel arriving with the wagons:

     

     

     

     
    And now, in a bizarre twist of fate, we see the same scene, in the unlikely event that Sentinel locos have taken over the world...

     

     

     
    I would point out that neither Sentinel is yet converted to P4, alas, and the red one isn't even mine, it was the result of a successful 'proxy shopping' trip on behalf of Re6/6!
  5. Captain Kernow
    In the previous blog entry, I described the construction of a card 'very low relief' factory fascia, to go immediately in front of the backscene. There were a number of unresolved issues with this, not least the fact that the 'northlight' appearance end-on to the viewer, somehow didn't satisfy, as it would only really be convincing if viewed directly 'head on' from 90 degrees.
     
    There was also the question of how to merge the road ('Callow Lane') into the backscene, once it had crossed the private siding into the chocolate factory, that runs behind the row of four cottages.
     
    Following various discussions with friends, I have now modified the factory structure, and constructed some additional 'very low relief backscene components' to complete the scene.
     
    To begin with, I replaced the 'northlight' ends with a similation of a simple, sloping roof on the computer, using 'Paint' (just about as advanced as I can get in that regard!). This was what it would look like:

     
    I decided that changing the 'northlights' was a good move, but somehow the length of the factory unit dominated the scene, and there was still the issue of how to merge the lane into the backscene. In the end, I concocted another 'Paint' simulation, showing a set of factory gates immediately across the private siding. I also shortened the factory unit by one 'window bay' length, which I felt gave a more interesting visual appearance:

     
    Having now finished the alterations to the main factory structure, and built the new factory gates and some lengths of brick wall (again using Scalescenes brick paper for the walls), I had a play around with the positioning of the left-hand rear factory building (the one that is behind the end of the row of cottages as you view the scene in these photos), to see whether it looked better closer to the gates or a bit further away. I've now boiled this down to three options...!
     
    Option 'A'
     

     

     

     
    Option 'B'
     

     

     
     
    Option 'C'
     

     

     

     
     
    Some more general views of this part of the layout (not all the final structures are in place in these photos):

     

     

     
    The plasticard structure in this view is part of a disused platform, where only the rear wall remains, the visible section will be filled in with scenery and general overgrowth, where the old platform has been gradually dug away over the years, leaving little left:

     
    This looks like one of the scratchbuilt nickel silver buffer stops you could buy, ready assembled, from Puffers in Kenton years ago. I bought the last three remaining ones he had in OO at the time, and used them on 'Engine Wood' and 'Bleakhouse Road'. This P4 one came to me courtesy of that fine fellow, Re6/6. I've now soldered it to some copper clad sleepers, which have been 'distressed' and cosmetic chairs added:

     
    This is a Lanarkshire Models Midland Railway buffer stop kit from Dave Franks, and very nice it is too. I've cut some thin copper clad sleepers from some 0.6mm sheet (the end of this siding is laid using C&L flexitrack, which has thinner sleepers than the P4 Track Co stuff in the other view), and soldered the assembled buffer stop to them. Cosmetic chairs have still to be added. Assembly was pretty straightforward using low-melt solder from Carrs. I don't now have a dedicated low-temperature iron, but use a mains variable temperature Antex one. Even at the lowest setting, I still didn't trust the whitemetal not to simply melt when the iron touched the castings (they are essentially cast sections of Code 75 rail!), so I brought the iron up to temperature (lowest setting), turned it off again, and then used it to solder the pieces together. I'd personally recommend soldering these buffer stops, but you can use glue:

  6. Captain Kernow
    In the previous blog entry, I mentioned that the next job on 'Callow Lane' would be the production of a low-relief factory, based on the new Scalescenes 'northlight' engine shed kit and this has now been completed.
     
    I have previously described the construction of the Taffson Evans lineside factory, which is built in part-relief, and is partly about providing a bit of background detail in lieu of a flat backscene. This was also based on a free Scalescenes warehouse kit, albeit fairly heavily modified and with new scratchbuilt corrugated extensions.
     
    I always planned to add something else to the left of it (as you view the layout), between the factory and the road level crossing near the cottages (the photos will make this clearer), but I wasn't sure what that might be.
     
    In the end, I discovered the recent release by Scalescenes of their new engine shed kits and bought both the 'northlight' and gable-ended roof kits, as I thought they would also have potential in terms of industrial buildings. In the end, the initial part of the factory was really rather small for a premises that is purported to have once manufactured narrow gauge locos and other 'heavy engineering' products, so the extension using the engine shed prints has really increased its size to something a bit more credible, even if the new sections dominate the older bit slightly...
     
    The extension proved to be so 'low relief' as to be almost flat, although it is not quite as bad as simply pasting a photograph onto the backscene, but there really wasn't much space, as the photos will show!
     
    This is the Taffson Evans factory before work on the backscene factory extension began:

     

     
    Here is a typical page from the Scalescenes kit, printed out:

     
    I had sufficient room to incorporate five 'bays' of the northlight structure. The main elevation would use Dalerboard mounting card, but first I cut two and a half of the Scalescenes printed templates out and taped them together, to form a 'five bay' structure:

     
    The paper template was then lightly taped over the Dalerboard and the main shape cut out in card, including the windows. Two and a half brick paper prints were then cut out and each glued in turn to the Dalerboard. I use 'Pritt' type glue sticks for this (I read somewhere recently that the glue doesn't cause the paper to go damp). Each component, once glued, is then weighted down with heavy books and whatever other weighty stuff I can find, and left to go off overnight.
     
    Once the base layer of brick paper was glued to the Dalerboard, I needed to start matching the new structure up to the existing factory building:

     

     
    From the back, it all looks a bit 'Heath Robinson' (although this will eventually be permanently attached to the backscene proper):

     
    Here is the basic shell, with the base layer of brick paper attached, plus the vertical buttresses:

     
    The plinths were cut out and their respective brick paper coverings glued on. I had to make some plinth sections deeper, because the ground falls away slightly on the layout. These have only just been glued:

     
    And this was immediately followed by ensuring that they were lying flat, and then covering them with more heavy books and something else with a bit of weight in it, and leaving the lot overnight:

     
    Work continued, with the plinths and drain pipes being added, plus the window sills and a representation (in Evergreen plastic strip) of the edge of the roof. For the glazing, I used some pre-printed factory type glazing sheets produced by Freestone Model Accessories, suitably weathered with a dilute dirty enamel mix and wiped off almost immediately, Black paper was attached in behind each window. A little weathering followed, and the completed extension was again matched up to the original factory structure on the layout. Please excuse the awful green poster paint on the area in front of the factory, but I thought it would look slightly better than the bare newspaper & PVA landscape, prior to the application of some proper scenery...

     
    I have temporarily fixed a large sheet of light blue/grey Dalerboard behind the layout at this point - this is not what the final backscene will look like, nor will it be as high as this Dalerboard has been fixed, either!

     

     
    Some kind of water colour or toned-down photographic representation of the lane receding into the distance, flanked on both sides by industrial buildings, will need to be provided immediately behind the level crossing:

     
    The corrugated extension to the original factory has now become a small 'lean to' workshop extension:

     
    More general views:

     

     

     
    When it comes to sorting out the backscene proper, I think I will add some hint or representation of further factory structures behind and slightly higher than the 'northlight' structure, to give the whole scene a bit more depth:

     

  7. Captain Kernow
    I've not had a lot of time for much modelling since late summer, but have finally got round to doing a few conversions etc. to P4. I've also built a couple of Ratio clay opens (non-hood fitted), as a kind of experiment to look at what kind of standards we want for the new DRAG layout project, although these will certainly see use on 'Callow Lane'.
     
    Here are a few photos.
     
    First up is D7042, which I bought second-hand a few years ago, and finally got round to converting a couple of weeks ago. It's had screw couplings and pipework fitted, plus the main front handrails at either end have had the two missing inner stanchions added. Weathering will follow at some stage...

     
    This Hymek is one of the 'BR blue' era locos, the layout will mainly operate in early 1960s mode, so here is D7042 with an unlikely bedfellow:

     
    Last night, I finally tested some newly-converted wagons on the layout, plus the two china clay wagons (although the two Presflos have appeared on my blog before). Apart from the two clay wagons, none of the other wagons have any compensation or springing at all... I find that provided the wagon concerned has a nice, square chassis and sufficient weight (the three opens all weigh 42g), then that is sufficient to avoid any derailments. One clay wagon is sprung, with Bill Bedford 'W' irons but solid (Lanarkshire) buffers, the other has internal rocker compensation, and sprung (Lanarkshire) buffers.
     
    The Class 20 (another one in the weathering queue) was used to haul and propel this rake at pretty high scale speeds through all the pointwork and curves. Fortunately this was accomplished without any derailments or other 'operating incidents'...

     

     
    These two Bachmann ex-LNER 'high bars' will acquire some of Dave Franks' buffers in due course:

     

     
    The buffer shanks on the china clay wagons scale down to 3mm, and with the overall buffer diameter not much more than that, the ever-helpful Mr Franks was not able to drill them out to that diameter. However, he did kindly suggest drilling them out for 2.5mm, which he duly did, and I think that the result, when fitted with sprung heads, isn't too bad:

     
    Next up for 'Callow Lane' is to produce a part-relief/part-'backscene' factory building, using the new Scalescenes 'northlight' loco shed kit as a basis...
  8. Captain Kernow
    When I saw someone else bring their model of the Heljan Class 128 into DRAG one evening (still in OO), knew that I was going to have to concoct a plausible excuse to run one in the Bristol area, so that 'Callow Lane' might see one of these beauties in due course.
     
    I did manage to pull together some reasonably convincing lies historical accounts as to why one might have been running to and through Callow Lane, but I'm blowed if I can remember what they are at the moment....
     
    Anyway, I duly obtained one of these beasties (which weigh in at a cool 634 grams!), got it home, took it out of the box and admired it. I even posed it on Callow Lane in OO mode and took a couple of snaps. I then put it away and got busy with other stuff, mostly work and the planning for the Scalefour Society AGM at Holcombe on 22nd June last.
     
    Anyway, back to the plot... I managed to get some time this weekend to have a look at the prospects for conversion.
     
    I had already established that I had four axles of Branchlines 'Black Beetle' 12mm turned nickel silver wheels, which would fit the Class 128. One question was whether there would be sufficient room between the bogie frames for P4 wheel sets...

     
    As it turned out, there wasn't quite enough room for P4 wheels to rotate freely. This being Heljan, the bogie side frames do come off fairly easily, and bearing this in mind, the solution (with hindsight), would have been to simply washer out the frames by no more than 0.5mm each side, possibly even less. Of course, I adopted a more Heath Robinson-ish and time-consuming solution, because I only thought about the washering idea after I had finished the conversion...
     
    Taking each bogie in turn, the keeper plate comes off fairly easily by prising at least 3 or the 4 retaining clips (there are two on each side of each bogie):

     
    So, this is what it looks like without the keeper plate in place (warning - lots of lubricating grease!!):

     
    All axles are driven, in common with other Heljan locos. Each axle comes out easily. Due to the fact that no one has yet (to my knowledge) produced 'drop-in' conversion packs for this unit, the Heljan drive worms would need to be recovered from the OO axles and re-used with the Branchlines wheels.
     
    First of all, the wheels are removed from the OO axles (I used my NorthWest Short Lines wheel press) - a wheel press/puller of some kind will make this job easier.

     
    The drive worm is then removed from the OO axle, also with the wheel press (they are a very tight fit, as you would expect):

     
    Next , get the Branchlines 12mm P4 wheels ready:

     
    I do have some stub axles in P4 (Ultrascale ones ) somewhere, but I just couldn't find them. Clearly the pin-points would have to be removed if using these axles, which was just as well, given the treatment that was meted out on them by the wheel puller...

     
    Once the remains of the pin point axles had been cut off in a vice and the ends cleaned up and slightly chamfered, you are left with this:

     
    The short section of brass tube in the above photo (it is 8.25mm in length) is to help fit the Heljan final drive worm onto the replacement Branchlines axle, more of that anon.
     
    First of all the final drive worm is introduced to the Branchlines P4 axle (the photo shows a GW Models wheel press being used):

     
    Using the hardened steel plate from the NorthWest Short Lines press, the purpose of the brass tube now becomes clear, as it acts as a jig to ensure that the tightly-fitting nylon Heljan worm goes exactly in the middle of the P4 axle:

     
    Completed P4 wheel set, ready to be fitted back onto the bogie:

     
    However, before you can put the P4 wheels back in, there is the matter of the inner faces of the bogie side-frames to consider. The Heljan brake blocks also need to have some plastic taken off the inner rear faces, to avoid a potential contact with the P4 flanges. Given that the additional clearance needed is certainly no more than 0.75mm to 1.0mm, the easiest solution would be to washer-out the side frames, and thus provide the additional clearance. Of course, I didn't think of that at the time, so I filed lots of plastic off the inner bogie side frames...

     
    Eventually, you get a more or less completed P4 bogie:

     
    The completed conversion poses on Callow Lane, where I'm happy to say that it runs (in P4 mode) as smoothly as it did in OO mode...

     
    My main concern with this unit was whether it would fit in the tight confines of the goods shed, bearing in mind that the rail doorways are rather narrow. Well, the Class 128 does fit (both ways round tested!), but it is very, very tight...!

     

     
    After that, having established that it ran OK on all parts of the layout, I took a few more photos:

     

     

     
    So, this isn't a fancy, sprung or compensated solution, but the sheer weight of these models will ensure that this keeps on the track, hopefully all of the time!
     
    I've yet to weather it, of course, and the next job is to fit screw couplings and make a bespoke box for it, but I'm happy with the outcome. It is so heavy that it makes a satisfying noise as it runs over the rail joints!
  9. Captain Kernow
    I've not had a lot of time for modelling over the last few weeks, for one reason or another, but I've been doing a bit on 82044 here and there, and having got the running sorted out, I finally got the airbrush out last weekend to weather it.
     
    To recap on the story of this loco, a couple of years ago I thought to detail, re-number and weather a Bachmann R-T-R 82XXX in time for Railex at Aylesbury in May 2011, when I took 'Engine Wood' to the show. Problems with a poor-running Bachmann chassis led to it getting dismantled and a replacement chassis started. This took the form of a Comet 76XXX 2-6-0 chassis kit, which was modified to form one for an 82XXX.
     
    Once it became clear, however, that the new chassis wouldn't be ready in time for the show, I stopped work on it and put it all away until earlier this year. Back in 2011, I had thought that I'd got the new chassis running smoothly before being put away, but a change of motor and gearbox, plus my overlooking of some basic chassis construction principles, led to a period of frustration, due to it not running smoothly any longer.
     
    After a lot of tinkering, tea and bad language, I managed to get the loco running satisfactorily, and then completed the detailing and weathering of it.
     
    I had already re-numbered it to 82044 back in 2011, together with the unusual (for an 82XXX) livery scheme, whereby the bunker sides are not lined and the number is carried on the cab side (82044 was the only one thus treated, and - by the early 1960s - one of the few 82XXXs still running in BR mixed traffic black livery).
     
    One of the final tasks remaining is to fit a speedo.
     
    She will then get boxed up and put on the operational roster for 'Engine Wood' and 'Bleakhouse Road'.
     

     

     

  10. Captain Kernow
    I'm having one of my 'OO interludes', so work on the layout is temporarily on hold. The main job at the moment is to get the new chassis for 82044 (in OO) finished. I started this a couple of years ago, and have modified a Comet 76XXX chassis kit to fit the 2-6-2 tank. The reason for this is due to the original Bachmann chassis refusing all attempts to get it to run smoothly.
     
    The process of building the new chassis has not been without it's frustrations, requiring a complete strip down once I'd got the valve gear 60% complete, in order to establish the precise cause of hesitant running (that hadn't been there earlier when building the valve gear).
     
    Anyway, here is the chassis having a good few hours running in on the circle of Lima set-track:

     
     
    In the meantime, a new heavy freight tank loco has also arrived...
     
    7229 of Ebbw Jct shed arrives at Callow Lane with a heavy mineral train, bound for the marshalling yard at Westerleigh and onward transit:

     

     

     
    This one seems to be quite intact when removed from the box, although one of the tension lock couplings was loose, not something I'm worried about. It runs nice and smoothly straight out of the box as well.
  11. Captain Kernow
    In my increasingly desperate attempts to find excuses not to get the DAS clay out and get on with the scenery 'proper' on Callow Lane, I've been working on the Hornby Skaledale water tower, which has appeared in one or two photos in a previous blog entry.
     
    The model appears to be a pretty decent representation of the actual structure that still stands at Ashchurch, Glos. The prototype was built in yellow brick, but this would not suit Callow Lane, where a red brick predominates. Even so, I think that it's very nice as it comes.
     
    This is how the model comes straight out of the box:

     

     

     
    In this photo, Tim Venton felt that the height of the water tank was a little low. The photo was a bit misleading, in that a section of cork underlay was removed to accommodate the building, so it's foundations were sitting below track level. This has now been rectified, as will be seen in a subsequent photo.

     
    The next thing was to remove the over-scale handrails and ladder leading up to the water tank. I thought these were also cast resin, so I got my Xuron cutters out, only to find that they were made from soft steel wire. Fortunately it was soft enough not to damage the cutters...
     
    The windows were then masked off and the whole thing given a coating of red oxide primer:

     

     
    The brick areas were then painted with an orangey-red colour (my preference is to use Precision BR Early Freight Stock Bauxite). When this had dried thoroughly, mortar was added with water colours:

     
    The next tasks were to paint the concrete/cement areas with grey colours and the rest of the building. Given that Callow Lane would have been taken over by the Western Region some years previously, I decided to give the building a 'brown and cream' colour scheme, including the water tank.
     
    Finally, a MSE signal ladder was cut to shape and replacement hand rails added from 0.4mm brass wire.

     

     

     

     

     
    I would stress that it's not quite finished. I need to paint the lintels a 'stone' colour and then tone the overall colours down a bit. The structure will then be weathered and rust patches added etc.
  12. Captain Kernow
    Whilst waiting to pluck up courage to go out to the shed and turn the hot air heater on - in order to spray the new Skaledale water tower red oxide - I've built one of the last remaining structures needed for the layout, a part-relief corner of a factory, to go up against the backscene. The location of this structure is shown on the layout plan below:

     
    The factory is meant to go right alongside the line from the chocolate factory, which in turn is hemmed in by the end of the row of cottages. I wanted to be able to have short trains, hauled by an industrial loco, 'peeping out' from between buildings that are taller than the train...
     
    The structure is very basic, and made from Dalerboard, covered with Scalescenes brick paper. I had one spare etched window left over from the Townstreet goods shed, so this has been incorporated in the building.

     
    The first version of it was put in place on the layout, to see what it looked like, but after thinking about it for a while, I felt that it rather over-dominated the scene, as it was just a little too tall, compared with what I originally wanted:

     

     

     
    So, I knocked up a quick mock-up of a slightly shorter structure from some scrap card, and put it in place for comparative purposes:

     
    I was happier with it being this height, so I took a sharp scalpel blade to the original:

     
    And put this back on the layout:

     
    Then I got a small industrial loco out and gave it the chance to peep out between the buildings

     

     

     
    I now need to give the building a bit of weathering, using powders, and then it's back to the water tower...
  13. Captain Kernow
    I've returned to the cobbles for the last couple of weeks and tonight, I finally finished the last section of the planned cobbled area. Here are a few photos taken this evening, most (but not all), to show the cobbling (or granite setts).
     
    The effect I'm aiming for is that the larger vehicle turning/parking area will have been tarmacked sometime after the war, but done 'on the cheap', and is now beginning to wear off, so the edge where the cobbles meet the tarmac is not regular and even, as some sections have broken or worn away, where vehicles have been moving, and there are also a couple of patches in the tarmac area itself, where the thin tarmac layer has worn away, revealing the cobbles beneath.
     
    The overall area that is now cobbled.

     

     

     

     

     
    This was the final end to be completed, the cobbled area to the right of the siding:

     

     

     
    The second area where the tarmac has worn or broken away, revealing the old cobbles beneath:

     

     

     

     

     
    The Ruston from the chocolate factory has ventured some way from the factory gates to pose here:

     

     
    The next part of the project will probably be to do a bit of work on this rather super new Skaledale Midland Railway water tower:

     

     

  14. Captain Kernow
    Hmm, the other night I was wondering what to do next on Callow Lane...
     
     
    More of this, perhaps? It needs doing, but I could do with a bit of a rest from it, to be honest...

     
     
    Then again, there's this that I've been thinking about recently:

     
     
    So, what's it to be?
     
     
     
     
     
    No contest!!

     

     

     
    Very basic conversions to P4 of the Bachmann Presflo. The wheels (a mixture of Maygib and Exactoscale) just slip right in. A bit of extra weight under the axles (roof lead), plus scale couplings. I might fit some sprung buffers later, but the three wagons have no suspension or compensation. High speed hauling and propelling tests of this rake, plus other wagons were carried out on Callow Lane the other night, with satisfactory results (no derailments or other problems).
     
    I'm going to accept that the brake shoes aren't quite in line with the wheel treads on these, but at least with the P4 wheelsets they are admittedly a bit closer than in OO... They are simply 'layout wagons' to pass through and get stabled for a while in a siding, prior to moving on (there is no cement terminal on Callow Lane!).
  15. Captain Kernow
    OK, so it's back to the cobble scribing, and now I have to scribe the area on the opposite side of the siding. This is the main area where road vehicles arrive, having come down the approach road to the goods yard, and is a pretty large space, if considered purely in cobble-scribing terms...
     
    So, I was always going to depict the majority of the area has having been (rather crudely) tarmacked over, with just a small(ish) are of cobbles remaining immediately next to the track (the reasoning being that they would have wanted to keep cobbles around the track area itself, in case of needing to change a few sleepers or other PW maintenance).
     
    In some areas, the tarmac will have come adrift, and the original cobbles left showing below. This is the progress so far:
     

     

     

     
    Edit - a couple of additional views that I forgot to upload...
     
    This shows the 'edge' of the tarmac, scribed on with a curved scalpel blade (No.15), prior to the actual cobbles being scribed:

     
    This shows the overall plan. The area inside the blue line, between that and the siding, will have full cobbles, with just a few more patches of 'broken tarmac' outside of that. The peripheral edges of the white filler may disappear under scenery in due course. I will also probably make the blue line straighter and parallel with the siding for much of the remainder of it's length, where I haven't yet scribed, to represent an attempt by the railway authorities to tarmac that part of the yard in a neat-ish fashion:

  16. Captain Kernow
    I got a bit tired of cobbling (or 'setting') a few days ago, and the unexpected receipt of a very kind gift of a Mainline bogie well wagon from a friend got me thinking about rolling stock again, so I dug out a number of other recent purchases, albeit this time more recent Bachmann productions.
     
    Notwithstanding the relatively unpredictable excitement of running things on TT2, I've found that completely unsprung and uncompensated short-wheelbase items do stay on the track when running on Callow Lane, so this gave me more impure thoughts. Whilst most of my stock is sprung or compensated, the thought that I could 'get away with it' by not doing so, decided me to undertake a few 'quickie' conversions by way of a distraction.
     
    Apart from the bogie well wagon, I settled on three recent Bachmann releases - an ex-LNER steel open, an ex-LNER box van and an ex-SR 'pillbox' brake van.
     
    I was a bit concerned about not compensating or springing the brake van, but the moulded detail on the underside, coupled with a decent dose of seasonal laziness and a desire not to accidentally cut right through the plastic to the top surface of the verandahs, decided me to have a go at making the longer wheelbase brake van completely rigid, too.
     
    I know that this goes against the majority of advice for building/converting stock in P4, but hey, the 'it's my trainset' rule kicked in, and so I decided to put my faith in a decent amount of weight in the vehicles instead.
     
    The alternative to leaving these vehicles rigid, by the way, would probably have been to installed Masokits springing units, but I didn't have any of these, and I just didn't fancy the extra work involved in butchering the Bill Bedford units that I did have in stock...
     
    In the end, all four vehicles turned out fine. I considered filming the high-speed push-along trails through all the sharp point work on Callow Lane (B6 and A6), but I didn't in the end, suffice to say, they all hold the road just fine.
     
    Here are some photos (sorry, but I haven't weathered any of these vehicles yet).
     
    General view of the wagons concerned:

     
    Box van:

     

     
    Box van chassis - only a little plastic behind the axle guards had to be removed to fit the wheels. These are Exactoscale 3-hole discs, the axles are running in the original plastic bearings - these wagons won't be doing a huge mileage in their time, shuttling up and down between Callow Lane and it's fiddle yard... I did add some simplified brake stretchers between the brake shoes, which were drilled 0.4mm and brass rod inserted. The brake shoes were also trimmed, with some plastic being removed with a sharp scalpel on the rear/inner face of the brake shoe, to ensure it didn't foul the flanges:

     

     
    The steel open essentially has a similar chassis to the box van, although in this case I had fitted brass pin-point bearings a while ago. This required the Gibson axles to be slightly shortened in the electric drill (done by filing the side of the pin point with the drill rotating, just enough to take off 0.5mm or so, this wouldn't have been necessary if I hadn't fitted the brass bearings). This one is so free running, it meanders off for a little perambulation if you so much as breathe on it...

     
    The pillbox brake van:

     
    With this one, there wasn't even any need to remove any plastic from the axleguards. I did pare the backs of the brake shoes back again, prior to fitting the Gibson wheels. The addition of the Bachmann brake rigging gives the brake gear a bit of welcome stability:
     
    Happily, the brake van also holds the road well, and was subjected to the same high speed push-along speed trials as the others, plus the usual 'every which way/permutation of shunting with a loco'...
     
    One thing I found was that the more recent Bachmann wagons had enough room for two layers of 'roof lead' in place of the metal weights provided. The bogie well wagon was already quite heavy, so I didn't add any weight there. I also added a bit more lead inside the body of the box van, which now weighs in at 67 grams.
  17. Captain Kernow
    Over the last few weeks, I've been doing a little cobbling now and then. It's been quite relaxing in fact, especially after a busy day at work dealing with the aftermath of the recent flooding on the railway.
     
    Now I've got to the stage where the main areas for cobbling are now complete, namely the section between the goods shed and the nearest running rail of the in-laid siding, plus the 'four foot' area of the siding itself:
     

     
    The remaining work is to scribe three rows of cobbles parallel with the opposite running rail, to match the opposite side, and then scribe cobbles for an inch or so in the Tetrion filler, to represent an area that used to be cobbled but is now covered with tarmac. Some cobbles will show through here and there, where the tarmac has worn away, something like what the red lines represent:
     

     
    And now, a few more gratuitious photos of the area cobbled thus far (or, more correctly, the area with scribed granite setts...):
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    There are one or two areas around the base of the goods shed where I couldn't quite get the Tetrion to close right up to, so these will be disguised by some sacrificial scenic dust or greenery.
  18. Captain Kernow
    I've finally knuckled down and made a start on scribing the granite setts in the area around the back of the goods shed on Callow Lane. As mentioned in previous blog entries, the section of 'grout' immediately next to the outer faces of both running rails is extra-white fine Milliput, the larger part of the area is Tetrion filler, applied over several layers and sanded smooth.
     
    I've been doing around 45 mins - 60 mins per evening for the last four days, and progress is painfully slow, but this is the current state of play. The Milliput is harder to scribe, being slightly plasticky, whereas the Tetrion is a bit softer, and thus reacts better to the scribing process, yet is sufficiently hard not to crumble when the scribing pin is applied.
     

     

     

     

     
    The above photos show, of course, only a relatively small proportion of the total area to be scribed. This is generally how each individual row of granite setts is scribed.
     
    The scribing tool itself:

     
    First of all, a piece of plasticard measures the distance between grouting lines, perfect precision is not necessary here, because the prototype doesn't require it (fortunately!):

     
    Using the piece of plasticard (which is 1.5mm wide), a pencil line is roughly drawn along the alignment of the granite setts:

     
    A steel pin in an old pin vice is used to start scribing a continuous line along the alignment of the pencil line:

     
    With the continuous line scribed, the scribing pin is now used to scribe individual setts (I have another plasticard template to get the length of the setts approximately right, in reality in Bristol I've found that they can vary between 4" and 9" in length):

     
    Just over half the row now scribed:

     
    The row of setts completed. Time to start the next one (or perhaps have a stiff drink!!):

  19. Captain Kernow
    The last few days have seen little modelling done, but what has been achieved, finally, is the completion (more or less) of the laying of Tetrion filler in the area around the goods shed and the Down Sidings.
     
    Only the area between the in-laid track and the goods shed, plus a small portion beyond will actually be scribed with granite setts, the remainder of the white surface area will represent a tarmac type surface.
     
    Here are a selection of photos taken today, with all the railway buildings in the Down Yard put into place to get a feel for what it will eventually look like:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    I have documented the construction of the goods shed previously, which is essentially a slightly modified Townstreet plastercast kit. One other product from that same company is this little brick-built yard office, which is actually a solid, single casting:
     

     

     
     
     
    The viewing side is where the wall is, in some of the photos.
     
    As regards the open space in front of the goods shed, there will be an approach road descending from the overbridge in the centre of the layout, as this crudely amendment of the 5th photo shows:
     

  20. Captain Kernow
    Glaciers may have moved faster than my modelling efforts over the last few weeks, but this is what I've been doing. It's all a load of old cobbles, or that's the plan, at any rate.
     
    Inspired by the output from Brian Harrap, I bought a tub of this:

     
    Brian actually uses Tetrion tile grout, as it's harder than most other types and, therefore, ideal for individually scribing the cobbles on with a steel pin in a pin vice, but I couldn't find any locally, so settled for Tetrion filler instead. It seems to dry pretty hard, sands down well and lends itself to a bit of experimental cobble scribing:

     
    The area requiring permanent cobbling is the viewing side of the goods shed on Callow Lane, where the road approach crosses a siding in the yard. This clearly needs to have in-laid track, to enable road vehicles, horses and carts etc. to get to the loading bay of the goods shed. I decided that this would look good if cobbled, having been long impressed by Brian's brilliant work on layouts like Quai 87.
     
    To begin with, I grouted the area between the check rails (for some reason lost in the mists of time, these are phosphor bronze...):

     
    And that's about as far as I got for a while, in practical terms, because I had forgotten about the effect of water-based Tetrion filler on the steel running rails. They had been primed and sprayed track colour a few years ago (yes, that's how long this layout is taking me ), but it was evidently not enough, as the first attempt at laying Tetrion up to the outside edge of the running rail nearest the goods shed resulted in the tell-tale colour of rust seeping through into the white filler, as it dried.
     
    This led to me removing a whole strip of Tetrion, some 1 cm wide, cleaning up the rail, applying rust inhibitor and then more primer. After that, I filled the trench with Milliput (fine, white) filler. I then found I needed to 'top up' the ground surface with more Tetrion prior to sanding the whole lot smooth, which I finally achieved tonight.
     
    The resulting ground surface is approx 2 mm higher than the cork underlay, on which the adjacent track is laid. This will give a ground surface more or less level with the tops of the sleepers, once it's all grouted in and blended together.
     
    I also had to bring the ground surface right up to the outside walls of the removable goods shed. To do this, I laid some 2mm x 2mm plastic strip from Evergreen around the 'footprint' of the shed and grouted right up to it with the Tetrion.
     
    This is what it looked like after I removed the plastic strip this evening, ready for the goods shed to be put in place:

     

     
    And here's the goods shed temporarily in place:

     

     

     

     
    Of course, I didn't manage to get the initial application of filler right up to the precise location of the outer walls, and the above photos reflect this fact. The plan all along was then to cover the outer walls of the goods shed with cling film and then fill the resulting cracks between the ground and the base of the walls with more filler.
     
    The cling film got torn in a couple of places, I was very careful when applying the Tetrion in these places...:

     
    Here's an example of filler put into the crack between the building and the ground, waiting to harden off:

     
    This last stage with the cling film wouldn't really be necessary if the building wasn't going to be portable/removable, as I could have used scenic material such as grass fibres or other ground cover to fill the gaps, but the goods shed is very heavy (plastercast Townstreet kit), so I daren't leave it glued to the baseboards.
     
    Next step is to remove the goods shed and cling film when it's fully hardened off, sand smooth and start scribing cobbles.
     
    Oh, and there's also the other side to do yet, too...
     
     
    Captain's Log, Supplementary - 24/10/12:
     
    Here are a couple of photos of prototype cobbles or setts, taken from the back streets around Bristol TM, which I am intending to copy on Callow Lane:
     

     

  21. Captain Kernow
    Following on from my previous blog entry where I had started work on a Midland Railway wooden post, lower quadrant signal for Callow Lane, I have now more or less finished the signal, bar a little bit of weathering, plus planting on the layout and connecting to an operating system. This was another MSE/Wizard Models kit, and very good they are too.
     

     
    I've also finished the painting of the water crane ensemble, again, bar a little weathering:
     

     

     

     
    Also built a Ratio loading gauge, the 'tensioning wires' (if that's what they're called?) took a bit of time, mostly using 5 amp fuse wire. This is also still to be weathered:
     

     
     
    I've also started to experiment with scribed cobbles, a la Harrap method, but that's for another posting in due course...
  22. Captain Kernow
    I've no objection to rolling roads, and I do use one myself, but I do like to give locos a good running in on track as well. A few years ago, I made up a circle of P4 sectional track, using identical curved lengths of flexitrack (SMP, in this case), with the curve held in place by some copper clad sleepers soldered in place. Fishplates were also soldered on, and the result is a 7' 6" diameter circle of track, that can be dismantled into 16 seperate curved sections for storage.
     
    It takes a while to set up, and currently needs to be on the floor. This in turn needs old magazines (Radio Times is quite good) to be laid down and taped to the carpet, to reduce the chances of hairs and other undesirable detritus getting into the loco mechanisms. Due to gradual 'creep' as the locos run round the circuit, the track is also taped to the magazine sheets.
     
    Here is 1650 having it's first serious running in session, at the time of writing it is probably about half way through today's session, with 3 and a half hours of running under it's belt so far (this includes changing direction and the loco being turned round).
     

     

     

     

     

     
    This process does seem to help smooth out minor imperfections in the running of a loco 'just out of works', although it won't normally get rid of major problems affecting smooth running, for which the loco will need to go back to the work bench.
     
    Due to the time and inconvenience of setting this circuit up, I'm now planning to get an 8' diameter hollow circle of plywood cut out by a friend who has the right gear in his workshop to do this. I will probably cut the circle into four segments for storage, and glue the track to it, effecting board joints by use of stout hinges that have had their central pivots removed.
  23. Captain Kernow
    I've made a start on the next signal, which is the Down Inner Starter for Callow Lane. This one is going at the end of the Down platform, adjacent to the water crane that featured in the 'query' post I put up a couple of weeks ago. It is a Model Signal Engineering kit for a Midland Railway wooden post lower quadrant semaphore signal. The kit can also be made into a distant signal, should the builder wish this.
     
    What is unusual (for me, anyway, as I've only built GW and L&SWR/SR signals before), is that the arm rotates on a fixed axle, rather than the axle being attached to the arm.
     
    The arm isn't permanently fixed to the post in these images, and of course, the ladder and other details, such as the lamp and finial are still to be added. Also, the back blinder isn't bent into it's final position yet either, this being to facilitate the removal of the arm from the spindle during construction and painting. The spectacle plate is actually two etchings, with room to slip some pre-coloured glazing between (also supplied with the kit).
     
    The water crane is also now in it's final position.
     

     

     

     

  24. Captain Kernow
    I've almost finished the first of the three semaphore stop signals for Callow Lane. This one is an LMS period replacement for an earlier Midland wooden post signal. The Western Region have got their hands on it and painted the post silver.
     
    I've still to touch in one or two parts of it, such as the back-blinder, and also add a bit of weathering. Despite it having only recently been painted by the W.R., I reckon there would still be a few rust patches coming through on that steel tubular post.
     
    The signal will be operated using a Hoffman mechanism under the board. It is actuated via the balance weight and the operating rod has a small washer soldered to it below the baseplate, to prevent it trying to return the signal to danger too hard, and thus bending the operating wire. There is a small wire 'stop' soldered to the post at the top, as per Andrew Hartshorn's instructions, to ensure that it returns nicely horizontal when the signalman puts it back to danger.
     

     

     

     

  25. Captain Kernow
    With the Hartlepool show out of the way, I've started doing things on 'Callow Lane' again over the last few weeks, (and when not making sandwiches and serving bananas at CamRail... ).
     
    One of the tasks I wanted to get done, was the ballasting of the section of track that will normally be inside the removeable goods shed. The ballast had to be exactly the right width, to ensure that the goods shed seated itself correctly when put on the layout (you may recall from a previous blog posting that the goods shed, which is the Townstreet plaster-cast kit), is located on the layout via four brass pins that fit into four brass tubes glued into the baseboard).
     
    First of all, the inside track area was marked out in pencil with the goods shed in situ, and some 60 thou styrene sections temporarily glued in place, giving the ballast something to butt up against. The ballast was then laid and secured in place by the usual method of spraying IPA and then dropping Johnsons Klear onto the damp ballast. When that had set, the whole lot was then subjected to some dilute PVA, to really seal it in.
     

     
    The 60 thou plasticard sections were then removed:
     

     
    The goods shed was then put in place and a couple of bits of ballast trimmed away to ensure a snug fit. I will be laying a bit more dirt and gunge, as the ballast is currently too clean:
     

     

     
     
    I've also started making the first of the three main semaphore signals, using MSE kits. This one is an ex-LMS upper quadrant on a steel post, which would have replaced an earlier Midland Railway wooden post example. The other two signals will feature wooden posts.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    Since the photos of the signal were taken, I've been painting it and have put together a water crane for the end of the down platform (thanks to those who responded to my query in the 'Help' section). The above signal was borrowed and temporarily put in position adjacent to the planned location of the water crane, at the end of the disused down platform:

     
    I've also given the ScaleScenes terraced cottages a waft of aerosol Dullcote, to aid the weathering process:

     

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