wiggoforgold

Does anyone have any idea what the road side of these two sheds looked like? ie what shape was the door, were there any windows, was there an external loading platform? I've found lots of pics of the rail side and the ends, but nothing of the road side. Alex

Thanks for the kind comments chaps. A refurbished Diddington will appear here soon, I've just got to finish relaying the railway room floor. I did have a vague idea of cycling out to Minions this morning, but looking at the weather out of the window, I think the floor wins! There's lots of grass to come on Upwell Drove Neil! I think that leaving me alone with a grass master and Gordon Gravett's book is a bit risky... I get ideas. I like the look of that middle aged spread. Is it a bit like marmalade? It's inspired me to have some:)

Thanks Rob. I'm looking forward to seeing Mutton at Taunton! Alex.

Ballasting isn’t my favourite modelling activity, so ballasting Upwell Drove was seen as a necessary stage in construction, rather than an eagerly anticipated bit of model making. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures of the Wisbech and Upwell, and one of my aims in the model is to show some of the different types of trackwork found on the prototype. So we have the “reserved” track as the line enters the station, which is conventionally ballasted and laid, Then there is a section of tramway track, with the rails level with the road surface. Finally in the station some of the ballast is just cinders, and the track is set in the surface. The track was laid, and painted with Railmatch sleeper grime before ballasting. The sides of the rails and chairs were painted Tamiya matt dark brown. The sleepers were then dry brushed with various shades of Tamiya grey and earth. The ballast for the model is made by mixing chinchilla grit with fine ash, about 50/50. The ash has the effect of darkening the chinchilla grit slightly, and adding additional variation to the colour. Looking at photographs of the W&U and other secondary lines, I was struck by the quite “open” appearance of the bullhead track, with a clear separation showing between the top of the ballast and the bottom of the rail. Part of the solution was not to use too much ballast, but I also found the cutting away the web between the sleepers after the track was laid greatly improved the appearance. The ballast itself was spread dry between the rails. Before pouring out the ballast (I did a bit at a time from a teaspoon), I laid a strip of masking tape about 1mm from the ends of the sleepers, which limited the extent of the granite ballast. Once spread out, the ballast was sprayed with water with a couple of drops of washing up liquid in it. WW scenics pre-mixed ballast glue was then poured over and allowed to dry. Once dry, the sides of the rails were touched up with Tamiya flat brown XF10. The rails and chairs were then given a wash of a dark grey colour, made from various mixes of Tamiya NATO black, dark grey, khaki drab and dark earth. The chairs were then highlighted by lightly dry brushing with Humbrol acrylic brick red. I then applied some rust coloured weathering powders to the rails and chairs. I mixed a small amount of the weathering powder with white spirit, and brushed this on to the sides of the rails. The white spirit evaporates, leaving the weathering powder in place. The chairs were then lightly brushed with a lighter rust shade. The final step was to lightly spray it all with Humbrol matt acrylic spray varnish, This kills the sheen left by the WW scenics glue, fixes the weathering powder in place, and appears to enhance the contrast between the sleepers and ballast. There are some variations in the track treatment. Some of the ballast is just cinders, and I spent some time thinking of how to replicate this. I was quite taken by Chris Nevard’s various writing on the subject, and the effect he achieved sing Das modelling clay, spread round the sleepers. I have used this method under the moving parts of turnouts, and at the baseboard joint. Once dry, the Das is painted with an earth colour mixed from various emulsion match pots (I used the Valspar range in B&Q), and the rails treated as described above. The finer cinders ballast outside the main ballast on the reserved track was made by sprinkling fine ash on wet PVA. Finally, the grassy areas around the track were built up with various length of static grass, starting with a base layer of 2mm fibres, and building up additional layers of 4, 6 and 10mm fibres. This is still a bit of a work on progress, as too much static grass can interfere with running, and I need to strike a balance between operability and appearance. I need to complete the ballasting of the sidings in the yard, and then I shall start work on the grassy areas and road surfaces in the yard. Cheers for now Alex

Presumably when they have worked out how to get it to haul 14 coaches around first radius curves. Of course, if it was in P4......

Track laying at Upwell Drove is now virtually complete - I've just go to finish wiring it up and finish the ballasting. Here's an overall view to show the track layout. Alex

Knowing where it is supposed to be situated. I've always thought that having the higher level line at the front helps capture the atmosphere of the place.

You've done the tram then. Looks good.

Hi Martin. I've just discovered this thread, which I am reading from the beginning, and wishing I had found it six months ago before I started building Upwell Drove, as so many of our ideas seem to be the same! I particularly like your use of aluminium angle in the construction of the baseboards -I wish I,d thought of that. The cassettes look good too, I haven't started mine yet, although the ideas are similar, I'll be studying what you did with interest before starting on mine. Great work, well done. Alex

Hi jrg1. If you follow the link to my blog, you'll find a fuller description of the construction and painting of D5579 there. Thanks Chris. Hopefully more on the track will appear in the next ten days or so, together with the promised helicopter shot. Alex

The Upwell Drove track plan is inspired by Iain Rice's "Elan" plan in the "Finescale in small spaces" book. The sector plate in the plan is replaced by a turnout giving access to the (former) platform road and the loop. Storage will be on a separate cassette deck. The track plan isn't prototypical: mine includes a double slip, of which there weren't any on the Wisbech and Upwell. My trackplan is dictated by the size of the boards, which in turn is dictated by the need to carry the folded layout on the back seat of the car. I'll take a helicopter shot in the next day or so and put it up to show the overall view.

This week First Great Western have been trialling their "new" mini HST down here. To me, it looks like an HST cut down to four cars to get new life out of old stock. Is there more to this than meets the eye?

Work on Upwell Drove has progressed! In my last post , I mentioned a couple of issues that had arisen with the tracklaying. I was unhappy with the alignment of the loop siding with the turnout from the main road, so I relaid this. I’ve taken a photo of the new alignment. I’d previously painted the track bed, so the new alignment can be clearly seen. I wasn’t happy with the painting of the track generally, so I’m redoing this. It’s a bit of a work in progress at the moment, so full details will follow when it’s finished. Suffice to say it involves Railmatch sleeper grime (my new discovery), Tamiya dark brown, chinchilla grit, Das modelling clay weathering pigments and static grass, not all at the same time. I worked up the headshunt to test some of the techniques, and get an idea of what the finished article would look like. Finally, a couple of pics of D2201 heading by Elm Lane (formerly Middle Fen) on its way to Upwell Drove.

Just a quick update from me tonight, and no pictures I'm afraid. Track laying at Upwell Drove is largely complete. It's been test run, and the wiring is largely done as well. I'm not happy with the alignment of the run round where it joints the turnout leading back to the running road, and I'm going to relay it. I started painting the track but I didn't like it, so I'm going to do it again. The railway room is currently being redecorated (first time for 20 years) so the DIddington boards are currently in the garage, so no room to take any pictures.

Hi James I’ve been following your original post, and the replies, with interest. I’d like to add my views, but first I should say that In general I’d add my voice to those counselling caution, and warning against taking on too much too soon. The big shed makes sense, no point in starting with a smaller structure, only to knock it down in favour of something bigger in the future. However, once you’ve got the shed, I’d be cautious about filling it up with trains right away. You are on a learning curve and you haven’t modelled for nearly 40 years. If you are like me, you will find that your skills increase quite quickly, and what you can obtain now from your model shop is streets ahead of what you could get 40 years ago, so your aspirations may change. I’d start with something small, maybe a cameo using part of the proposed layout, which could be incorporated into the larger layout later. Starting small will enable you to assess your skills and where your modelling interests lie, and you can have something finished and running quickly, which will act as a spur to go on. I’d be worried that stating on a larger project at first, could lead to frustration with apparent lack of progress, and disillusion. As for the plan, I’m a proponent of the “less is more” school. My layour “Diddington “ is in a room 6.5m x 4.5m, but it only utilises part of that space. I’d be inclined to use the space you have available to build a much simpler layuit, maybe a branch terminus or a country through station, but take the opportunity to set it properly in a landscape. If you haven’t already done so, you might take a look at Pendon, or look at David Jenkinsom’s 4mm “Little Long Drag” scheme which was in the Railway Modeller in the early 1970s. (I had a copy of the Modeller article, but I think it may have been thrown out in a cull of old magazines about a month ago. If I’ve got it, and you’d like it, you can have it. PM me your address so I can send it to you if I can find it) Another idea would be to use the Americal Short line approach, and model a complete branch line. You could have intermediate stations that generate their own traffic, and use a walk around control set up so you could move round with the train as it worked from station to station . Something set in the Welsh valleys moving coal or steel might be appropriate. Whatever you decide to do, all the best with your endeavours. Alex

I have a project in mind that involves a toplight down graded to a camping coach, but I feel that rtr may be about more than I need....if the price was right however...

My wife sent this to me on Facebook this morning. She found it highly amusing.

Harking back to our discussions the other week about the colour of the 04 trams, I've been reading Peter Paye's book which states that D2201 was out shopped in December 1961 in unlined green with wasp stripes. D2202 was similarly treated in January 1958. The evidence is mounting for green, which pleases me for two reasons: 1. I don't have to repaint my model of D2201. 2. I like the green.

I very much enjoyed this John. I know it's an old layout, but for me Balbeggie sidings conjured up the railway I knew when I was a student at Dundee 35 years ago. Love this one too.The trees are particularly inspiring.

Track laying at Upwell Drove is now under way. Track is a mixture of the new Peco code 75 bullhead, with pcb points salvaged from an earlier project. The difference in height between the Peco track and the points is compensated for by using an additional thickness of cork underlay under the points, to bring the railhead up to the height of the Peco track. The track plan includes a double slip, I was going to make this myself, like the one on Diddington, but I decided my eyesight wasn’t up to it, so I decided on the Peco code 75 item, knowing that there were murmerings about them possibly producing a bullhead version with similar geometry. This of course has now been announced, much sooner than expected here. When it comes out I’ll get one to replace the current item. The question is, will Upwell Drove make its debut before or after the new point is available? Before starting on the track, I made a start on installing the electrics. I want the whole thing to be as self-contained as possible, so the transformer is fitted in a box bouilt in to the underside of the layout. Next to the transformer box is sited the driver for the LED layout lighting. Here’s some pictures of progress to date.

There's a borders plan in one of the Iain Rice books I think.

The question is, will I have it running by the time the Rapido J70 appears?