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Hiesler

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Blog Entries posted by Hiesler

  1. Hiesler

    On30 Layout Update!

    By Hiesler,

    I have finally started work on transforming the large fiddle yard into a scenic part of the layout.
     
    I spent some time Das'ing up the track in replacing the rest with Peco narrow gauge track. While doing this I insulated the sidings and added new wire feeds so they are now live all the time (to keep the DCC sound going).
     

     

     

     

     
    A detail shot to show the two track types.
     

     
    I pressed the Das into the track with my fingers and scraped of the excess from the sides of the rails with a pick. When I was happy with the shape I stippled the surface with a paint brush to give it a ruff texture. I then painted the clay brown.
     

     
    I then made a start on the mill building.
     

     
    It's just a foam board shell at the moment. I have yet to cut out the windows and doors or make the roof.
    As it is quite a large building, I have outlined the front of four gables to make it look more interesting and less plain.
     
    I have also been working on a covered bridge for my new scenic section.
     

     
    It's made from the Plasticville kit with plasticard abutments and deck, the latter is covered with coffee stirrers.

     
    Here's how it looks as part of the scene so far.
     
    Today, I have been working on a little magic, and it's not smoke...
     

     

     

     
    I think it makes quite a difference.
  2. Hiesler

    A new layout!

    By Hiesler,

    So I got round to building the new layout I mentioned in the last post.
     
    Heres the track plan:
     

     
    Heres the progress pictures:
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    I also took some pictures of the layout with my brothers new camera. So I thought I would share them with you.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Hope you like the look of my new layout.
     
    Also feel free to check out my website at http://blueridgemountainrr.jimdo.com/ for more information and sign the guestbook.
     
     
  3. Hiesler

    Two Shay! Part 2

    By Hiesler,

    My two shays are progressing well, so I thought I would show you what I have done.
     

     
    I thought I would add railings to number 1s bunker, this involved cutting the flair (?) off.
     

     
    Backwoods parts added to the bunker ready for the paint shop.
     

     
    After a coat of black paint. I still need to add a wood load, but as I have never made one before, can anyone give me some tips on how to make a half decent one?
     

     
    Number 3 is looking good. It now has a westinghouse pump and condenser fitted.
     

     
    This side shows the westinghouse pump.
     
    After fitting these, (and a bit of weathering) I thought I would give it a test run. To find one of the rear trucks gears had split :
     

     
    Luckily I have a spare one, but I dont know if I should fit it or try and fix the current one.
     
     
  4. Hiesler

    Middlemill - Finished?

    By Hiesler,

    Some say that a layout is never finished. But Middlemill appears to be! I just cant think of anything more to add now. So I guess I should show some more pictures instead:
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    I have also made a video of it in action:
     

     

     
    Enjoy!
     
     
  5. Hiesler

    Two Shay! Part 1

    By Hiesler,

    As I mentioned earlier, most of my modelling is in On30. So here is one of my many pojects in that scale and gauge.
     
    Two Shay! Part 1:
     
    As my On30 layout is a logging layout, I naturally have a shay on my line, infact I have two (hence the title). One of these was a second hand model with DCC sound and the other is just DCC fitted.
     
    One of my purchases from yesterdays visit to the Warley show was a Backwoods Miniatures dress up Kit for the Bachmann Shay. The plan is to share the parts between the two shays.
     
    Here is how the shays looked before I started:
     

     
    Number 3 is the second hand shay with sound and number 1 is DCC fitted.
     

     
    As number 3 was second hand, it was missing a few parts here and there; one of these was the top part of the stack/funnel making it way to short.
     
    No worry as the dress up kit included 3 stacks!
     

     
    I thought this wood burner stack would be the best as they were common on logging engines, and that it looks pretty good too.
     
    As per instructions, 2mm of the origional stack was cut off the bottom to glue the new stack onto it. The screw it was attached with was also glued in place so the stack can be twisted into the smokebox.
     

     

     
    Its starting to look more like a 'backwoods' shay already!
     
    Until next time,
    Max
     
     
  6. Hiesler
    MIDDLEMILL



    A MICRO LAYOUT IN O 16.5


     

     
    Middlemill is a small town on the Lancashire and Yorkshire border. It is situated on a river at the bottom of the valley.
     
    In the late 1700's a canal was built through the village; as a result of this Middlemill grew into a town suppling the canal.
     
    In 1862 a horse drawn tramway was built from Middlemill to the surrounding coal mines as it was seen as a more efficient way of transporting the goods than the local pathway.
     
    In 1886 it was decided that the tramway would be upgraded into a narrow gauge railway following the practice of the famous 'Ffestiniog Railway' and other narrow gauge railways in north wales.
    The upgrades were completed in June 1887 with two 0-4-0 side tank locomotives built by Kerr Stuart for the new railway.
     
    After a running as a freight only line for several years, the end of 1893 sore the use of two new four wheeled coaches. A passenger station was also built alongside the engine sheds at Middlemill.
     
    In 1905 a standard gauge railway was built right through the valley, with a new station at Middlemill. A goods shed was also built along side the narrow gauge railway to transship goods.
    Two bogie vans were built later that year in direct response to the increase in freight movement.
     
    The beginning of 1906 saw the purchase of a Hunslet saddle tank engine from a quarry in wales. This engine was converted into a tender engine so it could run for longer without having to take on coal and water as often.
     
    As the new standard gauge line was seen as a faster and better way to transport goods, the canal became unused and the transshipment shed ended up being a general warehouse.
     
    The First World War saw the demand for such freight decline rapidly and the narrow gauge railway was no longer need as any traffic left was replaced by early road lorry's. So in march 1914,all the engines and stock were scrapped and the track bed left derelict.
     
    The Middlemill Railway was a rarely known one, and left very few traces that it was there at all. Some would argue that there never was a Middlemill Railway in the first place! I will let you decide on that one.
     

     
    Here are some pictures:
     

     

     
    As you can see, the transshipment shed its in a pretty poor state with the broken window. This shows that I am modelling the later days of the railway when the canal was seeing alot less use and more traffic went by the standard gauge railway vier the goods shed.
     

     
    Here is the loading platform of the shed; where general goods is now stored.
     

     
    This is how the layout looks at the moment. The picture shows the location of the controller inside the transshipment shed.
     
    Apart from adding a back drop behind the shed and some more scenics to disguise the 'corner in the sky', I can't see much more that needs doing.
     
    Comments would be much appreciated.
  7. Hiesler
    Hey there! I thought I would make a start on my new RMweb blog with a little background about myself. I was on the last RMweb forum, but I didnt post much and never got round to making any thread about what I get up to modelling wise.
     
    Im a bit of a narrow gauge nutter myself, pretty much all aspects of it interest me. From the old overgrown railways of like the Corris and Ffestiniog Railways, to the new and modern railways like the RhB in Switzerland. The reason for this is I grew up spending my summer holidays in Porthmadog and visiting its surrounding narrow gauge railways.
     
    Although I have never been and seen any for myself (maybe one day...), I have a great interest in the narrow gauge railways in America. This interest was fueled by Bachmanns more recent range of locomotives and rolling stock in On30. Since I didnt have much space for modelling, but always found the bigger scales more apealing than OO, 009, HOe and HOm; On30 seemed the ideal way forward balancing the two factors. I also had never done any modelling before as my last layout was just a OO table top, so RTR On30 was a big bonus.
     
    I later found that there was alot more on offer for On30 than the Bachmann range, and my collection of locomotives and rolling stock has been growing ever since (sadly the layout hasnt been growing to the same ratio ).
     
    I named the layout the Blue Ridge Railroad after the Blue Ridge mountains it is set in. It is a logging and mining layout like most in On30, and is DCC with some Sound locos.
     
    More recently I found out that modelling O 16.5 with the kits on offer was not as hard as I thought. So I am now working on a small micro layout named 'Middlemill' to go with my British stock.
     
    I work on either layout depending on what im interested in at the time.
     
    I think thats about it for now, I will keep you updated with my modelling depending on how much interest there is.
     
    Max
  8. Hiesler

    Mega Update!

    By Hiesler,

    Right, I only just realized how much modelling I have been doing, and I have yet to post any of it. I better change that then...
     
    First up is something from last year, a caboose where I off-set the position of the cupola from the center.
     

     

     

     
    A before and after picture.
     
    Shay No 1 now has a hand cut wood load. The loco has since been weathered.
     

     
    Inspired by an article in the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette, I decided to make a track cleaner for my layout; following the principles of KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
     

     
    Two nails were glued to a block of MDF with rounded ends.
     

     

     
    Holes for the nails where marked on the boxcars underside.
     

     
    Hey presto! Simple but effective.
     
    Finally, I got a Bachmann Plymouth diesel recently, but as it was HO, it needed changing a tad.
     

     

     
    I also wanted to try out some heavy weathering on this loco, so I started off with some heavy rust patches, covered them with white-tac and then painted on the main coat of yellow. Once the tac was pealed away it gave a paint pealing effect. Also, note the scratch built silencer on the nose made from kit sprue and plasticard.
     

     

     
    It was weathered further with acrylic washes and dry brushing. The locos cab was then glazed and a roof was added.
     
    I hope you like what I have been doing so far this year. But that is not all, I also have some British engines to show you.
     
    Until next time.
     
     
     
  9. Hiesler
    As I suggested, I have also been doing some work on my British locos. So first up is the Middlemill Railways engine fleet:
     

     

     

     
    Injector piping and hand rails have since been added.
     

     
    At the moment the smallbrook engines are sharing chassis, I am waiting to see if it will be possible to use the upcoming Bachmann Bill/Ben chassis as a replacement as they are bound to run better.
     
    Another project that I have been working on for a long time is Prince from the Ffestiniog Railway. The model is completely scratch built from plasticard and brass wire to 7mm scale drawings. The model shows the engine in its 1955 condition.
     

     

     
    I entered the model into my local model railway clubs competition. It was awarded the 'Chairman's Cup' for the best model taking into account how much skill and experience the modeller had (none in my case ).
     

     
     
  10. Hiesler
    After 6 months of putting it off, I have weathered my 2-6-6-2.
     

     
    All my locos are weathered with a black acrylic wash with a hint of grey. Sorry for the lack of light in the picture. The best camera I have is on my phone!
     
    To make one of my boxcars different from the rest I used some plasticard to make an outside framed door. Does anyone know of a prototype for this?
     

     
    Also, 'Planning permission' has been granted for a major extention to the layout.
     
    Here is the current track plan:
     

     
    The bottom and the left side will be forest to blend in with the backdrop. The layout will be viewed from the inside of the L shape.
     
    I am quite keen on taking this to some exhibitions aswell.
     
    The plan also shows a water tower. I would like to make this operate so I can sinc it with the sound function on some of my locos for added amusement.
     
    I would really like to know your thoughts on this.
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