rovex

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the response. I built most of the signal posts etc some time ago (see this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/45577-a-signalling-challenge/page-3 for pictures). then came to a shuddering halt - I keep meaning to get restarted but can always find reasons not to.

As you can see from the abive thread there are an awful lot of signal arms to "crank up.

I had already decided on building bases onto the bottom of the each post (as you have done) to take the cranks etc to carry the motion from whatever operating system I use.

However I am interested in the use of servos, (especially if it allows you to control the speed of movement) although its obviously more complicated than I thought. I shall look into the MERG thing.

Thanks again.

Dean

Thanks for posting this, I have a number of signals for my layout that I want to have operational. I have had the same problems with the little brackets and the rodding but have persevered (well with one bracket arm at least).

I am replacing the plastic arms with scale link brass ones - not the easiest thing to do, as the each arm has to be soldered up from two pieces (arm and spectacle plate) and then has a brass rod attached at the back for the spindle arm. I had already thought about using track pins in future.

I've used the etched brass cranks supplied with some of the ratio signal kits rather than the plastic ones, and Peco/Ratio have kindly supplied some extra ones at a very reasonable price. The scale link cranks (included on the signal etch) seemed far to flimsy to me.  

I was intending to use wire/thread to operate the signals running back to lever frame and had never considered the use of servos. I might give this a try.

Can they be operated from passing contact switches, like point motors? I assume you have to be careful of the current/voltage used to ensure you don't burn them out.

Dean

Depedning on the build date, the local archives may have the architects drawings from when the pub was built. Leeds City Archives have planning documents for almost everything built in Lededs from about 1880 until 1950 or so. I found it very useful when researching some of my builds.

Other archives may not be complete, Birmingham City Archives in the central library are fairly appaling as an old City Architect decided no one would be interested in old plans and threw aload of them away.

Old architects drawings are often done to 8ft to the inch or 1:96 scale and whilst this may seem small given how big most city buildings are I have often found that all I need to do is to stretch ground floors to increase door heights and I still get a fairly large building without it overpowering the layout.

Might be worth speaking to Salford's archivist

Yes when we moved to Redditch a few years ago, it was a nightmare, roundabout after roundabout, one wrong turn and your in Bromsgrove. I bobbed into the show but didn't stop long as I had a busy day ahead of me for a change.

Glad you enjoyed it.

I'll try and load some photos showing the joins

wow - either thats a very large 20p or a very small building - amazing work

Smart

Many moons ago I used plasticard to make the "free benches" but being somewhat of an innocent used too much glue and over time the ends of the planks warped. Card is probably much safer - and of course minimal handling no doubt helps.

Coming along nicely

Yes it makes it much easier to work/sand or file. Usual warning about gluing you fingers to the model and only using small quantities of the glue.

 

I'm just glad I chose the easier early layout option, and I will of course continue to follow with the greatest interest.

 

Regards, Gerry.

I don't know Gerry, your track layout outside the station seems complex enough to me. Mine just runs striaght into a fiddle yard - or will do.

Hello Rovex

 

Looking good. After your comments I had to have a peep at your layout. I have to say that ballasting the track was a lot more tedious than scribing (and there was a lot more of it)!. I love the gas holders - are they scratch built?

 

Regards Ray

yes I am not looking forward to ballasting which in the past I have found not only mindnumbing and frustrating in equal measures - but also my normal method of flooding the ballast in diluted pva leaves me no sound deadening qualities at all but a deafening din whenever a train moves.

The gasholders are two Walthers kits, one was built as supplied except for an etched brass rail round the top of the tank. The other was modified mainly by beefing up the frame with some plastruct girders and adding some whitemetal finials to the tops of the columns to give it a more Victorian flavour. They are the ones supplied by Scale link and intended for 7mm GWR signals.

There isn't a gas works near the real Snow Hill, but as these and the others gas works fittings came off my old layout I am going to find room for them on this one.

Great looking platforms and well worth the effort on your part. I use 2mm plastic sheet which is perhaps a bit more hardwork to scribe, I know the ends of my fingers ache after an hour or two.

You might want to run some strip along the bottom of each side (or just above the bottom) on the inside to add extra strength, would also give a lip to glue the coach floor to and shouldn't be noticeable from outside.

What are you using as glue? I tend to use superglue as it gave a stronger bond and if dusted in sodium bicarbonate set almost immediately allowing you to sand any glue that protuded. You just need to be careful not to put too much on though.

Interesting work, which "suburbans" are these. Old Airfix i'm assuming but not the B set coaches?

You've got a lot of work ahead of you but should prove an interesting model.

I gave up using slaters embossed sheets quite a while ago, I wasn't very happy with the embossing and felt that not only were the edges between slates not sharp enough but thickness was a problem.

Over the years I've tried several methods from individual cut card slates (made from my old collection of train postcards), to sheets of slates made from card with the gaps between the slates cut by hand (both very labour intensive and likely to result in me losing the will to live before finishing the roof.

I tend to use the wills slates now but of course it is almost impossible to succesfull hide the joion in the slates and so on a bigger roof were a join was unavoidable I tried to line it up with a chimney breast so at least the area of the join was minimised.

Another method I've tried with I think some success is using the Greenscene sheets that are intended for planking. Theses come in a variety of plank widths and are very sharply incised. I cut them into 5mm strips and overlay them on the roof. There are still over thick - but I don't think as overthick as slaters embossed plasticard. I also take the view that often if you go for a near scale thickness it becomes very difficult to see the individual slates and I do like to see that. I think its a case of the model looking right rather than being right.

Great models by the way

Nice atmospheric shot of the station frok underneath the bridge

You don't have a local pit nearby you could blame for subsidence?

Well, the station hotel is a bit of a botch job. A search of the city archves at Birmingham Central Library provided absolutely no information whatsoever, as the railways were exempt from the usual planning laws at the time.

So as I wasn't going to be able to make an accurate model I went for something that would be a fair representation. The basis for this model is a Vollmer kit which gave me the window surrounds, the rest was a matter of trial and error to work out what would work before I started. I would like to build a representation of the front of the old Great Western Arcade which as you will know stood oposite the hotel before being bombed in the last war. However again this is only going to be representational as I can only find one partial photo and a victorian sketch. However the archives may have something on this, so maybe another trip to the Brum.

Thanks for the comments by the way, its always gratifying when someone who knows the building your trying to model recognises it.

Rovex

Sorry quite right, I did mean Northern approaches.

Had it been on the Southern it would have been under the road.

I haven't decided on the windows, as yet,- the originals looked to be sash windows with very little in the way of fenestration. The thickness of the transoms on the kit windows would work for the verticals but be a bit odd for the horizontals, and of course you wouldn't get the effect of a sash window. I might have a play about with one and see how it comes out.

I didn't initially realise these were 2mm - very impressive

Rovex

Looks amazing

Thanks Guys, I'll have to dig a copy of the book out. I've scoured the online sources (generally very informative but almost all show Snow Hill in its last stages just before demolition). I've got the usual books on the station itself and GWR architecture - couple of useful shots in Vol 4 Historical survey of GWR stations and Russells book on GWr signalling.

Thanks again

I like etched brass windowframes, you can't beat them for getting a really fine look, but I have a knack of getting glue all over the them when I try to use them, so I'd thought I'd try this instead.

Thanks John. Got the central panel the cross bracing at the ends and the sliding doors fitted this evening. More work to do tomorrow then I'll post a couple of photos of progress.

Rovex

perhaps not, never got the hang of adding pictures to comments - i'll try another post<br>

Thanks Mikkel. I've had a play around and hopefully these shots will give an idea of work so far.<br><br><a>file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/dean/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/brackhampton%201.bmp</a><br><br><br>

Once again another tour de force.

Rovex