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Jon Fitness

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Blog Entries posted by Jon Fitness

  1. Jon Fitness
    Making a bit of progress with the goods shed for Slugworth.
    It's not a model of any particular goods shed but a conglomeration of odd pictures I've seen and a major influence is the 4mm scale Townstreet LNW style goods shed that "Coachman" has made in his Buildings blog (thanks for the inspiration Larry )
     

     

     

     
    I'll be using some resin window frames from Invertrain and yes I know it has different styles on each side. Couldn't decide which window shape I preferred so I used both.
    As this Foamex material I'm using won't accept "Plastic Weld" (a bit odd as the last offcuts Steve gave me would ) I'm using superglue to bond this lot together. Must remember not to drop it as it will probably drop to it's component parts.
    I've done the inner loading platform and the "shoulders" round the base of the walls (whatever the name for them is and cut some skylights in the roof. I'll be doing a little office to go on the end next.
  2. Jon Fitness
    The goods shed at “Slugworth†(not convinced that name’ll stick) is now just about finished and in position.
     
    I’ve built an internal crane from wooden coffee stirrers and assorted bits of brass from the scrap box, fitted gutters & downpipes, LED lights and the windows in the office.
     

     
    The roof and canopy have been painted and weathered but there are still ridge tiles to fit and quite a bit more internal detail to add.
     

     
    Steve’s now added the island platform to the GW station. It’s a bit longer than the one at Slugworth, a point I’ll have to remember when making up passenger trains in the station!
     

     
    Steve’s latest building is Mousey’s garage , tucked down the side of “Rillington Place†and is ready to repair a now engineless F series Vauxhall Victor. The building is scratchbuilt and fitted with a vehicle lift and lights it really looks the part.
     

     
    Wonder if he does bodywork there? You know what those F series were like for rusting!!
     
     
  3. Jon Fitness

    Saltney, On Shed.

    By Jon Fitness,

    While I battled with the wiring, Steve next turned to adding more detail and atmosphere to the MPD, getting the turntable working well, making a control panel and wiring up some lights. More green lumpy stuff was applied and plenty of colour sprayed to blend it all in.

    To complete the scene, a Skytrex enginemans bothy was added and blended in after Steve worked his magic on it.

  4. Jon Fitness
    Decided to stick at 5 trusses, which I think gives a full enough look without being too crowded.

    I've included an internal picture of Waverton goods shed (LNW wooden built, near Chester) as a comparison.

    I think Steve likes a few lights in the buildings so some level of internal details is necessary.
    Hopefully it's now time to start the "pretty" bits. Slaters stone walling and embossed slates.
    I'll probably need some detaily bits from Invertrain(windows, doors, chimneys gutters etc., Duncan Models (wall mounted crane, people etc.) and 10 Commandments (sacks boxes pallets etc)to finish it off.
    I'll be taking it round to the layout to see if it fits where it's meant to so watch out for more pics soon.
  5. Jon Fitness
    Seems a bit busy for a Sunday here in Chester PSB Interfering with my modelling time
    Had a huge T3 block that had to be shortened and re-written then when the trains started running along come a load of diversions. tsk.tsk.
    Still... managed to cut out a roof truss from foamex sheet for the goods shed. I reckon I'll need 6 or 7 so being a lazy b+++++r I'll draw round the first one a few times rather than mark them all up. They won't be part of the structure as such, just there to create a bit of atmsphere in the goods shed, especially as I have cut skylights in the roof.
    I did all of the cutting and left the loose cut outs in position until all of them were loose to keep the strength in it while I was hacking away.
     

     

     
    The strange notch at the top is to clear the wooden spar that runs between the end walls and acts as the main support for the roof.
    First trial fit doesn't look too crap bad.
     

  6. Jon Fitness
    In our banker siding, Steve has provided a little coaling facility to feed the bunkers and tenders of the busy bank engines.

    Another ex Talacre signal has been re-furbed and positioned at the LM jc; this is now the home signal coming off the incline from the GW station.

    More retaining wall has had its lumpy stone added ready for painting and the yard at the LM station now has a cobbled area. Steve has left a space that might as well have a big arrow with flashing lights that says "The goods shed goes here.....Jon...when you're ready....in your own time..."

    An old signal from Talacre (Which I was never really happy with) has been re-built with some new dolls, extended, turned round and generally bashed into shape to suit it's new role as the LM jc main diverging signal. It will now be a gantry (of sorts) and have 4 working arms which hopefully will be worked by servos. This will of course be subject to me being able to successfully assemble the required control kit from MERG! More of this signal is shown further down

    Mike Evans brought his Bachmann 03 for a run out and very nice it looks too. (well I thought so..)
    . Yes I know its a diseasle Steve but at least it has a chimney and coupling rods.............
     
    The gantry was then tried in position and (thankfully) fitted and there is a nice clear area under the baseboards to fit the working "gubbins". As the use of servos is new technology to me, when I eventually start on the mechanics and electrical side of this I'll start a thread rather than a blog so you can all watch and probably laugh as I struggle. Meanwhile, a number of trains were run underneath it to check for clearance on the curves. Among them, Les's visiting standard 4 2-6-0 looked grand as it trundled a fitted freight round.
     

  7. Jon Fitness
    Ok here's a bit of an update. I can't currently include any pictures within the text due to what must be, to Andy and the dedicated admin team, frustating problems, but the link to the gallery should give you an idea of where we are now.
    Steve and Les are much faster and more regular workers on the layout and have for the most part, completed the major scenic work on the main lines and surrounding areas. I've plodded on with my little area by the LM station entrance when I can, but work and other commitments have kept me away a little.
    Hopefully in the next few weeks I can crack on with the rest of the stone walling while Steve and Les make a start on track laying on the upper (WR) level station.
    Now the ballasting is completed, I now have 3 or 4 signals waiting in the wings to be installed by the LM junction, including a sort of gantry on the approach to the Jc points. I say sort of, as it's design and construction would probably make a purist wince but it's a case of "waste not want not". Precious few of the signals from "talacre" can be re-used without modification and some may have to be sold on as not suitable for the track layout on the Saltney Railway. Shame.
     
    I think I'll leave any further updates until RMWeb is healthy and fully functioning again so...
    TTFN B)
  8. Jon Fitness
    Firstly, must apologise if these entries seem to be coming a bit thick and fast. Just trying to bring it up to date without making each entry too big!
    Steve had a bit of luck when someone gave him a load of photgraphic backscene sheets. OK they were seconds but very useful nevertheless. They were quickly mounted on boards and installed (to hide my point motors!)
    A bit of work with the plaster bandage, paint and green lumpy stuff and a nice scenic area was the result.
    I placed my detailed Alphgraphics LNWR Signalbox at the junction and a couple of locos were posed in the banker siding to see what the scene looked like.

    The almost completed area showing the fearsome gradients to be encountered when climbing up from the LM junction.You can see how the up and down inclines were split to ease the upward gradient. Lack of space prevented both lines from being re-aligned.

    Meanwhile, Steve and Les got busy with more green lumpy stuff around the tunnel mouth, and we now have one side of the layout looking reasonably presentable

    Of course we had to have a play, and 51232 (Sevenscal kit with Slaters wheels and Mashy motor) surprised us all by trotting sedately round with a 24 wagon freight train.

    Work then turned to the loco shed. Working of the layout will entail a lot of light engine movements on and off shed for turning so Steve installed a lot of isolating sections in the various tracks and set about adding lots of grime and atmosphere (and a bit more green lumpy stuff) to create an authentic looking environment.

    2 areas finally got their finalised track layouts. The LM station and the GW junction. Much work ahead with the wiring (I now hate diamond crossings!)

  9. Jon Fitness
    Finally got round to painting the retaining walls along the edge of the LM yard. About 9 foot of it..
     

     

     

     

     

     
    It was all painted in a concrete colour, allowed to dry then a colour mixed about 50/50 matt black and Humbrol 26 ("matt dark earth" I think) brushed diagonally over the raised bits. took about 3 and a half hours including brew breaks. I think it looks ok.
     
    Steve's now started the GW station track laying. The station throat board is removeable at the moment, so it can taken down for wiring and fixing up the point motors. It will then be fastened down permanently in the hope that nothing fails below the basebord
     

  10. Jon Fitness
    As suggested, a new little station has appeared by the loco shed along with a signal that has mysteriously sprung up . Must be the time of year. . As Steve has named the GW high level station Upper Mill, me and Kenny reckon the new station is called Lower Mill.
    I think Steve will get back to me on that one...
     

     
    A nice Marcway curved point has also appeared near the junction. I think it was one of those "I've got one of these going spare/free if you can make any use of it Steve" things.
    Rude not to really
     

     
    Once the ballast is tidied up it will be toned down to match.
  11. Jon Fitness
    Fitted a banner repeater signal and the home signal it repeats. Both are worked by the now standard micro servos.

    Steve has finished the cottages. Someone's moved in and got the washing out already .

     
    Work will now concentrate on building & fitting the rest of the mainline signals and monitoring the working of the Dingham couplings fitted to some of the stock.
     
    Someone say Dinghams?... Next time we'll have a look at those....
     
    More Soon.....
  12. Jon Fitness

    Stone me…

    By Jon Fitness,

    After a pleasant couple of hours at the Gresford gauge 0 get-together, (where I met fellow RM Webbers Dikitriki and Dibateg, nice to meet you fellas!), I returned home to daub a bit of paint on ET’s replacement, the stone bridge.
     
    The results can be seen below and I’ve left it with Steve to install and bed-in.
     
    Once it’s in, I’ll blend in the surrounding stone-work and I’ll then be ready to re- install the signal gantry.
     
    This will be moved so it’s on the “approach†side of the bridge and it will be joined by one or two others appropriate to the now revised track-work.
    Jon F.

  13. Jon Fitness
    Steve’s finished the footbridge over the lower yard and I think it’s blended in well and adds a bit of interest.
     

     
    Still in the lower yard, some of the sidings have been partly buried in plaster to represent the ash and general waste material that was traditionally used to ballast the track in sidings during the steam era.
     

     
    Still a lot of work to do on it with bits of grass and weeds etc.
     
    The goods shed looks a little more “planted†now as well.
     
    I’ve now fitted a couple of illuminated buffer stops at Slugworth station and will be fitting a third now I’ve run the wires through the platform structure.
     

     
    Due to space restrictions, when the track was laid at the GW station, the layout only allowed arrival at one of the 2 platforms.
     
    This has been rectified by the simple expedient of……moving the platform across!
     

     
    (No track was harmed during this process………………..)
     
    During last winter, 3 bonsai trees were inadvertently left outside in the garden at my place. Needless to say none of them showed signs of life but they were given a chance until summer. Not wishing to waste them, I gave them to Steve who planted them on the layout. After a bit of treatment with the glue and lumpy green stuff I think they look quite presentable..
     

     
  14. Jon Fitness

    Time for an update..

    By Jon Fitness,

    Yes I know…. It’s been a while. I seem too busy building stuff to be writing about it, although not as busy as Steve’s been…
     
    There’s a popular myth that the only water troughs in a Tunnel were at Standedge on the ex LNW transpennine route…not quite;
    Some have been discovered in a tunnel near Saltney….
     
    Made from plastic channel and constructed “in situ”, the many support brackets were glued down as the channel was laid. The planking (provided to stop the water from washing the ballast away) is from coffee stirrers and the troughs have several layers of varnish poured in. This was all topped off with a spray of gloss varnish over the area to give a wet sheen to everything.
    The associated water tank and treatment tanks were made up from various bits of styrene and odd fittings to complete the scene.

     
    Another recent addition is a cattle dock to replace the fuel depot which never seemed to look right.
     

     
    Heavy use/testing of the Dingham couplings has shown that anything fitted with a bogie must have the couplings fitted to that bogie! Other than that, as long as buffer stops are avoided, and they are set to provide a reasonable gap between vehicles they seem reliable and useful. Heres one attached to a bar soldered to the bogie on a Southern "Queen Mary" brake van

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