chaz

If you are going to follow Adrian's suggestion and trim off the extensions to the tie-bar that project beyond the stock rail don't overdo it! There is a rib moulded on the top of the bar which slides against the underside of the stock rail and, I presume, stops the blades from lifting. Move the blades away from the side you are going to cut and then slice through just outside the stock rail. Put a thin strip of packing under the tie-bar before you slice through to prevent any damage. This does mean that you will see a short piece of plastic tie bar projecting beyond when the blades move to that side but it's still a worthwhile improvement. When you ballast round the point leave just enough of a gap for the projection to move into. Chaz

Now why didn't I think of that! Thank you Adrian - it shall be done! A quick slice with a chisel with the blades over to the side to be cut is all that's needed. In due course I will be adding a (cosmetic) hand-throw lever (might find some etched ones at Reading tomorrow?) Chaz

Go for it, Stephen!!! When you do it try to forget the price of a Peco point, you need steady hands. In particular be very careful around the tie bar. Chaz

I sympathise with your sentiment. I wish I had the motivation to make my own points (I certainly wouldn't bother to make plain track - the Peco stuff looks fine to me) but it was a compromise I felt I had to make for time reasons. I'm not sure I would characterise what I'm doing as an "extensive modification" David - being entirely superficial. I'm not touching any of the rail. Thanks for that - blending is what I am hoping for...... Photo above shows this first point with the changes completed. As the servo is not powered in this picture the blades have relaxed to an indeterminate mid-position. I used three short pieces of Peco Individulay plastic point timbering to replace the missing sections. Unfortunately I haven't managed to make the joints invisible - the point is laid on cork, which has militated against getting a totally level "bodge". However I think the result compares favourably with Peco's nastiness in this area..... The second photo compares before and after. On the left is an untouched point with the switch housing intact. On the right is the modified point, with the ballast restored. I will try to get a better match with the sleeper inserts on future modifications. Possible a thin plate over the cork to level it? - although this will make it necessary to slim down the timbers slightly. Now for the other seven...... Chaz

Yes Alan. Right on both counts. The points are a new, "improved" version. As you say the original points had a much more discrete and acceptable arrangement. The box is for a microswitch which I think has to be bought and fitted by the user (I can't be certain as I didn't lay the track). Certainly none of the points on Dock Green have, or need, a switch on the tie-bar. The polarity of the crossing is switched at a DPCO switch which also controls the servo. Chaz

It might well SS, but all the turnouts on Dock Green are glued down, wired and ballasted so I must vandalise them in situ but if I was taking a new one out of the box..... Chaz

While I have been working on the cobbled area I had time to take stock and to regret that I didn't do something about the Peco points, specifically that horrid box in the four foot over the tie-bar. I decided to experiment on one of the points to see what could be done. First step was to pull off the top of the box and then to cut away the switch housing using an end-mill style burr in my Dremel. When I was cutting away the housing at the toe end of the point I wedged the point blades with card packing so that I could work without damaging the plastic tie-bar. I used that sad old screwdriver (which has seen service as a paint stirrer) to scrape away some of the ballast. I didn't think granite chippings would do the burr much good. Once I had cut the housing away I decided to try and slim down the tie bar. Whilst conceeding that it will never look much like a prototype stretcher bar, cutting away the central bulge should improve the look. I'm not worried about weakening the bar as the action of the servos I use is very gentle. I put a piece of brass under the tie bar to support it and shaved the edges to a straighter line with a chisel blade. And the picture above shows where I've got to. The switch housing as been cut away, I have cut the sleepers back to the ends of the chairs as this will help to disguise the join when I pop in some replacement sleeper sections. The black section of plastic between the two white areas is the base of the housing. I have left this in place as it adds a little strength. The tie-bar has been pared down but there is a little more work to do to get this looking even and parallel. I did think that this bodgery would have been better done before the track was laid - but on reflection I'm not so sure. With the point laid and held firmly in position and well supported by the ballast it can be worked on safely - you just need a steady pair of hands with that Dremel! I will post again when I have got a bit further with this point. I'm a bit daunted by the thought that I have another seven to do...... Chaz

You can minimise the risk by only using the type of refill that has been "glued-up". This seems to stop longer strands from breaking off. Chaz

Thanks Marc. I have a feeling that cobbles would in fact be very evenly coloured, however the patchy effect seems to work fine (at least you and I think so) on the model. "do you want to scribe a few thousand setts for me?" Yes OK. How about 10p per sett? 5% Discount on every thousand..... Chaz

Thanks for the photo and the link, I will follow this up. Did a bit more work on the setts. Where they looked a bit light I added more grey acrylic as a wash. Once this had dried I had another look. Some of the setts looked a bit dark, and there were patches where the detail didn't show too well, the colour of the tops matching that in the joints. Some very gentle work with a fibreglass brush had the effect of lightening the tops of the setts slightly. Chaz

Yes Adrian. As I said to Sue when she saw me scribing up the first tiny patch and was stunned when I confirmed just how big an area I was going to cover: "How would you eat an elephant?" Good luck!

Hmmm. I see your problem. Maybe you should go for a heavier snowfall? or would you look on that as cheating? Chaz

I'm guessing that like me you're layout is/will be set in the fifties? I was brought up in Hertford Road, off the Kingsland Road, some distance north of Shoreditch and a mile or so south of Dalston Junction. I remember that when I was about six (so 1955) the tarred wooden blocks that formed the road surface were lifted and replaced with tarmac. You would not have described Hertford Road as an upmarket street. A tatty terrace on one side and a woodyard (which Googlemap suggests is still there!) on a canal spur on the other! Incidentally I particularly remember the work being done as it was fascinating for a six year old to watch - and because our share of the blocks were stacked in the garden and consumed on the house fires. My grandfather loved a "good blaze". So you might be able to reduce the area you have to cobble......otherwise you might well scribe yourself to arthritis...... Chaz

I decided it would be as well if I ran something up and down the inset track (not before time!) to check that all is well. Now the baseboard that the cobbles are on is not the one which has all the DCC kit so the only way to power the tracks short of doing a full layout assemble (NO - don't be silly!) is to hook up the tracks to my Bench PSU. Of course that means it's probably wise to use the only loco which doesn't yet have a decoder in it... Runs like a dream, and had no problem creeping over the cobbles. My care in ensuring the DAS surface is just below rail height seems to have worked. Incidentally I bought a Zimo sound decoder for the Ixion Hudswell Clarke at Warley so it will join the stud in the next day or two. Chaz

You might be OK if you used plasticard but using card you couldn't leave the pieces in place - the DAS bonds very well to any slightly absorbent surface. What you say is true BUT the flangeways are very generous when compared with the prototype. But then so are the ones on Peco points!

Ah, yes, a friend of mine has a static grass applicator with which he has had very good results. I think I will persuade him to lend it to me (he has my loco chassis assembly jig so it will be fair dos! ). Grass clumps sound good - can I ask which brand? Have you got any photos of the results? Chaz

Thank you Marc, it is encouraging when forum users make such comments. As to patience I just plodded through - probably the worst moment was when I realised I was about half way through 'em..... I used strips of thick-ish card - mounting board off-cuts from a local picture framer. A strip was put in place on each side, propped up against the rail, and the DAS thumbed down between them. However I found it best to cut these strips to no more than a couple of inches, otherwise it was impossible to get them out without disturbing the DAS. Short lengths could be slid out sideways - lifting vertically was a no-no - it tended to pull the DAS away. This meant that the clay in the four foot had to be applied in short sections. As I levelled the surface by laying a steel rule across the top of the rails to detect high and low spots I had to re-insert and remove the card several times. I soon got into a routine of applying some DAS and, while it was drying (at least 24 hours), scribing the setts on a dry section. Chaz

Well, when I've finished cringing I must say thanks for the comment (but not for the pun ), David. You are quite right - the cobbled area finishes off nicely what was a blank bit. Of course what keeps happening is that each bit I complete "reveals" another bit that needs sorting. I suppose that eventually I will run out of bits that need sorting. Ho Hum. I did discover last night that in one or two places where the setts were a bit too dark (the acrylic paint wash is patchy) I could lighten the tone with some very careful use of a fibreglass scratch brush. I will need to add a wash in places where the effect is too light and to touch in some white bits between the setts, but I will be leaving the majority of the area patchy, as I think it looks OK. Next area is going to need grass and weeds - not my strong point, so a learning curve is about to be tackled.....

Thanks for those comments, lads! In the next day or two, after I have done a little more work with the paintbrush, I will take another snap or two. Maybe some close-ups. WTS. Chaz

I understand your point entirely, however the traffic into and out of the warehouse will usually be in vans so..... You can't tell if they are loaded or not (a bonus!). They form an effective screen so that you can't see much of the doors anyway. I know what you mean about the hand - I think people overlook it when it descends to couple or uncouple BUT I always notice when the hand appears to prod a loco - not good

I might well agree when I see the effect after it has dried. I will need to do a bit of touching in though as I can see a few chinks of white DAS in the gaps between the cobbles. Chaz

Something like that would have been good, BUT the cassettes for industrial spur are just behind the doors and on a lower level. I couldn't think of any way of making the view through an open pair of doors realistic.

The cobbles have been a long slog of a job but I finished scribing them into the DAS today. How many? Well, from the baseboard edge to the rail where the cobbles finish is equivalent to a row of exactly 100 (what are the chances of that?). There are nine rows to an inch. And the area is about 31 inches long. So that's 9 x 31 x 100 So about 28 thousand setts..... I must be mad. I have given them a quick wash of dark grey acrylic, which makes the pattern show nicely, but as you can see this is a bit patchy and I will need to add a second wash when the first has had a chance to dry out. It is a nice feature, and I am pleased with the result BUT I wouldn't want to do anything like it again. It should look good with a road vehicle or two parked on it. The area to the bottom right of the photos will need blending in so that there is not a drop off the end. I have it in mind to have a bank with grass and weeds and a footpath leading away under the road bridge which is planned to cross the yard just beyond the cobbled area. WTS. Chaz

Yes, you've got me banged to rights! Pushing the lever down is supposed to apply the brakes but on that side of W28894..... The brake levers were spares which came from another kit (possibly a Slater's) and one them included the reversing dog clutch - but the brakes themselves were the Coopercraft originals. I supposed I should have swapped the push rods around. Ho Hum. Wood graining? On the GW open it was all done with two colours of paint and a cocktail stick. P21493 had a few lines put on with a scalpel. Chaz

I don't actually add a final varnish coat Don. I did try this once but found that the change to the surface texture that the varnish effected spoilt the result. I use a lot of talc when doing weathering jobs. Chaz