Mike Storey Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Chimney blocks arrived today, to make my tunnels (capable of taking the weight of many rocks and a step through to access the central area). Cripes - I wish I had found a cheaper supply. Main load of concrete blocks for the final section of this phase, arrive tomorrow, plus more sand and cement. Game on! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
44690 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm sure you'll be pleased with your Silver Lady. I have the similar Lady Anne. There are some people who have reservations about the slo-mo and have the view that it adds wear to the motion. I have no experience of the slo-mo, Because my Lady Anne has insulated wheels I can't fit one. However I have found that with care and practice my Lady Anne is very controllable. I could go down the route of working drain cocks though. Something to contemplate perhaps. First I have a poorly Accucraft loco to sort out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 I'm sure you'll be pleased with your Silver Lady. I have the similar Lady Anne. There are some people who have reservations about the slo-mo and have the view that it adds wear to the motion. I have no experience of the slo-mo, Because my Lady Anne has insulated wheels I can't fit one. However I have found that with care and practice my Lady Anne is very controllable. I could go down the route of working drain cocks though. Something to contemplate perhaps. First I have a poorly Accucraft loco to sort out. Having seen several on YouTube and a couple up front and personal (I was allowed to operate one for 20 mins or so), the SloMo brings a whole new dimension to the sound and movement of the loco, well worth the £180 or so extra (for me anyway). Terry at SSP covers the issue of extra wear, on his website, and believes it to be minimal - he suggests it may mean replacing some parts after 9.5 years instead of 10, for example. I can live with that! Incidentally, you can swap out the insulated wheels for non-insulated on any Roundhouse loco, using their spares, if you ever feel so inclined to fit a SloMo. Good luck with your Accucraft - I have some problems with my Mortimer, but nothing terminal (I hope)..... Anyroad, delivery lorry broke down yesterday, so still no materials to finish off. Sodde is working overtime on this layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
44690 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Having seen several on YouTube and a couple up front and personal (I was allowed to operate one for 20 mins or so), the SloMo brings a whole new dimension to the sound and movement of the loco, well worth the £180 or so extra (for me anyway). Terry at SSP covers the issue of extra wear, on his website, and believes it to be minimal - he suggests it may mean replacing some parts after 9.5 years instead of 10, for example. I can live with that! Incidentally, you can swap out the insulated wheels for non-insulated on any Roundhouse loco, using their spares, if you ever feel so inclined to fit a SloMo. Good luck with your Accucraft - I have some problems with my Mortimer, but nothing terminal (I hope)..... Anyroad, delivery lorry broke down yesterday, so still no materials to finish off. Sodde is working overtime on this layout. Thanks for the reminder about Roundhouse spares. I have made use of the Roundhouse spares facility in the past. At the moment I have other things on my shopping list more important than a slo-mo and non insulated wheels at the moment, but having seen several locomotives close up fitted with slo-mos and owning a Lady Anne I know you'll be delighted with the Silver Lady/Slo-mo combo. I'll bet you can't wait until May? The only person I am aware of that has a Silver Lady and a Slo-mo is Tom on the Garden Rails Forum. He may be worth asking about the drain cock issue. I have no idea what's wrong with my Caradoc. It is second hand having had at least 2 previous owners and some home made mods and some repainting. At the last steaming there appeared to be a steam leak and some burning of oil or paint! Like you I'm hoping it's nothing terminal (or expensive!). Good luck with your Mortimer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
77philg Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Thanks for the reminder about Roundhouse spares. I have made use of the Roundhouse spares facility in the past. At the moment I have other things on my shopping list more important than a slo-mo and non insulated wheels at the moment, but having seen several locomotives close up fitted with slo-mos and owning a Lady Anne I know you'll be delighted with the Silver Lady/Slo-mo combo. I'll bet you can't wait until May? The only person I am aware of that has a Silver Lady and a Slo-mo is Tom on the Garden Rails Forum. He may be worth asking about the drain cock issue. I have no idea what's wrong with my Caradoc. It is second hand having had at least 2 previous owners and some home made mods and some repainting. At the last steaming there appeared to be a steam leak and some burning of oil or paint! Like you I'm hoping it's nothing terminal (or expensive!). Good luck with your Mortimer. Could be a burner issue and or gas jet problem especially if it seems to be lighting in the smoke box .Barley pit works do a replacement burner which is a vast improvement on the original. Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
44690 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Could be a burner issue and or gas jet problem especially if it seems to be lighting in the smoke box .Barley pit works do a replacement burner which is a vast improvement on the original. Phil Thanks Phil. I have the Train Department Valves ready to fit for control and the Barley Pit Burner was next on my list. I'm having it looked at by an approved repairer next week. I thought all Accucraft loco's lit in the smokebox? All the ones I've seen do, as does mine, although it quickly settles down. to burn where it should. I believe it's the way the gas vents from the tank when full. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share Posted October 27, 2018 Thanks Phil. I have the Train Department Valves ready to fit for control and the Barley Pit Burner was next on my list. I'm having it looked at by an approved repairer next week. I thought all Accucraft loco's lit in the smokebox? All the ones I've seen do, as does mine, although it quickly settles down. to burn where it should. I believe it's the way the gas vents from the tank when full. Yes, that's exactly how I light my Mortimer, and I have just checked the instructions to be sure! Those instructions do refer to ensuring the level of the gas jet is not too strong, so perhaps that is what Phil meant - if there is a leak somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) Well, the problem with the Silver Lady appears to have been sorted- Paul at DJB has found a way of allowing the simulated drain cocks operating rod to be modified around the SloMo, so all orders confirmed now. Hope to have it in my hands by next August. Meanwhile, work has continued on Belle End until it simply became too cold to continue. My phone could not take any more photos, despite memory dump, and it took weeks to find my old camera, which then did not work. So, armed with a new camera, please see some a progress photos above!! (Clearly the wrong time to be uploading - this pic took about ten minutes. Will post more when speeds are better. This photo was taken from more or less the same position as the last one back in the summer. The blocks have been laid through the station area and right around the western horseshoe bend. Just the long straight (well a long curve really, on the right hand side) to finish, which will be a lot easier, when the weather allows. Track has been bent, cut and laid loosely, pending levelling out and ballasting. Edited November 21, 2018 by Mike Storey 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Great stuff Mike and the spoil heaps already look like a real rocky hillside which just need a few bags of soil and plants spreading around its base. Nice long stretch to put your foot down...and forget the slo-mo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 Another attempt at a photo update - this time to show I have not been as idle as I normally have been - two of my buildings from my uncompleted, tho functional, Peterborough layout, almost totally destroyed by wildlife and our dogs, now resurrected with slightly dodgy roof angles and highly suspect re-painting regimes. Matt varnish will dull much of this down, and the weather will do the rest. The other photo shows the stage I have reached with completing a signal box (from Lineside Delights, now long gone, but some of whose products are re-appearing with others), after a mere seven years of effort....... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 Just one pic again due to the long uploading times at present. This time a view from the west end of the station, with track laid roughly in position. (I am sorry this has arrived at 90 degs - it just seems to be pot luck at the mo.) This is far as I had got to by early September, except for the bridge which was only finally sorted this month. The beige, 1:1 dog monster walking along the retaining wall shows what I am up against - it would be madness to permanently install anything capable of demolition by this creature......However, I am determined to have working station lamps this time and have purchased the battleship-standard kits from Roundhouse (plus some I already had from Brandbright's earlier incarnation). The station platform will be the rough area to the left of the track, with a small town rising above it, leading to a couple of Corris type cottages remotely placed in the remoter uplands - the aim will be to hide the station side from the other side as much as possible. The bridge provides a sea inlet to the edge of the canal basin. More in subsequent pics. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) Two photos this time. The first shows the position of the bridge across from where the canal basin will be. The little plastic ship show the intention of eventually making this look like an inlet from the sea, but at low tide. It will give me an excuse to use the dozen or so sailors and fishing folk figures I have collected over many years, and that side of the canal basin will be a small dock side. The other side of the canal basin will have its own siding, with a canal boat (another modified toy I have yet to work on) with loading staithes and a crane. The line will run round a horseshoe curve from the bridge to the other side of the canal basin, as shown in this photo. All blocks for this section now laid, and half way down the long curve to meet up with the eastern triangle (many more have been laid since this pic was taken a few days ago). Just arrived at the stage where a tunnel will be, but rain has stopped play for a bit. Should be able to finish the blocking by Tuesday, if the forecast is sound. Edited November 23, 2018 by Mike Storey 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 Nice to see so much progress being made Mike, i hope the weather holds for you. I made a couple of barges from charity shop finds i used Sponge Bob toy Pirate ship hulls. My White metal made crane was bought second hand and i've discovered since that its a Skytrex 'O' gauge one but did'nt seem too far out of scale. Hope you don't mind me posting these few here? 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted November 24, 2018 Author Share Posted November 24, 2018 Brilliant views, as ever Bob. It was your canal boats that inspired me to model the basin, although it will look very different to yours in most respects, simply due to levels. My base model was a Palitoy toy barge, for some range of cutie figures I have long forgotten the name of, bought for £1 in a Greyhound Rescue charity shop in Hebden Bridge. The toy boat, of unknown provenance, on the other hand, was a complete rip-off, at 3 euros from a seaside emporium on the coast near us here....... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 Rain continuing to stop play here, for sure, and I am only two blocks (and a wee bit of concrete infill, or quite a lot really) from completing the entire loop!!! Should be dryish tomorrow, so that will all get done. Then I can get on to laying the canal basin branch/siding and complete the surrounds for the basin. After that, I can start the tunnel, and then the major earthworks for the landscaping, before I can properly lay the track (otherwise, an awful lot of cement/spoil/stone is going to ruin the track ballast). Meanwhile, I have been fettling the signal box parts, and tonight have sprayed the etch primer on the metal parts, and primer to the resin ones. Then I can get on with detail painting before assembly. I had forgotten how much you stink after doing that, as had the current Mrs Storey....... I may be sleeping on the couch tonight. Has anyone found a sure-fire way of getting rid of the smell (a shower has not done it)?? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 I may be sleeping on the couch tonight. Has anyone found a sure-fire way of getting rid of the smell (a shower has not done it)?? Find a Woman with no sense of smell like i did Mike. Do's smell a lot like Cat pee that etch primer stuff to me, so try rolling about in some Nettles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 Find a Woman with no sense of smell like i did Mike. Do's smell a lot like Cat pee that etch primer stuff to me, so try rolling about in some Nettles Thanks Bob. Good advice......does anyone have any TCP? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 A couple of views from today to show I have now completed the main loop blockwork and the concreting of the gaps, in between the rain, strong winds and the very cold nights. Just some mortaring of the small holes and some other bits to do, before infilling the sides so the blocks won't be seen. I quite like the way the curve has worked out, and there is an incline over about 8 yards of 1 in 70, which should make for some decent steam as the locos work for a living. I have yet to build the tunnel, which will be on the short straight, level bit in the middle, (two arm-lengths long!), and a cutting each side of it, and above which the small town will rise up from the station side, to hide each side of the loop from the other. There is also a siding to be built from the canal basin up to the main track, for which I have yet to lay foundations. That is going to be steeper than I wanted, so I am having a re-think on levels. The siding may have to be above the basin, instead of level to it, but Owd Bob's coal chutes have given me an idea for that. But work will stop now as the weather is getting colder and we are away soon, and anyway, I have run short of concrete ballast. Back to kit building and painting, until the weather improves in the new year. Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year everyone! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Just place-marking, to make sure my thread is still here. Nothing to report on the railway I'm afraid - too cold and wet to be digging and concreting just yet, and all my kit building has stopped due to the need to use the room for other things for a few weeks. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 Extraordinarily good weather here at the moment, although frosty nights. I have managed to mortar up all the joints and holes in the trackbed (took me three days just to do that...), I have had more concrete ballast delivered, and have laid the foundations for one side of the main station platform, parallel to the track - I needed to do this before permanent track laying, due to access. Hoping to get the canal siding foundations laid by early next week (cannot do for a few days due to hosting three extra dogs for friends whilst they take a break), and then need some more blocks to create that, plus the tunnel and base blocks for the elevated village behind the station. I have worked out how to block around the canal basin, using U-blocks to hide the sides of the rubber basin. Permanent track laying is commencing, and a delivery of SBR has arrived to seal the ballast. Looking good. But I am still trying to work out what kind of trench to lay to install PVC pipework to feed wiring to the platform lighting. Judging from advice received elsewhere, I need to make the trench accessible to repair soldered joints, whatever precautions I take with heatshrink etc. as damp will enter somehow over time. My thoughts are to leave a timber top out to the trench, disguised in the way Owd Bob does things, but maybe some of you have been there, done that, and have better ideas? No pics yet until something more than just concrete is visible..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Sounds like good progress. We are having weirdly unseasonal weather in England too - seems to be mid-April currently, so I expect it will be December come March, like it was last year! If you really have to joint cables/wires "in the run", it being very best avoided, I would suggest a "jointing bay/chamber", as is done with real power cables. This is a place where all the joints, in all the cores, are made, and is kept deliberately accessible, because even with the immense care that goes into jointing full-sized cables, the joints are still the parts most vulnerable to failure. You could use buried tube/pipe for the main parts of the route, and make a little joint bay/chamber, using a paving slab as a base, a single course of bricks, then a further paving slab as a lid. Or, if that is OTT, something similar but less OTT. You can make the joints less vulnerable to moisture ingress by "potting" them - make the joint inside a little box, which is then filled with a compound that makes more intimate contact than heat-shrink. You can buy the compound from RS Components. Again, maybe a bit OTT. If you do use heat-shrink, buy decent-quality, and don't be tempted to use an excessive diameter, because if you do it will create creases as it shrinks, which act as capillaries for moisture. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 13 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: Sounds like good progress. We are having weirdly unseasonal weather in England too - seems to be mid-April currently, so I expect it will be December come March, like it was last year! If you really have to joint cables/wires "in the run", it being very best avoided, I would suggest a "jointing bay/chamber", as is done with real power cables. This is a place where all the joints, in all the cores, are made, and is kept deliberately accessible, because even with the immense care that goes into jointing full-sized cables, the joints are still the parts most vulnerable to failure. You could use buried tube/pipe for the main parts of the route, and make a little joint bay/chamber, using a paving slab as a base, a single course of bricks, then a further paving slab as a lid. Or, if that is OTT, something similar but less OTT. You can make the joints less vulnerable to moisture ingress by "potting" them - make the joint inside a little box, which is then filled with a compound that makes more intimate contact than heat-shrink. You can buy the compound from RS Components. Again, maybe a bit OTT. If you do use heat-shrink, buy decent-quality, and don't be tempted to use an excessive diameter, because if you do it will create creases as it shrinks, which act as capillaries for moisture. Many thanks - maybe that compound is the answer for a more long-term fix (heat shrink is a problem externally, especially as the very fine wire from the individual wheat bulb fixtures is too fine for the shared circuit across a number of bulbs). I have looked at the RS Components website, but I have not worked out what to look for!! Is there a name for that compound, or a word I could use for the search facility? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 'Potting Compound'. It comes in numerous 'flavours', so you might need to work out which is best for your needs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 A productive several days up to yesterday, with the trench dug for the canal siding and concrete foundations laid at a slope of about 1 in 70-ish. Blocks and sand ready to lay, but I have run out of cement, so a trip for more to lay these.once decent weather returns. We are in the middle of a raging hailstorm today, after 19 degs C in sunshine yesterday. But my concrete seems to be fine. I also decided to change the way the U-blocks sit around the "canal basin" and dug up the first two with my trusty SDS chisel. Three now laid with the "U" hanging over the lip to hide the top of the rubber trough. Much better. No pics, because they would just be more concrete again! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 Well, I had hoped to post some photos of glorious pics of completed works, with the canal siding trackbed laid (done), the completion of the canal basin surrounds (only half done) and the addition of simulated stonework to the sea-inlet side of the basin (not done, not done at all). But Father Weather broke forth today in a way not forecast nor conducive to working an electric cement mixer. I had even re-laid the bent and cut track work out ready for said photos. I am only posting, not just to announce my almost complete failure, but also to say I will not be progressing anything new for at least a month, due to obligations elsewhere, in another country. When we get back, builders, who should have started three weeks ago, will be occupying my attention, for several weeks. But I must complete the circuit by July, when my nephew arrives, and will be expecting something rather more interesting than concrete. On the plus side, whilst we are away, a friend will be installing the additional electrics in my barn for the indoor 00 layout of Queenborough and maybe Sheerness too, now his furniture is out of the way. Silver Lining I suppose..... 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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