Hi all.
A little progress has been made on track laying the last few days, although not as much as planned due to a shortage of rail. However, the point which controls entry to the yard has been motorised and the point controlling entry to the wheel drop shed is now complete. This was an interesting one, as the real version is best described as 'kinked' so I've tried to recreate this. Not sure if it's been successful or not but it's different anyway
Anyway, pictures!
And
Hi all.
Just a quick entry today. A new colour cartridge has been acquired for the printer and I've now managed to print a test sample of the artwork for the oil store building. After printing the original artwork shown in the last entry I felt it was a bit on the dark side even though it looked fine on screen. So after gradually lightening and some sharpening to bring out the detail in Paintshop I think I've finally reached something I’m happy with.
Anyway, here's the first print fol
....that's the question!
When I was building the block of flats for the modern image "plank" I decided to produce the buildings using paper with bricks printed onto it, stuck to a plastic shell. The benefits of this were I could take a photo of a real building and then print it out to scale and use it create the prototype brick pattern rather than a generic one. I was quite pleased with the results but to save people digging back through the blog here is the block of flats in question:
Hi All.
I've come to the conclusion that modelling a real life location is somewhat of a mixed blessing. On one hand you can go there, see the place for yourself and get some valuable photos & notes to aid with replicating it in a smaller scale. On the other hand, you know exactly what you have to model and where it needs to go, and there is always the thought that if you miss something someone will point it out sooner or later! So, taking advantage of the fact that the Mid Hants is jus
Hi all.
To begin with, a slight diversion from modelling, but in the name of research....Tangmere hauling the Dorset Coast Express just after passing Pirbright Junction on the 5th July:
Back to modelling, following on from the previous entry I have constructed a larger test board to try out the method for producing bramble type ground cover. I was happy with the basic principals of using the Steel wool however I felt the Noch leaves were maybe a little on the large side for N. So,
Hi all.
There are plenty of excellent materials available these days for producing scenics, many of which give excellent results without much effort. However I find scenics one of the most satisfying parts of building a model and I'm always on the lookout for materials which are easy to pick up but will give the same results as some of the products you can buy.
Whilst I'm waiting for more track parts to arrive, I have been trying out methods of producing undergrowth for use on Ropley.
Hi all.
Not much visible progress to report this time, however there has been some progress in the power area.
After using a Bachmann EZ Command rigged up to allow test running, I finally took the plunge and bought myself an NCE Powercab for use on Ropley. Dropper wires were attached along the length of the 'main line' which were attached to a main power bus running the length of the board and the bus was wired into the neat little power panel supplied with the Powercab.
I also acq
Hi all
Ballasting, some love it, some hate it, but there is no getting away from it. At some point it has to be done!
The mainline 'plank' featured earlier in this blog (and still alive - just) was a fairly simple thing to tackle, although I wasn't really that happy with the Woodland Scenics "fine" ballast I used. It wasn't really fine enough for N. So for Ropley I've been looking around for a better product for the main line & loop which is pretty standard as far as ballast goes wi
Hi all!
Well, point 3 is now completed, which means the main line section is now finished as far as track construction goes.
The ash pit in the line before the wheel drop shed has also been cut out so the next stage will be to build the walls & floor of this and the trackwork which sits on it.
Heres the model:
And the prototype:
The ash pit features many different cut-outs & part brick, part concrete construction so re-creating this is going to need a few m
Hi all.
Another small update on Ropley progress sees the second point now complete. This is the point at the Western end of the station loop and is on a very gentle curve which made things a little more interesting than the first one.
Test runs of various stock shows a little tweaking is necessary around one of the switch blades but otherwise everything seems to run quite happily through it!
Wiring has also started with the main DCC bus being installed and the first sections of trac
Hi all.
Just a quick update to show the first finished point on Ropley! Only another 6 to go
Having test run all the stock I have through it, amazingly it seems to work first time! All that is left to do now is wire it up and fit the tie bar once I've decided on the method of operation.
Unfortunately I'm waiting again for another supply of chairs now. Seems i cleared the 2mm SA out of stock with the last order, but hopefully there will be another spurt of activity towards the e
Morning all
Just a small update but perhaps significantly my first attempt at pointwork using easitrac components but to N scale clearances. This is the point giving access to the main yard area:
A little way to go yet but now waiting for the next shipment of chairs to complete the job. This was something of a learning curve for me but so far it has been no-where near as difficult as I'd feared! Of course the proof will be when it all works but thats for another update
Che
Hi all.
Visited the Mid Hants Railway for their GWR themed spring Gala on Friday and had a thoroughly enjoyable day! All credit to the team there for getting Pitchford Hall within a few days notice of King Edward I not being able to make it via the main line at Alton due to pathing issues.
It really is a lovely stretch of line and I'd recommend anyone who's in the area pay it a visit
Here's a few photos from the day.
Che
......laying gently curving track is a real pain in the....bottom!
Track laying has started at Ropley and the first issue to deal with was how to create the gentle curve of the prototype. I decided the best way to do this was to make up a guide which would be temporarily pinned into place and the track butted up against it before being fixed in place.
The first track to be laid was the point for the station loop. After giving some thought as to how to make the easitrac point base
Hi All.
Now I'm up at the parents where the baseboard for Ropley is living temporarily I've been able to make some progress.
There are a couple of small level changes over the yard at the real location and I have been thinking about a way to tackle these for a while now. Basically you have the main line & loop through the station on one level, then the wheel drop shed immediately behind this on a very slightly higher level, then the main yard on yet another slightly higher level ag
A little while ago I showed the results of some experiments with DAS clay to produce the inset track for Ropley yard. I was pleased enough with the results to know this is how I'm going to tackle the shed area once I reach that stage of the layout, but since then I've been giving some though to the more 'normal' ballast for the main lines through the station and around the ash pit.
For my modern image test board I used Woodland scenics fine ballast, although for N it isn't really fine enoug
No, wait.....not that kind!
Whilst waiting until I can start track laying, I have been having an experiment with couplings. As Ropley will essentially be end-to-end, there is no need for me to make allowances for stock negotiating sharp curves. The led to me wonder if there was scope for closing the gap between the new Farish Mk.1 coaches. I'll let the photos below do most of the talking but others may find the results of this tinkering useful?
Photo 1: This is the standard distance betw
Hi all!
Until I visit the parents again in 3 weeks time, there won't be much progress on the boards. So in the meantime, here's a look at the Graham Farish Black 5 released last year.
The Mid Hants Railway have recently finished the restoration of Black 5 45379 to running condition (http://www.watercressline.co.uk/The-Works/Locos/14) so at the Doncaster show I managed to pick up a Farish example for a reasonable price. Eventually it will be renumbered to match the full size version.
After most of the day spent in the garage, the main board for Ropley is now complete! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and it should give a good solid base for the layout as well as be light enough to be transported if nessecary.
There is no fixed backscene as I'd like to be able to view the layout from any angle when its at home.
Once the glue is dry it'll be given a coat of paint on the inside and then there won't be much more progress until my next visit to the parents in
Hi all
Just a quick update to say that baseboard construction for Ropley has now started! These are being built at the parents as they have all the nessecary tools and a quick trip to the local timber merchants saw a piece of 8x4 cut down into all the nessecary parts. If you can find a merchant who will do this for you it does make life so much easier and the cuts have turned out much better than I could have made at home.
In the short time available this afternoon I've made up the f
Last week a 2mm Scale Association B7 Easitrac turnout base arrived and using the template which comes with it I've drawn up what I hope is now the final plan for Ropley, bar one or two minor tweaks. The main change will be a B8 point for the loop giving a smoother transition.
The milled turnout bases are flexible enough to allow them to be bent to match the gentle curve of the mainline, but that overlapping turnout at the entrance to the yard should be fun to build.....
Unfortuna
I thought that quote summed up baseboard construction pretty well!
Originally I had intended that the baseboard be around 4ft by 1.5ft for the Ropley project. However, after playing around with the plans it became obvious that there would need to be compression of the scene at each end, namely the main shed and C&W shed would have to be effectively chopped in half. Whilst this isn't exactly a problem, it would make expansion of the layout at a later date to include the station much mor
