Dymented - the Serious stuff starts!

[lezz01]

So the storage area is scenic or a fiddle yard? I ask because of the comment by Chimer a few posts back.

AK interactive and MIG are both military modelling orientated but they have products that are very useful to us railway modelling types that are largely either unknown or dismissed by us. AK's range of water colour pencils are particularly useful for weathering and MIG's pin washes are great for weathering as well. There are lots of videos on the tube by military types making dioramas using all sorts of products that we could use as well but go mostly unknown. I have used products from both companies as I also do a bit of military stuff now and again. It's something I do when we go away on holiday in case of rain and in the evenings as Kimmy isn't a fan of pubs. My current model is the Airfix 1/48th Defiant which I've not got very far with as I'm adding an interior PE after market add on which complicates the build quite a bit. You never know I might even actually finish it one day. I used to do lots of 1/35th military modelling back in my teens and twenties before I got back into railway modelling, wargaming as well. I have my eye on a BMW R75 and sidecar in 1/9th scale which makes up into a very nice model.

Regards Lez.   

[Philou]

@lezz01 That's interesting in many ways. Whilst my brother - he of Lord and Butler - sells railway stuff, his modelling is military and he's recently got back into it and doesn't seem to have lost his touch either. I think I posted some photos of his recent work on this thread ages back ^ which is mainly in the Tamiya bigger scales (1/35th and up).

 

I agree military modellers can show us a lot of ideas to improve on what we do (well, when I say 'we' probably I mean me!). Even 'Dirty Boy', my brother's business partner, who does top-notch weathering for the shop, will use colours such as purple, for example, when working on models, of which I would never even thought.

 

The storage area will be part of the overall scene and be in full view, so I shall need to decorate it to a reasonable standard. The huuuuuuge sector plate (that exists only as a drawing at the moment) whilst in full view will not be decorated - it will be what it is.

 

Despite an excellent lunch, I managed to solder all the storage area rails to their droppers and align and fix the track in place. Tomorrow, I shall join all the droppers to the bus via Wagos. Shouldn't be more than an hour's worth. After that it'll be time to get the bridge in place and that will take a tad longer ;)).

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Philip

[lezz01]

Why not pack the area up with card and use Chinchilla dust for the ash and then paint it and dry brush it for the storage area Philip or just use plaster and stipple it with a 2 inch paint brush as it sets and paint it and weather it.

Regards Lez.  

[Philou]

Not many pet shops around here and even less chinchillas! I've never looked for chinchilla dust but you never know, otherwise Amazon will be my friend. I have used plaster in a yard before and topped it off with sand and weathered that - it looked reasonable. Plenty of options.

 

Today I got all the droppers in place and did a little tidying up with some cable ties - no photos today but I'll do some for tomorrow.

 

In the afternoon I set-to regarding laying the track over the bridge and I have cut the underlay to shape and gave it a basic coat of white.

 

I have a feeling that I may have to carry out some major works to the bridge as there's only about 1mm freeboard between the piston covers of Anthony Manor and the plate girders and as the loco has a bit of a waggle due to needing to get around R2 curves it's a little bit tight for my liking. Either that or a blanket ban on locomotives using the bridge! And I don't think Anthony Manor is the widest of the GWR locos - hey ho. It was fine doing the dry run but now that everything is glued together there's no give - double hey ho. It's not all doom as I already have an idea of what to do - it'll just delay things a bit.

 

Tomorrow morning is the completion of my tax return but definitely more in the afternoon .........

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Philip

[Graham T]

Philip, on the subject of ash ballast why not give the Chris Nevard DAS technique a try?  I used it in the goods yard at CR Mk I.

[Philou]

14 hours ago, Graham T said:

why not give the Chris Nevard DAS technique a try

 

Ah, thank you @Graham T, I knew I had read about the use of DAS somewhere - I shall go over there later and have a look.

 

Cheers and more later (off to modify a bridge :(( ),

 

Philip

 

 

[Philou]

An interesting start to the afternoon - I thought I was going to be doing this:

 

 

Instead what I got was this:

 

 

^ The cutters and their torches came by and cut the bridge down. I'll let you know how I get on with the 'modifications' :((

 

More later,

 

Philip

[5BarVT]

Heart in mouth time.  Especially after all the effort you put in to getting it look so good.

Hope the “remedial action” is successful.

Paul.

[Philou]

4 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Hope the “remedial action” is successful.

 

Thanks Paul. Remedials are under way and I would have done most of them this evening but our elderly neighbours had an electrical problem that needed sorting and that was that. I might have a complete bridge back in place tomorrow - here's hoping :)) .

 

Chums and chumesses, there's no picture this evening but I shall try and post one up tomorrow.

 

Take care out there,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Remedial action has been undertaken - pictures to follow later. I've been waylaid again by 'good deeds' and real life ....................... must dash!

 

More later,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Hello chaps and chapesses,

 

I'm back with a few pictures to show. As you will recall the cutters and their torches, ^,  came and cut the bridge down and sent it to the yard for remedial action.

 

What to do? I wasn't going to throw it away and start again so I decided that as it was within my Rule 1 zone I would modify the bridge enough to allow the passage of all traffic within the UK loading (read GWR) loading gauge.

 

What I did was to cut the two side girders down to rail height - that way there could be nothing - not even the cylinder drain cocks - fouling the sides of the bridge. I cut a piece of plasticard twice the width of the original web (7mm > 14mm) and stuck it to the bottom of what was now two off-cuts remembering to place the parts on what would become the outer edge: v

 

 

^ The bridge engineer decided he ought to have a look too.

 

 

^ A bit washed-out - sorry - but shows gussets that were than attached to the underside of the widened web to support the displaced upper part of the girder to the lower part. Not to do anything would have been daft engineering-wise as the whole thing would just pull itself off and over. The gussets are also 'secured' via angle to the web.

 

 

^ This shows the two new parts secured to the original lower deck - we also have raised walk-ways which are prototypical.

 

 

^ A dry run with the modified bridge in place - I don't think it's terribly prototypical - but I have seen similarly formed bridges elsewhere.

 

 

^ Plenty of clearance between the rolling stock sides and the displaced plate girders. As I wasn't prepared to hack the central girder, I shall move the track by about 3mm towards the side plate girders on both sides, ensuring that the piston cylinders chests are clear of the central girder too.

 

Tomorrow will be tidying up of the plasticard where needed, a waft of grey undercoat over the new works and once dry a bit weathering to try and match whatever might be left, a waft of matt varnish and I should be ready to restart - huzzah! There are two pilasters to put back once the bridge is fixed in position.

 

What did I learn from all of this? That Peco sleepers are NOT to scale for 00 and to double check distances and allow plenty of room. What will I remember? Not a lot!

 

That's enough excitement for today thankyouverymuch.

 

More tomorrow,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

[lmsforever]

Well done looks a lot better glad to see your cat helped out   I had one a long time ago that used to sit by the fiddle yard and when a loco stopped he would lift it off the track  ,made me smile he was a lovely black and white weighed just over a stone.

[Philou]

@lmsforever We have a young black'n'white stray. Found him as a 6 week-old kitten on the battery of my car in the middle of a heat wave. How he got there was not certain, but eventually we found out he'd come from an adjoining village, got into (or under) a van and fell out in our village when the van went over a speed hump. He's now two weighs just under a stone (6kg). The grey one is another stray that arrived at our door when 6 weeks old too meowling his head off - hungry and thirsty - and he was injured with scrapes and a sore leg and probably fell out of a vehicle going over the same hump! He has green eyes and his nearest pedigree would be a Russian blue - loves water. This grey one replaced my favourite marmalade tom who was 9 when he got run over minding his own business on a grassed verge six days previously. The car had swerved to avoid his arch-enemy that was sat in the carriageway. The driver hadn't seen my Ginge :(( . He'd be 16 this year, same as his litter sister who we still have - a great big furry marmalade queen. She used to weigh over a stone but she's got thyroid problems and has been losing weight - unfortunately.

 

Thanks for the comment on the bridge - perhaps not quite prototypical, but I'm pleased how a sow's ear has been made out of a silk purse - er - something like that.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

A really good day today - the modified bridge was painted, coloured with some powders and sealed with matt varnish. It is now in its permanent position - there's no going back!

 

We have pictures:

 

 

^ The modified bridge in place. I'm certainly very pleased how it turned out - looks much beefier than before. That's now a real bridge!

 

 

^ A dry run with some coaching stock to ensure that there was still enough clearance for stock.

 

 

^ Anthony Manor being tested on maximum waggle to the left and right and there's enough space too.

 

 

^ Track bed in place awaiting for the PVA sauce to dry. The track bed is now in place through to the first pointwork (or last, depending on direction of travel) that will be under the control of the Pontrilas 'box'. The cans are weighing the underlay down until it all dries off.

 

This now means that I'll have to order another mimic board kit asap as things are moving at a pace. However, once I get to the curve it'll all slow down again as I'll have more scenery to do before laying too much track.

 

More tomorrow I hope,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

 

[Philou]

Tomorrow is here! It was very warm and a day of tedium. I set out to recut more precisely to the underlay. I had mentioned a page or so back ^, that I considered the shoulders too wide and hence too much ballasting. The pieces of underlay for the mainline have been reduced in width and recut into a 1 + 2 + 1 form (relief-main-relief). However, due to the one curve being 1200mm radius, it is too sharp to maintain 45mm track centres and so I have introduced widening to 50mm centres on approach and further widening to 60mm to allow a centre support pillar to be placed under the road bridge that is to be one-after-next scenic detail to be tackled.

 

The underlay was painted this evening and will be dry ready for marking out the changing centres and then glued - I hope to have this done before lunch that may allow me to have a go at doing some scenic work and then do some track laying (What?! Already? Temporarily only). Then it'll come to a stop as I get the next section of trackbed (including the road overbridge) in place as it impinges into the next module and I have to continue my hillside there as well.

 

I shall order my next pack of PMs for the next section tomorrow as there are 4 points to be laid within the next day or so.

 

Busy busy busy and more again tomorrow :)) with possibly a picture.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Busy again but it was hot and I've abandoned for today, unless the evening is cooler.

 

Hello chaps and chapesses,

 

I got the underlay glued down before lunch having first marked the centres lines on the 1+2+1 pieces and allowing for bridge widening and the like. I did find one piece of ply trackbed that had a dip in it and remedial measures (bits of card under the underlay) taken to level it out.

 

As the underlay had dried, I've started track laying using my map pins to set out the line. I've got as far as the pointwork that will lead into the Down Goods Relief - remembering to de-spring it, cut back the sleeper widths and lengths and to remove the pesky little electric connections underneath. Once I've got the other half of the facing crossover done then it'll be a last clearance check over the bridge before marking the places where to put the droppers.

 

 

 

 

 

Once marked I shall then lay the Up line and rinse and repeat. Then, up it'll all come to put the droppers in place and tin the underside of the rail at the dropper location.

 

What I do for the electrical connection is to form my 1.5mm² tinned wire into a staple shape with a top about 10mm wide. The lip/bent end I push into the underlay so that the wire can't go anywhere. The flat top allows a bit of wiggle room to align the rail. Once all in place again, a touch with a hot iron to solder the two parts and then cut off the lip/bent end. This ensures that the rail sleepers are in contact with the underlay.

 

 

I'm happy with my method (probably not original!) as the dropper is buried in the ballast and is unseen. Using the outside face of the rail is rather unsightly with my 1.5mm² wire. I have disguised it by weathering - but I know it's there - once seen, can't be unseen!

 

I don't think there'll be any more this evening as it's still hot up there, so more tomorrow it is then ...........

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Edited July 20 by Philou

[Philou]

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

Pontrilas here we come!

 

It did cool off a bit yesterday evening and so I took the opportunity to do some more tracklaying. By lunchtime today, it was looking like this:

 

 

 

^ The tracks held in place with mapping pins. But wait, by this evening .............. :

 

 

 

 

^ Looks better now! Clearance tests done and nothing found wanting so I removed the mapping pins one by one and replaced them with my headless nails (I have since found out they're French glaziers' sprags). Whilst removing the pins I drilled out a hole ready to take the nails so that minimum hammering need be done. The nails haven't been riven full depth as I shall need them later to locate the track when I lift it all up to do the droppers - tomorrow's little job!

 

I did spy two dips when I pushed the coaches along the track - nothing very serious, but when you think it's as smooth as possible .......... I think it's at the interface of the underlay that unfortunately coincides with a track joint. A bit of card will have that sorted out later. There are also some sleepers to be inserted before any ballasting starts.

 

I do have a question: To cant or not to cant? I've seen it done but the person had overdone it and it just looked silly. If I do do it, then it'll be a sliver of 1mm card on the outer sleeper edge (2mm would give the 7% max super-elevation). I'm in your hands, so what do you think?

 

Once the droppers are in place then I shall go back to landscaping whilst waiting for another mimic board kit to arrive.

 

Cheers everyone - enjoy the weekend - it's a warm 'un here!

 

Philip

 

 

Edited July 20 by Philou

[Philou]

Thanks chaps for your support - it's very much appreciated!

[Gopher]

Talking of Pontrilas station.  Personally I doubt it will happen., but the topic appears in the local press every year or so 

 

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/24414773.update-plans-herefordshires-pontrilas-station/

[Philou]

6 hours ago, Gopher said:

Talking of Pontrilas station.

 

@Gopher Hello. Yes, the last time it came up, it seemed the proposal was to provide a Park'n'Ride facility but at a new location (not far away) due to the station building being in private hands. Apparently the owner(s) is an enthusiast and you eat and sleep well there - so I have heard.

 

Imagine TfW trains stopping there between Cardiff and Shrewsbury. I'm sure it will happen as the new government is seemingly pro-railways and the Welsh Government (purse keepers for TfW) have been active on the rail front for quite a while. I think it was they that expressed an interest in stopping trains there.

 

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

No pictures today as the track has been all ripped up and holes drilled for the droppers and the pointmotors. I've also sloshed paint about in the various cesses (cess, cessii ?) and some on my landscape ready for flocking and ballasting. Thanks to the headless nails, the track was removed quite easily and I have now rows of locating pins - looks more like a Märklin layout!

 

Next job is to decorate all the missing retaining walls and move on to the next module along - after preparing a bus and the droppers along the mainline.

 

Cheers everyone, more later,

 

Philip

[Philou]

It's all happening!

 

Hello chaps and chapesses,

 

I finished all my droppers AND had them all tinned before lunch, plus I wired up all the points as well, though they're not going to be put back until the PMs arrive - probably early next week.

 

Today the track-laying gang arrived earlier than expected and more than 50% that was lifted a day or so ago was relaid this afternoon and all the droppers soldered. The bus is in place underneath and all it needs are the droppers to be inserted into the Wagos. I gave the track a coating of grime and if I've the courage, I shall go back this evening and give another coating of grime. Missing sleepers are in place and once the paint is dry, I shall put a blob of PVA to hold them in place before I put 'rust' on the rails. Whilst the rust is drying, I shall go back underneath and join the droppers to the bus.

 

Aaaaannnnndd ..... after that - my favourite past-time - ballasting. Yeah, probably most on here don't like it as it can become tedious but I persevere with it as I think it's worthwhile doing.

 

Missing retaining walls to do and then I can move on to the next module.

 

Maybe a photo tonight,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

PS: One thing I have found is that the 'timber' baulks on my bridge simply will not glue to the deck - I think it's because the deck has been sprayed with matt varnish - not too bothered as I'll just leave it float. If there are problems, I may need to put some plasticard shims underneath and retry the glue.

[JeffP]

What glue are you attempting to use?

Not all plastics like solvent glues, but you could try a thin smear of contact adhesive on both surfaces, then bring them together?

[Philou]

9 hours ago, JeffP said:

What glue are you attempting to use?

 

@JeffP It's Butanone (ethyl methyl ketone) which I used to construct the bridge and deck so it should stick. However (always a 'however'), what has happened is that the underlay and adjoining track is ever-so-slightly higher than the baulk + rail and so there is an air gap underneath the baulks hence no contact below. It's definitely too late to do any track lifting as it's now pinned down and I've soldered the bullhead bridge rails into their joiners with the adjoining sections of track as there wasn't the ability to provide droppers (too much plastic!). I'm not going to do my head in as there are several solutions:

 

a) Do nothing and let the baulks float,

 

b) pack with shims under the baulks and flood with MEK, or;

 

c) raise the deck from below.

 

a) is the simplest, b) is quite doable from above, and c) can be done but a little more difficult. c) would give the better result as the baulks and their cleats would be in contact with the deck, whereas b) would be less aesthetically pleasing (but no-one is going to see) and straightforward to do. Guess which one I shall probably attempt first? Yeah, c) of course!

 

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

I did some more grimy last night and started rusting the track that I continued to do this afternoon. As I had overdone the quantity of rust I ended

up doing all the pointwork in the station throat and some of the yard - 5hrs track painting! Now that I find rather tedious and it meant no droppers were 'Wagoed'. Might have another go later this evening and take a photo too.

 

More later,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Philou]

An update: I plucked up courage and connected what has been laid permanently to the bus - it didn't take too long and I did a bit of tidying up whilst I was on the underside. As soon as the track has been rubberised tomorrow I can test what I laid electrically - as there are no points in the system as yet, there are only blue and brown wires to worry about. What can possibly go wrong?

 

On finishing tonight I looked if I could raise the bridge from below - and seemingly I can. There's the one side that's a little tight in one corner so a little more muscle there tomorrow and it should be good to go.

 

I have pictures too:

 

 

^ Painted yard junction now awaiting suitable ballast ................ The yard rails I shall paint in a darker and more grey colour.

 

 

^ Mainline rails now painted and I'll get on with ballasting here in a day or two.

 

 

^ Side-by-side view.

 

 

 

^ Here are my under-gubbins reasonably tidy now that cable-ties have been secured.

 

 

^ A shot of the Cobalt motors in place - you can get three in a row - just. The trhee are controlling the 3-way point and the catch-point - the latter being on the right side end and is a slave to the adjoining  point motor behind the cross-member.

 

I will say that using solid core cable does help in keeping things neat - no clips used to date as it's all pretty much self-supporting. I'm glad I took the trouble to make the cut-outs in the cross-members as the cable is simply threaded through.

 

Cheers everyone,

 

TTFN

 

Philip

 

 

[Philou]

'What could possibly go wrong?' was a question I raised yesterday.

 

Hello chaps and chapesses,

 

Well, nothing really is the answer except the ballasting gang came by and started whatever ballasting gangs do best - so my electrical test has been delayed. It 'only' took 4hrs to do 1200 linear millimetres of track - almost as tedious as painting the rails! I found a bag of real granite ballast, not my sieved builders' sand, but the real scale McCoy that I bought in the late 70s and I thought that I should like to get started with that - and looks OK. It's darker than I expected but the ballast is still damp and I'm led to understand that the PVA sauce leaves a slightly green hue, too.

 

Before ballasting I also tackled option c) regarding the bridge and it worked! The baulks are now secured to the deck with MEK - another little job done.

 

However, coming to the very end of the ballasting, I think one the little ballasting elves was a bit tired and leant on the bridge parapet a little heavily and it came apart! Not a major issue as it was a case of putting it back in place and more MEK. I just hope no train decides to leave the rails at that location ...... =:/ .

 

I have pictures:

 

 

^ Mainline partially ballasted with real granite chips

 

 

^ Closer view of the baulk/transverse sleeper interface. I see a capping stone needs to be put in place tomorrow, too.

 

What next? The retaining wall towards Pontrilas is under construction and should be done shortly. After that, it'll be a race between the PMs arriving or getting cracking on the next module!

 

That's all folks - more tomorrow,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip