SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[sandwich station]

Interesting. I typed that post on another forum, then copied it before posting it. I can't see any hidden code in the normal editor, but I'll check the code if I can get at it.

What ever you did worked. But posts 580, 581, 587 and 590 need doing as well.

Edited January 29, 2017 by sandwich station

[Gwiwer]

Hi Jeff,

Great work! 

Question: Has some of the varnish splashed onto your keyboard as all the lettering on your latest posts have gone yellow?      

 

 

Interesting. I typed that post on another forum, then copied it before posting it. I can't see any hidden code in the normal editor, but I'll check the code if I can get at it.

 

 

All posts have appeared here normally at all times.

 

However I do know from experience that some other sites have some sort of background code which seems to be theme-related.  If I type a post first for one forum then copy and paste it to another the text appears on the later forum shaded pale blue.  If I do it the other way round the text is shaded in something I could best describe as puke green which - thinking about Jeff's comments - is probably yellow shading over a pale blue theme.

 

What ever I type here first there is no problem on other boards and anything I type on other boards then copy and paste to here shows normally to me.

 

As a rule I now type everything here first then copy and paste to other sites if I wish to.  That requires me manually typing image tags at times but saves a lot of editing later.

[SRman]

When Hornby's Peckett locomotives hit the shelves in the UK, I was tempted but thought I really don't need one, attractive as they are. The Australian market barely saw them at all, then the UK ones all sold out, so I thought I was "safe".
 

Then last week, a friend in Brisbane messaged me to say he had located and bought one from Metro Hobbies, here in Melbourne. What was even more surprising was that the price was a shade under $AUS150 including postage. I promptly informed DougN, who lives only a short distance away, because I knew he was after one. He popped over to our local Metro Hobbies shop in Box Hill, but they informed him the models were at the city branch, but they would get one sent to Box Hill for him to pick up. That was last Friday. He got the MSC one and picked it up on Tuesday.
 

I jumped in on Saturday morning and ordered the Huntley & Palmers version for postal delivery to my address, and that turned up on Wednesday. I must have got my order in just in time, because the Pecketts all reverted to being for pre-order on Metro Hobbies' website later on Saturday morning.
 

I checked it on DC, then ran it on the rolling road for a while, still on analogue. It ran beautifully, quiet and smooth. I switched the Underground tracks to DC and ran it with a load. It again ran beautifully and also surprised me with its power, handling 14 kit-built wagons easily, and only struggling slightly on a curve with a 15th, rather stiff wagon added.
 

Tonight (Thursday), I fitted a TCS M1 decoder with shortened wires, utilising the existing 4-pin connection by soldering the decoder wires to the metal pins in the plug that acted as the looping device for the track feed wires to the brushes. The fit was good, with the decoder sitting in the space Hornby aliowed at the front of the mechanism, with space to spare (but only a tiny amount!). The chassis worked fine on testing on DCC but, unfortunately, I didn't watch the path of one of the brush wires when replacing the body. The trapped wire broke, so I had to open it all up and repair the break, before Blu-tacking the wires to prevent them moving, and replaced the body again. This time all went well and she runs very smoothly now on DCC.
 

Here are a few photos, with the first one showing opening the box, and the other two in service on DCC with the 15 wagon train - you'll have to take my word on that as only the first couple of wagons are shown!

 

Of course, the loco will benefit from a little judicious weathering, and I may even remove the Huntley and Palmers lettering at some stage, but for now I am quite pleased with my handywork.

[DougN]

SRman, 

 

As we have little booked this weekend we should get together. The MSC in dark green is very nice and I would love to see your H&P version.

 

It will be interesting to see how differently the 2 behave with the TCS M1 and the DCCconcepts Nano.  I can see why people like these for Micro layouts..... Personally the little loco runs nicely on my main line. As I have been out 3 nights this week (On school nights  ) tonight will be a quiet night and I might see what its haulage capacity is! I don't think the S15's record is in danger though!

 

Only thing planed for the weekend is Ms DougN's Netball tomorrow morning and Mast DougN doing homework...I think it will be a few years before I start   on his home work! 

[St Enodoc]

I may even remove the Huntley and Palmers lettering at some stage.

Obviously Arnott's would be the best livery.

[SRman]

Somewhere, buried in my collection of older items, I have a Wrenn (ex-Hornby Dublo) van in Peak Peek Freans livery. Maybe I should put together a tea-and-biscuits train; Lyons tea comes to mind as a livery for a van or container for the tea part!

Edited March 3, 2017 by SRman

[St Enodoc]

Somewhere, buried in my collection of older items, I have a Wrenn (ex-Hornby Dublo) van in Peak Freans livery. Maybe I should put together a tea-and-biscuits train; Lyons tea comes to mind as a livery for a van or container for the tea part!

Why not? The Tea & Sugar used to run across the Nullarbor so there is a prototype for everything.

 

Plenty of milk tankers on the market too, but avoid the Lima ones with their cookie-cutter wheels.

 

Of course, it can't be hauled by a diesel or electric loco - kettles only!

[SRman]

A short video of the Peckett passing through Newton Broadway.

https://youtu.be/PpusqUkXi7A

[SRman]

One more of the Peckett and wagons for luck:




The wagons behind the loco in the pic are two LSWR vans (Cambrian Kits), an LSWR gunpowder van (Dapol, but weathered by me), then two more Cambrian Kits wagons, this time LSWR 8-plank wagons with two different variations on the brake gear.

I fitted a driver into the Peckett today, although he's not in that photo.

I am very pleased with my purchase of the Peckett (you could say I'm "chuffed"!). I took it over to DougN's place yesterday, where it met up with Doug's MSC version. Both are beautiful models, full of character and lovely runners. They managed quite decent loads on Doug's gradients too. It's a shame I didn't think to take any photos or video of them at work there. I do know Doug seems equally as pleased with his purchase.

Edited March 5, 2017 by SRman

[DougN]

SRman, I don't think we should even contemplate a exhibition layout no matter how large or small. Yes we have the little lovelies as shunters but neither of us have the time to think about building another layout  . As you know it would have to be DCC and no longer than 1800 (as it would fit in the trailer!).... OH &(*&,  I have started thinking about it! 

 

I can already hear from the back ground . no NO NO NO NO NO NO definitely not happening 

[St Enodoc]

SRman and/or DougN, I have been thinking (dangerous I know) that the Peckett might, just might, be a basis for converting into one of the very small Bagnall tanks used by the Port of Par in Cornwall. A quick check tells me that most dimensions would be about 10% over scale but in proportion, which I could probably live with. However, the whole idea rests on the height of the Hornby chassis. I don't suppose you measured this when you fitted your decoders, but if you did, or if you don't mind popping the body off again to check for me, that would be very much appreciated. Alternatively, the height to the top of the saddle tank would be useful.

 

Thanks.

Edited March 6, 2017 by St Enodoc

[SRman]

Having lost the whistle from my Peckett, I turned up a crude replacement using a bit of suitable diameter brass wire in the Dremel, using a file to cut grooves and alter the widths of parts of it. It is by no means accurate, but it passes muster at normal viewing distance, and will be rather more robust than the original plastic one.




John: I would be a bit reluctant to remove the body again, having already broken one wire replacing it the first time. The height of the top of the tank from ground level, with the loco standing on a table, is approximately 38mm. For the height from rail level, knock off 1mm.

Edited March 6, 2017 by SRman

[St Enodoc]

Having lost the whistle from my Peckett, I turned up a crude replacement using a bit of suitable diameter brass wire in the Dremel, using a file to cut grooves and alter the widths of parts of it. It is by no means accurate, but it passes muster at normal viewing distance, and will be rather more robust than the original plastic one.

 

 

 

John: I would be a bit reluctant to remove the body again, having already broken one wire replacing it the first time. The height of the top of the tank from ground level, with the loco standing on a table, is approximately 38mm. For the height from rail level, knock off 1mm.

Thanks! I will investigate further...

[SRman]

I got brave and weathered the Peckett, although only with some weathering powder for now. The effect can be wiped off or added to later, if I think it needs adjustment. I think it looks alright, with the bright colours toned down a little but not lost.

[SRman]

Having bought a new Hornby Huntley & Palmers Peckett 0-4-0ST (probably the last one in Melbourne, if not Australia), I tested it on DC then added a decoder, using a TCS M1 wired to the 4-pin 'looping' plug. During that operation, I managed to lose the whistle, so crudely turned one up from some brass wire in the Dremel (shown earlier). That worked as a stopgap until I tried a second time and came up with something that looked a little more like a whistle.

After I was happy with that, I weathered the Peckett using black powder. there's more to do but I think it looks more like a well-used example while still showing off the lovely H&P lined blue.

A few months ago, I swapped an original Bachmann London Transport body from its split chassis onto a new DCC-ready chassis. The split chassis was converted to DCC some years ago and wasn't too bad a runner, albeit not up to the standard of the newer chassis. The LT swap left me with a heavily weathered BR black pannier body sitting on the old split chassis. I thought that this would not be a likely seller, so decided to have a bit of fun and make it into a might-have-been Huntley & Palmers loco (without logos as I may eventually remove the legend from the Peckett to make it more generic). I started by painting the pannier body in a rather lurid Revell blue. With the already red coupling rods, this didn't look too far off the H&P colours, although I was well aware it would need toning down somewhat.

I was going to apply a second coat of blue but decided that for industrial use, a second-hand loco would probably have had the paint slapped on carelessly to give an idea of identity.

Some white edged black lining from an LNER sheet of transfers applied to just the tank sides aided the identity change, together with an arbitrary number 8 on the cabside completed the main work. I touched up the black parts where I had gone over with the blue, then dry-brushed some more black onto the upper surfaces of the tanks and boiler, followed by a heavy application of black weathering powder.

I have posed the pannier tank with the Peckett so you can all judge from the photos how well I have succeeded, or how far I have fallen short.

[SRman]

One more photo, this time posed on the layout.

[SRman]

After a long hiatus, I returned to the upper level level crossing. The basic "woodwork" (actually Wills planking) has now been finished, so the next stage is to paint and weather it before fitting the gates.

[SRman]

Last weekend was a long weekend for we Victorians, with the Labour Day Monday holiday. that also marks the annual model railway exhibition at Sandown. DougN and I went on the Sunday, catching up with many old friends along the way, and as a result, staying a lot longer than we had anticipated. Among all the high quality layouts and traders, I ran into an old friend and fellow BRMA member from Queensland, running a trade stand as Modeller's Warehouse (http://www.modellers-warehouse.com.au/ for anyone who is interested - please forgive the free plug), selling some rather nice trees and various high quality grass mats and scenic materials. I looked at some of these but didn't buy any straight away, preferring to come home and look to see what would fit my needs (even though ordering online would mean additional postal costs). Anyway, I ordered some rather nice Alpine Larch trees with a view to adding them to the church area, replacing a nice, but out-of-place weeping willow at the top of what I would imagine to be a fairly windswept hill.

While fiddling with that and the level crossing, which had the rail centre infills reduced in height slightly to allow easier track cleaning, I dug out some DAS clay my wife had bought me some time ago and started filling some of the gaps around the edges of Church Hill, as well as blending the levels a little better. It looks a little patchy at the moment, but it all adds up to improving and finalising the scenic aspects of that area. 

While I had the DAS out, I also filled some of the gaps in the back gardens of the terraced houses down the hill in the village, but haven't taken any photos of that area yet.

Anyway, here's Church Hill as it looks now, with further work to follow.






Such photos, while not of the highest quality (taken on my mobile phone), do show up any imperfections or items that need further attention, rather cruelly in some instances. One such example is the church steeple, which at the higher angle of the first shot can be seen to have a gap with "daylight" showing under the gutters.

p.s. I did also buy several of the Model Scenes grass mats which will add great effect to some unkempt embankments and other areas I have in mind later.

Edited March 21, 2017 by SRman

[St Enodoc]

Among all the high quality layouts and traders, I ran into an old friend and fellow BRMA member from Queensland, running a trade stand as Modeller's Warehouse (http://www.modellers-warehouse.com.au/ for anyone who is interested - please forgive the free plug), selling some rather nice trees and various high quality grass mats and scenic materials.

Dave was at Forestville the previous week. The long drive from Brisbane hadn't stopped him being his usual ebullient self.

[DougN]

SRman, I think the top of the retaining wall could do with some of the Peco lineside fencing. One thing I ended up doing to make it look a little bit nicer is to paint it with Grey spray pack primer. it removes the "glossy sheen" of the plastic and seems to be a bit more developed once planted. The glossy brown colour that it comes from Peco in tends to make it look extra like plastic!

[SRman]

Hi Doug. I was debating in my head what style of fence or wall would look best.

 

I thought a high stone or brick/flint wall would suit the church best, but would have the undesirable side effect of hiding some of the detail in the church grounds.

Hedges would also look good but have the same undesirable effects.

 

The Peco lineside fence would allow more 'see-through', but might be considered a bit flimsy for the protection of people from the high drop over the retaining walls. It also has the advantage that it easily follows the contours of the land.

Probably the most ideal would be an etched brass tall picket style fence, such as those Scale Link used to produce, but those are also more difficult to get to follow the contours convincingly, as well as being expensive for the length i require.

Whichever I choose (most likely your suggestion), it will have some rough weeds and vines on the railway side of the fence, where no one can safely go to mow or trim it all.

Edited March 22, 2017 by SRman

[SRman]

I did some 'greening' today, to reduce the slightly barren look of the village and its surrounds. Mostly I have used offcuts of various grass mats, but I did use almost the entire rough embankment mat bought at the same time as the trees at the church. None of this is intended to be the final look. It still improves the overall appearance of this area, and also gives me the illusion that I am making progress!

[SRman]

Today I decided to make the scenery for "The Arches" area at one end of the layout a little more permanent. I have long had the Wills arches sitting Blu-tacked to the high level track bed, acting as place-holders for something to come. However, I do like the Wills arches so have decided that to make them more permanent and better suited to the location, I worked out that the ground level needed to be raised. This was done yesterday with some expanded polystyrene. 

This morning, with the glue having dried overnight, I painted it with the usual 'Hurricane' grey acrylic paint. That was also allowed to dry before printing out some Scalescenes road textures and a little brickwork (I'll explain later!).

The photos show the progress from this morning's effort, firstly with the paint still wet, then with the road surfaces added, although there are several joints to disguise on both the road and the arches.











 

One little trick I tried (successfully!) was to use a solvent based contact cement to glue the Wills arches to the MDF high level track bed, with a small amount of the glue also added to the bases of the arches, knowing this would attack the polystyrene beneath; this was to get the arches to bed into the ground. This was a risky strategy, because if the glue had been too aggressive I would have had to redo the ground level foam again, or perhaps needed some filler.

I will be adding some weeds and dirt along the edges as part of the finishing work. There will later be a backscene along the edge of the layout, starting where the right hand arch brickwork ends.

Now for that brickwork I printed earlier; the left hand edge of the left-most arch lines up roughly with the tunnel mouth for the low level tracks on the other side of the high level track bed. to cover the gap under the track bed, I needed a brick wall. Because it is mostly hidden and in darkness, it didn't need to be a full relief moulding, so I was happy to use some printed brick walling (actually viaduct / bridge supports from Scalescenes).

I do wish to allow photography through the arches to look along the low level underground lines, but where these arches are corresponds to the underground lines tunnel, so the filled arches are the go here. Those to the left of this scene (to be done later) will be open arches or girders.

 

While I was busy scenicking, I decided to add one small extra touch to the church area by adding a garden bed to the end of the church farthest away from the car park. This was simply cut from one of the Model Scene grass mats - one called 'blueberries'.

[Peter Beckett]

Hi Jeff,

Looks good. Must be school holidays

 

Peter

[SRman]

And a small amount of further progress: gutters added to disguise the joins on the brick arches, extra strips of distressed bitumen added to the road surface, and a brick wall added at one end. The road surface is too glossy at the moment but a spray of matt varnish or similar will fix that.