Lacathedrale

I have found (so far, building standard left and right turnouts) that the most difficult bit is a) working out which side is the top of the bullhead and (more reasonably) ensuring I don't distort any curves/straightaways while I'm soldering - rarely a problem in 7mm. EDIT: A more specific question has come to mind - when building track with switch-blade chairplate droppers (i.e. for use with the plastic tie bar), how does one retain the plastic tie bar flush against the underside of the chairplates? With the hole required for the actuating rod in the centre, there's precious little to keep it positively retained and have had a couple of occasions where the chairplates have popped out entirely.

The picture is a bit underwhelming, but it's been a couple of afternoons work to get the platform bulk down and trimmed/fettled and the facings attached. I'm 3/4 of the way through that now, Unfortunately, the height difference between the top of the edging and the surface of the platform is more like 1mm than 2mm, so the cork and wills paving I was aiming for just won't work. I'm thinking of using Woodland Scenics Tarmac - and suggestions gladly taken. https://i.imgur.com/WpZXJKx.jpg

Stand on the summit? Is this like a roller coaster?

Many thanks!

Hi all, My grandmother would like to visit Dorset (we are in Surrey) and we had discussed going on the Bluebell railway, but I see that the Swanage railway is hosting the Scotsman for the period we're looking to be there - I just wondered if anyone had done this, or had any tips at all about the Swanage railway? Here is the link: https://swanagerailway.co.uk/events/detail/flying-scotsman-running-days From what I can see we would be best positioned to start in Swanage to get the Scotsman up to Norden, then hop on a return leg to jump out at Corfe Castle. My grandmother is quite aged now (in her late 80's) so I don't know how well she would do standing around in queues/etc. - any advice gladly appreciated.

thanks Dave, I've been using that as my bible - it makes the double crossover in my station throat look a bit spotty - lots of short bits of conductor - but hopefully is aligned to prototype practice. I can't handle side ramps at this point, so it may require a revisit at some point in the future. This is what I've got after today's work - after painting and cleaning up the railheads I've knocked just two of the insulator chairs off, so I'll take that as a net win In the background, you can see the platform taking shape like some kind of dinosaur in the mist...

Thanks, @kipford - I've put the third rail down on most of one board already so I'll just have to consider that one a lesson learned so far. I do have some brass black so I'll do that with the remainder now. I've seen your layout a few times but not checked out the thread - thank you for the encouragement. It's slowly getting to the point where Godstone Rd. will have most of the structural and electrical work done, so all the heavy earthmoving tools will be moved back into the garage and the chances of clouting a model with a cordless drill significantly reduced. With that in mind, an actual operational plan for the layout needs to be devised if it's not going to end up a very large and expensive diorama. It feels very much like a Towers of Hanoi game: there are three staging roads, one of which is exit only. There are four destinations, one of which is only accessible by the traverser, etc. Any suggestions gladly taken. @TJ52 I shuffled some of the timbers around and have managed to get the first 'half' of the layout looking fairly respectable, pictures later today

Just out walking the dog, and what do I hear? Is that... the sound of a class 37 thundering down the branchline behind my house? Seems that the Kent and Sussex railtour was diverted down the Caterham branch as a way to appease issues of routing past Three Bridges - quite literally stopped 15 feet at the signal beyond the end of my garden. Gosh, the sound chip on the 37 I've just installed is nice, but nothing compared to the clout of the real thing! What a lovely surprise... Anyway, here's the start of the 3rd rail being laid: You can see where I've trimmed back the cork so I can get something approaching a uniform shoulder - we'll have to see how that pans out, of course. I've found it a bit annoying that all the sleeper gaps I've got are 1.5 wide - they look too empty without anything there, and too full with a sleeper in place. Any ideas?

My method for building the platform is pretty simple, though I guess it remains to be seen if it'll actually work! The main structure is 5mm foamcore, cut to the size of the platform clearance minus the width of the peco platform edges. It is brought up to an intermediate level using sides of 1/2" balsa square section, and topped with cork. Peco platform edging will then be glued onto the sides. So far I'm gluing it all together, here is a shot of the foamcore substrate in-situ: I have also fixed as best I can, the alignment problems across the baseboard join. They're not perfect but are a good deal better than they were before. I'm still also very pleased that aside from running a razor around where the backscene joins the ceiling and across the module joins, the whole lot can still be lifted and shifted. You can also see the first pass with some sleeper grime spray on the coal yard track - very effective and will be done everywhere else as soon as the third rail is laid.

CovDriver, I would suggest the George Dent book 'Weathering for Railway Modellers' - it goes over airbrush technique but it also shows you the things that are better done with washes, pastels, etc. - just as easy and the effect is even better. Overall I'm really liking what you're doing!

I've not got a huge amount of conductor rail to lay - two platform faces of about 4' each, and another 5' of double track. Given the relatively modest needs I think I'll try with the peco chairs (especially since I've got them), and then if that fails I'll yank them out and use brass pins with the rail soldered in ontop of them. I've heard the peco plastic isn't particularly good for gluing - I was planning on using MEK or butanone? From what I can gather: 3rd rail should be on the outside except at platforms, where it should be inside 3rd rail should be boarded in where non-PW staff may be walking (i.e. near goods yard entrance) 3rd rail should not be put in a position where a shoe would hit the 'side' of the rail i.e. not against the straight road of a turnout, unless there is a ramp midway for the shoe of a loco on the curved route to rise up to it. I have a few small questions I hope aren't too much of a bother: What are the standard conductor rail lengths that I should be cutting to? How long should the gradient up/down onto the rail be? I'm assuming a scale 2' or so? Is there a distance out from the end of the sleeper I should be fixing? not specifically, but should I err towards the rail or the sleeper end?

So one thing I've realised I haven't covered, is paving slabs up against the platform edges - all of the platforms I'm looking to model have this! I've ordered some wills sheet which is 2mm (i.e. the same thickness as the cork I'll be using for the tarmac) so I think that's mostly OK - I just need to cut the cork to be the width of the paving slab LESS than the substructure of balsa/mdf/foamcore (which itself needs to be less than the thickness of the peco platform sides than the template I've made).

I had a nice big package waiting for me when I returned home last night - including that YouChoos sound decoder. I've done some measuring, the Peco platform edging is actually the perfect height as-is, and I am going to form the inner section with a combination of balsa and foamcore, topped with cork. I took a short trip to Caterham today, and some pictures of the terminus there, it's certainly more photogenic than Bromley North. Here is a shot looking at the bufferstops and showing the walkway down to platform level: I think the overlap of the passenger ramp onto the platform between the platform faces would be effective to stagger the building and make it seem less like a low relief endcap. Here's another shot of the bufferstops: The other direction shows a concrete retaining wall with a little shrubbery and then a vertical hedge - it would be a perfect backdrop for the rear platform: What do you think? I could always just model the 'middle' of the platform now, and have the wings (in the case of modelling Bromley North style, with a wide concourse and gates at platform level) or the ramp down (in the case of Caterham-style, where there is the passenger ramp up to a raised station building)

The top of the cab roofs on 33's were always filthy - almost black - maybe it's worth hitting it from the front? It looks great but I think a panel line wash of a medium-dark grey (darker than the blue) would really set it off. For the cab ends, they got faded quite quickly so maybe a bit of white and then the same dark wash?

Damo, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I'm almost convinced to switch to enamels based entirely on his recommendations, certainly there are very specific bits of advice (i.e. humbrol metalcote, or mig pigments) which I'm going to take advantage of too.

Thanks for the tips - I'll make sure to get the 3rd rail as reasonably close as possible without fouling anything obvious - the layout is full D/E so no requirement to worry about sandpipes at this stage. To be clear, I'm fine to fit the 3rd rail and THEN ballast, right? My thoughts were to get it all down and spray with sleeper grime, then go back and pick out the rail sides and insulators as required.

That arrangement looks much better, even though there are elements parallel to the board edge they are short and not adjacent the border - looks great.

Gotcha, lots to think about, thanks!!

I've fallen foul of that quite a few times too - I've never actually finished a layout because typically, I get bored with the whole thing and abandon it (and normally the hobby) for months or years. I think it's just a case of subconscious nerves - it's much easier to live this hobby vicariously than it is to do it yourself, and nobody wants to waste time or money and end up with something rubbish. Anyway, I'm trying to mitigate against that by having small, specific, achievable short-term goals set up. For example, my current goal is to 'build the platforms', and my next goal is to 'finish the track fettling and lay the third rail'. I'm optimistic that both can be done in the next week or so. Time will tell, but it's working so far.

Ah looks great, and just my cup of tea!

Turns out I'm pretty good at guessing the platform edges - just a little bit to trim on one side. I am pushing back the buffers on the main platform road by 3-4cm in order to have the capacity for a preserved steam loco (like a Britannia, Merchant Navy, etc.). It won't require any further changes, just needs me to mount the buffers on an extra couple of inches of flex and glued in place behind the current droppers. I've ordered another batch from Hattons - mixed brown ballast, scenic cement, sleeper grime (in aerosol), and the components for the third rail, platform edges, AWS ramps and dummy point motors. I managed to avoid ordering a steam loco and instead bought a Zimo MX644D and Icecube speaker set from YouChoos for the 37. I'm hoping that this consolidation brings more value than dallying off into thoughts about an extension or running a big DCC sound steam loco would!

Holey moley, my expectations weren't very high but this book is absolutely fantastic - the results don't seem hard to achieve and are gone through with meticulous detail - I can't wait to try out some of my own. The book gradually ramps up in complexity from just powders to combinations of abrasives, varnish, washes, filters, etc. and takes you gently along the way. Highly, highly recommended.

Maybe something like the old Camden Road station: (Disused Stations)

Thanks for the advice and information chaps, also wow @The Black Hat, I didn't know what I was missing - those two are both fantastic. I will look into Howes too. Much appreciated, have a great day!

Hi there, I'm looking to get a big steam loco to see if I like DCC sound for steam, and I've always had a soft spot for the brutish rebuilt Merchant Navy's. There are a few that are Hornby sound-fitted on the Hattons site for about £220, but I can also see I can buy the latest (?) model the Elder Dempster Lines and get it fitted with an Olivias Sound ESU LokSound 4.0 for about £50 more. I've not got the foggiest about Hornby's DCC sound chips, but I've heard nothing but great things about the Olivia's / LokSound stuff. Can anyone enlighten me please? Thanks,