Captain Kernow

Gordon, I use pretty much the same methods as Paul, albeit using Heki foliage matting instead of the Woodlands Scenics stuff. I'd agree with the suggestion for rubberised horsehair - check out Re6/6's brambles on 'Matford' using the horsehair, sprayed with a combination of matt black and red oxide aerosols and then covered with Noch leaf material (very fine stuff) - the result is excellent.

This is also going to be a right 'stunna' - better keep the piers in strict order, though! Which pier is going to feature the 1960s band 'posing?'....

Not at all, and perhaps the focus quality reflects the standard of photographic equipment available to the intrepid Victorian photographer that took the shot!

Superb set of images. In fact, I was inspecting the brake van at Staverton Bridge a couple of weekends ago after a splendid meal up the road at The Sea Trout Inn... You're doing some nice work there!

Better than 'X Factor' or 'Strictly' any day! That viaduct's going to have a bit of 'X' factor when it's done (provided you keep strictly to the prototype...)

This is an interesting method, but I'm curious to know how many sleeper bays were done at a time, what kind of glue was used and (assuming it wasn't standard white PVA), how long it took to go off sufficiently, to prevent the scattered ballast from adhering to it's uppermost surface? Again, an interesting idea - is there a specific advantage with using this as opposed to, say, a teaspoon to scatter?

That's one superb image there Jon - the weathering is beyond reproach....

One of the perils of adding cosmetic fishplates is that if you are using the rather nice P4 Track Co plastic ones, you need to cut them in half (unless you are putting them on an actual rail joint). When laying the track on Callow Lane, I prefered to lay the track more as lengths of (made-up) flexi track, using their components, rather than actually try to lay individual 45' or 60' panels. This means that I now have to cut small grooves in the tops of the rail heads at the appropriate intervals and glue fishplate halves on each side of an otherwise solid rail. Apart from the extreme fiddliness of cutting the plastic items in two, you then need to square up the ends where they have come off the sprue, and cut off the remains of the tiny plastic joining piece on the back of each fishplate half, so that it will glue nice and flat against the side of the rail. Of course, once it's all painted and weathered in, there could be a risk of it all disappearing into the overall scene of the layout, but I'm hoping that those on the main running lines at least will stand out a bit, as the rust colour will be fairly light (based on Humbrol No.62 Matt Leather), with the fishplates freshly oiled by the PW, and thus a darker colour. That is, unless the men in the white coats don't cart me off first....

Peter, You speak authoritatively and that's helpful, your post clearly implies that the operational situation is more complex than most of us at first appreciated. Although not on my own 'patch' in NR, I had always understood that the Cambrian crossing required the NR signalling to switch over to ERTMS, and I have in my possession a copy of the relevant 'Yellow Peril' operations notice, which states that it was to go live from 0001 on Sunday 05/9/10. Talking to colleagues at work, I was under the impression (although I may have misunderstood), that the ERTMS issue was the only factor holding up the use of the Cambrian crossing by WHR trains, certainly as far as NR were concerned?....

But why would they do that, assuming that the Pont Croesor to Porthmadog section is completely open, when they could run through the whole length of the line?

Superb scene, BD, but too dark to make anything out by the flickering candles down y'ere in the back of beyond, so I've taken the liberty of lightening it up a tad...

Thanks for the kind comments, Phil and the tip re the white handrails, which I can rectify tonight. The missing lampirons may be missing because,..er...they're missing on the models! I've given the plough vans back to Re6/6 now, so perhaps we can reinstate them in due course!

I've been detailing and weathering a couple of Re6/6's locos, together with a couple of his 'Sharks' for Matford. Not quite my usual period, but it's been fun, and I also get to play with them at Scaleforum!

Hi Frank, The 14XX is indeed a K's kit, but has various extra bits, such as a turned brass smokebox door, turned brass buffers and other additional details. It used to run in OO on the original K's chassis, but it's actually one of only two of my OO locos that I have converted to P4, so it's now got a Perseverence chassis, Ultrascale driving wheels and a Mashima motor with High Level gearbox.

Excellent - can we have another report in, say, 1,000 miles please?

Craig - have a try with some moss as well - plenty on my lawn if you need any - naturally growing things often look good in miniature. The harbour scene is pure delight and very well observed!

That'll be my friend David Butcher, if you found his articles interesting, I'd recommend his railway career autobiography 'From Steam to Stone', published by Oakwood Press Still an active modeller, David has a huge knowledge of railways and their operations and is one of life's true gentlemen.

I do like that image, Simon, nice misty, sepia effect on the shed too! Is the working - in 1963 - a special charter over the S&MJR?

Super photo, Larry, and you're spot on in your assessment there! I know of no other railway in the 'heritage/steam' sector that has quite the pull of the WHR for me at the moment.

Nice bit of ballasting as well, Andrew!

[quote name+ =Pugsley' date='30 August 2010 - 10:33 ] Diluting it may reduce the tarnishing effect, but I guess it depends upon exactly what mechanism causes it in the first place! I've used artists Matte Medium in the past to secure ballast - it's not cheap but I was really happy with the effect. Interesting and a useful tip as well. One of the attractions of PVA for me is the slight flexibility it has compared with Klear...

Right, done that now, applied a bit of Peco 'Superlube' on the steel railheads. No prospect of any trains running for a while, I've found it a fairly effective way to keep rust at bay. Going back to the issue of the chemical constituency of PVA, although this has no doubt been well known to eminent scientists for some time, it is only recently (and via RMWeb), that I've become aware of this issue. I suspect that 'the vapours' from PVA might have been responsible for some heavy and repeat tarnishing of some N/S rail on the old DRAG TT1 test track. I've used PVA around N/S track on my own layouts, however, and have never had any tarnishing problems. Similarly, there was a six inch length of track on Callow Lane that got ballasted with dilute PVA, before I remembered that I could use 'Klear', and that hasn't suffered from any particular tarnishing or rusting attributable to PVA over the last few weeks since it was done, either. Are there certain types of PVA that are more prone to this kind of problem? I always use the usual Evostick stuff in the dark green bottles. And if you dilute the stuff, would that not lessen the problem anyway?

I was never any good at chemistry at school, and that's too long ago to worry about now anyway. In any case, I've just finished applying the dilute PVA to the rest of the trackbed!... In case of any ill effects whilst it goes off overnight, I think I'll just pop off now and oil the tops of the rails...

:lol: Be sure you do that, matey!

Having used Johnsons 'Klear' (original formula) for fixing virtually all of the ballast on Callow Lane, I've been having mild doubts about it's suitability in the long term to hold everything in place. Whenever I've done any work in the vicinity of any ballast, I've often found bits of ballast coming loose, and the overall impression I've got is that the body of ballast is slightly brittle and fragile. I'm keen that I don't get ballast coming loose for a pastime, when the layout starts to get moved around to and from shows, so I've taken the plunge and am currently about half-way through depositing diluted PVA (together with the obligatory drop of washing up liquid) on all the sections ballasted with 'Klear'. The bits that have dried out from yesterday already seem firmer, so I'm happy at the moment that this is the right way to go. The good thing is that with the ballast already held in place by the 'Klear', the depositing of dilute PVA doesn't displace any of it!