Picture fest

Whilst I await more sleeper grime, I have taken the yard board back downstairs so I can concentrate on soldering the other water tank up and prepare the first rake of carriages for painting. This was after I installed the model point levers, moved the point indicator and checked all the point motors by removing and reinstalling them.

The usual caveats about these shots - the garage is too dark, so the camera uses flash and the colours thus look different. Also the layout is without any details that are not yet fully stuck down - station building, cars, signs, benches, nameboards, water tanks etc etc...but hopefully you get the picture...

I'm really pleased with the results so far. My only remaining concerns are the backscene and the board join gaps, which I fear are in places too large. Work may be needed to close these gaps to ensure reliable running, but at the moment the boards aren't even fixed together and sit on a downward slope, so this is difficult to predict.

Error

Was looking again at many images of the real thing last night and then I noticed a bad error. I've erected the point indicator near the yard points, when it should be next to the loop points - whoops. The offending post has been removed and hole filled in. It will be reconnected when I'm back from Wales (including a trip to Pont Croesor from Caernarfon - cool!) next week.

I also added a load more bushes and generally weathered the ballast. Two more pots of sleeper grime are on the way from gaugemaster as well as a length of the new peco 009 'mainline' track and an extra DCC plug for the base station, meaning I can switch between exhibition wiring and home setup easily, without constant screwing of wires in and out of the terminals.

I have also got the bits out ready to complete the yard points levers and ground frame.

I guess there is about 4 hours of work left on this board and then it can join the others downstairs again.

I have then decided to bring the hidden sidings boards upstairs to complete the layout to exhibitable standard (except minor details such as signs etc and the backscene) before I crack on with locos etc

3 kits for the 4 wheel NWNGR carriages arrived yesterday from Allen at worsley, so more soldering beckons.

Oh and the broken soldering iron turned out not to be broken at all, it was one of the 4 outlets on my 4 gang extension lead were the problem lay!

Colin

promised photos

Those promised images:

Firstly here is the maze of wiring underneath the yard board - all wired up and ready to go.

On top it looks like this now, with road markings in and spot reballasting continuing. I have however run out of railmatch 'sleeper grime' so there will be a short delay before this board is finished.

The station board just before it was removed to the garage - the JCB cost an arm and a leg! The flower beds and station planters are glued in place, as is the fencing. Final details such as water tanks(!), signs etc will come later.

Latest

Camera is out of battery, so no images...promise some in a few days.

Tonight the white lines for the Pitt's Head road have been added. I have not made these perfect, but have rather picked at them and tried to weather them into the road a bit to make them more believable.

Also the wiring on this board was completed and an error on a previous board corrected. All wiring is now done, apart from the links between the traversers and the hidden sidings proper. This shouldn't be too taxing though.

Today I also had the misfortune to require dental surgery, so I took the dental pick to the track on this last board and picked off any stray ballast that had got into the points and the inside of the rails. I will take each of the point motors out for a final clean, again this should be a quick job.

So it's coming together...must get going with locomotives and painting stock!

Colin

Last board taken upstairs

Yesterday the last of the boards was taken upstairs for the next stage of treatment. The station board is now at a stage where it is really only details that have to be added, and I really need to finish the second tank before anything more can be done...so that is back in the garage.

The last board (yard) has already been spot reballasted, the grass upgraded, the point indicator installed and...finally after a false start...the points decoder installed.

Tonight I hope to finish soldering the wiring up (some minor bits are required such as the 16v AC feed to the points decoder and the feed to the point indicator LED) and then I need to start work de-gumming the point blades. fun fun fun!

Colin

Further progress on the station board

A quick update in bullet points:

- Much of the fencing has now been test erected after the necessary holes were drilled.

- The first water tank has had roof-top details added.

- Many signs have been produced on the PC and printed out - more on this in another post soon.

- The two platform flower planters have had flowers added.

- A model JCB has been acquired.

- Ballast has been finally weathered and rail heads cleaned.

- The Fridd Isaf farm sign has been completed ready for erection on the level crossing board.

- The wendy house has had its final (5th) coat of brown and now just needs its windows painting.

Colin

on a roll!

A recent trip to Oswaldtwistle Mills was rather productive indeed. In a corner of one of the old mill buildings were a load of fabric rolls. There were plenty of different types of fabric and colours...including a lovely navy blue. ummm I thought, this could be good for the layout's curtain to hide all the unmentionables that need to be stored under the layout during exhibitions. A quick bit of maths and I'd worked out I needed about 30 feet of the stuff. Good news, the roll I was looking at was 32 feet long by 5 feet high (enough for a hem and then some). Then I saw the price - £9.50!!!!

Readers will not be surprised to hear that said roll was duly loaded into the car and brought back to the Midlands!

Mum has been recruited to do the necessary sewing, I just need to get hold of 20 feet of sew-on velcro now!

Identical but not the same

Part of the long term grand plan is a 16mm narrow gauge garden railway. Dad has bought the Slater's Prince kit and we have a few waggons already. This last week I have found time to construct a pair of NWNGR single plank bolster waggons. These were used for wood extraction by the PBSSR and I hope to find a suitable piece of branch to balance on them. What's interesting is that one was ordered from cooper craft direct and the other bought on ebay (still sealed in the original bag). The right hand one is clearly a different colour, came with ballast weights and axle washers and was altogether much more poorly cast. weird.

On Rhyd Ddu, things progress well. More smaller conifers have been added, the two water tower frames have been sprayed black and installed, much more weathering of the ballast has been done (even though the flash in the below shots doesn't show that up!) and both sets of rail upstands for the nameboards have been installed. A tree has been replaced on the grassy side and the next job is fencing...

Colin

More trees and other bits

A quick update:

- A water bowser for the station approach section has been created and has had its first coat of yellow paint.

- The two structures for the water tanks have had small base plates added to the bottoms of the supports and have been sprayed satin black.

- 3 new trees from' skale (sic) scenics' (i.e. hornby) have been acquired today and will be added asap. The 2 canyon creek trees arrived (from Oregon) recently too and have already been added.

- Further (last time?) ballasting has been done after the hoover (dyson) removed a bit more than I expected.

- The first two uprights for the platform nameboards have been set in place

- The first planter has had its busch flowers glued in place

- Final weathering of ballast will be completed now I have some more woodland scenics stone grey. This has already been started with sleeper grime and slate grey.

Colin

Another Welsh foray

Back from Wales... we visited the FR - including a trip behind Blanche in the first class saloon 102:

The WHR, including a trip from Rhyd Ddu to Hafod y Llyn via the Aberglaslyn (wonderful!) and some time at Bryn y Felin paddling and watching trains.

and the Talyllyn from Dolgoch Falls to Nant Gwernol.

Happy days

Latest images of progress

Board 3 continues to make good progress. Final ballasting has now been achieved with some blending of colours to do. I got outbid on a model JCB on ebay, so the ballast pile will have to wait for its digger.

Around the steps area you can see the new side walls, the area of bark chippings and the new edging stones.

Colin

WHR and FR taster videos by John Wooden

No excuses not to visit! Make sure you make your way to the top left hand corner of Wales this Summer...

much to report

Progress has been fast, so fast that I haven;t had time to blog...!

Anyway, all 4 station lamp columns have been wired up and an extra light added for inside the station shelter (wendy house). These were wired in parallel to two pieces of copper clad (one for positive, the other negative). To this were soldered two brass right angles, making it easy to attach the 12v DC supply by way of croc clips. Wires were then run from here to the two adjacent boards (via the usual kyosho connectors) to the lighthouse LEDs that act as point indicators.

The wendy house itself has had 3 coats of raw umber, with one final coat to come. The slate roof has had two coats of grey, but will also have some weathering yet.

The KMX tamper shed (container) has been positioned, as have the two platform flower beds. The two planters have been painted and filled with soil.

The area around the steps/ramp has been tidied up and the steps have gained wing walls. These will soon have coping stones added.

The 4 Rhyd Ddu signs have been painted black and that wiped off to show the letters in white. The rail posts have been painted black ready.

Fencing has all been painted ready for installation next week.

The next jobs are:

- fixing the water tower legs in place ready for their tanks.
- adding the final details to the platform including finishing the wendy house and installing
- final spot reballasting (a few patches)and painting to merge in with the other ballast colourings
- adding flowers to the area near the ramp and the planters (these have already been made up using busch kits)
- adding signs
- adding the two new trees from canyon creek (they are in the post apparently).

and then it's on to the last board...

Colin

update with images

Hi,

Below are some images of where I'm up to:

Board 2 has been completed and sent back downstairs - a point indicator using a lighthouse LED has been added (this is operated by a switch on the point motor), the grassland has been upgraded, ballasting tidied, track painted and details like the gates, rail stack and anti-pedestrian pieces added.

Now attention is on board 3. Dad visited with his new Peter Spoerer lining pen on Friday and added the yellow line for the platform. I've also added grass to the bund at the top of the car park/yard area, added extra static grass across the open ground, removed stray ballast, spot reballasted and repainted the rails.

Next I need to add the walls at the side of the steps, lots of fencing and platform details... on the latter note the rail posts for the nameboards have been cut and painted black and holes in the platform drilled for them. I've also created 2 more nameboards, which despite running out of 'D's was fun. I made more from half an 'O' and an 'I'!

New book...by me!

I have written a book - a photographic journey of the FR and WHR - 80 pages, over 140 photos. The profit will go to the WHR reconstruction fund.

Click on the link below to preview/buy...

The Ffestiniog...

A Photographic Journey

By Colin Lea

Book Preview

NGG16 loco policy

So, I have three NGG16s:

- 1 - is complete in SAR black livery, but with all the SAR details that the WHR locos lack (sun visor, cab roof details etc), and riveted tank/bunker.

- 2 - is mostly complete as a WHR engine with smooth sided tank/bunker and is modelled on 138. Work is stopped on this until the real 138 reappears so we can check details such as pipe runs etc (and colour! - although it is expected not to be green, perhaps red?)

- 3 - is a kit that arrived yesterday.

The actual WHR stud is as follows:

- 87, which sports a shorter cab (no window at the back) and riveted tank/bunker amongst other details. Currently in light aircraft grey, but expected to go black in the next few years.

- 143, in SAR black livery but expected to be withdrawn next year for overhaul. Expected to stay black as it is the last steam loco built by Beyer-Peacock. Flat sided tank/bunker.

- 138, currently in bits under overhaul, expected to return in 2010 in a new livery. Flat sided tank/bunker.

- 109, recently purchased from Exmoor by Pete Waterman and expected to run on the WHR in 2011 in LNWR lined black. Flat sided tank/bunker as shown here http://pete.railnuts.com/2009/07/06/lnwr-goes-narrow-gauge/ and images on the July 6th story here http://whr.bangor.ac.uk/whlatest.htm

So, what's the plan?

-1- to gain new flat sided tanks/bunker from the new kit -3- to make it into 143. Cab details to be amended and repainted. Plates to be painted blue, smokebox colour to be toned down from the current silver.

-2- to be completed as currently once details known of the prototype following overhaul

-3- to gain riveted tanks from -1- and be built as No. 87 with shorter cab etc. Outshopped in grey.

So, if we assume that 138 comes back red, we then have black, grey and red engines. A lined LNWR black No. 109 can come next year once these three are up and running.

The target is to have these 3, plus K1 (marching forward apace and ready to be transferred to the valve gear workshop in Cheltenham asap), Russell (practically complete already), Merddin Emrys (even closer to completion) and the two funkeys (Vale of Ffestiniog and Castell Caernarfon) ready for Autumn 2010. Other engines that will likely make that deadline are:

- Criccieth Castle and Harlech Castle as the new 08 shunter chassis with outside frames is a joy to run.

- Taliesin as this kit is 70% done.

- Blanche (complete already)

- Beddgelert (needs detailing)

A push to get ready (in priority order):

- Conway Castle (new doors needed plus a way of attaching the bullant to the body)

- Upnor Castle (kit to be purchased in the next few weeks, thus behind in the list)

- Baldwin 590 - in need of lots of detailing and work to improve reliability of front pony truck. etc

- Moel Tryfan - needs rods.

- Lyd, Dad's kit and no work started.

- Prince, I'm not happy with the ibertren chassis, so will probably swap for the mercian kit

- 4415 Kerr Stuart diesel, again not happy with chassis.

- Palmerston - no kit yet, buy another mercian?

- Lyd2 'Eryri' - no chassis yet and likely to be very expensive as an 0-6-0 + jackshaft, custom bullant seems best way, but not a priority at all.

- Gowrie - don't have a kit or chassis yet.

No plans at present:

- Other double fairlies especially DLG - await roco (although a recent story in the 009 news states roco have cancelled the project!)

- Linda - await new parkside chassis with outside frames launch

- Britomart/Lilla/smaller FR diesels - too small for DCC

- Dick Kerr diesel WW1 - very ugly indeed.

Colin

Board 2

Board 2 has moved upstairs for treatment. Already the ballast has been tended to - Thomas is hoovering up the loose bits! I have also decided to remove the very yellowy-green conifers and to respray them a better green. There is one in the corner of this board and 3 others on the next board. 2 new conifers have been ordered from here: http://www.canyoncreekscenics.com/

This board features the first point to be properly degummed.

The edges of the first three boards have also been painted black for presentational reasons.

Colin

First board ready

As well as creating some very fiddly busch flowers this weekend, I also finalised board one - the bridge handrails were added, scenery tidied up, sleeper grime reapplied and now this board goes into store as materially complete (save for the backscene).

Colin

lay out the layout

I have decided to take each board upstairs for the following work:

- to complete outstanding scenics such as grass patches, fencing, station area details etc

- to improve the area around the board edges

- to complete wiring where it needs to be done (mainly the points decoder installation)

- to de-gum the points anc chekrails and reinstall (if necessary) the point motors

- to remove stray ballast from the railhead and spot reballast where gaps are found

- to apply a second coat of sleeper grime to the alignment

- to test the electrics

- etc

Moving each board upstairs will ensure I can get very good light and also makes it a bit more social than spending hours in the garage!

The first board has been taken upstairs, spot reballasted, board edges improved and tested. Tomorrow it will have its sleeper grime painted on and the bridge handrails will be attached. It will then go into store (i.e. back to the garage) as a complete board (save for the backscene, which will be a winter photoshop panarama job).

Colin

What's been happening?

Lots as usual, just not had the time to report on here yet.

Much work has been focused on K1 - a key loco for obvious reasons. This kit was bought from the 009 second hand sales stall with just one pair of cylinders complete. Dad has helped me get the bogies square, mount the wheels square on axles and add the crankpins (things that could have gone very wrong), but apart from that I've done the rest myself, which I'm quite pleased with given how fiddly these kits can be!

The tanks, firebox, boiler cradle and cab were started last year, and it has been relatively easy to join these together with 14BA screws (after the firebox and boiler were joined), add white metal castings and to create the bulk of the boiler/cab unit.

I then turned my attention to the bogies - detailing them with the sandboxes, brake rigging (very fiddly) and overlays. The other cylinders were also completed with their wrappers soldered and the various bushes etc reamed and installed. [cylinders not shown below]

I have now started on the gearboxes, with the central 12T gear installed on a short axle.

and the main shafts carrying the two worms to the two wheels cut to length. Unfortunately I need a larger vice to install the worms on this axle though.

So, putting it together (more detail has been added to the bogies since this shot) and balancing it all for a photo (note that the tanks are not square as they are just placed on at the moment), the loco looks a bit like this:

For some light relief, I've also started work on my Baldwin... a white metal chivers kit on a farish 08 chassis.

It needs detailing yet but the main bodywork is all on and looking pretty good. These white metal kits are just an exercise in filing until pieces fit correctly...my workbench is covered in little bits of white metal!

One further job which has been mind-numbingly boring has been fencing - over 100 small posts have had 4 holes in each drilled out with a 0.7mm drill. They're all done now thank goodness!

Taliesin has had some attention to correct the shape of the rear toolbox - the kit has the earlier type of angled top toolbox included, but this has now been altered to a flat top box, as per the real engine.

Pickering Brake - I picked up a kit off ebay a few weeks ago and this has entered the carriage works for cleaning up, folding and de-fretting. It hasn't got any further than that though.

Platform benches - Dad has completed these fiddly benches for me. They just need little dragons for the sides. cool!

NGG16s - the prototype railway has announced that a fifth NGG16 (no. 109) has been bought by Pete Waterman for restoration at Crewe, and use on the WHR from 2011. I currently only have 2 NGG16s, and given that these are the main motive power for the line (and my progress at making Taliesin and K1), I have decided to sell the unmade double fairlie and Linda kits I have, to buy another NGG16 kit.

Upnor Castle - Allen Doherty tells me that this kit will be available for mid August. I already have a bullant motor bogie for it, so this will go straight into the works when I receive it, as it's such an important loco for the layout.

Colin