Newton Broadway

Discussion in 'Members Personal Layouts' started by SRman, Apr 17, 2016.

  1. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    I have been doing a little further work on the London Transport lines on the lower level, mainly involving the cabling that is so prominent along LT's lines. I recently purchased a couple of the typical arches that carry cables over the lines from Shapeways. They aren't cheap but I have not been able to figure a way to scratchbuild them myself that isn't also incredibly labour intensive.

    I also posted a video on YouTube showing a couple of the LT trains from the late 1950s and early 1960s period running. In this video the cable arches are unpainted, but in the photo that follows, I have started painting. They still need a little light weathering, and some minor variations in the cable colours to really bring them to life.



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    P_20200401_110445_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
  2. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    I have been doing a little further work with the LT lineside cabling. This is also temporary in nature - the arch will remain in this position, but the ground cables are actually intended for wall mounting, and are there for show at present, until I set up the proper cable support posts (white metal items from Radley Models). Still, I think the overall effect is good, if a little rough.

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    In the meantime, on the upper level, this is purely experimental at present, but I have decided to try a less labour-intensive method of adding third rail. I still have a heap of Peco code 75 rail salvaged from my old layout, where it was used with the Peco third rail insulator 'pots'. Those 'pots' are very fiddly to slide onto the rails, and tend to ping off into the distance or break just as one is trying to feed them into the pre-drilled holes and glue them in. For this experiment, I am dispensing with the 'pots' altogether, and gluing the code 75 rail directly to the sleeper ends. This meant clearing a little bit of stray ballast that had stuck to some of the sleeper ends. It also means bending the rail to match the line profile, and setting the distance out by eye, although if I adopt this method for the rest of the layout, I'll make up a spacer template. For the glue, I am trying out a Tiger Grip glue, which resembles a PVA but promises to bond all materials including plastics and metals. So far it seems to grip very well, but I'll have to see how it fares for durability over a longer term. The appearance is not too bad, as the lack of 'pots' is barely noticeable at normal viewing distances.

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    Last edited: Apr 4, 2020
  3. Sol

    Sol Full Member

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    and once the side are painted, no one would notice the pots are not there.
     
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  4. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    Yes, that's what I am hoping, Ron. :thumbup:

    I have edited the post slightly, but only to fix up the many typos in there.

    Incidentally, those heavy white metal lorries were very useful for weighing the rails down while the glue set.
     
  5. Gary

    Gary Wants more time for modelling.... Staff Member Administrator

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    I would imagine sliding the pots on being rather intensive. As Sol said, once painted, you won't notice given the 3 feet rule !

    Cheers, Gary.
     
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  6. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    Yes, sliding those pots onto the rails is very intensive. Also frustrating, and at times painful - Peco rail of any size going up your fingernails is not pleasant; doing it repeatedly even less so!

    :hammer::hammer::hammer:
     
  7. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    Some video of a running session this morning, with a bit of a mixture of stock and eras. The upper level ones were all items that have not had much running, so were set running for quite a while continuously, and I thought I may as well do a bit of filming as well.

    There are four main running lines on Newton Broadway, two lower level (London Underground lines), and two upper level main lines, with storage loops on both levels. I had five trains running reliable on both levels. Usually when I pull the camera out and start videoing, Murphy's Laws kick in and something will come off the rails somewhere or start playing up. None of that occurred here.

    The Heljan DSB IC3 has had my usual modifications applied as per the other two of these units I have and runs perfectly reliably now through any of the points and reverse curves.

    The Hornby Peckett B2 has not had a great deal of running apart form an initial running-in session. It was put to work on the 'just for fun' Christmas train consisting of mostly older German vehicles. This train is not exactly light. I tried a Dapol B4 0-4-0T on it and it just sat there spinning its wheels. The Peckett and the Heljan 1366 pannier (not shown here) both romp away with this train.

    Following behind the Christmas train is a New South Wales Government Railways double deck interurban set, known as a V set. This is an Auscision model and is not quite as sophisticated as its price would suggest. I had replaced half of the longer Kadee couplings with shorter ones to close the inter-car gaps a bit, so each has one long and one short coupling. Two short couplings foul on the tightest curves and crossovers.

    On the lower level, underground trains from two different eras are seen, with ex-Metropolitan Railways 1920 Bo-Bo electric loco No. 8 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1960s condition on some Farish coaches, and the latest standard 'surface' stock, the S Stock, providing a contrast.


     

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  8. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    What was the blue coach in the mixed train behind the pecket at around 1.40?
     
  9. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    You mean this one, Andy? It is one I repainted from the drab DB green to become more Chrismassy. There is another coach in green at present in the set. I have plans for that one too, but need to work out my artwork before I start repainting it.

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    P_20200630_221925_vHDR_Auto
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    Some of the other wagons and the brightly colured 4-wheel coach came in a Christmas-themed pack from Fleischmann.
     
  10. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Yes, what make is it? Would look nice in some Victorian UK livery’s.
     
  11. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    From memory (I'm at work right now) it is a Fleischmann item. I'll check that when I get home. It and the other green coach cost me around 8 Euros each as bargains with a few marks and faded insignia on them. In actual fact, they were rather better than the descriptions suggested.

    this coach was actually labelled as 1st class, and I am wondering what the best way of restoring some first class markings will be without spoiling my stars and other markings.
     
  12. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    Hi Andy. I checked the carriage and it is, in fact, a Roco item - description was as follows: Roco H0 44223A Abteilwagen A3 1. Klasse DB
     
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  13. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Nice, I may have a look for some of those!
     
  14. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    Quite by accident, I found a double-tracked steel bridge that looked like it would suit part of the long front viaduct. The kit is from Faller and labelled as a German S-Bahn station. The style of the kiosks on either end reminded me of a couple of London Underground station entrances, although I could see I would have to do some scratchbuilding and modifying to achieve what I wanted. By pure luck, when I tried the bridge for length, it was exactly the same length as the temporary place-holder 3-arch viaduct from Triang. The width was ideal also, although I would have to cut down the pavement sections supplied in the kit - I actually decided to dispense with those as the style was a bit modern, preferring to use some Slaters British style paving slabs. The rear shop/station entrances have to be sealed off or labelled as 'private' with only a narrow path to them beside the LT tracks. The roadway is to be cobbled and styled as a dead-end road that may once have been a level crossing but now just terminates adjacent to the lowered running lines.

    Anyway, work on the kit has been proceeding, and the shop at the right will remain as a shop, while that on the left is to be more open entrance, possibly with the tops of some escalators and/or stairs coming in from the side, leading to subways under the lines and the subway entrance on the LT platforms (already in place).

    The first two photos show the basic bridge structure placed over the lines on the viaduct it is to replace, while the next two show it in situ with nothing yet painted, but giving a fair idea of how it will look. The original intention was to have more brick arches along here, but this bridge will open up the view of the LT trains a bit more. The original trackbeds are being filled in a bit so the German wooden platforms become lower wooden walkways on either side of each track. While all of this is only temporarily placed, I have ensured that running of trains is still possible.

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  15. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    I tackled the next part of the backscene along the back of the layout. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a single scene long enough for the whole length of the layout, so two separate scenes have had to be used, resulting in a distinct disjoin between them, although it's not too jarring overall. I will try to come up with a low-relief structure to cover that join sufficiently to 'blend' the two scenes. More annoying, though, is that I managed to get a large number of bubbles in the backscene, even more than in the original to the left. I tried a thinner mix of glue, but it still 'grabbed' far too quickly. Anyway, here's the result. It still adds more depth to the layout. Please ignore the clutter in the foreground as I am still rearranging shelves and storage at present, doing little bits at a time.

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  16. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    I haven't posted on Newton Broadway for quite a while. i have made a small amount of progress on the scenery and electrics, but most of what I have been working on recently has been a separate diorama for a German city bus station and building kits, plus buying more new trains.

    Here are a few photos of the diorama and various buildings that are going on it, as a work in progress. The girder bridge had to be scratch built, but the rest of the buildings and walls are commercial kits with painted parts to improve their appearance and reduce the "plasticky" look. The first one has a number of heavy locomotives weighing the track down while the glue was setting. There is work to do but I am pleased with the effect so far. It will become an ideal photographic setting for a number of Continental buses trains I have.

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  17. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    The most recent improvement on Newton Broadway itself has been to redo the roof on the big Tudor-style hotel building, using some Redutex vinyl tiles.

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    Other than that, there have been a few new additions to locos and rolling stock, with a couple of extra CO/CP underground cars (in lighter bus red rather than train red), a Sentinel shunter from Hornby being modified to resemble the three LT had in stock, and a 4-car set of EFE 1959/62 stock in modern LUL livery, unpowered but with two coreless SPUD motor bogies awaiting fitting. I have other items I haven't photographed yet, having picked up a couple of cheap used locos, a GWR 57XX pannier (to be repainted) and an Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 "Mucky Duck".

    For the European trains, there have been a few added in the last year, but two that stand out are a DB ICE3 set from Piko, and a Jeco SJ X2000 set, and an Australian addition in the form of a Melbourne Tait set, also known locally as "red rattlers".

    You may notice I have started work on the scenery at the left-hand end of the layout, adding a gentle slope and embankments visible to the left of the ICE unit. This also is a work in progress.

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  18. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Progress is nice! :thumbup:
     
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  19. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    The new stuff that arrived in very recent times (as if I needed more!).

    The Ivatt 2-6-0 and GW pannier tank were bought cheaply and were already DCC-fitted, although I swapped the decoders for newer and better examples, saving the old ones for use elsewhere, such as for coach or DMU/EMU trailer lighting. I will be painting the pannier into BR black later on.

    The Hatton's brand FEA-S intermodal wagons enhance the small fleet of GBRf container wagons I have.

    And the CDA china clay wagons from Accurascale arrived just this morning. I fitted the instanter couplings and added the pipes, then promptly snipped the pipes short to allow for the tension lock couplings to swing.

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  20. Chris Doroszenko

    Chris Doroszenko Lost in the spare room Full Member

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    The European scene is looking great was just watching a segment where Kathy M was painting the stone walls of her layout...your walls are looking awesome.
    Enjoy the new rolling stock...

    King regards
    Chris
     
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