Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

Thanks Sol.......yes I stand up from time to time to put my thoughts out there.
Hope I don`t offend anyone.....
Gormo

 

G`day Section Gangs, Boiler Men & Brake Men,
An important event in the life of the Little Bardfield & Bamford Heritage Railway happened today.
The railway has been involved in a program, with the assistance of the National Railway Museum , which has been tasked with the job of creating fully operational reproductions of famous locomotives.
We`ve only got 50 quid in the kitty at the moment, so only one locomotive has been produced, and that is a copy of Stephenson`s Rocket.
It has arrived today, but needs some serious work to bring it to a standard where it can provide services on the Heritage Line.
In fact the work is so serious that it may never provide services, and it may just sit in the sidings as a static dsiplay
The journey to get it here up from the Junction at Great Chesterford required the chimney to be dismantled and laid flat on the wagon as it would not fit through the tunnels. Unfortunately, a neighboring railway forum, who shall remain nameless, would not lend us a Lowmac wagon to transport Rocket, so we were forced to use the Bolster.
No hard feelings...we managed....but we shall not forget their unkindness....Oh no pal....every dog has his day.
My mate Georgie Ficklehurst, wanted to toddle down there to their yard in the dead of night and let the tyres down on their coal wagons, but I persuaded him not to do that, as we`d be better to wait for a future opportunity to repay their unkindness.
Next time they want to sharpen their points, we wont lend them our best files.....just the blunt ones......
So here is the loco and tender just after it arrived and has had chains removed and chimney re-fitted.




The loco was shunted up to and beside the crane to be hoisted off the wagon




In position now ready for the lift




And finally lifted safely and placed at the end of a siding




So folks........no it`s not a working model.....it`s a static model created by Chris M..........He has scaled it down from a larger model and resin printed it and painted and assembled it...........so a lovely little model to sit in the restoration yard on my railway....or a good subject for a diorama to be placed in a display case.?
Thanks again Chris
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Over the last few days I have refined my method for making post and rail fences to make it more consistent
Originally, I was cutting strips of cereal box card approximately 1 to 2 mm in width to be used as rails and at the same time i was employing craft matches as posts.
The matches were Super glued to the rails and then the whole lot was painted with acrylics.....overall a sturdy and effective result.
The main problem with it was the glue.....sometimes needing two applications on a joint to make it permanent. The Super glue soaks in to the card quickly, so you have to be on top of it before it goes off.
I tried other glues with moderate success, but the weak point, or point of resistance, is the match. Whether they have some coating on them or their natural oils possibly, don`t always make for a good joint.
I think the point of this should be, as with all things,.....do it right.....do it once........so back to the drawing board....
I will probably do a tutorial on my new improved method, but for the moment, here is a sample of it.
Instead of cutting individual strips for rails, I have printed out sections of fencing which were created in my drawing program. The paper is then glued to cereal box card with PVA spread thin over all of the backing to give a good bond. Glue sticks are not good enough for this purpose, as the glue can let go on thin strips of rail once the acrylic paint ( moisture ) starts to interact with it.
I leave the PVA for a couple of days to dry out properly. The glued paper and card is placed on a flat surface and weights sat on top to keep it all flat.
This what you finish up with.





For posts, now I am using thick grey card cut to 2mm wide strips and then trimmed to lengths of 20mm....very similar to matches.




Whilst the fence sections are still within the main card, I remove the sections between the rails by firstly cutting all the long lines and also beyond the printed sections, and then cutting across the unwanted sections, outside of the printed area, and removing them. This allows me to have tabs at either end of the panel that are good to allow the panel to be fixed to my cutting mat ready for gluing.
This method creates initially, a lift out panel of four rails, all connected by their tabs at the ends of the panels. This keeps the rails evenly spaced and there are markings on the printed section to show where the posts need to be glued.
Because everything is now card, I can used small dots of PVA to secure the posts and a good bond is achieved fairly quickly.





It`s best not to rush the drying process however, so I would leave them overnight before painting. The tabs can be easily trimmed off flush to the post with a good pair of scissors. I think the scissors are more effective and less strain on the joints than a knife or blade.
This is a card fence section after painting and weathering.





Five panels on the left are all card fence, and the rest to the right are matches and card.



So in a nutshell.....both methods work.......but I find the card method less time consuming.
I will attach a PDF below for any who may want to try it.
Gormo

 

A bit more progress today.
More fencing fitted.

The fencing running behind the thatched cottage now runs off into the trees.





View from the airfield





And fencing both sides of the road coming off the bridge. A gate is required where the car is entering the mill property and some more hedging will come up the hill along side the road to meet the fencing at the top of the hill.........or maybe instead of the hedge.....a different type of fencing.....??????




More as it happens.
Gormo

 

Howdy Station Staff, Signal Men and Point Sharpeners,
Well it`s just flowing along at the moment scenery wise.
I picked up a copy of BRM April edition earlier this year whilst up in Queensland, mainly because of an article in there about vegie gardens for your layout.
Most interesting and much pictorial inspiration for me. From that point on I was going to have a vegie garden somewhere on my layout.
However, first things first....I am at the stage where scenic detail is being added to Little Bardfield.
As you know, I pretty much wing it as I go along, constantly assessing what looks good to my eye and evaluating the scene and making artistic decisions.
Speaking of artistic decisions......I made one yesterday when my wife Julie offered to paint a model horse for me. I have one which I think may be HO scale, and was given to me some years ago with a load of other train stuff.
Julie loves horses and she is also an amateur artist, and I think she`s quite good actually, so when she offered to paint Blaze King or Trigger or whatever his name is, I was quite happy to let her have full reign ( excuse the pun ) with artistic decisions.
So here he is ......and I think an excellent job by SWMBO........








And at the same time she was doing this painting......now complete.




So back to vegie gardens......first thing I liked from the article I read was a style of fence......so I built a couple of panels today from Balsa wood, Matches ,Card and some Craft Stick......here it is upside down waiting for glue to dry.




Another thing I wanted, as seen in the article, was a garden arch, so I set about making my own version from some wire mesh and some fly screen mesh.
I cut out some panels from this mesh and bent the frame into a " U "shape, then Super glued the fly mesh to it before air brushing it white.




I also added a couple of extra bracing bars up the top.




Once the fence had been painted and weathered, it was installed in the scene. Static grass was also scraped away to make room for the vegie patch and some gravel paths. The raised beds are drying here and paths will be set in between them probably tomorrow.?
I`ve also adapted some station fencing to compliment the scene. The garden will look like it was built with whatever was available, so no neat as a pin garden here folks





The garden arch was then installed and it`s slightly heavy look will be toned down later with a climbing rose or some such thing draped over it.








The big challenge with this garden will be making vegies, but I have my modelling clay at the ready.....so that should be interesting....plus I need to do some research.

More to follow as it develops.
Gormo

 

Greetings and Salutations to all Section Gangs, Track Inspectors and Chief Mechanical Engineers,
And anyone else who is hanging about.....
Well another productive day was to be had in the shed. I am making the most of our confinement in Sydney because, as of Monday the 11th Oct., our restrictions will be eased considerably as NSW has reached 70% double dose with the Covid vaccination program.
Those of us who are doubly vaccinated will be allowed to roam about the greater Sydney area, Wollongong, Central Coast and Blue Mountains.
In other words, me and the missus are off..........day trips and picnics etc. etc. etc.
Today a gate was made for the little thatched cottage. It was made from a section of scalemodelscenery laser cut fence, to which card bracing was added and match stick posts.





The gate was painted with white acrylic paint and inserted in the scene.





Then a section of hedge was created to join up with the gate. The hedge has been groomed across the frontage of the house and graduates to irregular as it moves towards the back scene.




Another hedge was created to run from the station up the hill to meet the post and rail fence on the left.









The gravel paths were put in between the raised garden beds in the vegie garden





A view from the mill





And from behind the mill





And a panorama shot of this corner of the room. Please allow for distortion in this type of pic.




I have another section of post and rail fence to go beside the thatched cottage, creating a barrier that extends from the new hedge on the road frontage, back to the post and rail fence that looks over the railway. The horse will be placed behind this fence to suggest he has come in through the trees to pay a visit, or to just watch trains going past.
My wife has been painting some dairy cows for me today, and they are coming up a treat.....out of the box, they were just too white and looked a bit plastic....which they are.....but anyway she is doing a great job of improving them.
So....we will see what tomorrow brings.?
Gormo

 

Quite possibly Richard....and maybe a Mister McGregor to chase them away......
Gormo

 

Thanks Phil....
Just an update.......first group of cows installed.








Gormo

 

More detail folks,
Using up bits and pieces accumulated over many years of railway modelling.
Daisy, Maisy and Clarabelle......as painted by my wife Julie.
These are all identical models, however Julie has painted them with different faces to make them look a bit more individual.





I`m trying to talk her into painting little people, but at this stage, she`s not interested...
I need to get more chocolates and flowers delivered.........to convince her to make an attempt.......





And here are the girls in a mixed herd.








Julie has also painted a couple of lawn mowers......they`ve got quite a bit to get through...







Gormo

 

No worries Pete......I`ll let her know what you said.
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
I felt a bit lost today and could not seem to get cracking on the railway.......those days come along from time to time......so I just tinkered a bit and decided to try a slightly different method of weathering .......again with pastels and also a dilute wash of Black acrylic paint.
It`s hard to judge the actual results until you do the close up pictures, so here are some early attempts.
The GWR van was pure brown plastic all shiny and plastic from the Chinese factory before I went to town on it.
I need to refine the process and when I do I`ll put it out there for all and sundry, however the results are promising and easy to achieve.





This old Airfix brake van was given a work over as well





Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Not much happening railway wise at the moment......my best effort would be classified as " Tinkering ".
I have painted and installed three buffer stops at Little Bardfield to better finish off the three sidings there.
These were printed by Chris M, a member of this forum, and sent to me a wee while back. They were given a base coat of Burnt Umber and when that was dry, they were gone over with Grey Pastel ( Timber ) and Orange and Brown Pastel ( Rust and Grime )





A view from above, also showing a static model of the " Rocket ", also printed by Chris. Various bits of static grass, flocking and coloured saw dust where also added







I rather like the " nearly worn out look " of the buffers




A pair of telegraph poles painted using the same method with acrylics and pastels.....they were also printed by Chris




Yesterday I gathered some dried leaves from the garden and placed them in my Coffee grinder and gave them a whizz. The resulting much smaller particles were then put through a strainer to further reduce the particle size for scenic work.
I made a pile of the leaves in the corner near the hedge to simulate a compost heap. The leaves were wet with water from a spray bottle, and then diluted PVA ( 50 / 50 ) was put onto the pile with an eye dropper. The coating and absorption of the PVA should forever seal the leaves.









In this section here, some screws have been removed from under the brick wall to make way for a lighting channel that will spread across the top of the control panel.
I am using some old metal picture framing, which has an internal size ideal for LED strip. The LED strip can be cut into sections of three LEDs and powered with up to 12 volts DC.
It`s just a matter of removing the protective coating above the Copper strips and soldering wires to same. More on this as it happens as another strip of three LEDs will also be installed in Little Bardfield`s lever frame.





More as it happens
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Work has moved forward on lighting Little Bardfield`s control panels.
To create a housing I have used some channel I had left over from an adjustable picture frame. Never throw away anything that may be useful I say.....
This is a sample of channel below. The ends are to be cut square and then 10mm will be removed from the ends in such a way as to leave just the flat back section. The 10mm flat protrusion at the ends is then drilled through it`s center to accept a retaining screw.




This is the LED strip I am using. After approx. four attempts at mounting it in the channel, with OK results, I finally settled on a method that I am happy with.
I solder connecting wires to the Copper tabs, then insulate the ends with some tape and then simply lay the strip in the channel.




To keep the strip in place in the channel, I`m using some packaging material that turned up in one of our recent deliveries. The packaging is cut into 14mm wide strips, which allows it to be press fitted into the channel over the top of the LED strip. Pressure keeps everything in place and the packaging material also acts as a light diffuser. The light from the LEDs is quite intense, so in combination with the diffuser and a dial up or down ( dimmer ) power supply, I can find an intensity that suits the room.
Here is a sample of the packaging material.





Here is the channel fitted across the top of the main control panel. It`s low profile really does not impose on the panel to any great extent.





A smaller version has also been fitted to the lever frame.
The wiring still needs to be tidied up as no switching has been installed yet.





This is the sort of subdued light that can be achieved using this method













The room set for night time running........unfortunately it`s difficult to get an accurate visual representation with the cameras I have......but there you are????....what can you do...???




More as it happens
Gormo