Advice for Terry

During our very recent trip to the UK, we stayed for a few days with my wife's cousin Terry. Terry has come to the model railway hobby relatively late in life and a few years ago decided to create a layout inspired by the LNER prototype.

His wife very kindly arranged for a  partial fitout of their roof space and this creates the potential for a reasonably sized continuous run bench layout.

While he has been dabbling with some new track, he has not made any serious progress for a while. Unfortunately our travel program prevented me from offering any 'hands on' assistance but I said that a would put together a few points to assist him making a start.

The following is a slightly edited version of the email that I sent to Terry. While it is a bit longer than my normal blog post, I though I would upload it to see if anyone can identify any significant clangers in the advice that I have given him, or can identify any other really useful youtube clips or other sources of very basic 'how to' guidance. There is a lot of material out there and segments that I have included were only subject to very preliminary review as we moved around the UK.

So if there are any suggestions,feed back or corrections, please let me know and I will pass these on to Terry.

Thanks Phil

 

The following notes cannot be considered as a definitive ‘how to’. The hobby is far too big for that. There are many ways to achieve your goal and the only wrong ways are the ones that don’t end up with the trains running.

There is a mass of ‘how to information’ available on the internet and in printed form. I have included a few links here as potential start points. No doubt, after a bit of searching, you’ll find others equally instructive.

Most layout constructions tend to follow a basic sequence:

1.    Obtain a suitable space

2.    Plan or concept

3.    Baseboard – what you are going to use to support the layout – part the way there

4.    Track laying – getting track onto the baseboard

5.    Electrical work

6.    Track ballasting – some people will do this after they have completed their basic scenery

7.    Basic scenery

8.    Detailed scenery

A suitable space

You have a great space in the attic and the work done to date down one side is a good start. However, as we discussed, you will need to get good general lighting into the space as well as a number of power outlets around the area.

I suggest that you get your electrician to mount the lighting directly above the proposed two main runs of the layout rather than in the centre of the attic. You will need extra lights but it mean that your body won’t cast a shadow over areas of the layout where you are working.

I also suggest that you locate several power outlets around the area so that you don’t have electrical cables running over the floor.

Plan or concept

You already have a concept in mind and I suggest that you document this in some form of a plan that you can refer to it to guide your construction. There are a lot of planning tools that you can use but a this juncture, a simple drawing possibly on graph or gridded paper should suffice. If you are like most people, I’m sure that you will modify it as construction progresses but at least you have a start point.

 

Baseboard

The bench work that has been done down one side of the attic is a great start and you can construct further framing as and when necessary. The following YouTube clip uses a similar approach to what you have in place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F39JbEFSVR0

At this juncture, you may wish to fix an 18” wide sheet of ply, mdf or a similar product to the roof frame for the length of the baseboard. This can serve as a back drop or back scene. You could paint it or fix a commercial product. These clips give some ideas  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJGHBTvOG28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFIqn9IRSg

With one exception, my backdrops have just been painted sky blue for the time being and I’ll come back to it later. It’s going to be more difficult but I haven’t really decided which method to use yet.

Personally, I also suggest that you lay cork underneath your track. This material can be purchased from your hobby shop although I have made my own using cork tiles. Homebase has a similar product. This YouTube link gives one method. There are others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL3KIuXpINI

Some modellers take a different view and you might care to watch this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUzngYKPyjQ

If you do choose to lay cork, I suggest that you glue it down with PVA wood glue and use some weights to hold it down as the glue cures.

Tracklaying

This is where it starts to get interesting. You already have a quantity of Peco flexitrack and I suggest that you continue using it. You have also purchased Insulfrog points. I suggest you have a look at this clip to understand how these points work and distribute the current to the tracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxxyvD-lD84

This clip shows a basic approach to track laying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksu2bsLtCa0

There are many other YouTube clips and other ‘how to” articles on the internet if you wish to read further.

You should consider purchasing a few specialist tools to help with this activity:

·         Small sharp knife or blade (you have this already);

·         Razor saw (you have this already);

·         Small file;

·         Track cutting tool;

·         Small soldering iron and electrical solder (try Maplin or similar)

·         Small drill and bits;

·         Tack hammer; and

·         Multimeter – to test electrical connectivity.

I also suggest that you work in sections. Get part of the track laid, connected and the trains running and then move onto the next section.

Electrical Work

Your controller and most locomotives are set up for Digital Command Control (DCC) compared with the older Direct Current. I won’t attempt to explain the differences but suffice it to say, the two systems are basically incompatible. This means that you will need to get your older locomotive 2751 fitted with a decoder.

Basic wiring for DCC is supposedly simpler but there are things to watch. Most writers suggest that you run a ‘bus’ or central heavy gauge wires to carry the current and then run feeder wires from the bus wire to individual tracks. Many attached a feeder wire to each length of flex track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMa7_raOC5E

I suggest that you solder most of your track non-insulated track joints as well as soldering the feeder wires to the respective tracks. If you haven’t done much basic soldering, it’s probably a skill you will need to acquire or at least get someone to help you with the task. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QdzJZmgVfw&spfreload=10 (the accent may be a bit difficult).

The following two clips seem to bring everything together albeit one with a bit of a corny start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBelgM_YfMg and the second may also be complicated by the accent ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHHZ9rmIZ0 )

Ballasting

Once you have got the track laid and connected, I suggest that you consider ballasting the track, that is laying fine crushed gravel in between the sleepers to simulate the real gravel ballast used under real track. It is not essential but it improves the look considerably. Again, there are many ways to undertake this. The following clip shows a method very similar to what I do except that I don’t add india ink to the glue mix. Instead, I purchase ballast material that is basically a finer version as the gravel used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofyA5wnx7J4

One thing to watch when you are ballasting your track; make sure that the ballast, when laid, does not interfere with the operation of your points.

Basic Scenery

When I talk about basic scenery, I’m referring to the landform shapes that will be found on your layout, hills, rivers etc. From what I understand of your intentions most of your areas, dock, railway stations should be relatively flat but I suggest that you have some undulations as a billiard table like surface is never very realistic. If you are planning a dock, you should also consider cutting out a portion of your baseboard to allow for the relative height difference between the water level and the dock/railway track.

Again, there are many different options but generally they distil to two basic methods:

·         a ‘hard shell’ type where some form of mesh/wire netting or cardboard strips is supported by some solid shapes such as timber or Styrofoam to create the desired landform shape which is then coated with plaster or some similar product  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1roqIMTWSg ; or

·         a solid material, often Styrofoam, that is then carved or shaped to the desired land form, and then also coated with plaster or similar or paint if you wish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKguw6NWtAI  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y2q8Jp7-7c

Personally, I have concentrated on the Styrofoam method albeit with a few variations on the method shown in the videos. One word of caution, it does create a mesh particularly when carving and shaping, so make sure you have the Hoover close at hand.

Detailed Scenery

This is where you will add buildings, trees, fences, platforms, signals, people etc to bring the layout to life. Each item will be different. You may place some straight ‘out of the box’ and others, perhaps, build from a kit. However, I do suggest that you spend some time ‘weathering’ your buildings, that is making them look as if they have been there for some time. There are a multitude of techniques and materials to achieve this but a great start point is to spray the object with Testors Dullcote. Sometimes, it is also a good finish to seal the work that you have just done.

Some modellers will use simple mock-ups of buildings to help them decide where things will go, or indeed to see if something will fit. Again it is a personal choice.

Extra support and advice

No doubt, there will be many times when you’ll need some advice or assistance to get you over a particular hurdle or problem. We all do!! You appear to have already established a relationship with a local hobby shop.  I suggest that you will find that they are always willing to offer some assistance. They may offer some services for things you may not wish to take on yourself such as decoder fitting.

Exhibitions are also a great place to gain additional information, advice and motivation. They are usually arranged by a specific club or group and frequently supported by hobby shops and smaller boutique suppliers.

Clubs are another source of advice with individuals usually willing to pass on their knowledge. Most clubs will usually be building a ‘club layout’ and participating in this activity may give you confidence to undertake work on your home layout.

There are also chat rooms and blogs. This link provides a start point only. There is a multitude out there. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/page/home.html

Of course feel free email me with any questions and if necessary we can set up a Skype call to work through a particular problem.

"A Place for Everthing..."

As I look at the clutter that has accumulated on the current work location on Philip's Creek, I am reminded of my paternal grandfather's favourite saying, "a place for everything and everything in its place".


 I never knew the gentleman, he died about six months after I was born. But for most of his working life, he was a workshop manager in the NSWGR Electric Car Workshops Chullora. He was apparently nicknamed Basher Bill, not for his pugilistic skills but rather because, to use the slang of the time, he would 'bash on' or 'ear bash' his staff about the need for tidiness around the workshop.

I know what I should do, but progress at this time is slow and any non productive work seems to be a mis-direction of effort. Looking at the mess and knowing the challenge to find the tool that I need at any point at time, I was beginning to think that perhaps there was some form of genetic mutation between my grandfather and I.

However, I recently found an old poor quality photograph of young Bill in his workshop around 1912 when he was in his early 20s. His hobby was different but the clutter and congestion on his work area looks familiar. It would seem that his passion for cleanliness came later in life, more from experience than genes. Therefore, as someone now in his early 60s, it obviously means that I'm a slow learner!!!





However, to move away from family history, the purpose of this short post is to provide a few photos of the construction of what probably the final module of Philips' Creek.

Actually, module has been cleaned up slightly since these photos were taken. The empty peco point boxes have been thrown out!



Track laying is proceeding slowing but the work to date has been fairly conventional. I summarised my basic construction technique of gluing cork directly onto styrofoam in an earlier post  http://philipscreek.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/moving-forward-at-last.html The 50mm wide strips of double thickness Bunnings cork tiles continue to work very well as a track bed but trimming and cutting with a band saw makes life a lot easier.

By the way, who said DCC made for simpler wiring? I have yet to complete the wiring underneath the module and it currently resembles a tangle of vines in a tropical rain forest.  But at least all of the points will have a direct electrical feed into each.

Malthoid Roofs

I have been struggling with time issues over the past few weeks but other activities seem to be getting in the way. Consequently, I have only had to opportunity to concentrate on one aspect, the overhaul of the three passenger carriages transferred from the South Coast Railway plus the construction of one extra Camco FO kit.

A number of modellers have made the point that most observation of the layout and rolling stock is done from above, perhaps a similar angle to the photo opposite (a Lachlan Valley Railway trip to Kiama last December). As a consequence, I feel I need to get the roof appearance as close as possible to the original. In particular, I have been attempting to capture the appearance of the malthoid roofs on passenger carriages.










As an aside, pun intended, even when viewed from the side,  the texture and shape of the malthoid strips are  very apparent.

A number of authors have written about techniques to replicate malthoid roofs. Of these,  I have found that Alex Brown's article in the June 2005 edition of AMRM (p38-41) and Ian Phemister's blog post  http://iansmuswellbrookmerriwa.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/more-changes_3886.html
are my 'go to' references although, I'm sure there are many others. 

Both authors start with the removal of the existing ventilators, the fixing of some form or textured material in strips to simulate the malthoid, the installation of replacement ventilators and, finally, painting and weathering. Alex used masking tape strips to simulate the malthoid while Ian cut a tea bag into strips for the same purpose. I have found that both work but I have adopted the masking tape option as my preferred alternative. I also found it convenient to drill holes in the roof where the replacement ventilators are to be located before applying the masking tape strips. Once all of the masking tape strips are in place, I also apply a coat of PVA glue, or more recently, WeldBond, to create a seal across the whole surface before replacing the ventilators and painting.

Commercial replacement ventilators, both mushroom and torpedo types, have been used, sourced primarily from Hobbyland at Hornsby.


Painting is completed using a mix of spray and brush. The one thing I have noticed looking at photographs taken in the 1960s and 70s is the considerable variation of condition and weathering between individual carriages. These range from an almost brand new appearance presumably having just emerged from an overhaul to a very degraded condition. This provides plenty of latitude within the limits of weathered black and silver, with/or without navy dressing ends. A spray with Dullcote and then soot in varying degrees finish off each roof.






The final two photos provide a comparison between the prototype and the model. Probably another application of Dullcote is appropriate but I think the texture is there. 

It's that time of the year again!

It's hard to believe that Christmas has rolled around again, and, consequently having been caught unprepared (again), this is just a short post to close off 2015.

For one reason or another, this has been a fairly unproductive year as far as progress on Philip's Creek is concerned. However, the one thing that has changed significantly is the size of the locomotive roster with four locomotives being added in 2015. Up to the beginning of 2015, its 10 locomotives (plus the CPH rail motor and narrow gauge Shay) were acquired gradually over the 19  years that the model railway has been in existence. Now in 2015, that number has been increased by 40 percent. While these have been the subject of separate posts, I thought that it would be appropriate to close the year with a few images of the new additions.

The first to arrive was the long awaited Trainorama 48 class. It only took six years to arrive. It was closely followed by the Auscision 45 class. (I still think 21pins for a decoder is an overkill).  Unpowered 4485, a transferee from the South Coast Railway, completed the Alco additions to the diesel fleet towards the end of the year.

Lastly, there was a single addition to the steam roster as 5069 entered service also towards the end of the year.

As a footnote to my earlier post concerning additional weight in the 50 class tender, the photo below shows 5069 with its very full tender. So far, the additional weight appears to be doing the trick.

As always at this time of the year, I would like to acknowledge all those individuals who have assisted me with comments, advice, information or materials that have contributed to my modelling activities in the previous 12 months. 

And finally, to all readers, best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a great 2016.

cheers Phil

Some Not So New Arrivals

A month or so ago, I became aware of the impending closure of a very impressive NSWGR HO scale layout because the owner had decided to branch out into bigger and better things. His decision provided the opportunity to reallocate a few items of rolling stock to Philip’s Creek. With an appropriate transfer fee agreed, these items are either now in-service or undergoing refurbishment. Each is intended to supplement particular capabilities at Philip’s Creek.

The first is an unpowered Trainorama 44 class that will provide a double-heading  capability without worrying about setting up consists on the Powercab. It has been nicely weathered and has already entered service working with 4473. It will also run with the other mainline Alcos in the fleet (4512 and 44222). I had contemplated purchasing one of these when they were initially released but for one reason or another didn’t go through with it. Unusually, that earlier lassitude on my part has had a positive outcome.

The other three transferees are intended to expand the passenger services  that currently pass through Philip’s Creek. Two of these, a Lima TAM sleeping car and a Powerline FS carriage, will be added to the mail train consist, while the FO will increase the capacity of the local passenger service.

All three carriages were in 'close to original' condition and consequently, I have commenced a few modifications to align them to the current passenger fleet. Primarily, this involves the addition of malthoid roofs and interior detail.

While the photo opposite looks more like a model of a wrecker's yard, it's actually showing two of the carriages in their current state of refurbishment.

Of the three, the most extensive modifications involve the TAM. It is also the only one of the three carriage types that I have not modified previously. Fortunately, a number of articles from AMRM provided guidance. To bring the carriage into my time period, the crown lights above the windows had to go and I purchased an interior from the Old Dog Model Railway range. The roof is currently undergoing its malthoid aka masking tape treatment with replacement vents and wheels from Hobbyland at Hornsby. Painting and weathering will follow.

Interiors for the FO and FS carriages are on order from the same manufacturer. These carriages will be finished over the next few months as time permits and then pressed into service.

While these additions will probably finalise the mail train consist, the local passenger service will continue to grow by a few more FO, as and when they can be purchased.

Eureka 50 Class - adding weight to the tender

My first workings of 5069, the new Eureka 50 class, indicated that there may be few challenges with the tender particularly when operating the locomotive tender first. My first attempt to bring a rake of LCHs and CCHs to the Philip's Creek coal mine tender first resulted in two minor derailments of the tender and some hesitancy of the locomotive when moving through the old Atlas points with about 20mm of dead track on each. The problems that I experienced seemed to confirm. in my mind, my initial impression that the tender needed some extra weight.('Eureka 50 Class - Early Impressions'). However the issue may not be quite that simple!

The pick up arrangement for the tender is shown on the photo opposite. Brass strips fixed to the tender base make contact with lugs on each bogie to convey current from the track to the circuit board and decoder inside the tender. For this arrangement to be effective, there does need to be sufficient weight in the tender to ensure good contact with the track.

Similarly, there also needs to be sufficient weight to ensure that the realistic flanges do their job and keep the wheels on the track as each bogie moves through a point. However, it has been suggested to me that the pivoting of the bogie may be impeded by the friction (albeit ever so slight) between the lugs on the bogie and the metal strip on the tender. So, here we seem to be caught in a dilemma because that contact is necessary for the electrical pick-ups on the tender to function.

I have decided to approach this in two stages, the first being to add additional weight to the tender and then, only if necessary, install an alternate means of electrical contact between the bogie and the tender chassis. This post focuses on the first step only.

Marcus Ammann's very informative web page, Modelling the Main North with DCC (http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/mainnorth/D50)
provides guidance on how to remove the top of the tender. Having done that, my first thought was to add a strip of lead on the inside running the full length of the tender. However, a dummy fit with an equivalent piece of styrene felt as if I was applying pressure to the wires coming out of the top of the circuit board. Instead, I decided to glue a strip of lead into the space provided by the coal moulding. It was glued with super glue and then some blue-tack was added to assist the adhesion. I then glued a strip of very thin styrene beneath it to act as an insulator between the lead and the circuit board should the lead come adrift. I know, probably an overkill with multiple redundancies.


I then added a further strip of lead to the top of the coal in the tender. The photo opposite is a good example of how some colours can change when photographed. The lead is actually a grey colour, not the bronze shade that is shown in the photo. Coal was added to the cover the lead although as can be seen from the photo below some extra coal is still necessary. However, I won't do that until after the locomotive has been weathered. I'll probably make it a fairly full load which may mean moving the apex of the coal more toward the centre of the tender than it is at present.

The results of the early runs after the additional of the extra weight are positive with the instances of the hesitancy reduced and no derailments of the tender bogies to date. However, the real test will come when it's time to move the full coal wagons to Port Waratah.

It Broke

Some readers will recall that I wrote about the Woodland Scenics 'Tidy Track' and another wheel cleaning product in two posts several years ago. Well, the 'Tidy Track' continued to deliver sterling service - until it broke a few weeks ago! For a little while, I tried to persevere with a shorter handle, but with one telegraph pole broken and some close calls with signals, it was time to do something about it.

I'm sure the people from Woodland Scenics would say that the failure was as a result of misuse.  In reality, it probably was a combination of fatigue and too much downward force creating a stress beyond what the plastic handle could withstand. But, after just two and half years, it's still a bit disappointing.  However, it has been a  useful tool, too useful to consign to the rubbish bin. So the search was on for a suitable repair.

So far three possible solutions have been considered. The first two involve the use of a short length of heavy duty conduit as a sleeve and the third uses a piece of timber to replace the plastic handle.

The first attempt, hereafter referred to as Plan A, involved an attempt to glue the original handle inside the conduit.As with most Plan As, it didn't work too well. The concept of the conduit as a method of splicing the handle together worked OK but the glue failed when the tool was pushed forward. It might have been a different story, if I hadn't tried the make the overall handle longer than it had previously been.

So on to Plan B. The conduit was the same but this time, I drilled and inserted two screws, one through each of the remnant parts of the handle. So far, this arrangement seems to be working and the handle is a bit longer than previously.

However, if Plan B does not work over time, Plan C will be the replacement of a whole handle with a piece of timber. The problem with this option may be the loss of some flexibility in the head/handle interface.


Time will tell but a least the track is getting cleaned, AND the scenery is not being damaged!