The Potters Orchid Railway

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

Do you do anything to your points (turnouts) before applying ballast or 'goop', to stop them being gummed-up, and sticking?

Phil.P

Blue tack was placed over the mech and tape over the top of that. Just where the spring thingie and tie bar slides. The next morning, just like I have done just now, I go out remove the blue tack and tape and wipe the blade plates etc with a wet rage poked in with tweezers. The a drip some drops of oil on the blade plates, tie bar and over lock spring thingie. No problem with the first two points since the weekend. As I work from home I go out and check a few times and make sure all is moving.

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

Captain Plod's winter time sport is digging holes, mixing concrete and shoveling dirt here and there and heaving stuff to there and back to here, but this year he has a new summer time sport. It is nudging little granite chips around Peco SM32 track.
Plod explains in a recent interview "It is quite therapeutic and my dim mind enjoys this, especially when listening to some test cricket"
There was no black mortar dye added to the new section. Plod also got a bashometer and chisel and chipped off the track bed edges to break the straight even edge of the track bed. When the ground covers nestle up to it he thinks it will look OK. One day or rather one year, perhaps in the next decade the area will be full of buildings and details but till then.



So far the loco roads look OK and Plod is thinking of how to simulate ash.
So far all has set quite firm after a day exposed to the increasing ferocity of the Qld summer sun .

[Peter Butler]

That is drying out incredibly fast.... I've never seen it do that in our climate. The result looks perfect, at least here on the screen... I hope you are satisfied with it on-site. You would find it difficult to remove now I bet!

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

That is drying out incredibly fast.... I've never seen it do that in our climate. The result looks perfect, at least here on the screen... I hope you are satisfied with it on-site. You would find it difficult to remove now I bet!

Queensland is the skin cancer capital of the world so the sun is harsh. Imagine what it does to exposed skin. Watching tourists from northern latitudes scoff at all the sun warnings here then within a day or two of their holiday/honeymoon brings on the "I told you so" moment". Crikey you will see cooked lobsters at the beach any day. Blisters and sun stroke sick for a week is not fun. As I wee lad I learnt my leasson on a cramping trip.
I am pleased with the result. I had some anxiousness as I set off on this ballast caper but so far it has not proved too difficult. Sourcing 2-3mm granite chips took a while.
It was your ballast posts in your forum thread that convinced me to try the SBR path. Finding our down under SBR equivalent took a bit of snooping but it was here all the time. I am off at lunchtime to get more 1mm aquarium sand and look at different colours.

[ge_rik]

....... a cramping trip.

I've had a few of those .... Legs too long, tent too small .......

Rik

[FWLR]

I like to eat cooked Lobster on the beach....

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

Captain Plod progresses with the ballasting of the Potters Orchid Railway. SBR and 2-3mm granite chips mixed with 1mm sand and mortar dyes. He thinks Chocolate would be a better dye than the Chestnut he used. The weather will dull it all down and so far Plod is pleased. His efforts as he progresses down the line are getting better and faster.

The mix before a wee wet down with water and then the neat SBR





Davo Lanko 571 dribbled on. (Aussie SBR)









Cover up in case of evening storms.

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

09.35 in the morn, after 14 hours later it seems to be cooking off nicely.







This has a second and third wave over it to add some ash (white sand) and grime (mortar dye powder) , SBR added of course.

[philipy]

That is all looking fabulous. It always amazes me how much better trackwork looks with ballast added, it makes it part of the surrounding landscape somehow.

[FWLR]

That is just so different now, it looks just right and you would be hard pressed to not believe it was a real line in some beautiful countryside anywhere in the world. Well done.

[Andrew]

Like wot they've said - that's looking fantastic!

I may need to experiment with dyes next time I ballast...

[ge_rik]

Excellent!!!!

Rik

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

Plod has been experimenting with different washes of mortar dye powder and diluted Lanko 571 while listening to the West Indies being demolished at the Adelaide oval. Cabbage tree creek yard got the treatment.

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

This morning after being exposed to the moonlight.








Potters Junction with MAM in full glazing mode.

[Peter Butler]

The effects are stunning and the timescale unbelievable!

[ge_rik]

The effects are stunning and the timescale unbelievable!

I'll echo that!

Rik

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

The effects are stunning and the timescale unbelievable!

The effects (method) was inspired by you and your railway.
We don't watch much TV and on weekends when I am not at the Mary Valley Rattler I get up at 5.00am (at this time the sun is up at 4.30am) and I get stuck in and knock off as it gets dark (7.00pm) or not long after. I am snoring by 9.00pm. We have hot sunny weather at the moment so I am on a mission to ballast the whole railway. (this time last year was incredibly wet, major floods and more and more rain) This morning I ordered an additional 10kg of 2-3mm granite chips and maybe later this week I might make a start on the track north of Red Bridge gorge and Potters Junction yard. I am at the Rattler this weekend so I am away Friday, Sat and Sun having fun driving and firing the 12" scale trains. So by the end of next week I hope to complete the track ballasting. Complete the task and then sit back and enjoy it. I am planning tonight to assemble the 1800mm long stainless steel bench that was just delivered. It has a spot to live for use with loco boxes and rolling stock and or food and drink during visitor run sessions and also for MAM to use for pottery stuff. I will get back to my model engineering soon and the POR stuff and time will ease dramatically. For the time being the time and energy resources are being directed at the POR as the holiday visitor days are about to commence. So make it nice for us all to enjoy. New Year's Eve will be a big production.
I have to devote some time to clean up stuff about the house and yard this week. Besides ballast it is tidy up the detritus.

[Andrew]

This is inspirational stuff, feels like "proper" railway modelling, as in really trying hard to recreate the look of the real thing - thanks for sharing!

Loving MAM's pots too - Grace took a load out of the kiln this morning which she'd glazed on Saturday, so we got the magical next step in the process...

[FWLR]

You have far surpassed anything else anyone as done before and your right in saying that Peter Butler has been an inspiration for you, he certainly has been for me.

It just looks fantastic and looking forward to some more videos of your stock running on it.

[Hydrostatic Dazza]

You have far surpassed anything else anyone as done before and your right in saying that Peter Butler has been an inspiration for you, he certainly has been for me.

It just looks fantastic and looking forward to some more videos of your stock running on it.

Thank you, however I am only following what others have done before. I thieve the ideas and techniques from others. If I could start again 12 years ago the back yard walls would be very different and the curves min 1200mm radius and ..................