Time to build a railway...but where?

[tom_tom_go]

The Plastikard master at work, great looking wagon Peter...

[Peter Butler]

Many thanks, Tom-Tom, more to report.......
Guess what I've been doing today - here's a clue....



A riveting experience (not) but it had to be done, so 620 individual rivet heads later and a spray of grey primer, the wagon looked like this...









Meanwhile, the postman brought me a box of figures from 'Design scan print' which have already featured on a thread on the Forum. I thought they looked pretty good, especially for the price, and I have not been disappointed. There is a little work to do to remove the bands of material which inevitably build up around the figures but not too much to cause a problem. A round file and sand paper soon takes care of that! With a quick spray primer they soon disappear and with colour paint and shading there will be nothing to distract the viewer, especially when the drivers are in their locos.

[Peter Butler]

I forgot to add details of my Gun which weighs in at 892 grammes, so you can see my concern about ensuring the well wagon was built strong enough to withstand the load.

Now is also a good time to say how delighted I am to see the figures displayed side by side, just as real people might stand, and showing the different heights and girths clearly taken directly from 'volunteers'.

[LNR]

Great wagon, (think I'd be cross eyed after that many rivets though.) and gun combination. Those figures look excellent Peter, I think you'll enjoy painting them.
Grant.

[tom_tom_go]

The rivets look great Peter, you are a very patient man.

Are they Cambrian rivets? How have you gone about applying them as they are very fiddly!

[Peter Butler]

The rivets look great.....
Are they Cambrian rivets?  How have you gone about applying them as they are very fiddly!

Yes they are, and I have described my method of attaching them elsewhere, but I can't remember where now so I'll do it again!
Firstly I remove only one line of rivets from the sprue; too many at once are likely to get lost and it is good to break down the sequence into small parts to avoid the sheer boredom factor.
Place the heads, dome upwards, on a piece of paper, the importance of this will become clear! Having marked out the position of all the rivets, dip a small brush into the solvent of choice and leave a blob on the location of the rivet. Using the same brush, touch the rivet and lift gently (but quickly) into position. You should have time to place two or three before they bond so any fine tuning can be done with a pointy thing!
The use of a paper surface prevents most, but not all, of the rivets becoming attached to it when the solvent flows. If a plastic material is used I doubt you would get past the first rivet without throwing the whole lot in the bin!
After the first batch is used it is a welcome break to cut a new lot and repeat the process all over again. I managed to do all of mine in two sittings during one day, but once I start I just have to finish.
It also helps to run a wash of solvent over all of the rivets before a final sanding and scrub with a fibreglass pen.
I hope this explains my method and you can make use of it. It also applies to the Cambrian bolt heads, both of which make a great detailed finish to any model (I think!).

[ge_rik]

Rik

[Peter Butler]

Just for a change I thought I would give you a trip along part of my railway... by road.
The first picture shows what drivers would see when crossing the track from the village of Brockhamton (behind the camera and still to be built) looking towards the station car park.



A short distance away we pass the pathway where an operator footway crossing is located,



After a sharp right hand turn in the road we see the railway passing overhead on the viaduct. Although the road dips there is still limited clearance here. There will be a 'Low bridge' warning somewhere near this obstruction at some point in the future.



The next view is of the Station car park with a statue of Merlin greeting the visitors. Merlin is said to be waiting inside a nearby hill for a call to save the nation, so plays an important role in local folklore.



An aerial view of the car park and ticket office, also public telephone and post box.



Past the station car park the road continues towards the Castle.



Where the statue of Sir Rhodri ap Llewelyn is sited at the entrance.



The castle is currently undergoing major restoration work (that means I haven't built it yet) so we will continue to the end of the road where the gate is closed to road traffic other than coal deliveries to the railway.



I hope you enjoyed this short journey, there is still much to do but it is coming together bit by bit.

[LNR]

Great photos Peter, it's good to see related but non railway scenes of layouts. They set the whole "era, railway type" thing in the readers mind. Do like the first two pics. nice small leaved plantings, and a winding road.
Grant.

[ge_rik]

Great to see a road that leads somewhere, Peter. Certainly adds to the realism. I keep meaning to add more level crossings to match the roads which my hypothetical railway would have crossed had it been built (five plus a road bridge (which I have built)). Another for the to do list methinks....

Rik

[philipy]

Love it Peter, thanks.

[Soar Valley Light]

Very impressive Peter. It's nice to see the railway from an 'off track' perspective. The railway blends beautifully and naturally into a very scale landscape. Your roads are very realistic.

Andrew

[tom_tom_go]

Just catching up Peter, thanks for the instructions on fitting the rivets.

Great photos, adds another level to your line having a road network.

[jim@NAL]

looking good peter

[Peter Butler]

Damn and ballast!!!!!
After my earlier reports on the choice of materials and the way I stuck my ballast down I have come to the conclusion the method was somewhat less than perfect. Not the use of SBR, but the horticultural grit I used.
I could not find a local source of correctly graded grit so spent many hours sieving bags of horticultural grit to only use smaller chunks. This seemed to look OK and the SBR did its work in binding it together and holding it down. At the time I pronounced it a great success and I believe others followed suit. However, my particular material has now gone through three winters and a few very wet (Welsh) summers and is showing signs of failure.
I have discovered, however, that the chicken grit (crushed shell) which I also promoted, has remained firmly in place, from which I conclude the surface area of the smaller grit has a better bond with the SBR surrounding it.
Below is a picture of the original larger grit alongside my recently acquired preferred option, which I have now replaced all of the old stuff with....



This new material is obtained from builders merchants and I believe is used in concrete mixes for strength, although what it is called I have no idea as it has been gifted to me. It is now possibly smaller than scale size but has stuck so well and looks much superior to the first grit I think.





The SBR itself is perfect for the job as it is simply dripped onto the ballast after it has been carefully positioned using a brush. I use it neat and flood the grit so it is completely soaked. This bonds it so well it is almost impossible to remove, so be sure your track plan is final!
I cover the area with tarpaulin for a few days to ensure it has had a good drying time without danger of liquid sunshine diluting the SBR.





Fiddly though it may be, I think the results are well worth the effort and I feel more confident in its long term, hopefully not to be repeated, expectancy.

[ge_rik]

It looks something like what our Builder's Merchant calls 'Crusher Run' - though it looks a lot finer that the stuff stocked by our merchant.

Whatever it is, it looks perfect. Must try and find some for my next reballasting exercise.

Rik

[Peter Butler]

Thanks Rik, I'm glad you approve. Whatever it is, the important feature is that it is all stone, not soil mix. In the past I also tried sand as a ground cover which proved to be useless as it seemed to form a top surface skin with the SBR but left the underneath material completely dry. When the rain/UV broke down the skin the sand simply blew away.
Crushed grit allows the SBR to soak right into the material completely bonding it.
Test have already been positive through the terrible wet start we have experienced this year.

[Lonsdaler]

I wonder if the problem is that the stone itself is weathering? That looks like granite chippings, which will weather to sand and fine clays in a fairly short time, once broken down to small pieces.
I have been using Grit Sand (a mixture of coarse sand and rounded grit from 2 - 6mm in size, although I have sieved the larger grit out, down to about 4mm) with SBR.
I have used a similar sized limestone chipping beyond the ballast in places, and that has bonded well, so long as the grit is well covered in SBR.

In the past I also tried sand as a ground cover which proved to be useless as it seemed to form a top surface skin with the SBR but left the underneath material completely dry.  When the rain/UV broke down the skin the sand simply blew away.

I have found that if the ballast is damped, the SBR penetrates well, so I apply the ballast dry, and spread evenly with a brush (as you do), but then give it a misting with a fine spray before dripping the SBR onto it - penetration is then good, and a good adhesion is achieved.

BTW, having now used a full 20kg bag of Grit Sand, I purchased another from the same merchant (in the same packaging) and the coarse sand is now mixed with a totally different much finer grit!

[Peter Butler]

Hi Phil, good tip about dampening the sand to allow full penetration of the SBR, I think I might give that another try in a couple of places to vary the ground cover.
At least with the finer material there is less likelihood of derailment or point jamming if it does become loose again.

[Peter Butler]

Another project reaches its conclusion. Some pages back I showed a Fordson tractor which I decided would become a wagon load forever heading to the restoration workshop. The wagon has been constructed in the usual way, Plasticard, Cambrian rivets, (only 220 this time), addition aluminium angle to support the weight, painting and weathering......





It is held firmly in place by means of wooden chocks under the wheels and plenty of chain.