7mm Another attempt

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Hi Jon
Hmmm an SW1 in HO, that could go with my US HO shunting plank as in Area 51.…...? What make?
Cheers
Julian
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Hi Jon
Hmmm an SW1 in HO, that could go with my US HO shunting plank as in Area 51.…...? What make?
Cheers
Julian

Hi Julian, and please accept my humblest apologies for the late reply.

I hadn’t forgotten, it’s just that we’re currently firmly into stage 1 of a house revamp and apart from it becoming more demanding of my time, it’s also a case of accessing ‘stuff’ that has to be moved about to accommodate developments :(

However, I managed to trace the loco this afternoon: transpires I gave you ‘duff Jen’! It’s an Atlas Alco S2 rather than S1 as I erroneously thought :eek:

Apologies.

Jon
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Hi Jon
No need to apologise we all have other demands don't we?! That was a shame but an S2 sounds nice too.....the NYC had a few. I have an Atlas GP7 that runs beautifully as seen on the other post... guess with domestic commitments etc that is why this venture is so "snail like pace"!
Hope all goes well with the house revamp.
All the best
Julian
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Hi Jon
No need to apologise we all have other demands don't we?! That was a shame but an S2 sounds nice too.....the NYC had a few. I have an Atlas GP7 that runs beautifully as seen on the other post... guess with domestic commitments etc that is why this venture is so "snail like pace"!
Hope all goes well with the house revamp.
All the best
Julian

Thanks, Julian.

I forget the original livery, but my intention was to turn it into the black livery of Santa Fe, similar to that of the fifties/sixties that served the downtown area of LA.

I removed the original paint and livery by immersing the body in a solution of Dettol, and shifting the residue with a tooth brush. It received a primed coat as far as I recall, although the area below the boards (part of the chassis) received the silver coloured and slanted chevrons, part of a decal set I sent for. Yet another project that didn’t get too far !

Best,

Jon
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Well progress has been terribly slow on this little layout but other things have taken priority before I could play a little!!
I have made a start on a station building at long last which is based on the WC&PR at Wick St Lawrence. This style of "hut" is very typical of light railways and could be found on so many lines from the east to west coast but the inspiration really came from walking our daughter's dog near the path of the line. As I have said before a fellow WT put me in contact with the society and dimensions were kindly shared so I could make some kind of reasonable model.
Also some of you know we have property in Spain with about 6.5 acres of olive and carrob trees that require much work and we travel between the UK and Spain on a 90 day rota so playing trains in sometimes a bit of a sneaky squeeze!!
Well as can be seen from the photos the material used is a cereal carton (yes you can get Weetabix in Spain!) To which is attached strips of more said material to represent the weatherboard. The dimensions show that 6" boarding was used and I have used 5mm strips to gain the overlap. Normal white wood glue was used but due the warmth the lamination warped, hence the use of a press made of slate table mats and 4 bottles of water (6kg) to flatten the sides.
We have only a couple of weeks left before we travel back to old blighty so it is not my intention to assemble the building but flat pack the sides safely before travelling.
I hope the photos show WIP and I will upload another once I have finished the sides and cut them out.
I am still persevering!!
Julian



IMG_20230510_191523~2.jpgIMG_20230510_191301.jpgIMG_20230510_191414~2.jpgIMG_20230510_191356~2.jpgIMG_20230513_104304.jpg
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
As promised here is a photo of the 4 walls showing the weather board.

IMG_20230517_191616.jpg

I intend to build the core of the structure out of balsa sheet, because I have some stored away and hopefully it will not warp but remain strong.

One thing I have noticed is that the photos of WSt Lawrence shows either no door or door open. Does anyone know?

Using thin card has proved cheap and I think it is quite effective.
 

David Hall

Western Thunderer
Julian,

Just checking in here. You made great strides during my enforced hiatus. I'm really pleased to see that the little layout is coming to life. You've made a lovely job of the trackwork. It looks superb.

Looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Dave
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Hi Julian, I like the little building, Card is such a versatile material for modelwork and as you say very cheap..... although I have to say I prefer the Shreddies brand of card:))

Michael
 

David Waite

Western Thunderer
Hi Julian
That is a such a shame,
l am curious what is the temperature range of where the layout is housed and dose the base board get damp in the winter?
David.
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Well John that was close to what I said!!!!
David, yes this could be the problem as I have used MDF tops, 3/8" and the attic is not insulated.
The other issue could be the fact I recycled the sleepers and I think once you put the heat on them the bonding is not as strong. I also have used code 100(?) rail from early GEM TT Flexi track, so is the nickel silver causing the issue?
I have not had time to look yet but it might be an argument for looking a a move moveable track base....spikes or chairs?
Guess lesson learnt is not to skimp on the foundation of a layout.
 

Roger Pound

Western Thunderer
Julian, my sincere sympathy on your trials and tribulations. I have in my time built track work ( when I was young and keen ;)). Now that situation no longer applies, having left 7mm for a more compact regime (and other reasons which have no place on WT - :eek:).
I found copper clad sleepers adequate in the right conditions and, has been pointed out above, high temperatures and unstable base material are less than ideal. Like me, you have learned the hard way about MDF but it is to moisture what blotting paper is to ink, I'm afraid. :(
I would suggest you bite the bullet and lash out to resurface with plywood then you have to decide would it be both easier and quicker with ready made track or does the layout geometry preclude this. If the latter is the case, or you prefer to build your own track in any case, as you know there are many options and whatever you choose I wish you all the best in your efforts.

Roger :thumbs:
 

David Hall

Western Thunderer
Julian,

Ah man... :'( I'm really sorry to see the damage from the attic. I feel your frustration, but try not to get too disheartened. You're inspiring me to keep going with my little project, so I will do likewise. Is anything salvageable?

Keep going,
Dave
 

David Waite

Western Thunderer
Hi Julian
You questioned the use of Nickel Silver,
Living here in Oz our days can get hot in Summer my attic seems to hold at 36C even on 42C days and I have never had a problem with the NS rail and my main line is all on copper clad sleepers and is stuck down firmly.
David.
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Thanks guys for your encouragement and feedback, yes I think I skimp on the foundation. Thank goodness it is only time that I have spent...lesson learnt.
Luckily I cannot do much at the moment due to a work commitment so no hasty track lifting/bonfire.....but plenty of thought time which could be dangerous!!!!
 

JimG

Western Thunderer
Julian,

I had something like that on a layout many years ago where one track on a six foot long baseboard continually needed attention from a soldering bolt to re-do rail joints. After a while it dawned on me that the track in question had all its rail joints soldered and each end was firmly soldered to a baseboard joint arrangement. The layout was stored in a large outhouse so there could be quite a variation in temperature. So any expansion/contraction of the rails and the baseboard could have disastrous effects on soldered joints and rail fixings (whitemetal chairs on plywood sleepers). The problem was solved by including at least one expansion joint in each rail by only soldering one side of a fishplate.

Jim.
 

Joe's Garage

Western Thunderer
Thanks Jim, I have had a brief look at the boards and I think it is the untreated MDF, a bit like the Fens!! The soldered track definitely does not help
Cheers
Julian
 
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