Richard Gawler
Western Thunderer
I guess, the wet PVA stops the moisture from the clay soaking into the model, and forms a bond here instead.
The Chronicles of Canary Sidings - Eastern Eccentricity in EM
- Thread starter Herb Garden
- Start date
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- Tags
- 4mm scale em gauge ger pre-grouping
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
It also softens the clay making it easier to mould...
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
So this has very little to do with anything but I had a day out today to Shildon railway museum and had a chance to see the very recently opened new hall for the first time.
Needless to say it's rather swanky.... 6 curated roads which predominantly houses the museums wagon collection, many of which were stored out of sight round the back for the last few years. Appropriately there's a good collection of Shildon built examples.
This also has allowed some of the items that used to be packed in the centre road in the old hall to be brought out and made more accessible. Like this rather cute sentinel.
Or even cuter simplex!
Now there's a bit more space in the main hall you can see this lovely little fireless a bit better
And this piece of NER artistry is in the works for a clean up. Maybe in time for the S&D bicentenary next year? Maybe...
Couldn't resist!
Normal service will resume shortly with more progress by Great Eastern!
Needless to say it's rather swanky.... 6 curated roads which predominantly houses the museums wagon collection, many of which were stored out of sight round the back for the last few years. Appropriately there's a good collection of Shildon built examples.
This also has allowed some of the items that used to be packed in the centre road in the old hall to be brought out and made more accessible. Like this rather cute sentinel.
Or even cuter simplex!
Now there's a bit more space in the main hall you can see this lovely little fireless a bit better
And this piece of NER artistry is in the works for a clean up. Maybe in time for the S&D bicentenary next year? Maybe...
Couldn't resist!
Normal service will resume shortly with more progress by Great Eastern!
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
A comment on @Dave s scratch building thread prompted me to get a certain old friend to this thread off the shelf.
It's been some months since we last saw 74 on these pages. And I'm ashamed to say that nothing has changed since the last time.
The lining still isn't finished. The chimney needs reattaching, the tender needs coupling electrically and mechanically back to the loco and that's before we deal with weathering and DCC fitting
But for those of you who miss all this victoriana from the earlier posts rest assured there is still every intention to continue the 1870s theme and the Mucklemouth layout project. Might just be a bit mixed I with the more modern projects (modern in this case being 1912)
But I thought you all might like a little reminder of the first character to feature in the chronicles and lets hope I can get her finished soon so she can time travel into the future to run on Skeetsmere
It's been some months since we last saw 74 on these pages. And I'm ashamed to say that nothing has changed since the last time.
The lining still isn't finished. The chimney needs reattaching, the tender needs coupling electrically and mechanically back to the loco and that's before we deal with weathering and DCC fitting
But for those of you who miss all this victoriana from the earlier posts rest assured there is still every intention to continue the 1870s theme and the Mucklemouth layout project. Might just be a bit mixed I with the more modern projects (modern in this case being 1912)
But I thought you all might like a little reminder of the first character to feature in the chronicles and lets hope I can get her finished soon so she can time travel into the future to run on Skeetsmere
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
So I've been having a bit of a sort out of old photographs and i thought you would all appreciate these images back from 2021
510 back in her 00 gauge days (yes I've only been working in EM for a couple of years). the benefit of these images is they show where I've made modifications to the original Hornby J15 model to convert it to a Y14. i remember a few of you were interested in that conversion.
as here is 151 before she suffered all those paint experiments. glad she has made it though now
a few more shots show 510 on Skeetsmere mk2 with its crazy trackwork and steel rails.... why did i think that was a good idea? you can already see the rust starting to take hold.
Hanging out with Filby the Muir Hill Tractor, the only loco that could make it down the awful gradient/tight curves to the private siding at the front of the layout. this is probably a good time to tell some of the story behind the Skeetsmere project.
the first layout appeared in 2016, Peco code 75 track and a plywood chassis that would survive a bomb blast. it was a revolution in terms of wiring and control for me and the first layout to use MERG C-Bus and DCC. but for East Anglia the track was way to high in terms of the viewed scene. this was to clear the torotoise point motors which were great but huge. operationally it was a bit dull with only a loop and one siding
i was persuaded to have a go at building my own track to fit more operational capability into the same space. this plan shows a photo of Skeetsmere mk1 marked up with additions for Mk2
and there is is, Skeetmere mk2, on its wall hanging brackets in the small back bedroom, over my WFH desk around the time of the cancelled Christmas 2020. oh how things have moved on and so much for the better! note the steep cruved gradient front left of the viewed scene and the shed which has made its way onto Mk3
sadly by the end of 2021 the rot, or rather rust was beginning to set in and the track was falling apart. other issues were the fact the layout had two non scenic sections either end so the viewed area was only half the layout length, and the layout chassis weighed a ton. the control system was way too complex as with foolishness I had thought that I would want lights in all the buildings and working animations like opening shed doors. anyway the decision was taken in Jan 22 to scrap Mk2 and move to EM, cos if I could build kits and my own track there was no reason why not.... and the rest is history...
510 back in her 00 gauge days (yes I've only been working in EM for a couple of years). the benefit of these images is they show where I've made modifications to the original Hornby J15 model to convert it to a Y14. i remember a few of you were interested in that conversion.
as here is 151 before she suffered all those paint experiments. glad she has made it though now
a few more shots show 510 on Skeetsmere mk2 with its crazy trackwork and steel rails.... why did i think that was a good idea? you can already see the rust starting to take hold.
Hanging out with Filby the Muir Hill Tractor, the only loco that could make it down the awful gradient/tight curves to the private siding at the front of the layout. this is probably a good time to tell some of the story behind the Skeetsmere project.
the first layout appeared in 2016, Peco code 75 track and a plywood chassis that would survive a bomb blast. it was a revolution in terms of wiring and control for me and the first layout to use MERG C-Bus and DCC. but for East Anglia the track was way to high in terms of the viewed scene. this was to clear the torotoise point motors which were great but huge. operationally it was a bit dull with only a loop and one siding
i was persuaded to have a go at building my own track to fit more operational capability into the same space. this plan shows a photo of Skeetsmere mk1 marked up with additions for Mk2
and there is is, Skeetmere mk2, on its wall hanging brackets in the small back bedroom, over my WFH desk around the time of the cancelled Christmas 2020. oh how things have moved on and so much for the better! note the steep cruved gradient front left of the viewed scene and the shed which has made its way onto Mk3
sadly by the end of 2021 the rot, or rather rust was beginning to set in and the track was falling apart. other issues were the fact the layout had two non scenic sections either end so the viewed area was only half the layout length, and the layout chassis weighed a ton. the control system was way too complex as with foolishness I had thought that I would want lights in all the buildings and working animations like opening shed doors. anyway the decision was taken in Jan 22 to scrap Mk2 and move to EM, cos if I could build kits and my own track there was no reason why not.... and the rest is history...
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
And here for comparison is the MK3 layout. Back on its shelf whist I rejig the room. Longer than previous incarnations with a better track plan but still incorporating many of the same design features
Been cleaning up the blasted track and adding rail spikes over the last day or so. Not exciting but the effect is worth it particularly here on the coal siding at the front of the layout.... Will I go to this effort behind the platform I don't know...
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
Had a family member visit yesterday who has the habit of insisting to inspecting progress then criticising everything in sight....
Her first point was to identify that the base boards were sagging in the middle.... Unfortunately she was right.
I pulled the boards apart and added a couple of extra brackets to the wall so each board is supported independently. Incidentally Ive dropped then to the height that the Brockhall and Norwich modules will sit when built just so I can test the eyelines.
So this allows each board to sit level but when the two boards are pulled together you can see that there is a bigger gap at the top than bottom!
Oh rats!
When tightened together one board raises off it's mount.... You may have spotted in the previous photo there is a little gap on the corner of the station board where it shouldn't be.
Turns out the disk supporting the PM dowel was stuck in between boards so the chassis hadn't glued together properly..... Much chiseling of glue later....
And we have a pile of railway books pressing the end back in place ... I'm going to wait a while to make sure it's properly cured before I try connecting the two boards again.... Fingers crossed it works
Her first point was to identify that the base boards were sagging in the middle.... Unfortunately she was right.
I pulled the boards apart and added a couple of extra brackets to the wall so each board is supported independently. Incidentally Ive dropped then to the height that the Brockhall and Norwich modules will sit when built just so I can test the eyelines.
So this allows each board to sit level but when the two boards are pulled together you can see that there is a bigger gap at the top than bottom!
Oh rats!
When tightened together one board raises off it's mount.... You may have spotted in the previous photo there is a little gap on the corner of the station board where it shouldn't be.
Turns out the disk supporting the PM dowel was stuck in between boards so the chassis hadn't glued together properly..... Much chiseling of glue later....
And we have a pile of railway books pressing the end back in place ... I'm going to wait a while to make sure it's properly cured before I try connecting the two boards again.... Fingers crossed it works
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
After holding my breath for a few days I've got the boards back together
Although not quite without a dip in the middle it's a lot less obvious so I think it will have to do.
Apart from that I've spent most of the week fighting with DHL to get them to deliver a parcel of electrical bits to no avail so work continues on ballasting but not on the electrics where is should be....
Even so it's a long way before this looks like a scene. But I couldn't help posing 151
I still can't get over how decent a job I've done on this little beauty... Certainly beyond my expectations of what I thought I would be able to achieve... Very proud of this little loco.
Anyway she needs a home so on with the layout!
Although not quite without a dip in the middle it's a lot less obvious so I think it will have to do.
Apart from that I've spent most of the week fighting with DHL to get them to deliver a parcel of electrical bits to no avail so work continues on ballasting but not on the electrics where is should be....
Even so it's a long way before this looks like a scene. But I couldn't help posing 151
I still can't get over how decent a job I've done on this little beauty... Certainly beyond my expectations of what I thought I would be able to achieve... Very proud of this little loco.
Anyway she needs a home so on with the layout!