4mm Wharfeside, a lifetime's project

[Dave F.]

Had a visit from Richard Nice this week, He comes up to Glasgow every now and again. Fresh from showing his own railway Barnard Castle at EXPO EM Wakefield earlier this month he wanted to have a play with someone else's railway....
We put the NER B16 on the fuel oil train just for him.


Backscene is being talked about now with the MDF ordered.

This Wednesday got the ash surface finished on the platform, Fiona found the stuff on a wargamers site, it's a gritty paint representing tarmac or in this case ash, I'll look it up later and post a link. One of the lads has given me some weathering powder to tone down the black a midge.




Dave.

 

[40057]

Had a visit from Richard Nice this week, He comes up to Glasgow every now and again. Fresh from showing his own railway Barnard Castle at EXPO EM Wakefield earlier this month he wanted to have a play with someone else's railway....
We put the NER B16 on the fuel oil train just for him.

View attachment 248071
Backscene is being talked about now with the MDF ordered.

This Wednesday got the ash surface finished on the platform, Fiona found the stuff on a wargamers site, it's a gritty paint representing tarmac or in this case ash, I'll look it up later and post a link. One of the lads has given me some weathering powder to tone done the black a midge.

View attachment 248073


Dave.

Hi Dave

That surface looks very convincing. One question: what is the surface on the platform ramps?

Thank you for two good ideas! Because there is a track leading to a lower level hidden under the platform, I have to build a platform where the top can be lifted off. I have put off construction partly in the hope of finding some way of disguising the inevitable joins running across the platform — and you have just shown me how to do it. A paved section with an ash/tarmac surface either side. Each lift-off section with a different surface to the next piece. The granular paint is the other idea. Thanks!

Martin

 

[Dave F.]

Hi Dave

That surface looks very convincing. One question: what is the surface on the platform ramps?

Thank you for two good ideas! Because there is a track leading to a lower level hidden under the platform, I have to build a platform where the top can be lifted off. I have put off construction partly in the hope of finding some way of disguising the inevitable joins running across the platform — and you have just shown me how to do it. A paved section with an ash/tarmac surface either side. Each lift-off section with a different surface to the next piece. The granular paint is the other idea. Thanks!

Martin

Hi Martin, the ramps are the same surface as the rest, The gritty paint is AMMO, Terraform - Asphalt and is available I believe on Fleabay.
The Paved areas are as per photos of various stations on the Wharfedale line.

Dave.

 

[Dave F.]

As I've posted on the workbench thread I haven't been on for a while but still been busy, have made a start on the NER coal drops for Wharfeside. All plastic with embossed card and scribed plain card. A drawing and photos of various places were supplied by Richard Nice, thanks again, and a generic amalgam of them has been produced. A number of the Midland stations on the MR/NER joint line had coal drops including Ilkley, the main station.
The ground level needs to be built up a bit and a NER cast bufferstop, some wing walls and access steps are needed but we have been running wagons onto the drops quite nicely so that has proved the concept. I had thought I would do the drops in derelict condition but after thinking about shunting movements I rather like the idea of the pickup goods shunting across the main to get to the coal drops.


Other work has included some remediable work on the wiring to the coal drop siding, (the droppers were never connected together or even connected across the baseboard join). A replacement for a 'gone faulty' pushbutton for the up/down crossover and relays in the fiddleyard and this week, some repeater LEDs on the main panel for the unsighted signals after complaints from operators, Fiona had put a big tree in the way....
Locos have been on the bench or shelves too long now so a concerted effort is being made to get them detailed, weathered and back on the layout so work can be concentrated on the new builds. I would also like to build three more buildings before a photo shoot next spring for a magazine article and a piece for the EMGS newsletter which has been requested to help promote the EM show in Wakefield next summer which Wharfeside has been invited to.
On the wagon front some more vans have been lettered and added to the stock so another mixed freight has been made up.
The Liquified Ammonia tankers now have the walkways and domes cast so a jig needs to be made to mark the tanks for the locating holes.
Dave F.

 

[Dave F.]

As mentioned above, the Ammonia tankers have now been marked off with a jig made to sit on the chassis top and touch each side of the tank so the centre line could be drawn accurately and then the holes drilled for fitting the castings, the domes will be glued on first and some paint applied before the walkways cover the lower parts of the domes.
The saddles are still to be fixed hence they have moved about due to the handling.
The bicolour LEDs that were fitted to the front panel, one of them the red seems to be a bit dim, the green is nice and bright so I may swap it out.

Dave F.

 

[Dave F.]

Work is continuing on the Ammonia tankers with the domes glued on and the cradles drilled and glued in place on all twelve, quite a marathon.
The tie down bands of 1mm phosphor bronze have been cut to size and 0.5 wire added to the ends to locate in the brackets on the cradles and soldered on one side then tensioned and soldered at the other side so nice and tight, three done nine to go. Still some work needed on the Dapol underframes.



And the type of tank I'm trying to represent, seven foot diameter in WD livery also showing two of the older six foot tanks and the three different liveries in the fifties


Dave F.

 

[Dave F.]

Work has started on assembling the ladders for the tanks, these were etched some time ago on a spare corner of a coupling rod fret and have come out well though of course the rung holes needed drilling out to take the 0.4 wire so having bought a neat wee cordless drill/engraver a while ago it was a dream to just push the holes through and then fold up the ladder, the wire was pushed through and soldered with a 1mm tip then the outside was filed smooth and the strips were cut off which had held the side stringers together.


Cheers,
Dave F.

And thanks for all the likes.

 

[Herb Garden]

Work has started on assembling the ladders for the tanks, these were etched some time ago on a spare corner of a coupling rod fret and have come out well though of course the rung holes needed drilling out to take the 0.4 wire so having bought a neat wee cordless drill/engraver a while ago it was a dream to just push the holes through and then fold up the ladder, the wire was pushed through and soldered with a 1mm tip then the outside was filed smooth and the strips were cut off which had held the side stringers together.
View attachment 252150

Cheers,
Dave F.

And thanks for all the likes.

I'm allready looking forward to hopefully seeing Warfside in Wakefield next year

 

[Dave Holt]

Looking very nice, Dave.
I assembled a ladder made that way for the rear of my Ivatt Class 2 tank and found it rather fiddly. I certainly don't envy you with twelve to do.
Dave.

 

[Culreoch]

Work has started on assembling the ladders for the tanks, these were etched some time ago on a spare corner of a coupling rod fret and have come out well though of course the rung holes needed drilling out to take the 0.4 wire so having bought a neat wee cordless drill/engraver a while ago it was a dream to just push the holes through and then fold up the ladder, the wire was pushed through and soldered with a 1mm tip then the outside was filed smooth and the strips were cut off which had held the side stringers together.
View attachment 252150

Cheers,
Dave F.

And thanks for all the likes.

Looking good and coming on at pace now Dave.

Might be worth painting/lettering/weathering the majority of it before the diagonal straps go on? Mind the oil tanks had to be taken to bits to get in behind.

 

[Nick Rogers]

Evening Dave,

I've really enjoyed catching up on your thread. Out of interest, what are the dimensions of the layout?

Kind regards,

 

[Dave F.]

Hi Nick, thankyou for your comment. The layout is approx, 22ft x 14ft rugby ball shape.
It is still under construction with backscenes, more trees and shrubs, buildings etc. etc.



Dave F.

 

[Bulldog3444]

Hello Dave,

A further question to follow Nick’s - what is your minimum radius? For those of us modelling in P4 rather than EM that’s an important consideration.

It’s really impressive how you have managed to develop a double track main line layout in the space, but I am guessing that it would be quite challenging in P4.

Ian

 

[Dave F.]

Hi Ian, radii were decided by the templates I had made years ago when I was in fabrication engineering so 27ft through the frontage transitioning through to 9ft at the platforms and six ft where it goes off scene into the fiddleyard, the points in the fiddleyard are mostly built on a jig at 4ft radii approx. Only one loco sometimes doesn't like a F/Y point so it is kept in a dead end road.

Dave F.

 

[Dave F.]

Looking very nice, Dave.
I assembled a ladder made that way for the rear of my Ivatt Class 2 tank and found it rather fiddly. I certainly don't envy you with twelve to do.
Dave.

Hi Dave, yes fiddly as you say and there are twenty four ladders when you think about it....
Four done now and maybe another few tonight as 'Strictly' is on TV so I'm upstairs out the way....

Dave.

 

[Herb Garden]

Hi Dave, yes fiddly as you say and there are twenty four ladders when you think about it....
Four done now and maybe another few tonight as 'Strictly' is on TV so I'm upstairs out the way....

Dave.

Me too.... I wonder how many of us are hiding avoiding the dreaded dancing program?

 

[oldravendale]

I am!!

Brian

 

[simond]

I don’t need to be. ‘Erself has a similar view to me.

 

[John57sharp]

Boo to you all! We love Strictly here!* Anyway it’s all about personal taste… apparently there are even some people who don’t like pannier tanks.

Tonight however we didn't watch it, Gilly and I lived dangerously and had dinner at our favorite Mowgli in Liverpool, why dangerous? There were two people dining in Newcastle FC shirts across the way - talk about rubbing it in! (Football references for those of you still bewildered.)

* ok it has issues, but there is a very good side to it too. It's also probably about to succumb to a major facelift after this series, these rarely work for the best!

And now, back to model railways….

 

[Dave F.]

Not much to report due to two bouts of snottery colds or maybe flu despite the flu jag.
However, been experimenting with weathering techniques, many years ago I would have done a wash of enamels but nowadays with modern acrylic paints like 'Citadel Colour- Technical Typhus Corrosion' from Games Workshop it's much easier to represent typical rust on say a mineral wagon.
Further tries show it's good for corner plates and other ironwork.
Here are some of the first efforts, the container still needs the transfers but the tie down and lift rings have been fitted.



Dave.