Monday 31 December 2012

Tuff decision

With the holiday season on us & the chance to close my workshop for 2 weeks,i decided to tackle the task of lifting the centre section of the layout which houses Yass & Jerrawa.This is quite a large section 20Ft X 4FT.I started with a high lift trolley jack from work &  'T' support pieceof 3 X 2 and starting at 1 end jacked up & chocked each leg as i went untill i reached the other end & kept working back & forth.I got it up about 1 ft and then realised that the way i was going to place the main support legs was not going to work @#$@@##!.( im a mechanic/race engine builder NOT a carpenter)So A Quick call to 1 of my customers Tristan from work and he came over & had a look at what ive done & what I want to do.
So on his sugestion i have come to realise that the only way to do what i want is to pull it all down & start again.So we measured up what i want & he has already started on the new section and said he should have it ready for me next week,What a legend !.
So now the task of ripping up all the track & wiring that was already done,a bit heart breaking but i will end up with a lot better & stronger layout.So what i will end up with is the top deck at 1450 mm high and 1200mm wide then the branch line running 370mm underneath @ 250mm in from the edge.
Thats all for now tomorrow im off to see my grandfather at Dalton,on the way down im stop in at Goulburn railway museum  to have a look & then on Friday im going to Crookwell to get some photos & have a look round the yard.
Till next time happy modelling. Booly.
                                                                                                                                   

Friday 21 December 2012

The Fat man came early

Well ill start with the reason for the lack of posts,none at all just been slack.
Next i wish all fellow modellers a Merry Xmas & happy new year.
Well as the post is named the fat man came early we all know the only way to get what you want for christmas is to get your own presents.So last night after work i went out to Casula Hobbies.As usual Ross was behind the counter & greated me as i entered,it is always a pleasure to go there, all the staff are friendly & helpfull.
So i picked out a pack of Auscision NLKY Louvere vans on the counter & Ross picked it out in one guess."buying yourself a christmas present are we",then Lorrie walked in later & said the same thing,Classic how we all think the same.
As mentioned several posts ago i had started building a few Ian Lindsay Models NLKY wagons[they are nearly ready for painting]now i have the Auscision ones to use as a guide for the underfloor detail.
Also i have been building a few Casula Pc 1's for the branch line these are so easy to put together.
New out of the box they wont stay this clean for to long
 


Saturday 6 October 2012

42 & a'T'

Spotted 4204 & T385 yesterday at Sutherland on the ballast works train,but i did not have my camera on me.So today went for a look to see if i could find them.They were in a fairly bad place to get a photo on the down siding between Sutherland & Loftus,here are a few photos


 

Thursday 4 October 2012

MHG'S

Well giday all ,last weekend i made the yearly trip to Liverpool for the exhibition,and what a exhibition it was,a big congratulations to AMRA for a fantastic event.So while i was there i lightened the wallet with a few purchaces,first was a Trainorama pack 7 of MHG's,very nice.2nd was a double action runway 13 air brush,tryed it out the other night on painting the Crookwell station building & was happy with the results,very different to use compared with my single action $30 air brush i have been using.But never the less practice makes perfect.
In a previous post i menchaned that my uncle told me there had been a new siding layed at Gunning station behind the up platform,well on Monday i went & checked it out.It appears to be a siding for the track maintance equipment as it is only layed on pressed steel sleepers & old rail.
the 2 traino mhg's & an old trax at the rear
Next post hopefully will be on a completed Crookwell station building.so till next time .Booly.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Gettin tanked

Carrying on from the last post i managed to find the time to nearly finish the tank & stand.Since this is the first time i have used timber to construct i had to change my method of painting & weathering,first i used floquil grimy black heavily thinned as the first coat,then tamiya jn grey thinned with isocol & finaly tamiya red again thinned with isocol to represent the red lead.As for the water inlet i used a spare brake cylinder from a silvermaz S wagon kit & air tank from a BD wagon kit as the float,a length of 20 thou brass wire to connect the float to the inlet valve & 1.2 mm welding wire as the inlet pipe.Overall i am  happy with the end result.
Anyhow till next time, Booly.

Friday 21 September 2012

Crookwell Tankstand

Well after looking on the net & magazines i could not find any info as to what type of tankstand Crookwell had.All that i could find were pictures of the concrete base for the supports,so i have used the tank & stand at Grenfell as the basis of the stand i have modeled.There are a few photos of this tank on NSWrail.net & also in AMRM June 2011 issue.
Now this is the first model i have made using scale lumber as i usually use styrene,and it certantly  wont be my last,i was impressed at how well it has turned out.Hopefully i find the time over the weekend to paint & weather,anyhow here are a few photos

Tuesday 11 September 2012

More on Crookwell

Well after the last post showing the trackwork its time to show the progress of this section of the layout.The polystyrene foam was glued down & shaped with a sharp knife and what a mess this makes as we all know.Next after i was happy with the basic shape i cover the foam with plaster with brick oxide mixed in to take away the white look and also as a base colour.I start out with the mix fairly thin and brush it on,then as it starts to go off i shape by hand,laytex gloves and a bowl of water helps with  this part.I also cover the trackwork with masking tape.After the plaster has set(seams to take for ever in this cold weather)i start to add the ground cover,dirt i have gathered from various places is seived to use as the base,then sprinklings of woodlands fine turf in different colours,add a bit of course turf,then its time for the static grass,here i have used different brands & colours.I made an aplicator for the static grass from some instructions that Gary at Model Railroad Craftsman  gave me on a visit.For all of about $40 it sure beats the price of buying one.Anyhow a picture says a thousand words as they say,so here are some.

Monday 23 July 2012

Wiring done

Well just completed the wiring for the crookwell section of the layout,test run 4803 up & down all track,no shorts or derailments. Its just a simple power bus with track droppers to all lengths of track no matter how short they are,do not rely on fish plates to carry power they are there to join track only.The wire in tube point switches i made work a treat,and as i said in my last post each one was made for $5,just a bit of time to make the brackets.For those interested i used 39 thou piano wire,1/8 OD brass tube,25thou flat brass for the mounting brackets cut to 1/2 inch lengths with a 1/8 mounting hole,1x1 inch alloy angle for the switch brackets & STDP slide switches from jaycar.The next step for this section is to start the scenery(time to make a mess with the polystyreen foam).On another note i was talking to my uncle tonite and he menchaned that there has been a passing loop layed at Gunning station behind the up platform where the line use to run in front of the cattle dock siding.Will have to make the trip down there in a few weeks to investigate and get some photos,also mite go to Crookwell to get some photos as well.
tube & mounting brackets
Switch wiring black & red track power,green for frog power.
(well frogs are green)
4803 in the stock siding.
Anyhow till next time Booly 

Friday 20 July 2012

Crookwell progress

Well since my last post i have been busy getting the base board & track down.I have also been pondering on which way i was going to go in regards to switching the points & frog polarity.Since this is a terminous station & wont see much traffic, the cost of tortoise point motors would add another $300 to the cost($300 better spent on another Auscision 422 when they are released) so i have been looking in to wire in tube using a DPST switch.After a trip to Jaycar to get more wire for the track droppers i found the perfect switch,DPST & the slide distance is spoton for the peco point throw.So off to the hobby wholesalers near my workshop to buy some brass tube & piano wire.I just made a simple bracket off the side of the baseboard support beams.Worked out the brass tube & wire lengths soldered on 2 brackets to the tube to screw down & hey presto cheap point switches.Also my Auscicion goods shed turned up,all in all a good model,just 1 front support beam to fix up under the decking.


Simple but it works,i can make each one for about $5
 

 


<>
Looking down towards the station area

Anyhow till next time Booly

Thursday 5 July 2012

Still here

Yes i am still alive,its been a few weeks since my last post.Work has been busy & also drag racing as well,last month racing took up a fair bit of what little spare time i have,with winning the NSW division title,my engine expired on the last run of the season,so been working late to get a new engine built.Now onto the modelling front.In previous posts i said that i was lifting the layout upto 1.5m off the floor,well half way through this i had a brain storming idea to make more work for myself and build another station.This station will be loosely modelled on Crookwell and will be the termious for the branch line,this was previously going to be Dalton.Now i dont have the width to do this as the yard layout sits in real life so the modellers licence is coming into play (again)the turntable area is going to be just after the platform & the stock siding back up the yard off the goods siding.I have half built the station building which is a A5,the data sheet as always a great starting point for measurements & info,also i am scratch building a sellers 60Ft turntable.On my last visit to Casula Hobbies i found brass AM models turntable sides which gave me a starting point for construction,this will not be a operational part but will represent what was when Crookwell was run by steam as the period i model is late 70's-mid 80's.I also just found a auscicion G4 goods shed which i am lead to belive is a copy of the Crookwell shed,so 1 less thing to scratch build.The only structure i can not find where it was located is the gangers shed so if any one out there knows where it is located it would be apreciated.
Anyhow, time to bear the cold and get back to some more work. Booly.

Saturday 9 June 2012

It's been a few weeks

Yes it has been a few weeks since my last post,i have been busy at work,at night building kits & scatch building some of the buildings for Gunning station.The other week i picked up 2 ILM klv & 2 nldf kits from fellow bloger Mat from Mainwest blogspot,these wagons were used on the main south for the paper trains.For kits that are a few years old now they go together quite well.The station buildings that i have managed to scatch build so far are the up & down craem sheds & the up waiting.All are made from styrene & then on the down cream clad in corrigated iron.
Been the long weekend made the trip up to Thornleigh to the Epping exhibition,there were a few new layouts that i had not seen before & a few that i had,but its always good to go & get the creative juices flowing again.2 of the layouts that i liked are -O scale Arakoola,at 17M in length its 1 large layout, detail & scenery on this is great & HO scale Galgong & Boorowa,at the front of the layout are photos of the stations and yards,which in my opinion gives a better idea of the area that has been modeled.
Also i lightened the wallet with the purchace of 4 AR Kits bbw kits,just more kits to be built along with the 10 or so other various kits sitting on the bench in various stages of construction.
Anyhow till next time Booly


Thursday 24 May 2012

Frame work

Over the last few nights i have been able to get the frame constructed for the new Gunning side of the layout.As i said in a previous post i had the timber cut to length by a cabinet maker,all good for the frame but when it came to the legs i have worked out that the garage floor is far from level,now i know that i has to have slight fall but it is all over the place! so i have had to adjust a few of the lenghts of the legs to suit.I have also carefully removed the Dalton part off the wall,had the painstaking task of having to cut through scenery & trackwork to do it,so when this is relocated i will have to patch up a bit of scenery,but at least it did not get damaged in the process.Any how till next time Booly.
Top frame
Completed frame
The hight difference to the original on the left

Sunday 20 May 2012

Weekend trip

With rebuilding the Gunning section of the layout some more measurements were needed this time round to try & get the correct locations of the station & yard areas,so as the old saying goes i killed 2 birds with 1 stone.I have been trying to get down to see my grandfather since christmas but ill health has prevented me on 2 separate occasions(in hospital both times,christmas with pnumonia,easter with a chrons flair up).So after finishing work early on saturday off to the farm.On the way there i just had to stop at Gunning station and only had to wait about 20 min for a up wheat to pass behind and 81 & C.It was nearly at walking pace on the way into the station area so a few photos were taken in different
areas.
On sunday morning i headed off to Yass Junction to measure up the signal box & up station building,no trains through whilst i was there only the rail flaw detection truck,the rail grinding machine was stored in the down refuge siding. After a few more photos for reference it was back to the farm for lunch                
After lunch it was off to Gunning where i took some more measurements of the buildings & yard area,and again no trains through in the hour and a half i was there,yes sunday on the main south is very slow for rail traffic in daylight hours.But never the less it was a trip well worth it to get the info i needed & to see grandad.
 Anyhow till next time Booly                                                                                                                            
8153 & C506
Yass Junction signal box

Progress

On friday night i got stuck into the frames of Gunning,lengths of 42 x 19 pine form the top frame & 70 x 35 on the legs.I done the smart thing this time round regarding cutting.One of my customers at work is a kitchen maker,so i had him cut all the lengths of timber(no more using a mitre box and short/not square cuts).This made life so much easier i had the 2 frames together in no time.Still got the drama of relocating the Dalton station module off the wall and attatching it to the front underneath of this new section with out damaging it.Anyhow till next time Booly.(photos to follow)

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Going,Going ,Gone

Finally had the chance the other night to dismantle the base boards for Gunning,my little $45 cordless from bunnings made life a lot easier undoing all those screws.I have decided to have a frame height of 1400mm with the track height at 1500mm,this will allow me to have the scenery falling towards the front of the layout as it does at Gunning,the layout is veiwed as if you are standing behind the cattle yards for the people who know the layout of the Gunning yard.




Anyhow time to clean up the mess & start on the construction of the new frame.This weekend im going down to see my grandfather & get some more measurements & photos of Yass junction & Gunning.Tll next time Booly.