Progress (or otherwise) on Jeff's new layout

You're right Jeff - the lack of insulators is not evident at all.  It looks good and, if your spacing is by eye, please may I borrow your eyes !!

The wall mounted cables on the tube system are almost as well known as the LT device - looking forward to further progress.

All I can say to that, Peter is to quote William "Mate" Cobblers from the Goon Show:

"Me eyes ain't what they used ter be, mate. Naahhh. Used ter be me ears!"

I've just started adding the third rail to my mainline, so i know what you mean about those little "pots" - very frustratiing.  For a difficult to reach curve at the rear corner I dispensed with them and did as you have.  At the moment the insulators look quite good as they are still white, but I think that when everything is painted and weathered they will disappear and make me wonder why I bothered!
Michael

Some video of a running session this morning, with a bit of a mixture of stock and eras. The upper level ones were all items that have not had much running, so were set running for quite a while continuously, and I thought I may as well do a bit of filming as well.

There are four main running lines on Newton Broadway, two lower level (London Underground lines), and two upper level main lines, with storage loops on both levels. I had five trains running reliable on both levels. Usually when I pull the camera out and start videoing, Murphy's Laws kick in and something will come off the rails somewhere or start playing up. None of that occurred here.

The Heljan DSB IC3 has had my usual modifications applied as per the other two of these units I have (see my workbench entries) and runs perfectly reliably now through any of the points and reverse curves.

The Hornby Peckett B2 has not had a great deal of running apart form an initial running-in session. It was put to work on the 'just for fun' Christmas train consisting of mostly older German vehicles. This train is not exactly light. I tried a Dapol B4 0-4-0T on it and it just sat there spinning its wheels. The Peckett and the Heljan 1366 pannier (not shown here) both romp away with this train.

Following behind the Christmas train is a New South Wales Government Railways double deck interurban set, known as a V set. This is an Auscision model and is not quite as sophisticated as its price would suggest. I had replaced half of the longer Kadee couplings with shorter ones to close the inter-car gaps a bit, so each has one long and one short coupling. Two short couplings foul on the tightest curves and crossovers.

On the lower level, underground trains from two different eras are seen, with ex-Metropolitan Railways 1920 Bo-Bo electric loco No. 8 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1960s condition on some Farish coaches, and the latest standard 'surface' stock, the S Stock, providing a contrast.

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Hi,
I was surprised to see a red DSB IC3  train.  I had to google the story behind it. Turns to be 'the one and only'  (so named by the Danish State Railways ) rebuilt after a fire.

Yes, repaired and painted in this scheme in 2016, I believe, as a prototype livery for projected new units to come. I think it is rather attractive, although the lack of yellow stripes for first class makes it harder to identify that area, with only little black seat numbers over the windows (at least, I think thats what the tiny black lettering is).

Hi Jeff,

I've been looking at your posts here for some time but had no idea of the scale of your settings. Most impressive video.

I liked the Metropolitan Bo-Bo, something I first saw back in the late 50's or early 60s on the Amersham line which ran past the bottom of my Uncle's garden in Northwood. As all I knew was WR steam and diesel it was a "culture" shock. They did rattle along alright there, I think it might have been a down slope and were a real favourite of mine.

Regards,

Thanks Colin. I like the Met Bo-Bo's but only remember the subsequent A60 stock (for which I do have some kits under construction). 

I did ride rather a lot of 1938 tube stock on the Bakerloo in particular when I was young, though. I have the EFE models, including one I motorised but it struggles with the stiff axles. I have some pinpoint bogie frames to fit, which should help get that set moving, then I can think of converting it to DCC.

Quite by accident, I found a double-tracked steel bridge that looked like it would suit part of the long front viaduct. The kit is from Faller and labelled as a German S-Bahn station. The style of the kiosks on either end reminded me of a couple of London Underground station entrances, although I could see I would have to do some scratchbuilding and modifying to achieve what I wanted. By pure luck, when I tried the bridge for length, it was exactly the same length as the temporary place-holder 3-arch viaduct from Triang. The width was ideal also, although I would have to cut down the pavement sections supplied in the kit - I actually decided to dispense with those as the style was a bit modern, preferring to use some Slaters British style paving slabs. The rear shop/station entrances have to be sealed off or labelled as 'private' with only a narrow path to them beside the LT tracks. The roadway is to be cobbled and styled as a dead-end road that may once have been a level crossing but now just terminates adjacent to the lowered running lines.

Anyway, work on the kit has been proceeding, and the shop at the right will remain as a shop, while that on the left is to be  more open entrance, possibly with the tops of some escalators and/or stairs coming in from the side, leading to subways under the lines and the subway entrance on the LT platforms (already in place).

The first two photos show the basic bridge structure placed over the lines on the viaduct it is to replace, while the next two show it in situ with nothing yet painted, but giving a fair idea of how it will look. The original intention was to have more brick arches along here, but this bridge will open up the view of the LT trains a bit more. The original trackbeds are being filled in a bit so the German wooden platforms become lower wooden walkways on either side of each track. While all of this is only temporarily placed, I have ensured that running of trains is still possible.

Nice looking thing Jeff

Reminds me of either London urban or the Liverpool Overhead!!

Barry

That's a great find Jeff - it looks really good and comes ready with all the pillars and decorative ironwork etc.  Did you orignially plan to build an S-Bahn layout ?   :roll: :lol:  It looks as if it's designed for one of those high level "tramways" the Germans tend to use in cities - a "stadtschnellbahn" or "high speed city railway"

Peter, I didn't plan on this one at all. As I said, my intention was to have more of the brick arches along there, but when I spotted this kit while ordering some other stuff from Modellbahnshop-Lippe, I immediately saw the possibilities. In particular, it opens up the views of underground trains passing, and gives me a visible station entrance on this side of the tracks (the main building is on the other side in the village).

At present it is all in self-coloured plastic, but I do intend painting and weathering it a bit.

I wouldn't mind having a German S-bahn train, but the prices are way beyond what I am prepared to spend on what is really a side interest.

I tackled the next part of the backscene along the back of the layout. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a single scene long enough for the whole length of the layout, so two separate scenes have had to be used, resulting in a distinct disjoin between them, although it's not too jarring overall. I will try to come up with a low-relief structure to cover that join sufficiently to 'blend' the two scenes. More annoying, though, is that I managed to get a large number of bubbles in the backscene, even more than in the original to the left. I tried a thinner mix of glue, but it still 'grabbed' far too quickly. Anyway, here's the result. It still adds more depth to the layout. Please ignore the clutter in the foreground as I am still rearranging shelves and storage at present, doing little bits at a time.
 
 

 

 

Hi Jeff.  I do hope that everyone is dry and okay. I have just been watching the trains passing through Newton Broadway, very good it was, but , what type of camera did you use and how did you get the sound, was it direct, or, did you have a trick or two up your sleeve.  Best wishes Kevin 

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi Jeff.  I do hope that everyone is dry and okay. I have just been watching the trains passing through Newton Broadway, very good it was, but , what type of camera did you use and how did you get the sound, was it direct, or, did you have a trick or two up your sleeve.  Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Kevin,

I'm not sure which video(s) you have been watching, but all sounds are what are coming from the models as they run - I think there is only one video I put some old-style music over the top, that was for a pre-grouping train running past the camera, with artificial scratches added to make it look like old film.

The cameras I use are generally whatever is on my mobile phone of the time for exterior shots, while the "cab ride" videos use a Panasonic HX-A1 mini-video camera, which can be controlled remotely by wireless from my mobile phone.

Hattons Warwell Camera Wagon - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Hi Jeff.   Thank you for your reply. I wasn’t doubting the source of the sound, but, my iPhone doesn’t record sound.I only have a few sound Locos, but, I wouldn’t fake the sound by using the “ Hornby system “ . Best wishes Kevin 

My iPhone 4s, introduced in late 2011, records video with sound, so unless yours is truly prehistoric Kevin, or maybe not an Apple iPhone, it should also.

 Turn on camera and swipe across to video mode.

Have fun,

Bill

So does my wife's 4S. Even my iPhone 3 records sound, although I do have to keep putting coal and water in it.

Hi Bill.   This is a second reply . When I wrote the first reply I couldn’t find the thread. But now I have found out where I read it.:mrgreen::off topic My iPhone does do video with sound, simples. Best wishes Kevin 

Eliminating the annoying humps at the right-hand entry to the storage sidings. I replaced the short stubs of track that went between the points and the edge of the lifting section with longer sections of track cut into the approach curves. I will have to slide back the fishplates to allow the new sections to lift with the lifting flap.
The short video clips of the test trains were strung together hastily to demonstrate the new, smoother flow.

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