My own model is of a fairly substantial station even if more than half of it is disused and abandoned. Some Welsh mountain "stations" were lineside halts marked by nothing more than a clearing beside the line, a sign-board with the name and a cinder or grassy track leading towards a remote cottage. The Ffestiniog Railway still has a few such; Campbell's Platform is an example.
You don't find many of those on the British main line netowrk. But in Australia there are tiny wayside stops on the main lines where you have to enter or leave by the front doorway only. Here is Belford on the main line from Sydney to Brisbane. There are others like it. No shelter from the weather - which can be a searing 42C or a torrential sub-tropical downpour - just a seat, a help point and a departure list. Basic indeed.
Evening light on Tŷ Bach shed. Dai Steam eases the Hunslet into position for the shed crew. There’s already a Baldwin in for the night. And the last train of crushed slate for today cautiously descends from Mynydd Meghan.
My own model is of a fairly substantial station even if more than half of it is disused and abandoned. Some Welsh mountain "stations" were lineside halts marked by nothing more than a clearing beside the line, a sign-board with the name and a cinder or grassy track leading towards a remote cottage. The Ffestiniog Railway still has a few such; Campbell's Platform is an example.
You don't find many of those on the British main line netowrk. But in Australia there are tiny wayside stops on the main lines where you have to enter or leave by the front doorway only. Here is Belford on the main line from Sydney to Brisbane. There are others like it. No shelter from the weather - which can be a searing 42C or a torrential sub-tropical downpour - just a seat, a help point and a departure list. Basic indeed.
My own model is of a fairly substantial station even if more than half of it is disused and abandoned. Some Welsh mountain "stations" were lineside halts marked by nothing more than a clearing beside the line, a sign-board with the name and a cinder or grassy track leading towards a remote cottage. The Ffestiniog Railway still has a few such; Campbell's Platform is an example.
You don't find many of those on the British main line netowrk. But in Australia there are tiny wayside stops on the main lines where you have to enter or leave by the front doorway only. Here is Belford on the main line from Sydney to Brisbane. There are others like it. No shelter from the weather - which can be a searing 42C or a torrential sub-tropical downpour - just a seat, a help point and a departure list. Basic indeed.
Some more N-gauge bits have arrived in the mail. Nothing spectacular - just some lineside stuff. But it reminds me that I have focussed on the 00-9 theme recently and need to balance that by flipping the backscenes over and cracking on with some smaller stuff. I also need a trip to Our Friends in Camborne as I want to peruse some ready-made buildings to determine their suitability which is not so easily done browsing tiny icons on a website.
As that is in the direction of the MRC clubroom I normally combine the trips and have Wetness-day next week available to do so. My future at the club is still open to some thinking as I don't really get what I was hoping for out of it and am under pressure to spend more time on club projects and visits for which I don't really have either time or enthusiasm. The biggest issue is what would the future hold for my dismantled "Waddlemarsh" layout which is currently stored there and will not fit anywhere in the cottage. Porthgarrow and the viaduct I kept from Penhayle Bay could be squeezed in here with the latter small enough to go into the loft; the former may also be offered for sale as it's a reasonable show layout and a one-person set-up.
I have tweaked the bridge section to have it looking a little more realistic
A fillet of foam-board has been glued to separate bridge from backscene. For the mountain scene this has been covered with scatter closely matching the printed colours behind and with some larger and smaller rocks added.
The industrial scene will be dealt with in due course by the same means.
A track-level view as the passenger train comes under the bridge. Probably taken by the driver as he isn’t in the cab!
Then two views showing the construction including the new bit.
Reverting to the N-gauge theme I have located the photo I took years ago which inspired the original "Boghouses" and has led to this theme being revived here. East Midlands grey, damp grot at its finest as Ratcliffe Power Station pumps steam skywards with no hint of blue. The printed backscene does have blue sky; the original Boghouses didn't as I painted the small backscene for that onto card without using any blue.
After a short pause while I thought about how to proceed I have decided that the “empty” area will have foam-board rafts carrying the two different scenes for the differing scales.
Two identical shaped pieces have been cut and the 00-9 version is under development. A bevelled edge rather than a straight vertical cut softens the join at track level and allows the fitting of a fence. The weathered white railings have been recycled from Penhayle Bay and also served on Waddlemarsh so they have lasted well and given good service.
Some ground cover has been added, the cottage is now glued to the raft as is the shed, and some people have appeared.
Along the edge I have cut and fitted a length of resin slate wall. This stuff is always a pain to cut. As I did on Porthgarrow I saved the cutting dust and used it to weather the cut section; it resembles mortar quite nicely when blended with coloured powders.
Thank you. When I get onto the N-gauge scenic work I hope to do justice to that sort of view. I am probably at the stage now where the 00-9 scene will be more or less completed before swapping to the N-gauge rather than constantly chopping and changing.
I also have an electrical issue. Which is nothing new for me! The crossover is an electrofrog one-piece unit and cannot readily be modified. According to the wiring diagram Peco supplied with it a PL-21 switch is required to route power across the diamond when the points are reversed. I finally got around to wiring that in yesterday having made do with a dead section across the diamond until now. Both straight routes are powered throughout with feeds at all toe-ends. The result? Nothing. No power through the crossover but at least no shorts either. I consulted another publication I have regarding wiring which gives a completely different version! It also suggests I need even more switches which Peco do not acknowledge. Now I am confused, mildly frustrated and thinking about how to run the layout as it has been since the start namely two electrically-independent single lines with an unpowered crossover. I could propel trains across to a loco waiting on the other track as shunt moves. Not quite what I wanted but unless an electrical wizard happens to pass by I am rather stuck on that matter.
One of the diesels is in charge of a load of dressed slates as it passes the cottages. The gardens have gained some bushes beside the wall.
I have a Wills greenhouse kit under construction for the remaining space but I feel it may be too big. I’ll finish the build and see what it looks like before sticking it down!
I've never had to wire one of these, but a Peco electrofrog crossing is wired so that each motor's switch supplies the furthest frog. I'm wondering if you could wire this the same way, only doubled up with the 4 motors if you're using them. Not sure if I've made myself clear.
I have the booklet. It is that which differs from the instructions they themselves supply with the crossover.
The points are not powered nor is there any form of frog switching other than the PL-21 switch. All other points feed dead ends so there is no need to switch frog polarity; the no-potential situation on the non-set route effectively isolates it.
I can ask One issue is actually catching anyone there. With 24/7 access everyone comes and goes when is suits them. The only real gatherings are Sunday and Monday when I am otherwise engaged. I have asked via message but get much the same response as I do anywhere namely "follow the instructions" ………
