Amazing, you saw my message on that phone? Unbelievable!

Marty:

  I should have thrown the first set of railings out and started again

Marty, never do that, I've got loads of bridges to do in time ;-)

:thumbs

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

The second bridge complete

Now that both bridges are complete on the new Pentrecourt Halt - Pencader section the next stage is to create the plaster hard shell and terrain.




:HappyGoody… gotta love mud pies…

So we left it there… anticipating the gooey feel of ground goop and the change from white to brown.

So glad that life is busy and that The Nephew has a great head on his shoulders. Nothing happened for a week and then The Niece and Nephew came around to check out progress, drive a few trains and get stuck in to some building before heading home to Melbourne.

The Niece has added foliage to MORE tree frames, there are now only seven left to be completed from the original 35. Here are some of them around the first plate girder bridge and tunnel to the Pencader Cassettes.




A Collett 2251 Class Baby Castle is rumbling out of the tunnel with the early down goods to Newcastle Emlyn.




The Nephew was keen to get the cassette system up and running to add to the options he had for operations. Right now if you don't mind… so we gave it a bash and while unable to finish it for him on the day some progress has been made, options tested, and the drawing board is being consulted further. :???:

However, during conversations over a hot soldering iron The Nephew asked where the Altycefan Bridge was going on the main layout seeing as the Pentrecourt Halt section was being worked on. Out of the mouth of babes… no mud pies for a while until the bridge and the associated Altycefan mill are in place.

The main shell of the Altycefan bridge is now in place, constructed out of 6mm MDF and glued together with PVA. The plan is to cover it with Scalescenes Dark Ashlar Brick paper.
The same down goods has progressed a little further down the line.




A little closer and the gorge that the Afon Teifi runs through is quite evident, the house on the hillside on the right is there for a sense of scale and to inspire me to get on with a mock-up of the mill.




Because of the baseboard width at this point there has been a bit (hmmmm) of compression and further work with the "axe" is required to take another 10mm off the bottom of the bridge buttresses to lower the height to get it to look a little bit more like this…




The river level on the model is going to be modelled quite deep too… again hopefully mitigating the height of the model, it might look something like the photo above when finished. A perfect copy is not needed, a facsimilie that conveys the impression will do.

Anyway, from the other side of the bridge the space between the baseboard edge on the right and the track is where the halt will go…





Now… where did I put that axe?

 

I love it :thumbs :thumbs :thumbs

What size screws do you use to temporarily hold the track in position until ballasting? I assume they are countersunk.

Chris

Hi Chris,

What ever came to hand actually, some counter sink heads some not… but all small enough to allow rolling stock to pass over the top while still being wide enough to hold down the sleepers.

The concept is to allow a bit of flexability when aligning the track before ballasting, back off a screw or two here or there where the curve isn't just right, tweak it until it's better and then tighten the screws again. After many, many hours of testing, 'cause you have to right :thumbs, glue down the ballast and when dry, remove the screws and ballast the remaining holes.

There has only been a bit of ballast put down so far but it seems to work. Not my idea of course, just another of those borrowed from those that have gone before.

Hi Marty

That's the system which I am using.

The only screws which I have found that don't damage the sleepers are No2 Roundhead brass which grip fine. I was going to add a brass washer for a bit extra grip but it lifted the screw head a tad above the rail top and caused fouling particularly on the PECO Collett drive gears.

Chris

Oi' bin using drawing pins.

I am enjoying this thread :thumbs

Doug

Some really lovely shots there Marty,especially the 1st one with the train pulled by the Pannier Tank.The scenery is awesome,and everything seems to be coming together perfectly.You must be well chuffed.That backdrop of cloudy sky really sets everthing off beautifully!!!

:pathead:pathead:pathead

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

getting better post to post,keep it up and you will be finished in time for the summer hols!!!

:doublethumb:lol::cool:

Caught up late with this Marty and have been watching from a distance, i love the dedication to the prototype and faithfully following the pictures.

If i ever build another layout i shall make it easier on myself and find a prototype. Now i must go to the beginning and be fully conversant its hard to believe its N gauge then the screw head confirmed it

Regards

Pete

What have you made your baseboard out of Doug? Mine is a combination of mdf and ply and might be a bit hard to get drawing pins into with out a pilot hole.

Thanks John and Owen, I really am quite pleased with the way things are progressing although I flinch occasionally when I see how far I have wandered from the prototype.
Comparing the model trees with the photo I can see I'm going to have to try and find a darker Heki foliage.

[user=450]wogga[/user] wrote:

Caught up late with this Marty and have been watching from a distance, i love the dedication to the prototype and faithfully following the pictures.

If i ever build another layout i shall make it easier on myself and find a prototype. Now i must go to the beginning and be fully conversant its hard to believe its N gauge then the screw head confirmed it

Regards

Pete

Your comment about the use of a prototype as a guide making it easier is, in my opinion, spot on. I could never "make up" the wealth of detail that is in the real world.

You have set yourself a long read if you start from the begining Pete, there are all sorts of wanderings. Occasionally I go and read it from the start just to remind myself just how far I have managed to get in the 4 years or so that I have been building the layout.

cheers

Just caught up Marty. I must say this layout is coming along  nicely. Enjoyable as well i must say.

Phill

Thanks Phil, I'm still enjoying the challenge. :thumbs

Hello Marty,
Just roam, wander, divert, meander, adapt, re-shape, adjust etcetcetc as much as you want, mate, :roll: you are NOT going to be able to dilute the excellence of this Lay-out. :pathead Just keep-on keeping-on. If at first you don't succeed and start again :lol: This is "top-notch" modelling, up-there with our other great modellers on our Forum,
Kind Regards,
Michael Thornberry.

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

What have you made your baseboard out of Doug? Mine is a combination of mdf and ply and might be a bit hard to get drawing pins into with out a pilot hole.

Those poor ole' pilots, the things they get stuck in their holes……….:shock::shock::shock:

My baseboard is plywood, Marty, scrounged from the tip.

Point taken!  [Groan - Tee hee]

Doug

That really is grand work, Marty.

The trees look really good, the building work on the bridge is very substantial … and the chimneys on that house are blocked up.
The only thing to do with those Kestrel kits is cut the chimneys off and use styrene tube (sometimes one pot instead of two will do the job).

Lots of potential to get nearer to the appearance of the prototype as you progress - good stuff.

[user=312]dooferdog[/user] wrote:

My baseboard is plywood, Marty, scrounged from the tip.

Doug

Mrs Doofer must dread you going to the Tip :roll:

Not a lot to report, but quickly here is what has happened over the last couple of weeks. Another 12mm has been taken off the base of the Altycefan Bridge and prliminary work is being done on covering the MDF with Scalescenes Random Ashlar stone.




The first thing was to get some thick card curved into the underside of the arches, small bits of scrap balsa were cut up and glued into place to provide backing blocks for the card.
The PVA glue is still drying.




Backing blocks in place on both sides of the arch ready for the card.




Card in place under the main arch, backing blocks going into place on either side of the railway arch.




Scalescenes Ashlar glued on one side…




and now both sides of the main arch. Making sure that the shadows on the printed stone are the right way up on both sides of the arch.




Temporarily back in place on the layout at the end of the modelling session these last photos were taken on my mobile phone because being small it could be placed low to the landscape for a more prototypical type of photo.
Looking down the gorge… it's still a big bridge…




… and along the line with the card in the railway arch in place.




cheers