GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

Looks great, John. I think that your use of the Metcalfe 1/2 relief kits is inspired. I know from my own experience that it is difficult to make a home layout both look good and be practical to operate when you are closed in by 4 walls. Your use of the buildings to disguise the fiddle yard yet also give you access when needed is very clever, and I think your assembly of the kits into extensive terraces looks very effective.

I look forward to seeing more of your progress.

I like the weathering on the steel girder bridge John. :thumbs  Also, I think, in spite of the slight "out of era" shop fronts and "high street" buildings, you're well on the way to capturing a busy town scene.

What have you used for the backdrop ?  Is it photographic or pasted cut-outs ?  Looks very good.

Brilliant stuff John, thanks for sharing it with us.  There's a wealth of inspiration there.

John . In mho you are too critical of your efforts. This is excellent work ,and the speed with which you get on with things is also worthy of acclaim. look forward to more from this layout thread. :doublethumb

Well you could get picky and say that there should be more stone buildings but brick terraces like that could be almost anywhere in the UK.  Looks very convincing to me.

Cheers
Dave

John, great run of photos! I too think you are too hard on yourself, I would be tickled pink to have a layout look like that!

I do like the way you have weathered your bridge, looks very natural.

Wayne

Thanks guys some of you will have guessed these photos have been used before although the narrative is different…..I am just finishing the station so I have a load of new ones to take

[user=394]ddolfelin[/user] wrote:

Look forward to seeing your weathering.

Particularly like the rusty road bridge panels.

For me the problem with weathering Metcalfe is because its paper its very easy to over do it……I have difficulty using the wash and then dry brush technique that kind of works on plastic

As a result I tend to put it off…………any advice or hints would be appreciated

Regards

 


 

 

Not from me I'm afraid, John - I only work in plastic.

Maybe the old crushed pastels on a finger would be best.
Wetting cardboard doesn't seem the best way.

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I like the weathering on the steel girder bridge John. :thumbs  Also, I think, in spite of the slight "out of era" shop fronts and "high street" buildings, you're well on the way to capturing a busy town scene.

What have you used for the backdrop ?  Is it photographic or pasted cut-outs ?  Looks very good.

Thank you and all the others for their encouraging words……..modelling on  my own I tend to get quite critical of myself when things dont fit into my fairly loose parameters!

The backscenes are terraced houses (again) cut from the Townscene sheets (which are quite excellent……does anyone know if they are still available?) I pasted them on to mount board and cut them out then I did the same with those slightly smaller shops they have……..and glued them behind to create more depth…….I will try and take a better photo and post it next time.

The sky is medite (particle board) painted by my wife…………..I have to create a sort of flat industrial scene with a chimney to hide the join  

Hi John.  I gave up trying to weather with paint when I discovered weathering powders.

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=5518&forum_id=72

Cheers   Max

Some great inspiration here! For my own layouts I have just to problems sorted: disguise the tracks with half relief - thank you John!:cheers

 

Whethering the buildings with powder - I use powder for my rolling stock, so why not for my buildings? Silly me! Thank you Max! :cheers

 

John, do not worry whether stone of brick - the mass and arangement of buildings on your layout looks stunning, youre really on a grand scale!:thumbs

 

Thomas

i agree with all of the above,a very good layout
so stop beating yourself up.

:doublethumb:cool:

Thanks Owen……I guess I am my own biggest critic :exclam

So heres another update. First here is the trackplan for the branch… its not to scale but gives the general idea and hopefully puts the photos in context.

 


Its Peco Code 100 and except for the secondary branch curve after the road bridge the minimum radius is never less than 36". There are a couple of curved points but the rest are all medium radius. All bar two are powered by Peco Motors…..the two are my first foray with tortoises. The points are electrofrog (there is one insulfrog in the goods yard) and the points are modified so that I dont rely on the switch blade to provide electrical continuity. The polarity is switched by peco switches…..the small unreliable kind:twisted:, microswitches both from peco and an electronic store and of course the two tortoi. When it works not relying on the blade is a really good idea but if the switch goes its a total pain…………..thats why I am switching :oops: (sorry) to tortoises plus the second switch will eventually enable me to operate signals.

The points are fully automated using a Lenz LS 150 point decoder….so they can be controlled either from the Lenz controller or the computor through RR & co (the track plan is actually a modified RR&Co Switch Plan

I use a belt and braces approach and have small manual switch panels adjacent to the decoder…..although in practice I find I use the manual switches less and less





This is probably a great example of the inflexibility of static panels like this…….the canal is now going to be at the other end of the layout and the carriage siding is no more…..I relaid the goods yard to get a cleaner entrance………..only needed a few keystrokes to update my computor switchboard

 I will leave you with this thought……the simplicity of DCC wiring is sometimes overstated :roll:
  

Regards from Vancouver

Just by the way:

1. Your Industrial backscene courtesy of Lowry has been noted!
2. I hope there is nothing important behind that door!

I am very fond of Lowry and have built up quite a collection of prints…..sadly no originals. My wife comes from Oldham and I worked in Manchester for some years. The one in front of the doorway has to be moved…..you can see on more recent shots it overhangs the proper backscene.

Just loads of junk from when we downsized and there is another way in

Kind Regards

 

John,
      I'm a fellow Lowry fan.Many people think of him as a very naive artist,but I have a book of his drawings,and his "matchstalk men" were merely a style he adopted.Some of his early Life class drawings from his art school days are as good as you'll find anywhere.A massively underrated and misunderstood artist!!!
     He lived just up the road from us for a while in Mottram,and outside the house there is now a bronze statue of LSL sat sketching on a bench.

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

[user=201]georgejacksongenius[/user] wrote:

John,
      I'm a fellow Lowry fan.Many people think of him as a very naive artist,but I have a book of his drawings,and his "matchstalk men" were merely a style he adopted.Some of his early Life class drawings from his art school days are as good as you'll find anywhere.A massively underrated and misunderstood artist!!!
     He lived just up the road from us for a while in Mottram,and outside the house there is now a bronze statue of LSL sat sketching on a bench.

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

I wouldn't say that John !!  He's certainly too modern to be considered a "master" but his paintings are very much sought after and I wouldn't mind selling some of my "naive" sketches for what his are worth !!

I know what you mean, and I agree - I think he captured the "spirit" of Salford, not just "views" of the place.  You don't often see that in paintings.

A signed print was sold at an auction on TV today.
£280 I think.

John - For me the problem with weathering Metcalfe is because its paper its very easy to over do it……I have difficulty using the wash and then dry brush technique that kind of works on plastic    As a result I tend to put it off…………any advice or hints would be appreciated

I have an article about weathering on card as a sticky in the weathering section, it may be useful….I'd love to be let loose on all those card kits!!   Basically, use non-staining watercolours as washes, brush 'em on quick and wipe 'em off straight away if  it's not right and you won't go wrong, whereas all acrylics are by the nature of their composition 'staining' colours and you get no second chances..

Doug

Thanks Doug

I use watercolours to paint the cut lines and hide errors so I guess I just have to use them more extensively

I like the news about the auction I actually have a signed print says he quickly working out how many locos he needs/wants and  converting 250 UK into Can$ and back again because I buy all my stuff in the UK anyway