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Worsley Dale Garden Railway


mick
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Yes I agree Tony, those little jobs such as the log wagons are the kind of things you can do sitting at the table when the weather's not too good outside - much like it's been for the past week or more over here.

I've given the platform its final coat of plaster and sanded it down. There's just one or two spots that require touching in with a bit more filler but I'm not looking for a perfectly smooth finish - I prefer things to look 'used'.

As I've said previously, plaster can be a messy job but it's what I prefer using. I wouldn't think a cement mix would be any better or easier. The 'Polyfilla' type patching plasters are best to use as they are very fine and give a nice smooth finish. Some plasters, such as those large bags for plastering walls, contain larger particles that give a more gritty type finish. I have a bag of gypsum based plaster that I used in my hallway and it's gritty, but I did use it for the base of the platform with the smoother 'Polyfilla' type layer on top.

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This is the current state of the platform at Cattle Leys station :-

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It's almost ready for painting but I've just added some more filler to the larger area where the station building will be located so that will need sanding once it has dried.

I haven't done anything else with the log wagons but I do now have four loaded ones awaiting some securing straps adding. These are the four done so far standing in the bay platform at Shilling Park :-

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I've been able to load some wagons with four lots of logs but some only have three. I might need to change that later if it bugs me too much. It's just that some of the logs I cut are bigger than others meaning that four won't always fit. I don't fancy the idea of trimming them all again.

This was the first one completed, apart from the white stanchions which need weathering to match the wagon. It's stood on Low Shott viaduct behind class 24 No.D5038

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I've made an attempt at adding securing straps to two of my loaded OTA log wagons using electrical insulation tape cut into narrow strips and secured with superglue. I thought I'd cut the strips narrow enough, and they looked fine on the wagons at normal viewing distance, but on photographs it shows them to be a bit over-scale. I think I'll leave these as they are and try to make the next ones narrower still. Note to self: Still have to weather those stanchions on the right hand wagon!

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I hadn't considered the additional weight of the wagons with these loads added so I got the kitchen scales out to weigh them. An empty Hornby OTA comes in at 48g and the above two wagons with my own loads added came in at 91g and 94g respectively. Not bad really, considering that the Bachmann cast resin log load alone weighs 70g so the real things offers a bit of a saving.

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It seems that things have slowed down again on Worsley Dale but I do keep doing a little bit whenever I can. Today I sanded the platform at Cattle Leys station and gave it a couple of coats of grey watercolour paint to colour the plaster. There's still work to do here but this is how it looks at the moment.

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I need to start thinking about what I intend doing with the surrounding area, especially the background/backscene. I only intended this being a small terminus but if it's going to accept trains of up to seven coaches then there really should be a valid reason why so many people would wish to visit. I have a small resin cast station building, though I think it's more suited to a small branchline rather than a terminus so perhaps I need to look out for something a bit grander? I don't want to do too much but I want it to look and feel right.

It's always the same with me - I can spend hours doing the most tedious of jobs but I never seem to be able to come up with the right ideas. I can follow instructions pretty well but have very little initiative of my own, which is why I like to take things one step at a time.

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Lots of great things happening at Worsley Dale. I've just been catching up as I have to admit that I haven't been looking in on the forum as regularly as I used to. It's all looking good Mick, well done!

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ba14eagle said:

Mick

Without being too corny, how about an overall roof / train shed like Ashburton or Malton? It would certainly be different and would allow you to do some scratchbuilding.

Actually that's a really good suggestion. I hadn't thought about an 'overall roof or train shed' type structure but it might just be what I've been looking for as even a basic shed would make the station appear grander than would a lone building. I like the fact that the Ashburton shed is a wooden structure - I would probably enjoy working with that rather than the usual plasticard. If I'm honest I was almost resigned to just purchasing something to plonk down as I didn't fancy the task of building anything myself but you've now got me thinking. In fact you've probably got me planning....

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When working with wood, one should follow the old adage, measure once cut twice. ;) hee hee hee

That platform looks very good. When I made roads on an N scale layout, I painted the roads black and then rubbed them with chalk. The chalk was standard art supply store chalk. I then rubbed it on a piece of fine 300 grit sand paper to make powder. Since your surface is so delicate I would consider using a soft brush. I found that light grey and tan really helped my roads get the variety of color one wants on a asphalt surface. A lot of people like to fix their chalk with a sealant, but I prefer to just leave it as is. Sealants tend to dull the color of the chalk.

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  • 6 months later...

In preparation for the coming summer season ( :lol::lol: ) there have been further additions to the loco pool over the winter months.

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Captured crossing Stack Gill viaduct is BR liveried 60103 FLYING SCOTSMAN along with its National Railway Museum support coach. The model is actually Hornby R3503, a limited edition pack produced exclusively for Locomotion/National Railway Museum. The loco is depicted in a gloss finish, which I quite like, although you do need to get accustomed to the surface reflections, especially on still photographs. When I first viewed the photos on my PC I initially thought there was a paint defect running along the tender side until I realised it was just the reflection of the viaduct parapet wall. In my defence, some of the photos I took show much more prominent reflections than the one featured above.

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After arriving on shed, 60103 is seen stabled alongside BR liveried 6000 KING GEORGE V but even with two famous locomotives on view, there's very little activity around the shed yard and barely a train spotter in sight. KING GEORGE V is another model produced by Hornby for Locomotion as part of the National Collection in Miniature series and is catalogue No. Hornby R3377. Like 60103 above, 6000 is also depicted in a gloss finish. I'm not quite sure why George's smokebox door makes it appear to be tilting to the left - it's something I hadn't noticed until I was sorting out the photos and he's now back in his box. Will have to take a closer look later.

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Finally here's a loco without a famous name and one that very few would instantly recognise. It's a Hornby Q6 No. 63429 in the later BR Black livery, catalogue No. R3426.

Taking the photos gave me the opportunity to look over parts of the layout and it all seems in reasonable condition considering it has remained untouched for several months now. I'm sure the worst of the winter is yet to come but it shouldn't take too long to get back up and running when the time comes.

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Before I call it a day for now, I just had time to take the following photos of 4464 BITTERN whilst she was posing on Low Shott viaduct.

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BITTERN is one of my two Dapol 'Black Labe'l A4s and this is the first time I've removed it from the box. As with the Hornby Flying Scotsman featured earlier, getting the loco extracted from its packaging is no easy task and not without a good deal of trepidation. I have yet to place it on a powered track so I'm unable to give any impressions other than visual ones and while I'm no expert, it looks very much like an A4 to me! BITTERN is factory fitted with smoke, sound, and lights, including firebox flicker, so after seeing several clips on YouTube I'm really looking forward to seeing how she performs around Worsley Dale.

One fact I can offer is that a standard plastic bodied Hornby A4 locomotive (loco drive Golden Plover in this case) weighs in at 314 grams and Dapol's BITTERN, with its die-cast body, weighs in at 488 grams. Those figures do not include tenders which in the Hornby case weighs 125 grams and the Dapol comes in at 201 grams. The Dapol model certainly feels a good deal heavier overall.

For reference, the catalogue number is Dapol BL-001-004

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traingeekboy said:

Love the A4. Still one of my all time favorite locos. :) I expect t see some videos so we can hear it and see the smoke.

 

Wish I could oblige Griff but the weather's not too kind at the moment and there's a storm approaching overnight. It's going to need a decent spell of sunshine to dry things out a bit before I dare risk switching on the power. From what I've seen of the smoke effects via YouTube I think she's going to look great crossing the viaducts and hopefully the sound will be okay too. We'll see.

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Mick wrote

 

Quote

Wish I could oblige Griff but the weather's not too kind at the moment and there's a storm approaching overnight. It's going to need a decent spell of sunshine to dry things out a bit before I dare risk switching on the power. From what I've seen of the smoke effects via YouTube I think she's going to look great crossing the viaducts and hopefully the sound will be okay too. We'll see.

Hi Mick good you got your pics back have to agree with Griff I too love the your A4 class steamy I had a Bachmann Mallard, it hard a broken running gear when I swapped it for one of my locos, swapped it back for a stack of coaches, I added the A4 Dapol on my wish list after seeing it in action got to have one with smoke.

You can send us that storm have you seen how hot it is over here in SE/QLD we are going through a heat wave tomorrow being the hottest day in Ipswich peaking 42 degrees, I be at my train club in Brisbane a bit cooler 38, but the club rooms has air-cons 7 all up. I am roasted on as duty officer they will be the first to get turned on .

No brake in the heat till next Wednesday, no work on the layout, I added kadee's to the powered duel tender drive Flying Scot today will be giving her a good run can pull 11 coaches with ease up 1.47 grade spiral or 2 percent .

Tony from hot down under keeping on moving a head :cry:8-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Back on the 21st May 2016 I posted details of some of the place names I had come up with for various areas of the layout. It's been so long since that time, and with there being no further progress during the following months, that I'd almost forgotten what I'd called them. I had to revisit that old post in order to publish comments to accompany photos I recently uploaded to the new Gallery. Anyway, I've had a slight change of heart regarding a couple of place names and so here's an updated list.

Main Indoor Station - SHIELING BRIDGE (pronounced SHILLING)

Small Viaduct - LOW SHOTT VIADUCT

Area between Low Shott Viaduct and the tunnel - LOW SHOTT FLATT

The Tunnel - WATCH HOUSE TUNNEL and the passing loop WATCH HOUSES LOOP

The overbridge - TRUNDLES BRIDGE

Area between Trundles Bridge and the large viaduct - STACKGARTH GILL

Large Viaduct - STACK GILL VIADUCT

River beneath the girder bridges - RIVER BUTTLE

Area along bottom of garden - BUTTLEBANK

Junction before terminus station - MOOR DYKE JUNCTION

Terminus Station - CATTLE LEYS

I don't think there's any more place names required so for now I'll leave it at this.

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That's interesting. I've named stations and junctions on my railway, but not farms, bridges and viaducts. I'll have to put my mind to that.

I was very deliberate with my naming of stations, well that is what I tell myself.  Having named my first couple of stations Amblethorpe and Colwick I realised that it was a good idea to name my third station beginning with the letter B so I'd have A, B and C stations. Since then I have made sure I haven't reused a letter for a junction or a siding. With a computer based signal box sorting things by alphabetical order makes a lot of sense.

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19 minutes ago, chris said:

That's interesting. I've named stations and junctions on my railway, but not farms, bridges and viaducts. I'll have to put my mind to that....

I think the names help us tell the story through our photos and videos. I know it might sound corny but we've created our own miniature world along the length of a couple of rail tracks (or a single one in my case) starting at point A and travelling through to point B and so it's important, in my opinion, to expand the area of interest to the surrounding landscape - to make it a more believable scenario overall. Farms, bridges and viaducts all require names. A farm needs an owner too - we need to know who lives there and who does what. I'm sure that giving everything a purpose or a reason to be there will provide added interest to us and to any viewers who drop by.

In the case of your scenic modules Chris, you've got ample opportunities to create a storyline to draw people deeper into the action.

An historical account of Worsley Dale is something I will be working on later so that viewers know why the stations exist, what they were once used for, and so on. As any new scenic areas or buildings are added they can then be fitted into the storyline. It's just additional interest.

 

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During October 2012 we had some work carried out on the house which required scaffolding erecting in the rear garden and Pam just brought my attention to these two photos taken from atop the scaffolding. They show the state of the garden at that time and the early days of Worsley Dale. Unfortunately neither photograph gives a complete view of the garden but the first one shows the recently completed LOW SHOTT VIADUCT and the track curving round towards WATCH HOUSE tunnel, although the tunnel at this time doesn't exist. The main difference between these photos and the current garden is that the photos were taken before construction of the Koi pond which now takes up most of the central lawned area.

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The second photo is similar to the first but includes more of the left hand side of the garden which is now dominated by STACK GILL VIADUCT. The end of Stack Gill viaduct curves just to the left of the larger shrub, the two smaller ones having been removed. The sunken pond towards the bottom of the garden is no longer there and the grey plastic shed has since been replaced. Thankfully, it's such a relief to know that all those stones have also now been removed. The weather station was relocated to the right of the garden in the area now known as LOW SHOTT FLATT (bottom centre of the above photo).

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The full running length of Worsley Dale can thus be seen, from its exit at the front of the wooden shed around the garden perimeter to its entrance at the rear of the same shed. I think I estimated it at around 132 feet in total ( a scale 1.9 miles or thereabouts).

 

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Hi Mick, great to look back at the beginning of the build of your layout how long did it you to get that far, I may do the same, nice pics of your steamy's, love the blue A4 loco

Last is at a stand still too bloody hot be like that right into next week, I am going out after tea and doing a bit on the module legs replacing the screws with countersunk quarter inch bolts, using T nuts one module is ready for painting do the same again after tea getting the next module ready and so on, going by the news over there it is still pretty cold everyone rugged up in the UK..

 

Tony  from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

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