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Worsley Dale Garden Railway


mick
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5 hours ago, aussietmrail said:

Hi Mick, wow  in your last post I spotted your control panel do you have working signals on your points and does your blocks light up as well when selected....

I wish!!! Nothing remotely like that Tony - it's just a basic stud and probe method of changing the points at that side of the shed. The track diagram is just black insulation tape as a reminder to me of which point is where. I don't think I'd have the patience for adding lights or anything else to the track diagram but I may change the stud & probe method to the signal levers that I installed on the other side of the shed as I already have a number of levers.

A warm one again today, just over 30 degrees, making it very uncomfortable inside the shed. The heat isn't such a problem but it's hopeless trying to do anything when your hands are sweating all the time.

I've got some more platform lights installed and connected so later tonight I'll flick the switch and see how effective they are. Last night we had just 5 LED's illuminating the station but tonight we will have a total of 13 as those on the main platform are doubles. Probably have to turn them down a bit.

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Just before dark I took this overall photo of Shieling Bridge showing progress with the platform lights. I think it's going to look good when the remaining lights are fitted but it does highlight the need for lights in some of the buildings, something I was hoping not to have to do.

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A little later I posed 37401 on track for these photo's. Photo's taken with my phone camera and a bit grainy but I'll experiment with other camera's at a later date.

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As mentioned earlier, I think the lights will offer opportunities for alternative photo's to the standard shots I'm used to taking. Has it been worth the effort? Well yes I think it has and it's a relatively inexpensive addition. I just have to remember the lights are there now when I'm reaching across the layout or cleaning the track. Wonder how long it's going to be before one comes a cropper?

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12 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

The little patch of sky, in the last photo, looks real - as though you had taken the boards outside...

I hadn't noticed that Iain - it does add some depth to the photo and I can promise you I didn't take the boards outside!

Right I have no idea just where I'm going with this at the moment but that's the norm with me. I've started adding rocks to the terminus boards. I had thought of getting some retaining walls for behind the bay platform but then I've got lots of polystyrene left over so I thought why not just continue with the rock theme. I started adding a low wall but then thought it would look better a bit higher so this is what we've got. I've added more rocks around the tunnel area and along the top edge of the board.

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I've gone the entire length of the backscene leaving it a bit lower behind the station building area. I've also added the missing backscene end board - now in grey  primer.

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In my head I have a vision of a distant loch on the backscene with mountains behind but whether or not I can do that remains to be seen. don't be surprised if we end up with grass and bushes as before.

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Although initially intended as a larger terminus station I've reverted to the idea of this being a smaller terminus station in a more remote location.

As I've said before, there's not really that much to do at this side of the shed so hopefully I can get it finished pretty soon.

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12 hours ago, ThomasI said:

The pictures of the station in the dark with the lights are great.
I have rarely seen such a realistic-looking illumination on a model railway...

Thank you Thomas. I wasn't too sure about adding working platform lighting but I'm pleased I did. For the effort it takes wiring them up I think the results are worth it and wiring them in to a DC controller gives you instant adjustment of the brightness. I will have to do the same with the terminus station.

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It's hardly the loch and distant mountains I had in mind but we've made progress at the station building end of Cattle Leys terminus. It seemed the logical place to have an expanse of water and it adds a nice backdrop to the station. Excuse the masking tape along the top of the rock wall.

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Rather than paint in the land across the water I've added it using the paper tissue I used to cover the rocks as it gives it some texture.

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I don't want to spend too much time on the backscene so I'll be continuing the theme along to the tunnel so that I can then move on to finishing off the ballasting and, should the rain ever decide to stop, running some trains.

 

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10 hours ago, roddy said:

What a difference!  That works for me Mick

Thanks Roddy though as you'll see soon it's beginning to look like an entry for a best kept garden competition rather than a remote coastal terminus.

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Before I started work on the terminus backscene I mentioned in a previous post that I had visions of there being a loch and distant mountains. I added my impression of a loch or at least an expanse of water behind the station building yesterday along with a view of a distant headland. I was pleased enough with it even though it didn't have the mountains I had hoped for.

Today was time to complete the backscene towards the tunnel mouth and I knew this would be my last opportunity to include a mountain. I also knew I wanted to complete the backscene as quickly as possible so do I spend time trying to paint a mountain or do I simply continue as I had started yesterday and get the job done?

I decided I'd give the mountain a try but it was far more difficult than I had imagined. As I've already said, I'm no artist and never have been but I started watching some videos online and attempted to replicate what they were doing as it seemed easy enough to follow. I really don't think my backscenes are suitable for painting using the methods they used. My paint wouldn't flow, my backscene was like sandpaper whereas their's seemed so smooth - it was hopeless and I was fast running out of paper roll from wiping my latest effort away. I had paint, paint brushes, tubes of paint and discarded paper roll all over the shed. There was more paint on me than on the backscene. I resigned myself to painting a line of trees and bushes and then noticed an "easy 3-step method of painting mountains". Well I might as well give it one last try.

It seemed easy enough - paint the outline of your mountains, colour them in a nice dark colour and then draw a wiggly line down from the centre of a peak to the base of the mountain. Paint the right side of the line in a light colour and the left side slightly darker (assuming the light is coming from the right hand side). It's better to follow the video than it would be to follow my instructions!

I tried it using a dark grey for my mountains and drew my thin wiggly lines down from each peak to the base.  I used white paint to do the right side of each peak barely allowing the brush to touch the grey beneath and used a darker shade for the left side. Again, better explained on the video.

This is what I ended up with.

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It was only meant to be a test and you'll see remnants of paint behind from my earlier messing around. I didn't dare rub this one out so decided to keep it. It might not be perfect but it's as good as I'll be able to do.

So continuing with my line of trees and bushes above the rock retaining wall I added the brown background onto which I would then add the foliage. I didn't really want to cover too much of the mountains, especially as they'd taken me so long to paint them, but also I didn't want it to look like I was framing them so I allowed the bushes to encroach on them slightly.

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And then the foliage was added. I think it's more colourful than realistic but I like it and it brightens the place up. The station is going to have to go some to beat this colourful display in any best kept station competition! I've also attempted to touch in the sky where the older paint was showing through.

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It's not easy to take a full-length view but here it is from each end.

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I'm not touching it any more. Now to get on with the remaining ballast and hanging basket liner.

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Your painting is great Mick. It certainly works and the mountains do look realistic. If I had produced that I would have been delighted. I refuse to mention the geographical error, because I doubt so very much that anybody will notice. Your backscenes are nothing short of brilliant!

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2 hours ago, roddy said:

....I refuse to mention the geographical error, because I doubt so very much that anybody will notice....

I don't care - after how long it's taken me to get to this stage I'll make sure I can justify absolutely anything! 😉

I went back out to the shed this evening just to stick down some hanging basket liner in the hope that it will be dry come the morning. I've done the top and bottom of the retaining wall, around the tunnel area and down along the edge of the baseboard where I've added the rocks. If I can get all that trimmed back tomorrow then I can complete the ballasting.

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That is exactly the right attitude Mick It is your railway, and could justifiably be called MWR. That is Mick's Wonderful Railway. Your planting has matured beautifully, your viaducts have weathered a treat, and now your shed stations are just about perfect. For God's sake put your tools away now, and run some trains.

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14 hours ago, mick said:

I don't care - after how long it's taken me to get to this stage I'll make sure I can justify absolutely anything! 😉

 

Hey, I run my High Speed Line in German style with right hand traffic, than I change to left hand traffic first with Japanese catenary and track, than French catenary and track and than it will run through an Italian station. After that it will have an Swiss section before I will switch back to right hand traffic. Maybe than I will make a section with Chinese Catenary.... 😂

I'm sure I can find a justification for that. 😂😂

 

 

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2 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

I love the loch, distant landfall and foliage Mick - it all looks great....

The loch is causing me a bit of a headache Iain - more in a moment.

2 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

...The mountains look a bit Swiss or Austrian!

No, that's how they looked in the mid-1980s - it's only much more recently that they changed form and colour 😉

Today I've been ballasting the blank areas and adding a bit more vegetation in empty spaces.

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Now here's a view of 37401 drawing to a halt at Cattle Leys station. I had hoped the backscene would allow me more photo opportunities as here with a nice distant view of the headland across the loch. But it only works with a high camera angle.

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Lower the camera to the trackside and we get this.....hmmm

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It's even worse from the bay platform....

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I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. I wondered if lowering the horizon would help but I don't think it would - or maybe placing the horizon at an angle rather than being horizontal. Is it just the fact that there's an horizon that makes it look odd from certain angles?

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9 hours ago, ThomasI said:

Hey, I run my High Speed Line in German style with right hand traffic, than I change to left hand traffic first with Japanese catenary and track, than French catenary and track and than it will run through an Italian station. After that it will have an Swiss section before I will switch back to right hand traffic. Maybe than I will make a section with Chinese Catenary.... 😂

I'm sure I can find a justification for that. 😂😂

 

My kind of layout!

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13 hours ago, mick said:

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I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. I wondered if lowering the horizon would help but I don't think it would - or maybe placing the horizon at an angle rather than being horizontal. Is it just the fact that there's an horizon that makes it look odd from certain angles?

I think the horizon needs to be much, much lower and the features on it, much smaller, to force the perspective enough, to see what you want to see. Youve probably done a brilliant job in O or gauge 1!

I recall on Ian Russells garden railway, there was a bit of distant water on one of the Peco backscenes (on or near a curve?) - that seemed to work - perhaps have a look at that - it features on the dvd he did in 2014.

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9 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

I think the horizon needs to be much, much lower and the features on it, much smaller, to force the perspective enough, to see what you want to see....

You're probably right Iain. I may well give it a try later because it's going to bug me forever if I don't either get it right or even change it altogether. I think what I could have done with is more space between the station building and the back scene so that I could have had a lower horizon and been able to place trees in front. That way the trees would obscure the view of the loch when the camera was at a low viewpoint.

Not so much done today as I spent time catching up with jobs around the garden. It's all been overlooked for the past couple of weeks while I've been concentrating on my efforts in the shed. The fish were grateful for a clean out too.

I managed to fit another four lights at Shieling Bridge late this afternoon, including the one I messed up earlier, but with only two left to fit I'd had enough and called it a day. There's only so long I can lay on my back under the baseboards.

Here's the overall view from the north end now with 19 LED's illuminating the station.

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And from the south end

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I've fitted the first light in the station forecourt. One or perhaps two more to go.

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View northwards from the platform - I guess this would be platform 3 - never really thought about it up until now.

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And the footbridge from behind the waiting room on 'platform 3', with my on board camera parked up in the sidings.

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The last thing I did before locking up was to weather the platform sides at Cattle Leys station. I need to do the ballast now as it's far too clean by comparison.

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