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Amblethorpe


chris
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50 minutes ago, chris said:

Quick shot of my pair of Lima 66's with the end detailing added.

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Not much of an improvement, on what are rather old models now.

They may be old, but they were the best thing since sliced bread when they first came out. Still run well now

 

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My wife, Sarah, and I had an enjoyable few hours modelling yesterday. Our focus was on a small scenic board with a bungalow on it.

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We'd bought the home many years ago. It's a Hornby Scaledale model, but came unpainted. I was planning on Sarah doing the painting part, but it sat in the box for years. Finally I cracked when I decided that I fancied it in yellow brick. However, it did hang around with just a coat of grey primer for a couple of years.

The main task on Sunday was to dress the scene. This basically involved trawling through several boxes of all the bits and bobs that could be included on this board. But having watch a Luke Towan YouTube the night before we were determined to include interior details and people. Trying to put very small items on the windowsill was very tricky, it would have been a great deal easier if I hadn't already put the windows in. The result was a nice little scene, which only took 3 and half years to take form this:

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to this:

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The bungalow is the entrance to the livery stable. This is spread along four 50cm long boards. The first two of these were basically completed 4 years ago. But we had never got round to dressing the last two. This was also addressed yesterday.

One paddock got a few sheep and a couple of donkeys.

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The final board gained a pair of trees.

There are pictures of all these scenic boards in the gallery, but here is a panorama shot of the lot.

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Edited by chris
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Bracing wind yesterday prevented all but a token train drive.

Slightly better today. This morning I tidied my shed shelves, rearranging a few items so a bit more light can get in through the small windows. Afternoon involved more shed time, cleaning my stock. The photos I've taken have highlighted to me how dusty I let my trains get. A couple of new paint brushes were put to work removing the winter(s) layer(s) of dust. A few locos also got a run on my Woodlands Scenics Tidy Track wheel cleaner. Another one of those jobs I always put off.

Good forecast tomorrow. I may have a running session.

Heres a photo of Bittern, pre dusting, which convinced me I had to take action.

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Great day to be in the garden. Went for full control with MacBook old iPhone and very old iPad. I was very pleased to the the iPad still interfaced with the software, I thought it had lost that ability.

Between the two devices I could control 4 locos. It was a good opportunity to get my Northern Belle set running. Its a tricky formation to run because with Top and Tailed locos you have to match their speed carefully so the front loco is pulling some coaches while the back is pushing some. A close inspection of the tension locks reveals if I got the right balance. One point blade was casing issues on one loco, causing a stutter. With that addressed I clould leave my Northern Belle looping round while I played with two DMU's on the other track.

It was a great opportunity to film. All a bit rushed and unplanned, but here's the result.

 

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That Northern Belle set looks really nice Chris - it's certainly my kind of train! I have the two ViTrains class 47 loco's that were produced by Rail Exclusive which are some of the best looking and best sounding loco's I have but I never considered getting the coaches. In a way that's probably a good thing because I have far too many coaches already. I've run loco's double-headed on numerous occasions but never top and tailed - I'd be a bit concerned about them eventually derailing but you seem to have got it working just fine.

Your video shows views that we don't often get to see in photos and the one through the cutting is worthy of mention. I've been considering adding a cutting where my track enters the tunnel beneath the path.

To go back a post, I really do like your photo of Bittern in BR Green livery, even with the dust.

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After a long running session on Friday, not much moved over the weekend. A couple of bonds had failed, both rails on the same track join! That was desoldered on Saturday and a unit was run back and forth through it to check all was well. The rest of the time was spent pondering, or beard stroking, spending more time thinking about a problem than working on it.

I have one moveable platform. Its made of the cheap Hornby platform sections. On Friday I thought of how I could improve the end ramps to fit in with the scenics I have at one end and will be creating next at the other. The beard stroking was about how I would go about building the new end ramps. I actually started the job on Saturday, before tea, bu this is no indication that it will be finished this year.

Anyhow. Low I did finish it on Sunday.

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The before and after show the new design. The platform looks longer, and it is, but only by 15cm. I've moved it down to fill the gap between the station and the scenic board. This has freed up space at the other end for a new scenic board, I have over a meter to play with between the Pub and the Station. the space to the right of the tracks needs a small railway yard building on it, S&T cabinets etc.

The platform looks part of the scene now, rather than something plonked by the railway. 

I've already started the beard stroking on the new scenic board.

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For years I've kept a rain cover over Amblethorpe Station. I binned it a month ago. Today I found that the cover was a good idea.

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This was taken after I had unblocked the small drain pipe and the standing water had flowed away for a minute.

Interesting that the trunking had formed a water tight seal with the roofing felt which can be seen dry between the two sections once I'd lifted the loose platform top.

 

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On 29/04/2020 at 18:18, chris said:

....Fitted sound to my Grand Central 125.

Is that actually a sound chip Chris? I know you stated that Andrew's post featuring the distant diesel horn had given you some ideas....?? 

The viaduct looks as impressive as it has always done.

16 hours ago, chris said:

For years I've kept a rain cover over Amblethorpe Station. I binned it a month ago. Today I found that the cover was a good idea.....

Might be a good idea to reinstate that cover!

Seriously, I had similar concerns when I was adding the timber edging along either side of the ground level section because by cementing it in I was limiting the run-off area. It remains to be seen what effect it has when we have a heavy downpour - the light showers haven't caused any problems.

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2 hours ago, mick said:

Is that actually a sound chip Chris?

No sound chip. I went hunting for video of trains passing the house. Found a Grand Central HST. Then went though my footage of my model and found one where the speed of pass was roughly equal. It's not quite rain, the real thing had 6 coaches rather than 5, but I aligned the sound with the rear power car and the effect is rather good.

I've borrowed a microphone off a mate and plan to record some better quality (bass) sounds of passing trains. I'll then film my models to match the sound.

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19 minutes ago, chris said:

No sound chip....

Well it's very convincing either way. Excellent stuff.

20 minutes ago, chris said:

I've borrowed a microphone off a mate and plan to record some better quality (bass) sounds of passing trains. I'll then film my models to match the sound.

Certainly worth doing if that's the kind of results you can get. You want to start filming passing trains and then going out to buy the stock required to replicate the pass on your layout!

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Well Mick. I had a rule when I started with Amblethorpe. I could only buy stock which had passed the bottom of my garden. So I should be able to get recordings for nearly all my trains. I think I may have missed the boat on the Pacers. Not seen one pass in service for a 6 weeks. They were still woking the York–Sheffield three times a day stopper, but that has been cut from the Key Workers timetable.

 

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An afternoon where the threat of a shower was ever present. Three panicked "drive everything back into the shed" monuments.

Ran things differently today. I ignored Colwick, far too risky to bring that station out in this weather, and ran trains into Amblethorpe. It is a two platform terminus in front of the shed. Trains ran from the shed round a full loop of the garden to terminate there before picking up the return service to the shed. Some visited the refuelling point, accessible from platforms 2. Intermediate stops at Barnmouth were observed, apart from when it started spitting and everything was express.

I enjoyed running the railway this way. Only a couple of points needed to be changed. It was possible to have two trains running and observing station stops. Not something I often achieve operating on my own.

As a finale I ran my intermodal train. Looping round the garden it behaved rather well for its first run in 10 months. Yes there were minor derailments, but I kept a close eye on it and popped the bogie back on the rails while it continued to run. Got about dozen loops in before the clouds became too threatening to risk continuing.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A day to be indoors. I started working on a new baseboard which will be across the road form the pub and have a duck pond. Still haven't got the look of it in my minds eye so I made very little progress.

Decided to start working on a backscene to go near Colwick Station. Had a go at ModelRailwayScenery print at home "kit". To save a lot of gluing and cutting card I streamlined the process greatly by using the plotter cutter, this also improved the cut accuracy. The model went together well, and only took a couple of hours to build, if that.

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The only issue was the quality of the print. My inkjet is a bit old now and the colour hues were off. I've asked a mate to print the next one I make.

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My mate was speedy with his printing and dropped them through the letter box while on his daily exercise. Completed another in about 90 minutes.

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I've now moved up to slightly more complicated office block. Still low relief but with more build outs and window. It is taking much longer to complete.

I'm enjoying these builds. It's nice to follow a set of instructions and not become distracted try to think up how to customise it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Running session on Amblethorpe this evening. With visiting Locos. Taking the opportunity with the relaxation of lockdown rules, 4 friends (remember those?) came round to play trains. Two came into the garden and two stood looking over the fence. 

It was glorious.

The track was less than glorious.

These three dry months have allowed a couple of bits of baseboard which have had water damage to dry out. This has not gone well. They have puffed up under the roofing felt. A couple of sections will need replacing. But, I have the time.

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