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Summer Hampton Railway


ba14eagle
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Over the weekend I managed to get to the local garden centre and nursery, parting with much cash, to fill up some of the blank canvas of the garden. Just a couple of little creepers are required to finish off and a few bags of chippings to uplift the path. With a good weather day in the offing and some of the noisy kids back in school, a few larger steam locos came out to play, in what turned out to be a bit of a big loco gala!

 

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I really like that sleeper set. Looks really good. You have some really good planting along with the log rolls. The scene around the 2:08 mark is really effective.

Whats the story of the lion? Another big cat spotted wild in the West country? Are you going to fit the steps you made from the patio over the rails into the centre.  I am going to need something similar and have some screenshots of those you had over your garden railway No2.

 

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Great to see the MGR's back in action Iain, just waiting on you starting on the next batch of 18 now! 1V32 looks really good too.

Like Mark, I was going to ask about the steps your father made for the previous layout too. Did you hang on to them? Do you need them this time?

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The footbridge was dismantled when I took the old layout apart. Where the footbridge used to be, I can currently, step over the trackbed - this is made easier by raising the level of the path (on the inside).

The log roll just sort of found its way there, Mark - it had been removed from where the footbridge used to be.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Phew! What cracking weather. 😎

There has been more work going on (planting, ballasting and soldering) than playing trains, just lately, so, before I start my next run of shifts and the weather turns, I had a little running session. All EE locomotives - my 3 x 37's and my 3 x 50's. Split into 2 films - one for each type.

 

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Nice videos Iain - just been watching them both at the same time! I bet your neighbours love the sound of those diesel horns?

I see you've made a start on the ballasting - are you intending doing all the tracks? What are you using for ballast and fixative this time?

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The noise is reciprocal Mick! They make a hell of a lot more and the language is often unprintable 😮

I intend ballasting all the track, but its an expensive job. I've spent over £100 already and that will be about 60% of the O gauge and, hopefully, all of the OO. I am using the Hattons own range of ballast - limestone fine for OO and mixed grey, coarse for the O gauge. Having used both, I think the colour, that comes somewhere between the two, would be better. I have started spraying the O gauge with Humbrol no.29, to weather it down. It looks a lot better.  The ballast is fixed with SBR polymer additive. Mist over with water & washing up liquid, before applying the sbr with a syringe. To show how well it works, after yesterdays running session, I laid and fixed some of the OO ballast. Even with the overnight rain, its all still in place. The SBR seems to bond the ballast together well and to the track. I'm not sure if it has stuck completely to the trackbed however - it feels a bit rubbery.

O gauge as laid

20200603_114458.thumb.jpg.125e1b2cd33b1e9928ea0e160d3088a8.jpg

O gauge after spraying

20200603_114505.thumb.jpg.255a226b31f3862730a6b955639ee117.jpg 

OO as laid

20200603_114516.thumb.jpg.c6f827cf5164cd9bba99a1178999ffb9.jpg

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21 hours ago, ba14eagle said:

Phew! What cracking weather.....

Yes, I remember that too...wasn't it only yesterday?

I believe you used SBR on the previous layout didn't you? How highly would you recommend it? I've been quite happy with the results using exterior varnish but it acts more like casting resin and sort of encapsulates the ballast rather than just sticking it together. Would you say that SBR is a 'stick and forget' solution or one that might need redoing some time later? How did it perform last time?

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Iain, if I'd have caught up with you earlier (and I didn't think to mention it on FB), you could've used Calcisand on the O Gauge track. It's about a tenner for a 5KG bag. I'm giving all my sieved stuff to Dave for his garden once I've kept the smaller stuff for mine. I've got over two scale miles to do! 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by scoobyra
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6 hours ago, mick said:

Yes, I remember that too...wasn't it only yesterday?

I believe you used SBR on the previous layout didn't you? How highly would you recommend it? I've been quite happy with the results using exterior varnish but it acts more like casting resin and sort of encapsulates the ballast rather than just sticking it together. Would you say that SBR is a 'stick and forget' solution or one that might need redoing some time later? How did it perform last time?

Mick, Id only used SBR when mixing the rubbercrete - Id not tried to bond ballast with it. I had tried Astonish floor polish on Summer Hampton mark 1, which was very hit and miss. On Hampton field I used exterior grade pva, again, with mixed results.

In a couple of places, where Ive used excess, it does go white when wet, like pva used to. And this is where Ive noticed it hasn't necessarily stuck to the trackbed, but just stuck the ballast and the track - if there is a bit of a void under the track that hasn't been filled with ballast, the track and ballast will spring up and down, as one.

As far as durability is concerned, yes, I think it will last - unless it forms ice crystals within the bonding, during the Winter - that might be a problem. But, as its a polymer, I don't think that is likely to happen.

Thanks for the tip about the calcisand Mike - I will look into it, if I need much more. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
So, after yesterdays frustrations with the On30 and OO, I cleaned up the O gauge and gave some recent purchases a run out.
The Heljan Hymek has had sound fitted by YouChoos, who, luckily for me, are only about 5 miles away. The 2 plate wagons are kit built and thus very light - lots of weight soon got them to stay on the track. Unfortunately, the builder has put some plate loads on them - I had a different plan, but hey ho. The hoppers suffer from the same issues - hence the temporary addition of the golf balls! The 12t open (Skytrex) has a massive lump of weight in it - that was only gonna pull everything else off! The brake van isnt new, but has now got a working tail lamp.
 
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I enjoyed that Iain!

Doesn't the OO gauge track look tiny alongside the O gauge though? It's strange because someone just commented on one of my videos to say that he couldn't tell whether it was O or OO gauge and looking at them singularly I do think it's difficult to tell them apart at times but when viewed alongside each other as in your video there's a massive difference.

I really like those hopper wagons. I've got a batch of them (in OO gauge that is) in need of weathering but there's a lengthy queue ahead of them at the moment when I get 'roundtuit'. I'm not sure what the OO gauge equivalent of a golf ball would be - perhaps a mint imperial?

Tail lamps is another thing I'm looking to add to my trains but I'm not too bothered about them working. It's one of those little things that stands out a mile as a train passes minus its rear lamp. Just need to sort out the rakes so I know which wagons are best fitted with lamps.

It's amazing how quickly the plants have filled in and I see they're already encroaching onto the oo gauge tracks. Looks really well established now.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A quick update from Summer Hampton. The Bachmann class 117 dmu is back from Richard Croft at Roads and Rails, who has done a great job fitting Jamie Goodman sound files and a new bass speaker. Im very pleased with this and he has also done a light weathering too. I just need to fit some traincrew and passengers! There is a bit of of O gauge running too.

 

Edited by ba14eagle
Change Paul Chetter to Jamie Goodman!!
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  • 1 month later...

Its been a while since I ran any trains, so today I was determind to change that!

Remember my "bored in lockdown" purchase of some On30 from Hattons? Well, I was determind to try and get the loco working and I did to a point. I don', t think the chassis likes my railway much, plus, I think its quite worn, meaning it has pick up issues, in places. Also, the longer you run it, the less it wants to pull up the inclines. So, I will be trying to sell it on. I do like On30 stock, so this might not be my last foray into this scale, but next time I will buy some more serious models. Also, my Hornby Sentinel shunter came out for a run - as its not yet got a chip in it, I just used the old H&M controller, which Id had connected up for the On30.

 

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The layout looks better with each video Iain - trains now appear to be running through the (very pleasing) landscape and no longer perched on top of it. The track itself also looks much better for the ballasting and weathering, something I've yet to get round to doing.

On both your indoor and outdoor shoots I am impressed with the quality of video footage you've been able to obtain. I don't feel that my own results are to the same high standard and I keep trying different settings in order to get as much of the scene in focus as possible. Even when you seem to be zooming and following trains round you're able to keep the main subject in focus without any focus hunting - any tips with that?

It was good to see you've managed to get some running out of the On30 stock. It's not something I'd personally go for if I'm honest as I much prefer to see your usual OO and O gauge but at least the layout gives you the opportunity to run such things alongside your other interests.

I do like to sound of the DMU in your previous video and I also like the tanks running behind the Hymek. I have a small collection of 14t tanks in OO gauge that I never really get the chance to run due to that problem of having too much stock that we've mentioned before. I'm not sure there's a cure for that.

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Looks and sounds really good Iain. You do need to get the trimmer out to that leaf before you end up derailing something though! And the cat....where did that come from? I feared the worst as the train approached. And then I was just thinking about how we could both do with some signals when you very appropriately zoomed in on one of yours.

It's been a lovely, pleasant day - ideal for outdoor running and it just makes everything look so much better. Really enjoyed watching.

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  • 2 months later...

Finally, Ive got a day off and blessed with some dry and bright weather. A neighbour almost spoilt the fun - they had tree surgeons in, with very noisy chainsaws.

That didnt put me off and I gave some new locos and stock a run out on the O gauge line.

The Heljan 31 was a planned purchase, but the Jinty and the 25 were bargains I snapped up from Hattons and Ellis Clark Trains. As I didnt have any appropriate goods stock for the Jinty, Ive been snapping up a nice few wagons off the internet.

The 31 came from Tower Models in Blackpool, who also numbered it and fitted dcc sound. I will be weathering it once the temperature goes up - probably in the Spring - and fitting a driver and secondman.

The Jinty has factory fitted sound and firebox glow. The 25 has been fitted with a South West Digital sound file, courtesy of dccfitting in Weston super Mare. They also fitted a chip to a Hornby 8F for me (I didnt check if there was a dcc socket, which there was! I couldve done it myself!). Unfortunately, the 8F chassis developed faults whilst I was trying it out and is now in the "to be sold" pile, as sourcing the replacement parts is proving difficult and the cost of repairs would be uneconomic for me. Oh well, Ive still got a chip spare, to put in something else.

 

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