Newbie, to forum and modelling

[Injury20]

Hey all, back again for an update and advise on 3 points/ideas.

 

Pretty much finished all the droppers down to my buswire for level 1 of my layout, and finally got the first 4 points working correctly via ralimaster on level 1 (turns out after lots of testing on my program track one of the ports on the decoder doesnt work)

 

I have 3 locos running well now but the one which came with my original set (great wetsern DCC, R1173M) runs kinda jerky,the mallard and flying soctsman run fine, and i have checked power all around the track so it isnt that.  It is a lot more prominent when in reverse too. ??

 

I have also discovered the wonderful world of a well known auction site and been hammering my paypal account, dam you late night lockdown with a beer and laptop.  I should have a breathalyser fitted to my mouse which prevents me bidding on stuff.  Anyway I have got myself 3 lovely pullman coaches in great condition at a resonable price and I was wondering if its possible to open them and add lighting to inside of the coaches? as I progress with my layout im going to be adding scenery lighting (houses/street lamps etc) and would be nice to have my carriages lighting up too for night scenes..?

 

Since discovering said auction site I can see myself with a lot more rolling stock and locos as my hobby & layout progress, with this in mind before I start wiring down level 2 of my layout im considering adding some sort of fiddle/storage yard, if you scroll back through my pics so far any thoughts on where i could tap in and add a turnout.  My initial thoughts are at the top of my incline to level 2 by the curved point (seen at the bottom of most of my pics, I have added another picture but will take a few days to be approved i guess)  If this is possible i would need to make it detachable from the main layout.  This is due to space and my baseboard being on castors so i can get to the back of the layout.  I would need to be able to easily disconnect the track from the main layout as and when i need to move it.  I have approx 4' x 3' to the side of baseboard, i quite fancy having a turntable on there and plenty of sidings to store a growing collection of rolling stock.

 

Hope to get some great tips on my 3 questions above.

 

thanks. right wheres that submit bid button....

[Injury20]

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THis is one of my thoughts for adding a branch to a fiddle yard,  where the board is painted byt the curved turnout, heading down the picture and along the wall???

[37lover]

Hi Injury20,

There have been many threads in the past regarding adding lighting to coaches; if you are unable to find them using the search facility you will have to wait for someone better equiped than me to add links to access those threads, to save repeating all the previous tutorials/advice.

[Chrissaf]

As 37L says ... use 'search forum' and search for Coach Lighting.

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.

With regard 'General Layout' lighting. These clickable links that follow have been pasted from my 'Boilerplate' doc. I haven't checked them for validity relative to your question as asked, but some of them should be useful reading material.

.

LED Strip Lighting

http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/12v-5050-led-strip-lighting/?p=1/

.

LED Street Lighting & LED Resistor (Dimming) Theory.

http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/installing-lighting/?p=1

.

Layout Lighting

http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/post/view/topic_id/11908/?p=1

.

More on Lighting

http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/using-select-to-power-accessories/?p=1

 

Best version that incorporates links to all the above, plus links to Phul007 layout in still & video format.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/adding-lighting-to-dc-layout/?p=1

.

LED Distribution Board.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/layout-led-lighting-the-easy-plug-n-play-way/?p=1

.

[Injury20]

Thanks for the links guys, some good reading there, when i get to that point I will go with a second buswire I think, seems to make sense.

 

Any thoughts on the juddering loco or fiddle yard?

[jane1707819582]

Give the pick ups and the wheel back faces a good clean .

[JJ73]

Or Do you really need that Turn-Table???

See load of places where you can put extra Sidings / Fiddle Yard

 

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[Injury20]

Hey all, I havent added anything to my project post for a while, real life work getting in the way of my new hobby.  Other than running loco's and bit more soldering, oh and i added the additional turnout on level two to add a fiddle yard at a later date (pic to follow)

 

I have finally started on the construction of my tunnel/mountain scenery so I can start add level 3 track to my mountain/coal mine plan.

 

Don't suppose any experienced modellers live anywhere near me in Worcester do they?? I could do with some hands on hints and tips on scenics??

[Injury20]

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[Jimbo1707820979]

Have you googled the nearby model railway clubs ?  Might be someone who would like to drop around. Unfortunately, I dwell 125 miles to the South.

[Injury20]

I'm back have you missed me....

My lockdown project I started back in 2020 has been hold due to work life and house decorating but I have finally managed to turn the garage back into my train cave and get going again. Not been around so sad to see the news of Crissaf as he gave me some good help in my early days.

Other than a couple of problems getting my laptop to connect to the railmaster all the trains are running nicely and the points I had got set up still operate via laptop which is good news. So i'm jumping straight back in wit a couple of images of my layout before I get started as it looks like the pics i uploaded have dropped off.

How I left things

[96RAF]

Welcome back.

... unfortunately when the forum was updated by Hornby a while back they lost all previous images including some irreplaceable diagrams by Chrissaf.

In addition all images posted now have to go through an approval process, so there is a brief flag pops up to tell you that if your post has an image in it. Please don’t keep sending the post again and again as it only adds to the queue and the duplicates will have to be deleted later.

Please do keep posting your progress as it inspires others to do the same and its good to see how other folk get on with their layouts.

If your layout has a name we can change the title of your post to match or you can start another thread in the General section under your layout name as title.

[Injury20]

Thanks 96RAF, still decided on a layout name but will let you know so you can change it for me..

I have jumped straight in with the tunnel at the front of my layout so I can start on 2nd level of track etc. So after watching a number of youtube videos, below is my progress at my very first attempt of painting/weathering scenic's with the tunnel portal.

Before

I then painted in a sandy colour for the base and highlighted a number of stones

I then did a grey wash over the top

Once dried I used a white wash over the top and then cleaned it to leave a mortor effect

Finally with my new air brush (loved this gadget) I added some smoke effects

Pretty happy with this for a first attempt then i moved onto the tunnel itself....

[Going Spare]

@96RAF

In that case, re your first paragraph above, has not the second paragraph of the Forum home page 'Welcome' been overtaken by (a lack of) events and is now irrelevant after many months, or is work even now still going on in the background?

[Injury20]

After completing the portal I started on the tunnel itself, Using a large tube that all my track was delivered in I noticed it was almost the same size diameter as the portal so I cut the bottom off and began the scenic's.

Firstly using pva I stuck scrunched paper to the inside and then painted a water mix of plaster paris to the inside

Once dry I gave it a coat of watered down brown paint

Again after it dried I then gave it a second coat of darker brown

I then dry brushed some white highlights and with my airbrush added black soot marks on the roof entrance

Already to attach to layout once the ballast is done

[ellocoloco]

That looks really effective. I do like a tunnel to continue more than 3cm past the arch!

[Injury20]

I carried the tunnel all way round the bend so if you get down at eye level I'm hoping it looks more realistic. I contemplating putting some sort of lighting in there. As my era is steam I'm unsure if there would have been??

[Going Spare]

Looks impressive, but don't forget that if anything is to go wrong (derailment, etc.) it will do so at the most inaccessible place - so make sure you can get access to the tunnel tracks if you need to.

[Injury20]

@Going spare

In my next couple of updates it will show the other end of the tunnel where i plan to make some sort of removable section, I will be asking for hints and tips so keep an eye open for when it gets added.

[LesXRN]

I carried the tunnel all way round the bend so if you get down at eye level I'm hoping it looks more realistic. I contemplating putting some sort of lighting in there. As my era is steam I'm unsure if there would have been??

Hi Injury 20.

I've driven trains through plenty of tunnels and haven't seen any with lights, other than a couple with a colour light signal part way through, that might be a better option actually.

For cleaning track within the tunnel, if you don't have a track cleaning wagon, I used a long piece of wood with a track cleaning rubber attached for the tunnel on my last layout, it really did work well until I fitted a rubber under an old diesel chassis which was even better.

Good luck. Les.

 

 

 

 

[Injury20]

Now tunnel is complete, time to have a go at ballast and weathering track, ideally place to start as it will be mostly covered by the tunnel if it doesn't go to well...

1st section done using the popular method of laying ballast before damping and adding 50/50 pva solution.

2nd piece done, need more practise to get this right, and I should have painted the board first in earthy brown colour instead of cutting in afterwards, which I will do going forward

Using my new airbrush I have attempted weathering the tracks, started with the rails first before adding some colour to the ballast and sleepers. Finished with a narrow line of black to resemble oil and muck. Quite pleased with this but need more practise. Tunnel just placed in position for now whilst I start planning hillside etc above, I will be adding some greenery and loose boulders to the front ..

[Injury20]

Thanks Les, good idea with the track rubber...

Re: the signal light you mentioned, I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of what they may of looked liked at the time/era and would it be mounted roof of tunnel or fitted in between the two lines at ground level??

thanks in advance

[LesXRN]

The last ones I used to pass was a multi aspect signal on the side wall of the tunnel at Birmingham New Street when coming in from the Crewe direction and the same setup at Liverpool Lime Street going towards the station.

Obviously you would need clearance at the tunnel wall to fit one, although, you could rig up some simple light without the metal frame. I'd suggest a yellow caution or a green so it would seem more realistic when trains enter.

Colour light signals did exist in steam days by the way, just like there are semaphores today, like some of the Hope valley line between Stockport and Sheffield.

[ModelerXYZ]

According to a book I have on GWR engineering works, the GWR installed coloured light signalling between Paddington and Southall in 1932, which was well into steam days.

XYZ

[RDS]

@Injury20, welcome back your layout is looking good. You may like to visit the link below which explains a few things about the Forum, including why your pictures do not appear straight away. I have also rotated your first picture from yesterday.

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