Today on the WGLR

stockers said:
Great work Mel. Good call to use 250 track. I have heard of 'G' flanges catching on code 200 rail (on the chair tops).
Looking at the clearance that's still under the Bachmann and LGB wheels, I think you MIGHT just get away with code 200 mate, but the fact that Steve didn't have the sleepers to fit (or suitable connectors) was the clincher. :bigsmile:
 
Thanks for all the comments chaps, they do spur me on.

Talking of which, had a home alone day today which resulted in about 7 hours work on the interchange. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem all that much to show for it.

The Cliff Barker gauge 3 track is fantastic (especially considering it's cheaper than a lot of G scale stuff at £11 a yard), but straight out of the box it doesn't look particularly authentic with it's jet black sleepers and stainless steel rail. When I was at Steve's yesterday, I saw this stuff and decided to give it a try.

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WARNING - I WOULD DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS WITH TRACK POWER!!. The dyes are pretty expensive, but the track is looking much better now, especially around the pointwork. I have wiped the dye off the top of the running tracks. Unfortunately it doesn't show up too well in the photo. I've just sprayed an LGB buffer stop with the oily brown as well, so I'll let you know how that comes out.

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I also bought a couple of sheets of brick effect plastic card, so the platform is now edged properly. I've used the same stuff to edge the elevated siding and ramp. It's actually only 3 bricks high, but I've cut it at 4 bricks so that it will help to keep the ballast in place. Funnily enough the track that I built yesterday looks very similar to the way the gauge 3 track looks now in the photo although I haven't sprayed it due to it being used for track power.

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The ramp has been laid in concrete. The pins are holding the plastic card in place until the cement cures. When I remove them, I'm not certain that the plastic card will stay in place, but if it doesn't it doesn't really matter because the cement will be imprinted with the brick pattern. :thumbup:

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The concrete is a bit rough, but will eventually be hidden under the ballast.
 
The interchange is looking really good Mel.
It?s a real shame Cliff Baker has not made a G gauge sleeper for his 250 rail.
I used his G3 sleeper with his stick on chairs for G this of course also gives one the ability to have a section of duel gauge which must be good. But the work is really only justifiable for short lengths of track. The stick onable sleepers are also dark chocolate brown.

Does any Centralist know of other makes of sleepers that will take Cliff Baker 250 s/s rail?

PS & off topic. Mel, Did you see my post re small sheep.
 
oldoak said:
The interchange is looking really good Mel.
It?s a real shame Cliff Baker has not made a G gauge sleeper for his 250 rail.
I used his G3 sleeper with his stick on chairs for G this of course also gives one the ability to have a section of duel gauge which must be good. But the work is really only justifiable for short lengths of track. The stick onable sleepers are also dark chocolate brown.

Does any Centralist know of other makes of sleepers that will take Cliff Baker 250 s/s rail?

PS & off topic. Mel, Did you see my post re small sheep.
Cheers Martin. Perhaps we need to get the thumbscrews on Cliff to start doing 45mm track? In the meantime, I think there's every chance that the Back2Bay6 sleepers would fit Cliff's rail, but unfortunately I don't have any left over to try.

I can't find your post re. sheep, can you tell me the thread title? It's something that I mentioned to Steve the other day.
 
yb281 said:
oldoak said:
The interchange is looking really good Mel.
It?s a real shame Cliff Baker has not made a G gauge sleeper for his 250 rail.
I used his G3 sleeper with his stick on chairs for G this of course also gives one the ability to have a section of duel gauge which must be good. But the work is really only justifiable for short lengths of track. The stick onable sleepers are also dark chocolate brown.

Does any Centralist know of other makes of sleepers that will take Cliff Baker 250 s/s rail?

PS & off topic. Mel, Did you see my post re small sheep.
Cheers Martin. Perhaps we need to get the thumbscrews on Cliff to start doing 45mm track? In the meantime, I think there's every chance that the Back2Bay6 sleepers would fit Cliff's rail, but unfortunately I don't have any left over to try.

I can't find your post re. sheep, can you tell me the thread title? It's something that I mentioned to Steve the other day.


Well Mel it looks like somebody was listening to you. Your, Post 12. W&L C Van

I have just been to the sheep shop!
Well to be honest I now find it difficult to walk past any Toy Shop nowadays, nothing to do with railways! I blame the grandchildren.

That?s my story and I?m sticking to it.

Anyway I found a new Schleich Shropshire sheep model No 13681. Which has the top of the head at about the level of the existing sheep shoulder.

Its in the 2012 dogalog as a new item.

It s almost white with a black face & sox?s and is a very nice looking model .


HMS
 
oldoak said:
yb281 said:
oldoak said:
The interchange is looking really good Mel.
It?s a real shame Cliff Baker has not made a G gauge sleeper for his 250 rail.
I used his G3 sleeper with his stick on chairs for G this of course also gives one the ability to have a section of duel gauge which must be good. But the work is really only justifiable for short lengths of track. The stick onable sleepers are also dark chocolate brown.

Does any Centralist know of other makes of sleepers that will take Cliff Baker 250 s/s rail?

PS & off topic. Mel, Did you see my post re small sheep.
Cheers Martin. Perhaps we need to get the thumbscrews on Cliff to start doing 45mm track? In the meantime, I think there's every chance that the Back2Bay6 sleepers would fit Cliff's rail, but unfortunately I don't have any left over to try.

I can't find your post re. sheep, can you tell me the thread title? It's something that I mentioned to Steve the other day.


Well Mel it looks like somebody was listening to you. Your, Post 12. W&L C Van

I have just been to the sheep shop!
Well to be honest I now find it difficult to walk past any Toy Shop nowadays, nothing to do with railways! I blame the grandchildren.

That?s my story and I?m sticking to it.

Anyway I found a new Schleich Shropshire sheep model No 13681. Which has the top of the head at about the level of the existing sheep shoulder.

Its in the 2012 dogalog as a new item.

It s almost white with a black face & sox?s and is a very nice looking model .


HMS
Oh good call. I'll get a couple next time we're in Worcester. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Didn't have quite so much time on the railway today, but I did get the elevated siding ballasted.

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Finally positioning the ramp has left me with a little dead space. This will be filled with a set of steps leading from the goods platform (little more than a shaped blob at the moment) and the wiggly van body. I'm also making a wooden fence to go around this corner of the platform to make sure nobody falls onto the track at platform 2.

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thats looking really good mel, me likes :thumbup:
 
yb281 said:
mike said:
thats looking really good mel, me likes :thumbup:
Cheers mate. It would appear that BR are using imported Ruritanian ballast on their line. :bigsmile::bigsmile:

Nothing but the best for those boys! :thumbup:
 
You mention Ruritanian ballast - is that a long term solution or will we see some more locally sourced material appearing on the standard gauge tracks?
 
jameshilton said:
You mention Ruritanian ballast - is that a long term solution or will we see some more locally sourced material appearing on the standard gauge tracks?
Oh yes a bag of the best Worcestershire is planned, maybe for next week James.
 
Track works Looking very nice Mel :bigsmile:
 
Rain stopped play today. Luckily I'd kept in mind a couple of indoor jobs.

First I've made 2 buffer stops for the standard gauge sidings out of stripwood. I'll fit (and photo) them when the weather picks up. Then I can start ballasting.

The other job was to build a coaling stage for the duty shunter's siding.

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The base is just 3 off-cuts of pressure treated wood left over from making the platform which were glued and screwed together. They are edged with brick effect plasticard. The deck is from coffee stirrrers embedded on plenty of PVA, coated in preservative and then sprayed with oily brown weathering dye which gives a really nice finished effect (darker than it looks in the photo). The steps are carved from polystyrene, coated with PVA and the framework is stripwood with a corrugated plasticard side and end. A mound of Das was painted black, coated in PVA and then covered with real coal.
 
jameshilton said:
Look forward to seeing it in place tomorrow Mel, weather permitting!
Well, sort of James. In between showers, the GP and footie, I managed to get the things I made yesterday in place and get the narrow gauge track almost completely ballasted.

The buffer stops in place on the standard gauge. First the end loading siding and then the bay platform.

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The ramp to the elevated NG siding with the steps from the loading bay, the safety fence around the end of the platform and the wiggly van now in use as an oil store in the background.

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The duty shunter's coaling stage sits alongside the shunter's mess room.

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Finally, No.3 draws up alongside the coaling stage with the stone circle in the background.

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