Back-Tracking

It had to come ... I've been promising for so long that Chelfham would be re-gauged, and now is the time.

Actually, several months ago was the time.

With John Clutterbuck I've attended the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association's Convention and AGM at Burton on Trent for the last 3 years demonstrating the attractions of finescale. This year I'm taking Chelfham, which on its mere 2 outings in my possession has been in its original 0-16.5 form, and it seems only right that it should be in O14. As my efforts at turnouts have been well below par, John has kindly stepped in to rescue me. I've had the chance to watch and learn, but of course actually stripping the Peco 'Crazy Track' has fallen to me.

And what a satisfying job it is too (though I must admit that my heart was in my mouth).

The first replacement turnouts get fitted this weekend, at which point I'll decide whether to make do with wire-in-tube control for the moment, re-instate the Seep motors, or fit some Cobalt motors I bought for the purpose. There are, after all, fewer than 5 weeks to the show!

Picture a Wall

A magazine deadline looms, and in order to show off the Weidknecht Decauville to its best I have started to make a simple diarama. I decided initially to have a vaguely industrial background, and while looking up the transport museum at Pithiviers, France, on Street View, I happened on the 60cm tramway a short way up the Route D’Angerville.

It seems to me to be interesting without clamouring for attention over anything I put in front of it for photographic purposes (this will be a lasting photo backdrop). A little behind the camera position on the Google screen-grab is a braced telegraph pole that I’ll use in preference to the one in shot. Beyond the house along the road is an interesting crossing (60cm v metre gauge) which will have to wait for another time.

The wall is 6mm ply, and just visible about a third of the way up is a strip of Slaters embossed brick. The rendering is coving glue, pushed up at the bottom with a fingernail. Some Evergreen 3.5mm half-round strip, separated into 10mm pieces, is superglued to the top (yes, that’s not as wide as the ply, but that’s not visible from ‘normal’ photographic angles – eye level). Mostly acrylic paints are used a la Pendon, with Citadel wash, and there is very small piece of foliage at this stage which is out of shot but is ‘Poison Ivy’ from The Army Painter Battlefields range. More ivy will be modelled, and I’ll write that up separately and actually get it into the photograph!

The baseboard is to be a melamine-covered MDF shelf, as I decided not to spend a huge amount of time building something from ply and pine. I'm going to follow Gordon Gravett's Modelling Grassland and Landscape Detailing (Wild Swan) as I produce the grass embankment and roadside. Track will be soldered to PCB for the most part, although I may well model some 'exposed' sleepers at one end.

Raising Steam

Trust a close-up photograph to highlight a few things yet to be done - like the brake hose! Anyhow, work on the Decauville engine draws to a close and attention turns briefly to my Type H Balladeuse. The couplings need figuring out before going too much further on that: more anon.

042T Weidknecht Decauville

Above the Parapet

Back in January I mentioned that I wanted to raise the track bed across Chelfham. The result is shown below with the quick-and-dirty replacement 0-16.5 Peco track and Chivers Manning Wardle, just prior to the Wiltshire 009 Group's Open Day on 10th August in Pewsey. What a Gibson Manning Wardle and hand-built 014 track will look like - watch this space.

Mettre en Boîte out of the box

Low-Relief Station Building

When I retrieved the station building from its storage container - a First Aid box! - I discovered that the main walls were not finished in textured paint as I recalled. By virtue of the fact that I have 'weathered' a space left of the door where a poster supposedly once hung, I spent some effort on completing it, but scribe marks to help position the qoins are very obvious. This is going to take some effort to mask and spray.

I must admit I'm very happy with the way the guttering and downspouts have come out, but they probably need some more vegetation.

Another Look

Mettre en Boîte at ExpoNG 2011

I decided to resurrect this incomplete 'layout in a box', in order to practice making turnouts for Chelfham. The engine is looking more colourful nowadays - of which more anon.

Concrete Evidence

SR timber and concrete, side by side

My 3D-printed SR concrete sleepers for Chelfham, after several attempts, gauge correctly. The tirefond holes are barely more than dimples and need drilling to take the lace pins. I blackened the pins first, but most of the blackening doesn't last the process. The process, by the way, involved rather more pulling from underneath than pushing from above: that won't be practical on the viaduct!