Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Tell us about your layout, where you put it, how you built it, how you operate it.
themagicspanner
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Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:21 pm

Firstly, I should introduce myself. My name's Mike Lauder and I live in Edinburgh. I've been a member of the ScaleFour Society for about a year, in which time I've modelled in N gauge as well as dabelling in bits and bobs of p4.

After I started to run out of inspiration to complete Tarbhit I knew I would need to start something else - something different - and 'Thorburn's' was born.

The 'History'

Thorburn's is a small steelwork fabricator in the small Berwickshire town of Duns - the place where I grew up.

There's no railway there these days and as far as I know Thorburn's didn't exist back in the sixties when the Berwickshire Railway was still operational. They are, however, based on the site of Duns station and it wouldn't be a great leap to imagine that they would have been well served by the railway had it still been there in the 1990's.

The Model

Having been pretty frustrated by what I saw as the limitations of working in N gauge, I decided that my next model was going to be to a finescale standard. I didn't really know anything about 2mmFS and fancied building something in a larger scale anyway. It was only ever going to be a small layout, as I have very little room, so the minor cost savings by going with EM rather than P4 weren't worth the compromises of choosing the former.

For some reason I've always liked to industrial (ugly) look of the SR POA wagons and the industrial landscapes they operate within, so I decided to design a 5-3-3 inglenook based on the length of those wagons and imaginedthe layout as some sort of holding sidings just outside the fabricator's yard.

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Inspiration - SR POAs


After a bit of playing about with Templot it was clear that I could fit it all on a 6' long board with nice long turnouts to get that flowing track work I couldn't get in N gauge.


The Track

All of the track is Exactoscale - a couple of B8 turnouts and some bases threaded with code 75 bullhead rail. I built the first one straight and the second on a very slight curve. The kits are easy to build, only taking a few hours each. They look the business too. The stretchers are the fully functional etched ones from Ambis Engineering.

Rather than go for ballast, I wanted to recreate the look of the Crossley Evans yard in Shipley. The whole lot is going to be built up with DAS clay textured with a stiff brush.

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Looking toward what will become the fabricator's shed.


The Stock

SR POAs make up the bulk of the stock - each with a different scrap load so that you can operate the layout as an inglenook with them. There's also a TTA, a BDA, a BZA, and a hooded steel carrier in VTG livery.

Motive power is provided by a BR blue 08.

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A work weary BDA


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The class 08 sits precariously on it's OO wheelset (still awaiting the delivery from Ultracscale)


The Plan

Although I don't really see this taking too long, I'm not going to be in any sort of hurry - it's an experiment in modelling and if it takes a long time and I learn loads I'll be happy. I want to learn about AJ couplings and building kits so that not everything comes from the Bachmann factory...

There are plans to build a Judith Edge Yorkshire DE2 at some point this winter as I think that would be more appropriate to the fabricator's yard than the 08.



Mike

Mark Tatlow
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:50 pm

Looks good mike; the use of Das oozes dirt and is quite effective but in time you will need lot of rubbish and weeds!
Mark Tatlow

Terry Bendall
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Terry Bendall » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:10 am

Very nice indeed Mike. I know of a certain exhibition down south that would be very interested in having you along, if we can sort it out in a year or two. :D I wonder if your "ballast" needs to be a bit deeper? In some industrial situations the sleepers could well be alomost hidden. Perhaps there is more to come?

Terry Bendall

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:13 am

Thanks guys.

The 'ballast' is much deeper towards the far end of the sidings and there the 'main' line heads into the shed. I must admit to thinking of making it deep everywhere but I wasn't too keen to cover up my turnouts.

On the headshunt (and exit) I'm thinking of trying to create a transition to something a bit more like ballast. I'll probably ballast that as normal and then use DAS to tie it in.

There are going to be puddles of toxic looking water in a few places just to give the whole thing a really neglected look.


Terry, I would love to show off some of my work if it works out as I'm planning...

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:00 am

I've managed to grab an hour or so in the last few days to work on the ground cover and to start picking out the chairs with a bit more rust.

Image

This shot shows how much buildup of dirt there is in the sidings

Image

The buffer stops are the really nice white metal castings from Lanarkshire models.

Here's a shot after I'd added the turnout switch.

Image


Mike

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jim s-w
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby jim s-w » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:20 pm

Good stuff Mike

I like the muddy look

Jim
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paul4147
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby paul4147 » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:51 pm

Really starting to come together now, the effect you've achieved already is spot on, looking forward to seeing this develop

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:26 pm

Thanks guys.

I'll keep the updates coming.


Mike

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:49 pm

Just a couple of pictures for tonight. I've been blocking in more of the area around the tracks trying to get that nice dark base colour in place so that I can start building up something a little lighter and maybe even a little greener!

Anyway, a couple of old sleepers have appeared between the rails to try to indicate that some track maintenance happened some time in the past (not for a long time mind).

Image

Image

Still waiting for the wheels for the 08.


Mike

Lindsay G
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Lindsay G » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:46 pm

Nice images, looks like an era of neglect is coming along just fine.

Lindsay

Some other comments have been sent via a private post (just in case you are not set up to be aware of a private posts arrival). Nowt to do with Thorburn, but lots to do with dipping of toes. Intriguing somewhat to those not privy!

Colin Parks

Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Colin Parks » Fri Sep 19, 2014 10:30 am

Nice work on the yard surface themagicspanner.

These areas of track work are harder to get right than ballasting running lines. Re. your wait for the 08's wheels, I have just had mine from Ultrascale after a six month wait. You will not be disappointed!

All the best,

Colin

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Fri Sep 19, 2014 11:15 am

Thanks Colin,

You're right about that being the hardest area to get right.

My baseboard is constructed from 2 sheets of 50thk foam insulation board glued together with plywood edges. It's a single piece 1800 long, so for this reason I built the two turnouts and did the fill and weathering on a single piece of 6thk MDF. It's really important to have something manoeuvrable so that you can get into all the little details easily. The whole lot was glued down after I'd fitted and tested the Cobalt point motors.

I'm hoping my wheels turn up this week as I'd like to get the thing running. That may even spur me into making some couplings...


Mike

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:58 pm

I've been thinking about what building I'm going to have at the back of the scene. Right from the start I had thought it would be the typical corrugated iron type of shed that's typical of a steelwork fabricator's yard. I've been playing about with a few bits of foam board and some Slater's Plasticard and came to the conclusion that it was just going to turn into the same generic looking shed that you see on every other layout, so it got me thinking...

Image

This is the old granary building that stood at Duns station and is now in Thorburn's yard.

I don't know why that hadn't been the plan from the start.


Mike

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Sun Sep 21, 2014 7:04 pm

Firstly I must thank the East of Scotland Group for their hospitality this afternoon. I nice friendly and lively bunch that made me feel at home right from the minute I walked in the door.

Since deciding to model the granary I've decided that I'll have to procrastinate a little as buildings aren't my forte, so I've been continuing to build up the rubbish at the front of the layout. A couple of old pipes that look like they were just pushed from the back of a wagon, some sheets of corrugated iron and some pallets in various states of disrepair have joined the old sleepers.

Here are some black and white shots of the 08 (still balancing) as it moves a BDA into one of the sidings.

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And here are some close-ups of the debris.

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Still in need of bedding in and obviously the glue is still to dry, but I'm pretty happy with the balsa pallets.


Must go and build those AJ jigs...


Mike

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:39 am

Hopefully I'll be running that 08 by the end of the week. Ultrascale just sent me an email telling me that my wheels have been manufactured.

Naturally, I''ll be confined to propelling wagons unless I pull my finger out and build those AJ jigs.


Mike

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iak
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby iak » Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:31 am

Fascinating wee project...
Bravo sir :thumb
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themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:13 am

The 08 now no longer needs to balance on the rails...

Not too happy with the performance though. There is either something wrong with the quartering of the wheel set (which I doubt but will check) or one of the original coupling rods is too long, causing the wheels to bind and the driving axle to lift. The model had a slight wobble with it's OO wheels when I first got it and I blindly hoped that the Ultrascale set would solve the bother.

I'll post some close ups when I get a chance tonight.

I ran out of time last night to give it a full test, although I did run it without the motor connected and it displayed the same binding. At least that's one source discounted.

---

Anyway, here is a shot of the offending loco reflected in the large puddle that filled up over the weekend.

Image

Unfortunately, the water material I've used doesn't stay as nice and reflective once it's dry but it does give an idea of the effect I'm trying to get.


Mike

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Andy W
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Andy W » Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:18 pm

Mike, you probably know all this anyway but having "been there, done that" - can you take the coupling rods off easily? If so what does it run like without them? If it runs ok try just one pair of rods as an 0-4-0. It that's ok add the second set of rods. That should tell you where the problem is - either the quartering on that last wheelset, or the rod holes are different lengths. If it's the rod then one of the holes can be filled in with solder. Then put the filled rod onto a piece of balsa or similar, put the rod with both holes on top of it. Push a pin through the two ends with holes so it holds the pair tight. Then use the second hole as a jig to drill through to open out the soldered one.

Crude but works.

Love the "puddle".
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themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Mon Sep 29, 2014 2:40 pm

Thanks for that. I ran out of time last night to 'debug' the thing so I'll try to run it as you described when I get home tonight.

Good tip about soldering the hole and then re-drilling if required.


Mike

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Wizard of the Moor
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Mon Sep 29, 2014 5:16 pm

I've found that the 14BA crankpin washers Ultrascale supply are of a diameter that causes one half of the rods to clout the washers every revolution.

Using 16BA washers broached out such that they fit the crankpins will most likely solve the problem.

If the rivet holding the two halves of the rods together is loose then that might also benefit from attention. However, I haven't encountered this on any of the examples that I have converted.
James Dickie

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themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:10 pm

Well, taking it apart and putting it all back together with the motor detached allowed me to check the running at each stage. It appears to run much better in both directions now.

Mike

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John Donnelly
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby John Donnelly » Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:38 am

themagicspanner wrote:Not too happy with the performance though. There is either something wrong with the quartering of the wheel set (which I doubt but will check) or one of the original coupling rods is too long, causing the wheels to bind and the driving axle to lift.


Interesting that you should get this problem as my Hornby 08 has started doing exactly the same despite running OK (subject to pickup problems) for a while - I'm going to strip mine right down as well.

John

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:00 pm

John,

I notice that you've used the Hornby coupling rods as I have. I'm thinking of ditching those and using the Brassmaster ones instead.

I hope you don't mind me saying but your 'P4 Plank' was what inspired me to start working on Thorburn's. A lovely wee model.


Mike

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John Donnelly
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby John Donnelly » Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:55 am

themagicspanner wrote:I hope you don't mind me saying but your 'P4 Plank' was what inspired me to start working on Thorburn's. A lovely wee model.


Thanks for that, much appreciated. I notice that your sidings are all a good length - it's the one thing I do wish I'd done differently with mine by making it about a foot longer.

John

themagicspanner
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Re: Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

Postby themagicspanner » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:21 am

Yes, I designed the sidings so that they could accommodate either 5 or 3 POAs. It means that I can use much longer stock too, when I'm not playing the puzzle.

Can I ask which wheels you used for your Class 56? I'm thinking of having a visiting 'Grid' for when I run the layout with a fiddle yard.


Mike


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