Ouse Viaduct/Balcombe/Lewes project

[DougN]

Rod Brill' as usual. I am really looking forward to S4um to this and BNS. I have found once you are onto a roll things happen quickly and I think that is what you are finding! I hope there are enough Hours between now and then for you to achieve your goal!

[Re6/6]

Rod,

Just out of curiosity, how much will each section of the viaduct weigh once all the scenic bits have been added?

Cheers,

David

As Rod said it is surprisingly quite light. It won't become significantly heavier when the next layer of 'contour' is added. It will be made using materials from the boat repair business where lightness is of paramount importance, i.e.. layers of chopped strand fibreglass matting and polymer resin giving a very strong base and avoiding all the weakness of traditional plaster bases materials.

It's now dry outside so I'm bracing myself to start the mixing of the foul and smelly chemicals. A job that you do not want to do in the garage!

When it all has 'gone off' it will be painted with earth base colour and then the old-fashioned hairy carpet underlay or hanging basket liner (the one very similar to underlay) will be glued on then ripped off and the scenic process can begin. I'll be demonstrating some of that at S4um as we are still very much 'a work in progress'.

[wally]

It would appear that you are using traditional glass fibre (G R P in boating terminology) in which case I would suggest the addition of brown pigment to the resin mix. This will give a surface like this, which will not give a white scar if damaged.

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I have then covered mine with Green Scenes "Yard filth" textured paint which replicates the soil in my subject area.

The pigment should be freely available where you buy the resin.

H T H

Wlly

[Re6/6]

Thanks for the colourant tip Wally.

The first area to be 'terra-formed' has now been done.

Two of the main reasons for doing it this way is for lightness and durability. Using traditional plaster bandages, they're too easily damaged as I found out on on a previous layout. The whole area is only supported along the edges with the chicken wire doing all work keeping all in place. It may need an second coating with resin as I've missed a few bits here and there. I'll see when it's all cured nice and hard, and of course it adds virtually no extra weight.

The materials that I've employed are used in the marine repair business and are freely available from any good chandlery.

The chopped strand fibreglass matting is impregnated with polymer resin & catalyst and forms a very hard and durable surface. The job ideally should be done in the open air as the smell is very persistent. At the moment the section is in the garage while it cures but with all the doors shut I can still smell it! Hopefully by tomorrow that should've disappeared.

Next to come will be brown earth paint prior to gluing down hanging basket line similar to the old hairy carpet underlay.
Then it will be selectively pulled off and treated with various scenic methods. I intend to experiment with the 'Grasmaster' used on top of the pulled off liner.

There still a lot more to do with the main structure before any scenics are done.

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[wally]

Looking good so far, my own layout is comprised of boards 2 metres by 660 mm and done with glass fibre on mesh as you are using, but each board can be lifted by one man although sheer size makes it unadvisable.

I notice your components came from Scott Bader which is where I got mine also and who are the people who do the pigment.

I would suggest a second layer of the coarse mat you are using followed by a layer of "surface tissue" from the same source to obliterate the texture of the strands which will still be visible. It is on these two layers that I use the colourant.

Looking forward to seeing the thing in the flesh at Leatherhead.

Wally

[Re6/6]

Thanks Wally. It's nice to hear from someone who has used this system before.

Would be nice to meet you when you come to S4um.

regards

John

[Rod Cameron]

The London end with pavilions and other details temporarily attached with Copydex - they will be removed after Scaleforum for final fettling. Hopefully they will be painted in Caen Stone (aka Games Workshop 'Bleached Bone') before next weekend.

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Remind you of anything?

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All this just to cross a tiny stream!

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Details added to two of the centre boards. and 3CEP added for scale - this is about 40% of the total length. Piers are missing decorative brickwork around the tops, some will be done before and even possibly during Scaleforum. We have some fabulous 3D-printed corbels to add as well.

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We look forward to seeing many of you next weekend.

[Tim Horn]

Looking very smart chaps, looking forward to seeing it this weekend.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers,
Tim

[Re6/6]

Thanks Tim, much appreciated.

[Alan Turner]

I know you are commited to glass-fibre but be warned, I would strongly recomend trying the resin on some plasticard before using on the model. I suspect you might find some "interesting" effects.

Alan

[Re6/6]

I know you are commited to glass-fibre but be warned, I would strongly recomend trying the resin on some plasticard before using on the model. I suspect you might find some "interesting" effects.

Alan

Thanks for the advice Alan. In fact the polymer resin will not be in contact with any of the plastic card (maybe in the odd place though!) as we are assembling it as a 'First fix' for S4um so that sections (piers and the arches assemblies) can be taken apart before the final glue up afterwards for correction of errors, the addition of decorative resin cast brickwork, grouting and weathering the piers which would be difficult to do effectively whilst remaining assembed. With the viaduct being so long it will be important to get the colour and weathering of a nice continuous standard.

John

[Rod Cameron]

It's been a while since this topic was updated (since Scaleforum in fact) so time to bring you up to speed. (And there was inevitably a period of relaxation after the intense activity prior to September - we're all entitled to a rest sometimes!).

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Scaleforum was excellent, and the first time that the whole thing had been assembled (see Retro on the website). Amongst a number of things which we discovered was that the trains were too high in relation to the pavilion roofs. How can we have got that wrong you say? Well, it's just one of those things when you have no actual scale drawings, lots of parallax errors in photographs, and a lack of decision regarding ballast thickness etc while we were concentrating on other aspects. We thought about removing half of the deck thickness (2 x 3mm MDF) and sinking the track into it, but saw that as too messy, and it would affect the fixings to the piers beneath. Instead we decided to raise the summit level of the pavilion roof by 4mm. This was done in two places - 2mm at the roof slab above the columns and another 2mm at the base. Of course this also meant that another 2mm needed to be added to the bases of the balustrades and refuges so that they still matched. Oddly this has not detracted from their apparent proportions - just depends what photograph you look at ...

Anyway, this process is now nearly complete, as shown by the following photos (more info on the blog http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index. ... s-project/ ).

72 refuges are now virtually complete, to go with 78 balustrades, made up in total of nearly 2000 pieces! Most of this work is courtesy of limewood strip from Cornwall Model Boats and the NWSL Chopper II. The balustrade copings have also been lightly sanded to give the slight curve of the real thing. There is still some work to do on sanding, trimming and fitting of all these before they are finally attached to the deck.

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The 2mm insert in the pavilion roof slabs was done with 2mm square section Evergreen strip, and the bases will be done with more limewood (here there is a temporary 2mm plasticard slab at the base).

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The other main comment at Scaleforum was that more depth was required (in fact the best view seemed to be from the demonstration tables opposite). We will be adding up to 1m on the front and 0.5m on the back to provide more scenic context. John has been busy experimenting with tree construction a la Gravett with this in mind. More on the scenery later.

[Terry Bendall]

Brilliant work Rob and the team, and we now of course have space for the finished project - and Lewes!

Terry Bendall

[DougN]

Rod it is one thing that I keep comming back to in my mind. I had a enjoyable chat to you in front of the "beast". I would have to say of Scaleforum last year the viaduct is the one I find most memorable. The sight of the 8 coach set trundlling up/ down the viaduct really showed the size of the project to me in that it really was a long train but was swallowed by the viaduct!

Look forward to seeing your progress in the future!

[Rod Cameron]

Thanks Doug, I remember talking to you and it's very kind of you to say so.

[Rod Cameron]

Pavilions are now finished structurally, see blog at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index. ... ucturally/ - this included the final 2mm lift at the base and the addition of moulding detail around the tops of the columns.

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The moulding detail is designed to produce a passable representation of this

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And this is how it looks on the model

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And this is what the 'lift' was all about - to get the coach cantrail level lower in respect to the pavilion - now at the level of the top of the roof slab rather than nearer the bottom of the pitched section.

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[Will L]

Nice video shot of Balcombe viaduct right at the start of this BBC news story today.

Should you watch the whole video, you can but wonder what the local residents would say if you wanted to build the viaduct today!

Will

[Re6/6]

Thanks for that info Will.

....Fracking earthquakes under that ...mmm...!

Reminds me that I'd better get on with some work on the project!

[Captain Kernow]

you can but wonder what the local residents would say if you wanted to build the viaduct today!

I guess it will depend on whether you believe the assurances from the energy company and government, Will...

Any risk of tremors under a viaduct like that on my patch would have me on the phone to our Route Structural Engineer straight away...

[Rod Cameron]

Progress continues in fits and bursts, but we've had some impetus with a photo shoot this weekend:

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I've also been starting on the footbridge for Balcombe, using three Kemilway kits as a basis:

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[jim s-w]

Any progress on this in the last (near) year chaps?

Jim

[Rod Cameron]

Hi Jim

We had been planning to have the whole viaduct ready for the AGM, but progress has been interrupted by pressure of work on my side and moving house on John's. Some track has been laid and some fettling work on the piers. We have also been experimenting with colour and weathering and planning the support structures. Certainly we are conscious that 2013 has been a bit slow, but the project is still very much on.

On the stock side, there is progress in the background on producing a 6PUL and a 6PAN, and on some sides for 4LAVs. This will be updated in due course.

Cheers

[Rod Cameron]

Blimey is it really over two years since we posted on this topic? Where does the time go?

We won't bore you with the details of why it has all taken so long, suffice to say that we had our first show with the viaduct and an embryonic Balcombe at the Crawley show in Horsham this weekend. We didn't get it as advanced as we wanted to by this stage, but eventually it did perform even though Saturday turned into more of a 'how to build a layout' demonstration than an exhibition. Still, plenty of people were really interested (the prototype is just a few miles away) and we learnt a lot about the priorities of what needs doing over the next few months.

Photos and the full story to follow.

Meanwhile, a happy looking team after loading up the van at the end. Successful smiles or grimaces of relief? All will soon be told ...

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[Andy W]

The rock band has re-formed!

[Rod Cameron]

The appearance at the Crawley show was meant to have the viaduct side of the layout and some of the scenic curved section finished and the Balcombe side just with plain line trackwork pending completion later. But due to a number of issues John and I were getting further and further behind schedule to the extent that a month or so ago we almost considered pulling out. We had three days of 'practice' at various stages of completion in our local village hall, none of which enabled the full circuit to be completed and tested. So it was a with a bit of uncertainty that we travelled up from Devon on Friday, with John still threading rail onto trackbases in the van (!) and initial set-up in the evening didn't boost our confidence. But we were tired and called it a night at 9:30.

Next morning before opening was much better and trains were running, if not on the full circuit. John was still laying the temporary plain track to complete the circuit, using fishplates to distribute the current, Mike Ainsworth sorted out what stock was most reliable, and I set out the mock-up buildings and display material on the Balcombe side so there was at least something for visitors to look at over there. Until mid-afternoon we ran a shuttle service over the viaduct while John demonstrated rapid tracklaying, until around 3 pm we ran a train around the whole circuit for the first time. I wouldn't normally advocate such a mode of exhibiting, but the visitors actually seemed to like observing the process.

The Sunday was much more relaxing, we had two more assistants in Mark Leigh and Simon Bass from KAG, but the temporary track expanded in the higher temperatures and so ongoing repairs were needed through most of the day. But we made it, and here are some photos and YouTube links to prove it!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=534z0bNQ9B0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbwzjAv7oZw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBwlrB-Geaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t7_XX9vjT8