Two Short Planks

[Dad-1]

Since my move at the beginning of December I've done very little 'modelling', either on a layout
or painting & weathering stock. Simply played 'trains' on this layout & learning how to video ?

Well one job that's been waiting about 5 years has been finished. Partially through browsing through
my book on steam in colour around Northamptonshire. Therein I found a couple of great photographs
of chalk wagons, both standard 16 ton mineral, & 27 ton chalk tipplers, muddled up in any old order
being hauled by a 9F.
Out came the white paint, my jar of chalk granules and hard foam sheet. The foam was cut to a
press fit size and pressed into the wagon base, then granules lain over the top to represent chalk
in two, the other with a full white internal pain job remains as an empty. I'd always intending buying
more chalk tipplers, but I've missed the boat and will have to make any additional chalk traffic from
standard 16 ton mineral stock.





My loads are secured by using the standard ballast 50/50 mix. A nice addition to the presflo cement
hoppers I have to represent the cement industry. These products are now pumped as a slurry through
a pipeline from the Dunstable Downs area to Rugby.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Another constructive hour spent this evening,
Humbrol 34 matt white, 49 matt varnish, some white spirit
and a paint brush .....
Now beginning to look like they've been used :-





I still have to use some 'grime' colour for the axle boxes, springs & solebars, but to me that's better
they look as though they have done some work.

Geoff T.

[skyblue]

Nice weathering - I only tend to weather wagons and coaches, but I think that wagons benefit the most from weathering as bright colours tend to stand out too much on them (some would say the same about locos, but I like them to be pristine).

The sense of perspective in the first picture is interesting - I assume that it's one of your other layouts in the background?

[Dad-1]

Hi skyblue,

I'd like to weather locos more, but lack the courage to start on a £100 model.
Wagons at under a tenner each there's little to loose if it goes wrong - you start
the second when you think the first is O.K. I do think pristine wagons just look
wrong, at least locos were cleaned a little more often, well some were !!

That stuff is not a layout it's buildings storage. My TSP is just 12" (305 mm) wide,
done that way to make it easier to handle. So behind it there is a 16" wide section
of board where I just keep buildings from other layouts. I have thought about doing
it such a way as to act as a back scene of sorts, certainly the sheds are on a raised
piece to try & use them.

Once you slap some paint on tension vanishes and I do enjoy - but those locos ......
Anyway thanks for commenting.

Geoff T.

[THE CHIEF]

Nice weathering DAD-1. Using the foam I would think the loads aren't to heavy. The chalk effect is rather good
With chalk wagons running without a hood would chalk dust blow back onto the brake van?

[Dad-1]

Hi THE CHIEF,

I don't think the chalk was too dusty, mostly a quarried rock, but no doubt some dust would blow back
just in the way that engines running tender first suffered coal dust blown into the cab & crews faces.
Pictures of loads can be difficult to come by and I have seen one where it was large chunks of chalk rock
in a tippler. I only 'think' that most loads would be crushed, otherwise too much volume of a wagon would be
lost to air voids which would be inefficient. Certainly a picture I've seen where a train of chalk is in iron ore
hoppers you can just see the load tops looks like it was crushed.
I love different types of freight traffic, so while I can't get more new chalk tippler wagons & Ebay is now more
expensive than perfect new retail sales, I can use 16 ton mineral - 5 more to be ordered this week !!

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

It's school holiday time & my Grandson Alex is here for the day. We tried making a video following a couple of train
movements. Alex on the camera & me driving trains. This was take 6 which went well, the main limitation being
the small digi camera with a zoom that won't work when taking video, plus the slow frame rate that tends to make
for jerky film. If we can get a decent video camera we could do much better.
We are already in trouble for over running time allowed by her indoors as we're going out bowling now !!


http://youtu.be/2ZgAG2SubbU

Hope you like, we enjoyed ..... even the 5 failed attempts !!!

Geoff T

[Bufferstop]

Geoff - does you small digi camera have a mounting screw socket? If it has get a tripod. I got mine from Aldi for less than £20, or get a Gorilla-Pod. The advice that the Cine/TV cameramen will always give is "don't let the camera move." You could even fabricate a mounting bracket for use in the loft, a bit of alloy angle with a hole in one end to take a camera adaptor screw and a couple of holes in the other to screw it to some inconvenient part of the roof trusses. (there has to be some advantage in working amongst them!)
John W
aka Bufferstop

[Dad-1]

Hi John,

I do have a clapped out tripod that I've used when working alone. The loft problem is rafters get in the way
if working from a fixed point.
The other quality problem is the number of frames per second, it's just too slow, a fault that is amplified
by working in poor light. Even with 3 x 100w old fashioned bulbs it dosen't get enough illumination. Rather
than playing I should be pinning old white sheets between the rafters which will reflect more light.

I don't think I can justify a half decent video camera for just taking a few railway videos, still we have fun
and that's what it's all about. Alex is back with us again on Friday.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Marilyn at her best .............
pushing a train back into the sidings (shame it hit the buffers just before I shut the power off !!)
0-4-0's won't run slowly ? Plastic chassis & Scalelectric motor ? even original worm drive !!

http://youtu.be/I7WIggV77yg

Went to the caravan and checked over Shillingstones Lane, getting ready to finish.
Had St Oval out again today - Oh so much still to do there, but I can run in the back
garden although I need to find all the buildings.

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

Your cameraman is getting better Geoff. It's hardly worth going for higher resolution or frame rate for putting it on the net. Best solution is throw some more light at it. My stepson was waving around a ring of brilliant white leds that fit on the lens hood. I delved in the cupboard and found two £3.99 patio lights 60 leds on each switchable high or low. Gaffer taped them to the ends of a ruler with a hole in the middle to screw on to the camera. It'll cost a fortune in batteries unless I build up a stock of ready charged rechargeables.

[THE CHIEF]

Looking good Geoff. I do miss shunting in N gauge. You've done an amazing job with the 06. Just goes to show what can be done with a little patients. Is that a shunters truck I spy coupled to Marilyn?

[THE CHIEF]

Hmmm... Cant edit posts anymore.
Edit: Thought I was going mad but a trip back to page one reveals there WAS an extension on the side in the form of a gas works. Looks like it wont fit because of the roof beam but does it still exist just in case?

[ParkeNd]

I like the videos - both of them. The fact that they get on with the action right away rather than titles and music is a real plus. How different OO track looks from above compared with N gauge - the points look much shorter than I thought they would. Lots of buildings too - you have been busy. Puts my few so far to shame. The videos show far more of the model railway than the magazine close ups which try to ape reality.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

I do miss shunting in N gauge

Have you tried the Dapol 'easi-shunt' couplings and magnetic uncouplers? Quite expensive, but boy are they better than rapidos! They look better, couple up easier (less of a 'bash' needed!) and allow true hands-free uncoupling. Haven't got the delayed uncoupling to work, but that's not so important for me.

Nice vids Geoff