A bit more about RJR (newbie)

Evening all, As well as the out door line I have recently started building what in G scale terms is "micro" layout. In the other scales I dabble in (ON30 and OO) I am a keen module builder and love small detailed layouts, So I am trying to copy that idea with G! Its in 2 halves with an overall of 8' x 20" The G layout now has the dowels fitted and all 3 lines that cross the joint are done, Im waiting for my 2 extra points to arrive at the moment though ! Yes Im a cheapskate, like my outdoor line its all done with Playmobil track, in this case much up it will be buried and the exposed sections will be painted and ballasted.
   



And here they are, stored in the shed, At the moment the On30 turntable module is sat in position on the left hand worktop, it stores on the brackets under the worktop above the G scale module.

 

A view you dont often see, all the inside of my tiny shed ! 

 

The On30 and OO modules are interchangeable with each other, they all connect to the big viaduct to create an end to end layout in OO or On30 from one side of the shed to the other. But enough talk of tiny little scales !


Finally the little loco I have been upgrading from a £15 playmobil ebay puurchase needed to stretch its legs for the first time since its repaint, it still needs name plates and glazing.. 

 



John

If you have read the previous post you may have been looking at that awful palymobil plastic track and thought "RJR has lost his mind" Well hopefully stage 1 of the track upgrade should be of interest. I have been experimenting, I started off painting the whole lot with a chocolate brown rattle can. Then attempt 1 I picked out all the rail including their sides with silver (brushed) That looked too silver, took too long and I realised I would end up rusting or darkening the rail sides anyway. So I then tried just painting the rail tops. This looked better but the brown was wrong. Final process sequence. Spray Chocolate. Dry. Brush tops with Humbrol "steel" while still wet wash sides and sleeper tops with slightly diluted "sleeper grime" Its not perfect, will look better when ballasted to hide the moulded ballast, I also plan to add some chairs and fishplates. John

Given that I am even too cheap to pay for cheap plastic track the hardstanding area hasnt even got any track !!  

Step 1 Build up the baseboard to the under rail height (1/2" ply) 
 
Step 2 Add some strips of 1/4" ply to create a rail edge  

After checking a wagon rolled well in the newly create "rails" Step 3 A further strip of plywood between the rails, some extra ply outboard of the rails to extend the concrete area, then dark brown paint in the rail groove, and a combination of 3 grey paints for a start of a concrete look.

   
 

At some point the rail top silver paint will be continued along the wooden edge so it doesn't look like the wheels are running on concrete ! 

John

RJR


Given that I am even too cheap to pay for cheap plastic track the hardstanding area hasnt even got any track !!  

Step 1 Build up the baseboard to the under rail height (1/2" ply) 

Step 2 Add some strips of 1/4" ply to create a rail edge  

After checking a wagon rolled well in the newly create "rails" Step 3 A further strip of plywood between the rails, some extra ply outboard of the rails to extend the concrete area, then dark brown paint in the rail groove, and a combination of 3 grey paints for a start of a concrete look.
At some point the rail top silver paint will be continued along the wooden edge so it doesn't look like the wheels are running on concrete ! 

John

Looking good, John!! Keep us looking!!

tac
www.ovgrs.org
RLGSS Member

The two points I ordered arrived today so they have been fitted and painted now. One on the main scenic board taking the total to 3, it makes it easier than keep swapping them around to work on different areas. 



 
Vinyl tape has been applied to simulate the buried rail heads then given a couple of coats of clear lacquer to help seal it down. On the other end of the layout the other new point has been fitted to the forward scenic section and the track painted.   
 
The plan is to fit a backscene in front of the traverser, which will be about 12" high, with just sky on it, in front of the sky a very low relief retaining wall. 
 
To disguise the hole in the sky for the entrance to the traverser an overhead pipe gantry that will have a vertical pie from it down to the floor at the front edge of the retaining wall. John RJR

It's looking more like Manchester city centre by the minute

But seriously - your ingenuity is very inspiring.

Ade

Brilliant RJR , the work you do is always inspiring

Pure genius - the guy who designed the Playmobil turnouts, with only one moving blade.



Wonder if there's a similar design full-size?

David

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I believe, but will stand corrected, that trams use a similar system. I have also just recently been told by an Australian modeler that their local trams use spring loaded blades, just like playmo !

wow---

its interesting to see how a "cheap toy" grows up to something good looking step by step. I like the cover of the rails. looks good.

Frank

Today, in between general weekend jobs, and painting the girls bedroom ! I have been putting the backs on the layouts, I have been contemplating these for the last week. What height? What to do at the ends? What to do with the bit that hides the sector plate? In the end I decided to just go for it and stop thinking about it ! The other thing that had stopped me doing the job, was having a period of time that was daylight and dry as the two halves needed to be together to make sure the backs lined up. So here they are, prior to putting the false back in front of the sector plate.
   
Note that there are holes in both the ends that are train sized ! There are 2 reasons for this. 
1) I realized putting a end panel on seriously reduced photo potential !
 2) You just never know when you want to add another section  

Back indoors the above photo potentials ! 
 

I had gone over and over what to do at the end of the line on the scenic board, adding buffers would use important line length, so I have gone for a factory with large doors that will generally be closed but can be open to take photos through.
   
At the other end a couple of things came up !
 
There is another exit on the rear track, this wont be seen as the front track is having an engine shed. The other noticeable thing is highlighted by the red circle. I have shortened the sector plate by about 4 inches and the circle shows the two extra 4" track sections. After some trials I didn't need such a long sector plate. The clearance in front of the dividing back scene would have also been tight, if it had been longer to hide the original length plate. It also gives a bit more track to be in view if you look into the fiddle area. John RJR

So simple yet it looks such a great design
 
are you planning on displaying it?

Loving it John
 
just a suggestion
 
how about painting the rail in the concrete section burnt umber for rust,  would give a contrast to the concrete & the rationale is that the concrete keeps more water at rail head level so more rust,

And thinking about it,  I was even more cheapskate than that
 
the 4 tracks in this display board were not even wide strips of ply
 
they were mostly narrow strips just about rail width about 6mm wide ripped out of a ply sheet with my saw table, still wortks though
 
( for battery locos & static displays)
 
 

 
 
 

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Ingenious....

Todays update Points ... The Big hand from the sky was not ideal, so out of interest I checked the amount the blade moved in relation to a OO point motor... and guess what it was the same... Next problem how to convert the linear motion of the motor to the rotary motion of the point control, after some thought I gave up and went for plan B, how to connect the motor to the blade and came up with this... A small hole drilled in the end of the blade an a 90degree bend on the end of a rod. All the original mechanism removed.
  

From above the end of the rod can just be seen. 



Another 90 degree bend at the other end of the rod and a surface mount peco motor base for each one 

 

The rather large original plastic control block could then be cut off the side of the points 

 

in this shot all the lumps have been removed, these areas will be reworked with a sleeper end. 

 

The motor/blade movement

 

The other end got the same treatment, base and rod added, unwanted plastic trimmed off 

 

Wiring for the motors will run above board level in "concrete" ducting/troughs along the track side, and the motors themselves hidden under some control cabinets. John

Now that is a very neat idea RJR

Who says you need to spend a lot of money to have a nice RR.  That looks great. 

Mate that railway is coming really well. I think that changes to the track and points have made a massive difference and had you not said what sort of track you had used i would of been hard pushed to name it.
 
Look forward to seeing some senic items being added to start bringing it to life as they say.
 
Jason.
 

Thanks for the encouragement !

Tonight I have gone cross eyed sticking bits of matchstick on to give a feel of chairs along the track, I cant do inside the rail as it will foul the flanges, and once they are all painted they will probably disappear anyway, but it may break up the smooth line down the sides?? Missing guard rail on each point set added too ! I have also started to build out to the point motors, that as suggested will be cunningly disguised as point motors ! I have been wondering about using the upstanding point motor rod for a ground signal, but it may just get clipped and some checker plate over the top of each, time will tell  

Finescale its not but I think it is starting to loose its toy look now?? John