Impressionist Scenery...

Well, it's been about two years since my last post on this blog, so going on my performance over the last ten years or so, it must be time for a new post!

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I was, at the time, about to retire from the editorship of AMRM. Hard to believe that was nearly two years ago... being retired is great!

In that time I have been steadily working away on Lambing Flat and it is now 'complete' (though far from finished), just in time for it to be dismantled and moved to a new location! In early 2021 I purchased a very pleasant 'retirement' home in Cowra, NSW, (yes, Lambing Flat is going (almost) 'home'!) and after many delays, mainly caused by the various Covid lockdowns and the severe shortage of tradies, I am finally ready to move in. The date has been set and by the 1st August, I, Lambing Flat and Leo the Blunderdog should be happily setting up in our new home.

Now, with the preliminaries out of the way, we come for the reason (excuse!) for this post. While I have expanded the layout and completed most of the scenery, there were a couple of areas that had not progressed beyond the track and carved foam stage of scenery construction. With the move rapidly approaching and my realisation that those particular sections would not fit in the new space, there was no point to finishing them, but the bare foam was very jarring and detracted from the 'look' of the rest of the layout. What to do... then came the 'lightbulb' moment... I remembered Marcus Ammann's rather clever use of 'impressionistic' scenery on some parts of his very extensive layout and how effective it was. So I thought, why not just use my acrylic artist's paints (used for the 2D backscenes) to quickly apply some colour to the 3D sections as well! I splashed a bit of paint around one Sunday afternoon and the results can be seen in the accompanying photos (and the header photo). It may not be as detailed as finished scenery, but it doesn't ruin the illusion as much as unfinished scenery does. 

One of the sections that were unfinished, linking the mill scene and the stockyard end of Lambing Flat station, across the short end of the garage. The header photo shows the same scene after painting.

This is the unfinished section between the mill scene and Bulla Creek yard in 2020. I was not happy with the track arrangements and it won't fit in the new space anyway.

The same view, taken about an hour ago. Since the first photo was taken, the hill to the right of the main line has been reduced in height and the section of hill between the main line and the loco depot has been removed. The water tank has also been finished (more on that below). Once more, while not as good looking as finished scenery, it gives an impression of scenery and blends in far better than it did in the earlier view.

Another view of the 'impressionist' section with some 'real' scenery behind along Back Creek.

I've come to the conclusion that this is a very quick and effective method of 'filling in the gaps' of an incomplete layout and will be doing this to unfinished sections in future until I can schedule the time to apply more detailed scenery.

As mentioned above, the NSWGR water tank I was building in the previous post has now been completed. Here are some images of it.

By 16th May 2020, the water tank looked like this. The base colour is an airbrushed coat of Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey. The concrete footings and the drain were hand painted with Top Coat 'Concrete' colour, while the ends of the water crane were picked out with black and the silver section hand-painted Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminium. Weathering consisted of various 'washes' of very dilute in isocol alcohol Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown, XF-52 Flat Earth and black. The plywood base was painted an earth brown and then a light covering of my 'earth' and 'ash' dirt mix, plus a bit of green scatter material, glued on as per my normal scenery making method. Then I had to gradually pour layers of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to represent the water. What a saga that turned out to be...

Ten months after the previous photo the water pour had finally been completed! I first spent a month carefully pouring layer after layer of Woodlands Scenic Realistic Water, but I wasn't completely happy with the final result. The Realistic Water was easy to pour (just time consuming as one can only pour a couple of millimetres at a time, wait a day for it to dry then pour another couple of mm), but, in this circumstance, it manifested a terrible meniscus that was quite unsightly. By the end of June 2020 I has reached the top of the tank, but the water wasn't level at all, with that unsightly meniscus showing everywhere the 'water' came into contact with anything. I tried painting the 'humps' a greenish hue to disguise it as algae, which did alleviate the problem a little. As mentioned earlier, I wasn't happy with it, but I couldn't think of any way to improve it, so I just placed it on the layout and got on with other things.

After a couple of months of not going out to the layout room for various reasons, I came back to find that the water had shrunk about 7-8mm below the original surface and looked even worse!

At first I experimented with adding layers of Feast Watson Decking Oil obtained from Bunnings (I had used all the Realistic Water I had, plus I wasn't happy with the result from using it anyway). This worked for a couple of layers, giving a nice dirty water effect, but then the surface started to 'wrinkle', long before I reached the needed 'top' of the water.

Ah well, looks like I'd have to get some more Realistic Water and just put up with the substandard result... However, a trip to MRRC at Blacktown revealed that they had sold out of Realistic Water and weren't going to be able to get any more any time soon (the supply chain had been completely disrupted by the COVID epidemic). They did have some Woodlands Scenic Deep Pour Water however, so I decided to give it a go.

I wish I had used this stuff to start with! It is very easy to use, can pour much thicker layers and has a much smaller and less obtrusive meniscus. I'm now very happy with the look of the 'water' and the tank has been on the layout ever since. Now, my only frustration is that all that intricate interior detail I spent so much time putting in the tank is all but invisible under the water!

Another shot of the completed tank.

That's it for this post; see you in two years!

 

Some of the new 'intrastate' stuff, Pt 1...

The constant deluge of r-t-r rolling stock does make it very easy to fill up the yards with lovely models of the delightfully picturesque wagons that kept the intrastate traffic moving back in the steam/early diesel era in which Lambing Flat is set and quite a few have joined the roster since my last post on the subject some years ago. However, as long term readers will be aware, I don't like things 'straight out of the box'. Before a model will be accepted by the Traffic Officer, Lambing Flat, it has to be weathered, at least! And, while the vast majority of Lambing Flat's new stock is r-t-r, I do occasionally assemble the odd kit or two!

Below are images and brief descriptions of some of the intrastate (ie non-bogie exchange) NSWGR stock that has joined the roster recently.

As with any NSWGR layout set in the wheat growing areas of the state, lots of wheat wagons are essential. I have plenty of four-wheel RU hoppers, courtesy of the old Trax kit and the original Trainorama r-t-r version, but the more modern wheat hoppers have been neglected. A trio of Austrains WHX hoppers were acquired, two as originally delivered and one of the 'Manildra' signwritten models. On the two original condition ones, I replaced the Austrains bogies with the correct type for my period, the 2CE bogies from On Track (and the wheels, as the wheels that come with the On Track bogies are too big). I also altered the wagon number on one of them, as I had somehow managed to acquire two vehicles numbered WHX30756! They were lightly weathered to represent vehicles that have only been in service a short time, as this batch of WHX were delivered in 1971/1973, so fall towards the end of my preferred time period. First I painted the wheels and bogies black, painted the wheel faces Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown and then 'washed' the bogies with the Flat Brown and Aqueous Hobby Color H343 Soot, I painted the brake hoses and Kadee 'tangs' flat black, then I lightly sprayed the body of the vehicle with a very dilute mix of Isocol alcohol and Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. Another light coat of Isocol alcohol and Soot tied it all together. Being very 'modern' wagons by Lambing Flat standards, if they are included in a train, the train is more likely than not to be diesel-hauled!

Up until the release of the Trainorama r-t-r BWH hoppers, there was only one BWH on the layout, an AR Kits kit-built and superdetailed model that I completed in the mid-1980s. A trio of Traino r-t-r BWH hoppers were acquired and weathered back when they came out and, more recently, this Powerline version has also joined the fleet. It is straight out of the box and weathered with my usual acrylic paint technique. I really should have changed the handrails on the foot walk to the correct shape, but I'm not going to live forever... It 'disappears' amongst the considerable number of vehicles that now populate the layout, so, I'm not going to mention it if you don't...

No NSWGR post-war layout would be complete without plenty of these little beauties, the ubiquitous S truck. This is just one of the fifteen Austrains/SDS 'ultimate' S trucks that have joined the many, many kit-built versions of this essential wagon on the layout. This one is from the first Austrains batch, which came painted in a very deep black, so I have weathered it to represent the condition of them when they were relatively new, with a worn interior, but a lightly weathered exterior. In the background is, from the left, an Austrains GSV modified to post-war condition, as per Ian Dunn's article, 'Modernise Your GSV', in AMRM Issue 298 (February 2013), an Austrains '1921' CW and a highly modified Camco '1947' CW kit. Next is the end of an MBC, converted from a very old Rails North epoxy MRC kit.

Here are a few more weathered S trucks from the first 'black' Austrains batch, along with a weathered Austrains CW.

This photo shows a better view of the interiors of two of the S trucks, plus a weathered Austrains SRC refrigerated van and lots of stock wagons from a variety of sources.

 And here are a few more, standing in front of some weathered SDS rail tank cars. The COR tank is heavily weathered, but the Golden Fleece version is relatively clean. Believe it or not, the photos of Golden Fleece RTCs I have seen that were taken in the 1960s show them quite clean and bright.

The second batch of Austrains S trucks came with a much greyer paint finish, so that has been utilised to represent S trucks that have been in service longer than those represented by the weathering done on the first batch. Also shown here is a Trainorama K wagon which was weathered at the same time, using my usual acrylic paint technique. Surrounding the newly weathered vehicles are some of the many open wagons on the layout, including r-t-r Traino steel S trucks, kit-built ILM D and BD, plus Trax/Casula S and K wagons and a very old Bergs K wagon (with Dreadnought ends).

Another Austrains S from the second batch, along with a Eureka RSH and Traino K wagon, with Austrains PV explosives van and MV louvred van, all weathered with my acrylic paint and Isocol alcohol method.

An Austrains '1921' CW, plus two Eureka LCH and a CCH four-wheel hopper wagons, stand in front of a rake of stock wagons, including an Austrains '1915' CW and a Silvermaz '1948' CW, heavily modified and backdated to their appearance on delivery, before the extra vertical strengthening timbers were added to the sides.

I'll finish off tonight's post with a couple of stock wagons, starting with this SDS BCW. This has had a canvas (stretched tissue) roof covering added, but otherwise is 'straight out of the box'. It is is pretty good condition, just a little grubby, which is appropriate for Lambing Flat's time period, as these vehicles were introduced in 1959, so were quite new at the time the layout represents. Weathered with my usual 'misted' acrylic techniques.

There are two '1959' BCW bogie cattle wagons on the layout, the modern SDS version shown above and this old Protype kit, constructed back in the early 1980s. Not knowing any better at the time, I had constructed it with a double roof, as per the four-wheelers. I recently took the double roof off and fitted a new canvas covered single roof, as it should be. The new roof was painted and weathered and the body reweathered to blend it all together. Not up to the standard of the SDS version, but not bad for a model for which the masters were constructed in the late 1960s...

A definite relict of the past, an Austrains '1915' CW. While most of these were 'converted' to the '1921' CW specifications during the 1930s and 1940s, at least two soldiered on until 1965/'66! (I've seen them in a video taken at Nyngan.) Weathered with the usual acrylics method.

Last, but not least, is the last of my Austrains GSV sheep wagons to be weathered. It had taken so long (the rest were finished years ago) because I didn't have a replacement GSV roof for this one (they were mistakenly fitted with CW roofs at the factory). I obtained replacement roofs from Austrains for the rest of them, but not for this one, for some reason lost in the depths of time! So, I finally got around to scratchbuilding a new roof (and modifying the model to represent the post-WW2 appearance of the '1927' GSVs, as per Ian Dunn's article 'Modernise your GSV' in AMRM Issue 298 (February 2013). It's late completion also means that it is the only loaded sheep van on the layout, as it has been fitted with some of Ray Pilgrim's 3D printed sheep. The roof was completed very conventionally with strips of timber and styrene, with corrugated aluminium for the roof itself. Weathering was by my standard Acrylic paint method, with a combination of washes and drybrushing to get the base elements, with the whole thing then airbrushed with light coats of 'misted' colour to tie it all together.

There are still quite a few to describe, but that will have to be in a future post...

My new favourite photo!

Sometimes, one just 'gets it right' with a photo and this is definitely one of those times! This shows my weathered Auscision 42201 and 4535 approaching Lambing Flat with 1200 tons of wheat, bound for Rozelle. There has been lot happening on the layout lately, so I had better make some posts to bring everything up to date!

Activity at Lambing Flat!

After an entire year of very little activity at Lambing Flat, a resumption of work on the extension has motivated me to bring things up to date.

When my last post was made (in November 2012!) I had just started work on a major extension at the 'down' end of the yard, where the old Murringo fiddleyard used to be (see drawing in previous post). Even with the addition of the second fiddleyard (shown as 'Cowra' on the drawing in the previous post, but since swapped over to be regarded as the 'Demondrille' fiddleyard, because it made more sense geographically), I was still very short of strorage space, plus I was finding that most of the activity was taking place in the fiddleyard as I made up new trains and that most of the rolling stock was usually in the fiddleyards and could not be seen!

I decided that it was time to build a new section and extend the layout a little further. As my favourite activity is shunting trains, I decided that, rather than make a new fiddleyard and have everything still happening 'off stage' and with most of the models hidden away, I would make this new section a marshalling yard, allowing me to shunt 'on stage' and allow more displaying of my rolling stock.

The rationale is that during WW2, traffic grew beyond the capacity of Lambing Flat itself to reverse trains running between Demondrille and Cowra on the cross-country line (as happened in real life at Binnaway, hence the addition of extra marshalling sidings at that location in the 1940s), so new marshalling sidings were laid out just out of town. Also, rather than that end of the line proceeding to the terminus at Murringo, as was the previous scenario, the assumed 'real life' orientation of the station has been turned around and the line now proceeds to Temora (replacing the Cootamundra - Temora line, which wasn't built in my scenario). That explains why the fiddleyard names have swapped, as well.

Now, instead of reversing in Lambing Flat yard, trains on the cross-country line proceed through the station to the New Yard, where they terminate. The yard shunter releases the train locomotive, which then runs light to LF to turn and await its next duty. The yard shunter then shunts the train out, removing any traffic for destinations towards Temora and adding any outbound traffic up to the length limit, then places the loading on a convenient brakevan to make up a new train. When this is done, the train engine returns tender first from LF and attaches to the new train, does the brakes and departs when a 'path' opens up in the heavy traffic on the line (there is usually another train waiting in LF's yard for entrance to the New Yard). Any traffic for the Temora direction is placed in a convenient siding and after a while is assumed to be arriving traffic that is then carded for LF, Cowra or Demondrille and placed on an appropriate train.

Below is a photo log of the construction that occurred in November - December 2012. 

The extension at what is now the western end of the Lambing Flat's yard begins on 6 November 2012. The old 'Murringo' fiddle yard is no more and the support structure for the new corner module is almost complete (the 2" x 1" at far left is temporary while everything dries). The storage shelf that covers the entire layout has been extended, as has the Masonite valance that keeps everything looking tidy! The heavy card backscene has also been extended.

Another view, taken on 6 November, showing where the corner module will go. Where I am standing will be the 'New Yard'. The backscene boards are temporarily pinned while the glue dries. I still have to 'fair' the curved section of the old backscene into the new one before I can paint it. The new backscenes is vertical, as I do not regard the curved over backscenes behind the station to have been a complete success visually and they are a total nuisance when photographing.

Progress by 7 November. The backscene has been roughed in and the basic module completed. I still have to fill and smooth off the backscene before painting it and the module has to have the profile board cut to size and the track supports cut and raised to accomodate the various levels once I have finalised the trackplan. I originally intended to remove the current fabricated steel 60ft turntable and replace it with a 60ft Sellers cast iron table, situated in the left foreground, with a Uneek roundhouse behind and the current turntable access road extended to the turntable with extra roads to accommodate what was to have been a much larger loco depot. However, a change in thinking has postponed that modification till after I have finished the rest of the New Yard. The module is a straightforward ply box, just like all the other modules that make up LF.

By the 10 November the bottom half of the module for the New Yard had been constructed, once more a simple ply box. This one has its own folding legs, with castors attached for easy wheeling around the workspace.

By the 12 November the cover had been mostly completed, a light pine frame with thin ply roof and MDF valances, with just one section of the front valance and the 'slide in' backscene to go in, plus lighting, before tracklaying can begin in earnest. A couple of buildings have already appeared to help with planning.

Another shot from 12 November, with track planning underway, using lengths of flexible track and printed out Peco code 75 turnout diagrams. The track is all Peco code 75, handlaying track is for much younger and more patient people now, as far as I am concerned! The track plan is all based on good NSWGR practice.

Progress by 18 November. The valances have been completed, filled and sanded ready for painting. The backscenes have been installed and preparation for painting is advanced. The lighting has also been installed. The corner module has been lit by adding another fluoro, like the rest of LF (top photo), but I decided to experiment with these new-fangled LED strips for the 'New Yard' module (bottom picture). I'm quite impressed with the results, extremely quick and easy to install and a very good level of lighting. There is only one row in this photo (I later added a second) as the light level seemed a little lower than I like. I now had all the track I needed and once I took delivery of a couple of Cobalt point motors, track laying commenced.

By 3 December 2012 the connecting track between the existing main line at LF and the New Yard entrance turnouts had been laid and 'tested'. The very first loco to run under its own power on the extension, 5303, stands at the entrance to the New Yard.

By 9 December 2012, the trackplan had been finalised and the track laid out, ready to secure once I had installed some more point motors. (The main line is permanently fixed with point motors installed, but the rest of the yard isn't yet.) In the scenario, the New Yard has been laid out adjacent to Wirrimah, the first intermediate goods siding out of LF. The original siding is to the left, while the New Yard is to the right.

By 13 December 2012, all the track had been laid and all but two point motors installed (I ran out and took a while to get some more, then, with one thing and another, they didn't get installed till last week!) I used Cobalt electric 'stall' motors on the main line where crossovers and turnout/catchpoints had to move in unison, with Blue Point manual turnout 'motors' in the yard where turnouts move individually. The next step was to wire it all up and get it working. The track on the right is the main line, with Wirrimah's goods siding in the distance. The crossover allows entry into the yard and the 'nest' of sidings at the top left. The track parallel to the main line on the left bottom is the shunting neck, which reaches back towards Lambing Flat, but isn't connected to it. The loop siding on the left is the Repair Road.

By 21 December, the wiring had advanced sufficiently so that the new section (except for the repair siding, which was spiked over 'out of use' until some more point motors could be obtained) was operational. Here we see the Official Train, comprising varnished TAM and Tuscan and russet AM sleeping cars, headed by dirty green 3240 and trailed by a Tuscan and russet MHO, as befitting the late WW2 period of construction, brings some 'brass' from the 'big smoke' to inspect the new works. As you can see, 'Construction Branch' is still well and truly in possession!

Shortly after the shot above, the very first goods train to use the new facilities enters the New Yard. Hauled by 5262, this mixed goods had arrived from Cowra. Yard shunter, 5303 (which really should be facing towards the yard) waits to deal with the train.

Yard pilot, 5303, has shunted the incoming train to one of the storage sidings and now stands in the departure road with the brakevan off the train. In the background, 3240 has turned and is getting read to haul the Official Train back towards Sydney. No doubt, there will be other inspections made on the way and the Traffic Inspector's note book will be kept very busy!

Once everything was operational, that was pretty much it for a year! I ran trains, thoroughly testing the trackwork and making adjustments to the operating patterns, but not much else. However, the urge to do some more hit a week or so ago, so there may be some more updates soon!

Back Creek Junction and the line to Cowra, developments at Lambing Flat, 2012.

Once Lambing Flat was re-erected in its current home in 2003, other than maintenance and the addition of the occasional minor detail, nothing much changed, other than the addition of DCC and more rolling stock. The track plan was as shown below, very little changed from its Burwood manifestation, other the deletion of the 'south curve' due to its excessively tight (approx. 600mm radius) curve and substitution of a much shorter fiddle yard at that end. 



With this short fiddle yard (no more room in the garage that end) LF could no longer be operated as it was in Burwood, an intermediate through station, plus I wanted to have more happen in the station than just trains crossing and occasionally shunting the yard. I had always liked the operations carried out at Binnaway in NSW's north west where the main traffic on the Dubbo - Werris Creek line came in and exited the yard from the same end, while the branch traffic to and from Gwabegar passed through. I resolved that the main destinations for traffic on the line, 'Cowra' and 'Demondrille' would be the same fiddle yard, meaning that all trains moving between those points would have to reverse in the yard, while the small fiddle yard at the bottom would become the branchline terminus of 'Murringo'. This resulted in most traffic originating the large fiddle yard (at the top), running into the yard, reversing the brakevan and changing engines, then returning to the same fiddle yard (the junction was assumed to be 'beyond the layout'). Occasionally a 'pick-up' would run with traffic for Lambing Flat itself and would spend time shunting the yard and a (usually mixed) train would run 'through' to 'Murringo', connecting with a passenger train running on the 'cross-country' line. This operating pattern worked well for many years, but as more rolling stock was acquired the fiddle yard became very crowded, so I resolved to build a new fiddle yard and move the junction 'on stage', allowing a new scenic section to be constructed, some 20 years after the last extension of the layout (LF is a rural railway, things move slowly!)

 

The basic fiddle yard and baseboard was constructed and made operational in early 2011, but it took till the beginning of 2012 before any progress was made on the scenery. (With playing soccer during the winter and a certain magazine taking up most of my time and energy, progress on the layout can take some time...)

 

By 5 January 2012, this was the scene on the extension.

 

 

The shelf over the extension had been erected, profile boards fitted and a start made on constructing the scenery. The track plan now looked like this:

 

 

This photo shows a 'panoramic' view of the layout, showing how the new section fits in.

 

 

 

Scenery construction is quite conventional with carved styrofoam on a baseboard of particle board.

 

 

 

The concept of the new section is that the line has been cut alongside a creek, crosses the creek and then disappears into a rock cutting, which hides the entrance to the fiddle yard. The bridge is a Hawksmoor 'Large Railway Culvert' kit, obtained from Casula Hobbies (I reviewed it in AMRM Issue 285, December 2010).

 

This is the junction of the new line to the old layout, conveniently situated in the small extension I was able to make between the level crossing and the turnout to the mill when the layout was first re-erected in 2003.

 

 

I'm getting too old and impatient to scratchbuild track these days, so the track is standard Peco code 75 'finescale'. The signal box is a temporary one, while the ash buffer stop is a Uneek whitemetal item.

 

By the next day (6 January) the 'ground' had been added by the conventional method of spreading plaster, tinted with powder colour, and the rock faces cast in plaster using the very traditional method of crumpling up aluminium foil and using it as a mould.

 

The four equally spaced and shaped rock faces along the cutting looked a little 'artificial' (I forgot the 'rule of evens') so after this photo was taken the cutting was altered.

 

By 9 February some progress had been made on painting the scenery, with the rock faces painted using artist's acrylics in an attempt to reproduce the 'look' of the rock outcrops visible just to the south of Cootamundra, a scene that had always fascinated me.

 

 

The rock faces, painted with a combination of artist's acrylic colours and various techniques of application in an attempt to evoke the prototype scene below.

  

 

Two photos of the rock outcrops just south of Cootamundra, 6 November 2011.

 

 

I haven't quite got the colour of the lichen right, but it is getting there! The level crossing detail is starting to appear with a Uneek stock guard and the level crossing signs (SJM kits) installed.

 

P class 3324 rolls towards the junction with a goods train, mainly consisting of RU wheat hoppers, on 9 February 2012.

 

A couple of days later (11 February) and the first layer of ground cover had been added (dyed sawdust), a start made on the vegetation in the creek and the first trees starting to appear.

  

By 16 February the colours of the rocks had been 'adjusted', the fences were in and the detail such as trees, bushes, weeds etc. were starting to appear. The second stock guard (also Uneek) has been added and the beginnings of the home signal temporarily in place.

 

Another view of the scene with an ancient (visiting) Berg's 30 class tank passing on the school train.

  

By 6 March a lot of extra scenery detail had been added, courtesy of Woodland Scenics and miniNatur!

 

The home signal had also been completed and temporarily added to the scene.

 

The grass tufts and other material available from miniNatur allow a lot of fine scenic detail to be added quickly.

 

More scenery, including some nice 'Patterson's Curse' using miniNatur material. The home signal is a slightly modified Uneek casting that has been made to work.

 

Not much was done between March and September (soccer season!), but during October a few more items were completed, some of which are shown below and some of which will be detailed in future posts.

 

More scenic detail, this time a Uneek horse cart that has lost a wheel and been abandoned near the creek.

  

A 'panoramic' view of the junction taken on 9 November 2012. The junction has been named 'Back Creek Junction', a very typical Australian name for a creek and also the name of a real creek in my home town, Young NSW, which is where Lambing Flat is supposedly set. 

 

A closer view of the junction as it is on 9 November 2012. The junction bracket and the new signal box have been installed and final detailling of the scenery is proceeding.

 

However, the focus of new construction has now moved to the other end of the layout...

 

 

More to come...