Hamdden Railway Co.

[Tony House]

Hi

Just seen the pile of track you got, it looked just like mine did when I got it out of storage from my shed.

I used a track cleaning rubber to rub the rail surface clean so as to check the condition of the track the vast majority was un-pitted. I then applied Wahl hair clipper oil to the track with a cotton pad and left it, the oil seams to act as a rust converter and it does not seam to effect the plastic sleepers, my steel track now looks as if I only brought it last month. (the tip to use Wahl hair clipper oil was posted by one of our American members,)

I would not use and type of wet and dry sanding paper as will result in rail surface being damaged.

[Journeyman]

Good thought Ian the board is a bit narrow to fit a set of points in although I could make it wider quite easily it would also mean getting the track up which is glued down with the sawdust ballasting.
To get the track unglue would mean drenching the whole thing in water which wouldn’t harm the track but might swell up the particle board, what do you think?
Thanks for the tip on the clipper oil Tony, just done a search and I see it is available though quite expensive!

Cheers, Dave.

[Journeyman]

Railway 054.jpg

054
Ballasted with sawdust from the table saw, may use sawdust from the bandsaw next time as it’s a little bit finer in fact I’ve ordered a sieve to see how that will work.

Railway 062.jpg

Then first rough out of the back drop I’ll go in again and adjust colours and values also using the engine to get a sense of scale.

Railway 063.jpg

once I get some trees on there I think it will have a good sense of depth and a believable transition.

Dave.

[Chops]

A marvelous micro.

[Journeyman]

Thanks Chops, that rhymes nicely

Wave, Dave.

[teedoubleudee]

Looking good.

[Journeyman]

Thanks teedoubleudee.
A bit more progress, while I was waiting for paint to dry etc I’ve been making trees out of fine copper wire salvaged from CRT Focussing Coils. The leaves on the trees are from oak shavings collected from the thickness planer.

Railway 101.jpg

Railway 099.jpg

Railway 097.jpg

With this painting I wanted to see if it was possible to get the perspective of the lane to work from different viewing positions Not sure if I can do the same for town scenes but will try on the main layout.
One reason for keeping the test track narrow was I wanted to see how much room was needed for scenery, there will not be much room at the back of the layout. This time the back board is just under 3" from the track.

Dave.

[cheshire lines]

Looking good.
I envy your painting skills!

[Journeyman]

Hi Cheshire, painting is easy all you have to do is go outside and paint in all weathers for 20 odd years

Thanks, Dave.

[Bandit Mick]

Nice transition from foreground to background. Very effective.