WEST ORTON

[Hound Dog]

I agree with WTD - looks really unusual and interesting, but at the same time blends in perfectly with your layout ....... definitely a fine purchase.

Cheers Richard

[bulleidboy]

I agree with WTD - and also a good find and win on Ebay.

[Steve M]

Work on West Orton has stalled of late - plenty of things on the to do list but I've been hampered by a particularly useless courier company.

I have to complete the point rodding before I do anything else on the layout so at the start of August I ordered a supply of brass rod from the only place I can find in the UK that stocks 1m lengths. The courier damaged the package and returned them to the sender - it took three weeks to send it back.

The supplier didn't have anymore in stock so I had to wait. No news by early September so I phoned the shop to learn that my original order had been repackaged as the contents weren't damaged and sent out. It seems the couriers have lost that one.

So while that is being investigated I ordered some more as they had been able to restock.

Should have arrived today.

The courier has a tracking system which was either changing eta repeatedly during the day or not working at all. A phone call revealed the driver was on his way back to the depot still with a full load of undelivered parcels but I would get by package by 4.00.

The van arrived at 6.00 and the driver couldn't find the package! I had to find it on the van for him.
And through all this the shop has been helpful and professional but the couriers haven't even apologised.

I may get a bit of rodding done tomorrow but time is limited as I'm taking the car in for a service ahead of our holiday on the North York Moors next week - yes it coincides with the NYMR Autumn Steam Gala.

[Steve M]

Point rodding completed. Once the brass rod arrived it only took a day to install and fit the cosmetic cranks. Coat of paint this morning ready for ballasting.

Oh joy.

20210916_111255 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

20210916_111320 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[bulleidboy]

That looks very neat and tidy Steve. I'm not sure whether I will add mine - a job that definitely needs doing before ballasting

[Steve M]

That looks very neat and tidy Steve. I'm not sure whether I will add mine - a job that definitely needs doing before ballasting

Depends how you approach it Barry. I added rodding to Low Ghyll after the scenic work was complete - bit of an afterthought really. For that one I used the Wills kits (I know you have that in your ‘stash’). Simple to scratch out a bit of ballast to allow the chairs to sit on the bare baseboard.
But with West Orton I always knew it would be there early on so I was able to use the slightly finer scale method prior to ballasting.

Don’t put it off any longer - we’re watching you.

[Steve M]

The basic dry ballasting has now been finished. I’m leaving it for an hour or so then having a look with fresh eyes to see if I need to add some extra shades before glueing it all down. Hopefully I can complete that today so it’s left for a week to dry while we’re away. Then it’s time for the airbrush.

2021-09-20_02-47-16 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Quick update - using a chicken baster, I completed adding the dilute PVA in less than an hour. I’ll pop out later to make sure the points aren’t gummed up then leave it for the week.

[bulleidboy]

I know we joked about it, but the chicken baster is a great idea if you have a large area to cover.

[Walkingthedog]

I have trained a chicken to apply the glue.

[Kevin]

Using a chicken baster sounds a great idea especially when you have a large area to glue.