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Post by kevsmithnkp on Apr 13, 2016 14:01:19 GMT -5
Starting to come together now but obviously going to need loads and loads of detailing. The ore bridge is going to need the yellow toning down a bit as is the red crane as well. You can see where the ore and limestone are positioned for the blast furnace This picture gives you an idea of how big the blast furnace is compared to the freight stock A view from the end of the layout shows the relationship between the high line and the ore yard More soon Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Apr 9, 2016 13:35:00 GMT -5
Hi Mark. Obviously it is early days yet but I'm very tempted to plumb it all up to a small disco smoke generator in the future and there are going to be lights everywhere. Some of my ex colleagues in the Sheffield '0' gauge group had used one of these generators to feed the chimneys on their exhibition layout and it looked really neat. I've also started to consider lighting the inside of one of the iron ladle cars with an LED and a watch battery to give it the glow, I'll keep you posted finalised track plan. All the buildings bolt on at the moment allowing this shot to be taken I will use the picture above to do the schematic drawing of the layout First ballasting now drying in the workshop Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Apr 7, 2016 14:40:54 GMT -5
I've now added some more detail to the highline by putting some hopper bottoms in, added the hoist house and blower house and made a start on the ore yard conveyor. Going over the top of this area will be the ore bridge which will be yellow and start adding some colour into the scene. Two GP7s do some trial switching I've just had some Stonysmith Iron ladle cars delivered from Shapeways which are sat in the Ultrasonic cleaning bath right now and will contrast nicely with the Roy Stevens designed 70 ton ore cars on the high line More soon Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Apr 3, 2016 14:57:19 GMT -5
With Shasta now extended and full booked for shows this year I was planning on starting 'Fargo' my new Northern Pacific layout set in Stampede Pass (think load of trees and not much else apart from rain!) It was booked to appear at Cleckheaton show on Mayday bank holiday weekend this year and then... I got sidetracked So instead welcome to Republic Steel, a stand alone module based on the huge steelworks in Cleveland Ohio. Now there is going to be a lot of compression involved as it is only going to be 56" long and 24" wide. It is a project that has been on the backburner for a while but was always intended to be an annex to Cuyahoga, my Nickel Plate road layout. To this end the high level line on Cuyahoga was put it to lead onto the 'Highline' at the rear of the blast furnace. Centre piece of the layout is to be the Marklin Blast furnace kit, which is a big kit but heavily simplified. I'm ploughing my way through a book called Steel Mills published by Kalmbach and written by Bernard Kempinski which has a wealth of info on the Steel Industry You can see how compact it is going to be. The other thing I'm doing is using a lot of Marklin set track. I get asked at a lot of shows about track as many modellers are a bit scared of flexitrack in Z so thought I'd do a layout showing how you can progress on from the starter set oval to make an interesting layout. Baseboard is my standard construction with wood framing and 6mm MDF tops already given a ground colour of red oxide and black (car aerosols). The open hearth furnace building at the rear will hide the fiddle yard. I've extended the highline to the baseboard edge and started constructing the hoisthouse missing from the Marklin kit. The open hearth furnace is now clad in corrugated tin with two of the characteristic tall stacks These are big buildings which will dwarf the Z gauge rolling stock as they do in real life. Now there is a cunning plan involved in all this. Steelworks look pretty much the same the world over and also look pretty similar down through the years so 1 it can be run 50's-60's with my NKP stock (GP7s and Mikados) 2 it can be run modern image as CSX or NS with AZL coilcars, bethgons etc 3 best of all it can also be run as a British layout with my class 47s and 56s and British coil steel carriers three layouts for the price of one!! Ill keep you updated on progress as I go along Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Mar 23, 2016 15:29:21 GMT -5
So, I see a Geep with a chopped nose, is that an easy mod? My Milwaukee Road had these as well, but a GP20. I didn't do the original chop, the loco came in a bag of bits I picked up on a certain auction site a couple of years ago. it looks as if the nose was chopped down and a GP35 cab fitted with the roof profile rounded off whoever had started the conversion had also fitted a solid pilot to the GP35 and been altering the GP7. All three locos are now doing sterling service on Shasta I just need to put some side cab windows in the GP20 Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Mar 15, 2016 15:58:26 GMT -5
Well Macclesfield show turned out to be a big success after all the effort. Apart from the layout not fitting into the X-trail Ooops! However I borrowed one of the call out vans from work as I was working in Crewe the previous day With the fire retardant curtain in place the new board blends in quite well Clutter round the back! video at cheers Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Feb 25, 2016 15:28:22 GMT -5
Is the 4-4-0 steamer a Shapeways static model? Dom Sure is Dom. Nicely detailed but very fragile in FUD. I'm going to get another in brass to be a bit more durable Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Feb 24, 2016 10:23:23 GMT -5
The remnants of the roundhouse are succumbing to nature and an ancient 4-4-0 rusts gently inside The sheds for the Southern Pacific Cab forwards were still in existence last time I visited and are now used by the MOW teams A Cotton Belt GP20, kitbashed from an AZL GP7, leads three other Geeps on a manifest train out of Dunsmuir yard First show out in long form will be Weekend of March 12th at Macclesfield so the clock is ticking a bit but I should be O.K. Going to have to take a lot of rolling stock though! Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Feb 24, 2016 9:52:18 GMT -5
As some of you are aware my progress on the lengthening of Shasta, my Union Pacific/Southern Pacific layout based on the Sacramento River canyon in California and the early build stage of Tapton Junction, my new British layout were dealt a severe blow last year when an undetected water leak in the layout shed did some major damage. It resulted in Shasta appearing at the big London show in its original 10ft length rather than the 14ft long set up planned. I did toy with the idea of abandoning the idea at one stage but knuckled down over the winter and rebuilt the 'Dunsmuir' board from scratch. Of course this process is never simple as the scenery has to match the original boards and the lighting rig and flame retardent curtains have to be extended as well. The wiring harness also have to be extended as the Shasta Springs and Dunsmuir board are now 4ft further away from the control panel. in this early view you can see the pretty bare boards and the start of the rather run down former Espee Dunsmuir depot still with its turntable in situ. Round the back the Dunsmuir yard shows the benefit of the extra length with trains 9 1/2 ft long able to be marshalled. I've spent this afternoon extending the lighting rig. I'm putting one internmediate upright half way down as I didn't fancy 14 ft of unsupported facia wobbling about over the show visitors heads! More in a wee while Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Oct 22, 2015 13:57:29 GMT -5
I haven't shown any of the Nn3 and Nm layouts but if any of you want them let me know. So what were the major topics of conversation? Rokuhan track was creating a stir, 3D printing. stupid prices being asked for some second hand Marklin stuff and the future of the show. Peter has confirmed the show at Didcot next October but then intends to stand down and hand the reins over to someone else. I was talking to a couple of guys who are assembling interesting collections of US stock with layouts planned and Dave Dawes is well advanced on his new Milwaukee Road Pike. I've nearly finished the Dunsmuir depot module for Shasta, just need to finish the cliffs around the back, and then I might postpone the new British layout to do the Northern Pacific RR I've been acquiring stock for. Finally here is the video Oh. and yes Rob, Disc with all the pics etc in the post for Z-track cheers Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Oct 22, 2015 13:46:32 GMT -5
Here's my Cuyahoga layout. As it is only a one day show I didn't put all the stock out but the AZL GP7s pulling the 27 car long coal train around at scale speed all day had quite an hypnotic effect. seen here outside the roundhouse are a couple of 3D printed locos, Alco FA1 and EMD FT and also some 3D printed Speeders Julia Craig McFeely and Tony Heathfield had their 'Double Bluff' layout although I thought a better name might be 'Bi-Polar'! 'Spitzingzee is David Burbidge's Alpine line Brian Yallop was showing 'Nevermoor' a layout based on British Railways Eastern region with all handbuilt stock Gareth Rees was showing his 'Mini Missoula' a switching layout based on Montana Rail link. Now Gareth is known for the rather quirky approach of displaying his layout on an ironing board. Amazingly he managed to forget it on the Sunday morning and had to resort to a table instead!
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Oct 22, 2015 13:34:32 GMT -5
Graham Jones, leader of ZclubGB and owner of NMRS models had an ex Brian Yallop British layout now renamed Aldburgh. Some of the latest 3D printed British bodyshells wwere in evidence including the GWR parcels railcar Tony Waitzman brought along his guitar case layout and was running it in German mode Another debutant at the show was Guy Davey from Devon whose first layout is called DB Bavaria. He is getting very tempted to go US outline for his next layout with a lot of encouragement from me! Ken Jones has been to all of the last few years Zedex and brought along his rather impressively named 'Yn Y Coed twinned with Unter Den baumen' layout. This simple layout can be run either Z or Nn3. more shortly Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Oct 22, 2015 13:24:42 GMT -5
Here's a pictorail overview of the show. the atmosphere was really good and it was good to see Dave back in the Z fold again. Show organiser Peter McConnell had his new to the show 'Sankei Kansen' japanese layout with Rokuhan, Tenshodo and Pro Z stock in evidence. Making his debut at Zedex was Peter Clucas weith his 'Klein Bergdorf' set in South Germany. This layout originated with a starter set he bought for his daughter some years ago Roddu Mullin had a couple of small layouts on show. One was a simple briefcase layout The other was a new layout he has built for his grandchildren. it is called 'Cheyne' more in a minute Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Aug 25, 2014 10:59:06 GMT -5
Welcome Kim. I'm just over the North Sea from you in England where we have a small but very loyal group of Z modellers.We have an annual 'all Z' show in Oxfordshire in October called Zedex where you can see up to 22 layouts in action. I usually do a youtube feature shortly after the show and write a piece for Z-track magazine as well
As to running qualities may I direct you to a video featuring my Shasta layout in action at a show last year which shows the controllability of modern Z scale. Note that this is running in public and the trains you see here ran like this all weekend. We did 14 shows last year and the only things that gave us any trouble were the few remaining Marklin locos we have on the books
video can be found at
Also.
My SD40-2 with sound video which also includes a 'how to' can be found at
Hope this helps
Kev
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Post by kevsmithnkp on Mar 25, 2014 15:24:06 GMT -5
Looking on railcarphotos there were still some in use as recently as 2009. I'm just finishing some of Gerd's woodchip car kits but some RTR ones would be good as well.
Kev
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