Author Archives: Steve Hales

Quarters 3&4 2006

Unfortunately, very little visible progress was made during the second half of 2006 . Time has been taken up with getting the pointwork functioning properly after the ballasting and several points have been rebuilt. Paul has also been doing sterling work in getting the rolling stock running more reliably and has also replaced most of the wheelsets on our freight cars with metal ones.

Chris spent a lot of time researching and redrawing the plans of the Mauch Chunk station building in AutoCAD (please contact us if you want the files) in preparation for building it this year. Steve has started on the Mauch Chunk Ironworks.

The photos below were mostly taken at our open day at the end of November and also show a Hallmark Babyface (wrong prototype – I know) painted for us by Blake Tatar. We hope to make some modifications to the roof vents to improve it’s appearance as the CNJ version.

We wish you all a Happy New Year for 2007 and happy modelling!

Quarter 2 2006

We have made some very visible progress in the second quarter this year – painting and ballasting all the track. Steve has done most of this with help from Ian and Chris for the painting. First stage was to undercoat the track with primer. We used a can of plastic primer for the plastic ties and a metal primer for the “circuit board” ties on the switches. We followed this through with a can of “fender primer” to turn them all grey and then finished off adding a little brown with an airbrush.

We used a mixture of black coal dust (from the bottom of a coal bucket) and almost white coal/wood ash – mixed to a dark grey; these were sieved thoroughly before use. We applied this over a layer of white glue, smoothed it out carefully and then sprayed with Isopropanol (IPA) as a wetting agent and then dilute white glue (about 30% in water with a drop of detergent added). Some touching up with a dropper was required in one or two places. Finally we are slowly painting the track sides rusty. Other natural materials were used in off-track areas.

Quarter 1 2006

As with last year we have made good progress in the first quarter – but it is again mostly invisible! Paul and Chris have just finished wiring the control panels for the switches and they work! We tried them out on the Open Day on Sunday 10th April and ran trains up and down all the tracks.

Steve is struggling with the sixth and seventh buildings on Susquehanna Street and Alisdair is working on the eighth. Ian is building the interiors and has so far completed two.

Quarter 4 2005

As usual, in the fourth quarter progress has slowed because of the time taken to organise the Merseyside MRS exhibition at the end of October (see photos). Paul and Chris have continued to work with the looms of cable leading to two point control panels – one for each end of the layout. The control panels have been drawn out and early 2006 should see them built.

Chris has also raised the “Merseyside standard” lighting rigs so that they are high enough above our rather high baseboards. These have been positioned as shown in the photos below. He has also been busy redrawing plans of the Station building in AutoCAD in preparation for building it (remember, he is an architect!). These will be put up on the site when complete for all to use.

Some of the photos show a (hopefully) increasing similarity to prototype pictures of Susquehanna Street – only another 10 buildings to go there!

Finally, we would like to wish you all happy modelling in 2006.
Take Care
Chris, Alisdair, Steve and Paul

Quarter 3 2005

Again in the third quarter we have made good progress. Paul and Chris have now finished wiring the switches and switch motors on the front of the layout – and have now connected them up with looms of cable which will lead to two point control panels – one for each end of the layout. We intend to operate the layout with two operators, one at each end, and one controlling the eastbound tracks and one the westbound tracks. However, the wiring looms will be flexible to that both panels can go at one end, or a the back, or at the front. We’ll see what works best

Chris has also nearly finished the Hooven Mercantile building – he’s even modelled the back. He only has to do the characteristic fire escape on the side to complete it and we have all the parts for that now.

Steve and Paul in particular are now spending a lot of time in preparation for the Merseyside exhibition at the end of October – we’ll put links in to the photos of that if you’re interested.

Photos include: Hooven Mercantile in all it’s glory – built by Chris (& us all relaxing).

Quarter 2 2005

Once again in the second quarter we are making good progress – once again it is mostly invisible! Paul with the help of Chris has continued to wire the switches and switch motors on the front of the layout – a tedious but essential job that has caused much debate!

However, more has been going on – Steve has now built the fifth building on Susquehanna Street and Chris has started on the Hooven Mercantile building. Steve has continued with the rock face above the road on the RH side and has finished carving and painting and weathering it.

Photos include: Steve’s fifth buiding; Paul and Chris have been wiring up the switches; Chris has been building the Hooven Mercantile building like a true Architect (he is one); And the rock face – it will look better with vines and bushes, I expect.

Quarter 1 2005

Once again in the first quarter we are making good progress – once again it is mostly invisible! Paul with the help of Chris has been wiring the switches on the front of the layout. Steve has been finishing the magnets for automatic uncoupling.

Steve has also rebuilt the fourth building on Susquehanna Street (the previous version just wasn’t up to scratch). Chris has added the handrail to the bridge and Steve has rebuilt the wall between the road and railroad, and then painted and weathered it. The rock face behind is being started using rock moulds.

The photos show some of the CNJ rolling stock that we have now accumulated on our Open Day at the start of May. We now have F3s from Stewart (AB – tangerine & blue), Athearn (A – green and yellow), An RS3, SW9 and S1 and RS12 (the latter two not actually seen at Mauch Chunk) and an FM H15-44 in blue with tangerine stripes. You can also see the weathered coal hoppers (Steve’s) and the filled hoppers (Paul’s). None of our steam is running on this day.

Quarter 4 2004

We have speeded up this quarter – Chris has moved on to building the bridge over the railroad (and over the river in the prototype). Paul has continued with the wiring, and has now finished all of the boards – a high quality piece of work. Steve has inserted pairs of ceramic magnets from Radio Shack under the trackwork at the front to act as uncouplers, and is working on the 4th and 5th buildings on Susquehanna Street. The photo extravaganza below was mainly taken on the open day at the start of December. Other bridge photos have been added in a special bridge page under the Projects heading.

Quarter 3 2004

We have plodded on this quarter – Chris has continued to focus on building replacement lighting gantries for taking club layouts to exhibitions and finished them for the exhibition at the end of October. Paul has continued with the wiring, and has now finished most of the boards on the front of the layout as well. Steve has continued scenic modelling on the “Lehigh River” at the front of the layout and has made good progress. The photos show some of this: The river stones starting out – a mixture of Woodland scenics cork and other light modelling stones laid into dilute PVA and, after some painting. First spray-painting with tan, then darker grey, and finally dry-brushing with light grey. The river finish is temporary – finalising it more at this stage would result in damage as areas behind are modelled. There will also be a lot of greenery added later.

Quarter 2 2004

Progress has slowed a little this quarter – mainly as Chris has been focusing on building replacement lighting gantries for taking club layouts to exhibitions. However, Paul has plodded on with the wiring, and has now finished his sixth board (all in the storage yard) – the wiring really is beautiful if you like that sort of thing. As I write he has started on the front boards. Steve has been doing some scenic modelling on the front wall and making a lot of noise carving stones out of plaster with his mini-drill. The photos show all this:

Photos include: Firstly Paul and the rewiring – by early June, all the four rear baseboards and the end boards had been wired and tests have ensured that trains will run. In early June, all the baseboards were re-assembled and the layout looked quite good. Paul started on the wiring of the front boards later in June. Steve worked on the wall along the Lehigh river – more details can be found on a project page – the river wall.