Chemin de fer Sud de Bretagne

A snow shed is a great idea Peter! I love those 'swiss railway journeys' programmes and its a shame that Chris and Sue can not make any new ones due to ill -health; I dont know if it helps but when i want a concrete looking finish i mix a little cement with some diluted PVA and paint it on. It lasts for years!

mikey

mikeyh wrote:

A snow shed is a great idea Peter! I love those 'swiss railway journeys' programmes and its a shame that Chris and Sue can not make any new ones due to ill -health; I dont know if it helps but when i want a concrete looking finish i mix a little cement with some diluted PVA and paint it on. It lasts for years!

mikey

That sounds a good idea Mikey, I will have to see if it will stick to Epoxy as sometimes that can be a problem.

Yes the “Swiss Railway journeys” are really good, I just wish someone had made a few of Austria as well.

Bearcastle wrote:

That could look like the open tunnel to protect from avalanche.



Just editing the post took me time to find a picture in the hardrive

Yes thats the idea, mine may have a flat roof, for simpicity but if part gets some rock fall on it may look a bit orthentic.

[quote="French Chuffed"]

mikeyh wrote:

A snow shed is a great idea Peter! I love those 'swiss railway journeys' programmes and its a shame that Chris and Sue can not make any new ones due to ill -health; I dont know if it helps but when i want a concrete looking finish i mix a little cement with some diluted PVA and paint it on. It lasts for years!

mikey

Mikey what dilution do you do with the PVA, save me doing lots of experiments.........????

Bearing in mind that the cement will absorb a lot of the water, I start with 1 to 3 (water tp PVA), I then add the cement until its a 'paintable' mixture. If you need to add more water because the mix is too hard just a little more PVA as well

I used this mixture to paint the walls of our shower block and its still good ten years later!!

I have made some progress, putting on the top and the support pillared to the front. I have also put a retaining lip on the front to retain the ballast that I will put in around the track. Hopefully I can try it in site tomorrow before I try Mikey’s patent concrete covering.

Well this is the construction in place being tested, it needs its coat of cement but I hope you get the idea. Possibly need to build the hill up higher in the background.
Not to mention getting some water in the canal when we have enough rain.

that really looks the part Peter and hopefully will do the job as effectively as its prototype!!

mikey

That's really coming on Peter, and much better than a tunnel, you can still access the track for cleaning etc.

Wow, that's quite a structure!

Will you be securing it, or just relying on the weight of the soil on top of it to hold it in place?

clive_t wrote:

Wow, that's quite a structure!

Will you be securing it, or just relying on the weight of the soil on top of it to hold it in place?

Believe me when I say it’s not going to blow away its over 7’ long and with some soil filling the back and a bit on top its there for a while.

I was thinking of trying to put some led’s at the back to give a bit of illumination.

Looks impressive

Looks great! Make sure you test it with all your (long sized) rolling stock before you fixate the track to prevent derailments or coaches getting stuck...

There's another advantage that it has over a tunnel; you can still see the train!
The LED lighting sounds good.

mikeyh wrote:

Bearing in mind that the cement will absorb a lot of the water, I start with 1 to 3 (water tp PVA), I then add the cement until its a 'paintable' mixture. If you need to add more water because the mix is too hard just a little more PVA as well

I used this mixture to paint the walls of our shower block and its still good ten years later!!

I have found my missing 5 lt tub of PVA. Is the dilution the correct way round mikey 1 water to 3 parts pva then mix in some cement?

exactly that Peter! Its going to be a great addition to your layout (and all virtually caused by accident!!)

mikey

mikeyh wrote:

exactly that Peter! Its going to be a great addition to your layout (and all virtually caused by accident!!)

mikey

Had a go Mikey, yesterday evening, but I think my cement was probably off as it ended up as roughcast, and now it’s raining (but shouldn’t complain about that) next dry day I will try with some new cement.

If its 'peaking' it could be that your mix is a little too stiff? You want it so that when you dip your brush in and hold it up it!

mikey drips off but doesnt fall off

mikeyh wrote:

If its 'peaking' it could be that your mix is a little too stiff? You want it so that when you dip your brush in and hold it up it!

mikey drips off but doesnt fall off

No mike I mean lumps, the cement had been in the bag over winter, I tried to re constitute it back to powder to no avail…. Cheapskate that I am.

Lumps? that is an extreme form of roughcast!!

mikey

After a short delay for a trip back to the UK, this is the rendered washed result for the Snow / avalanche shed I used fresh cement this time so much smother and creamier.

I collected a couple of standard LGB carriages while I was there also, they will do for small visitors.

that really looks the business Peter!!

mikey

I have been working on my cobbled yard in front of the brewery, anyone any ideas on the best way to paint them and what colour? Probably a spray can is the best but I am no artist and the colour is concerning me. At the moment the cobbles are body filler grey which isn’t actually too far from reality I think ‘Grey Granit’ but I could do with painting them to cover up a few of the blemishes

Peter, i'd recommend trying this on a small, well-hidden area if possible:
Try applying some white paint with a sponge, being careful not to overload it. Then do the same with a sandy colour, then finally with black. You should end up with a speckled effect not too far removed from granite.

I am doing a trip to the UK shortly to see a new Grand daughter so will use the opportunity to stock up ao some paint of the correct colours, thanks for the tip Clive. its a moderate area of about 200mm x 1200mm to start with.

This is a view of the work so far. Working inside to save the back but I am sure you will get the idea.