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A Pantechnicon for Farthing

A horse-drawn furniture removal van has appeared at Farthing. The kit is a reborn Gem product, marketed under the John Day Models label alongside other re-introduced whitemetal ranges. It’s all run by Daryle Toney who is very helpful (no connection).       The main parts are a fair fit. As usual I used Loctite Gel to stick it together. Unlike most superglues it does not require a perfect join to bond well.       Some parts did require fettling.

Slater's GWR dia E37 Tri-compo clerestory coach

My GWR E37 tri-compo is ready for painting, built from the Slater’s kit. Earlier I did a blow-by-blow account of the C19 build from the same range, so this post will focus on new experiences and things that were different.       There was more flash around the windows than in the C19 kit, especially at the bottom. The window edges are quite thin and hard to distinguish from the flash, and therefore easily damaged when the flash is removed. Inspecting the sides from behind helped.

Dirty fingers: Trial and error with bricks and mortar

Here are some illustrated notes from experiments with brick- and mortar-colouring for my 4mm scale station building. Please note that these are just my own bumbling exercises. There are no silver bullets here.   Method 1: Flood & Wait     So far, my standard method has been the well-known "flooding" method. I paint the brick sheets dark red (Vallejo 70.814 Burnt Red)…       … then when dry flood the sheet with a milky white wash (Vallejo

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Mikkel in Structures

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Here's a short video to round off 2023.   I won’t forget this year anytime soon, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. Our first grandchild was born, my brother got married, our daughter turned 30, mum turned 90, and then in September dad died.   This christmas I want mostly to do simple and uncomplicated things while pondering it all. So here’s a little project that began in our attic.   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!    

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Mikkel in Videos

The station building: Walls and gables

Here’s an update on Farthing’s main station building, modelled on the 1910 prototype at Newbury (see this post for details). This post summarizes work on the walls and gables. There have been other developments, will update on those later.   Although the structure at Newbury is still with us there have been numerous detail changes over the years. Above is a selection of those I have spotted. Most changes appear to have been made after the station was built, so I’m going wit

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Mikkel in Structures

Copenhagen to Penzance by rail

Back in June I had some work to do in London. I live in Copenhagen, so a devious plan was hatched to extend the work trip with some time off for railways and family. I even managed to do a bit of research for the Farthing layouts.       I went by rail to London. It was 16 hours on 5 trains, but I enjoyed the views and got most of a day’s work done on the laptop.       Early departure from Copenhagen Central at 5.44. No rush to the airport hours befo

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Mikkel in Misc.

Midland Railway D299 Open

As Stephen has highlighted, the Midland Railway D299 Opens were built in such large numbers that they appeared in almost any pre-grouping goods yard at some point.       So I dug out my Slater's kit for this diagram.       The kit had some rather bare looking insides.       I therefore scribed on some planking detail.       For the rest of the build I followed Stephen's info, including removal

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Mikkel in Wagons

A Pannier of mixed parentage - GWR 1854 PT (2)

My 1854 class open cab Pannier Tank in ca. 1919 condition is now done. To recap, it’s a heavily modified Hornby 2721 body on a Bachmann 8750 chassis, using modified Finecast parts, Finney/Brassmasters fittings and various scratchbuilt items.  Here is a summary of the last part of the build (see this post for earlier steps).     The bunker uses modified Finecast sides. Plated coal rails from wire and styrene. DIY fire iron hooks, and lamp irons from a Brassmasters etch.

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Mikkel in Locos

The Great Unrest: Modelling the 1911 railway strike

Here’s an attempt to reenact the 1911 railway strike in OO. The strike was an important but sometimes overlooked event in the social history of Britain's railways, and involved some very unusual scenes. The cameos are based on contemporary photos, but transposed to my own Farthing layouts.     1. The strike begins     “The Great Unrest” was a period of labour unrest during the years 1911-1914.        The period saw more industrial dispu

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Mikkel in Stories

Edwardian mischief - Modelu & Andrew Stadden figures

I’ve been painting 4mm figures. Here are some photos and platform scenes.     I wanted to find a better way of holding figures during painting. Above is the good old bluetack solution, straightforward and good for spraying, but it doesn’t hold the figures very firmly during brush painting.       Another well-known solution is wire in the legs. Useful for mounting on the layout, but not always an option, I find. Some 4mm shoes won’t take a drill well, and

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Mikkel in Figures

Slater's GWR dia. C10 clerestory coach

I’m building a Slaters kit for a  GWR bogie clerestory third to diagram C10. The coach is intended for a motley Edwardian stopping train consisting of a variety of carriage styles, as was common on the GWR in the 1900s. But first it will be used in a re-enactment of the 1911 railway strike, and is therefore in the 1908-1912 all brown livery (as yet un-lined).        This post summarizes the build.  It's a long post but I'm told the kits are due back on the market so perh

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Mikkel in Coaches & Browns

Fifth bite: The station building

I now have four small layouts in the Farthing series, each of which can be operated on my desk or the dining table. That should satisfy my daily operating needs for a while, allowing me to take on Farthing’s main station building and platforms.       For this I’m returning to the Newbury theme. When Newbury station was rebuilt during 1908-1910 four lines were laid, with loop lines along the Up and Down platforms and through lines in the center.      

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Mikkel in Layout design

GWR horse-drawn station bus

I’ve built a GWR horse-drawn station bus using a modified and detailed P&D Marsh kit.       A colourized postcard showing omnibuses in the station forecourt at Minehead. A perusal of period photos suggests that the outside seating wasn’t necessarily the last choice option – on sunny days at least!         The forecourt at Teignmouth. Lettering on the door shows the fare and “A. Harvey (?), Proprietor”. Many horse-drawn station bus services wer

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Mikkel in Horse-drawn

A Pannier of mixed parentage - GWR 1854 PT (1)

I’m building an 1854 Pannier Tank for Farthing in ca. 1919 condition, using a modified Hornby 2721 body, a Bachmann 57xx chassis and various parts from SEF and Brassmasters. Pure it is not. The project has been described on occasion in my workbench thread, but in a fragmented manner. This post summarizes progress to date. Prepare for many close-ups of green plastic 🙂   Background     It's a bit of a nostalgia project. I wanted to do something with the old Hornby 27

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Mikkel in Locos

A click-on scenic extension

I’ve made a detachable scenic extension for The Stables, using magnets. With this, the layout is more or less complete.       The extension module was knocked up from 10 mm foamboard. The aim was to portray a tree-lined street at the back of the layout. It had to be detachable so as to facilitate storage in our small flat.       The pavements were made in my usual way, flagstones lined out in pencil and later scribed with a round-nosed  awl.

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Mikkel in Scenery

Powsides/Slaters Private Owner wagons

I wanted some Private Owners for Farthing, so have built a couple of Powsides kits, i.e. painted and pre-lettered Slaters kits. I opted for two Gloucester designs to RCH 1887 specifications, one a 5-plank side-door wagon, the other a 7-plank side- and end-door job.        I like the overall appearance, although TBH the small lettering isn’t quite up to current standards. Perhaps I was unlucky, they look fine on the website.       The kits have blank

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Mikkel in Wagons

Trees for Farthing - Mark One

Projects over the summer have included trees. The original inspiration came from the tree-lined perimeters of Reading’s Vastern Road and King’s Meadow goods yards.     Vastern Road yard, Reading, 1948. Source: Britain from above.     The trees here were quite close to the track along some sections. Earlier photos from the 1900s show larger trees, so they must have been a feature from at least the 1880s.   Vastern Road yard, Reading, 1948. Source: Britain f

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Mikkel in Scenery

A pictorial record of horse manure

I’ve added a selection of horse droppings to the road and yard on “The Stables”.    Obviously, prototype research was needed first! Period photos from the 1890s-1930s often show droppings in the street, especially where horse-drawn carriages were regularly parked.   "Bicycle couriers with copies of the Manchester Guardian, which are being delivered to Euston station in London for circulation, circa 1920." Getty Images, embedding permitted.    Droppings can some

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Mikkel in Scenery

Chinchilla sand and terrain paste

Been doing some scenic work on The Stables. I wish I could settle on a fixed set of approaches for the surface textures, but I seem to be trying out different methods on every new layout!       The yards at Farthing tend to feature a cinders/ash/dirt mix for ballast, as seen in period photos. In the past I’ve used Polyfilla (handbuilt track) or DAS (RTR track). But I wanted a more textured look, so tried Chinchilla sand this time.       I say Chi

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Mikkel in Scenery

Regrettable incident at 3 PM

Over the years I’ve gathered a small collection of anecdotes and photos that document quirky situations and customs on the real-life railway. The idea is to re-enact them in model form while the glue dries on other projects. The Slipper Boy story was one attempt at this, although admittedly that one got a bit out of hand!   Here’s another, simpler one.  First, the props:                        

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Mikkel in Stories

GWR 2-plank and 3-plank wagons

The first 2- plank wagon has appeared at Farthing, accompanied by a round-ended 3-planker.        The 2-planker owes much to Duncan, who kindly gave me one of his surplus 3D printed wagon bodies. Thanks again Duncan! I've been wanting to do a 2-planker since I saw Richards's early Opens some years ago.         I’ve used the Swindon drawing in Atkins et al for reference, and the photo of Worcester built 19451 as the prototype.  Apologies to D

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Mikkel in Wagons

Life in the fast lane

I've been thinking that railway modelling needs a better public image. People seem to think the hobby is a bit weird and nerdy, when really we’re a bunch of smooth adrenaline junkies. Here are some examples from my own awesome life.         Firstly, we railway modellers have really cool gear. These DIY tamping and scribing tools were made from coffee stirrers and my wife’s discarded sock knitting needles. Max bling! The top three are for smoothing DAS between sleepers and

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Mikkel in Musings

GWR provender wagons

In 1884 the GWR centralized the provision of provender, so that every stable block on the system received a regular supply by rail from the provender store at Didcot, typically every 1-2 weeks. The supplies consisted of hay, chaff, straw bedding and sacks of feed. The feed included oats, beans and maize, either pre-mixed or separate.   The sizeable stable block at Farthing obviously needs a regular supply of feed and bedding, so two provender wagons have been made. I began with a diagr

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Mikkel in Wagons

One morning long ago

One morning long ago, an 1854 class shunted the Old Yard at Farthing.         The crew were slightly bored. Nothing much ever happened in the Old Yard. Just a handful of sidings.     A carman (sic) watched them roll by, perched on his trolley (Birmingham pattern). The carmen at Farthing were famous for not using reins.          William Simmons was particularly skilled. Known as The Horse Whisperer, he worked with

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Mikkel in Stories

GWR weighbridge office

A weighbridge has appeared at Farthing. It began as a kit, but in the end much of it was scratchbuilt. Here's a summary of the build.       This was the point of departure, a lasercut kit from Rail Model. A little research showed that it is based on the prototype at Leckhampton, a drawing of which appears in the EricPlans volume on GWR and LMS structures.        The kit is nicely cut, but I noticed that the corners weren’t mitred. So I sought to 

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Mikkel in Structures


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