I was pretty excited to get parcels from the US (Cannon and Co direct) and Eileen's Emporium so I've got everything to start the project now Here's a quick shot of the raw materials...
In no particular order...
Bachmann EWS Class 66/0
0.31mm brass rod
0.45mm brass rod
0.7mm brass rod
0.9mm brass rod
28swg copper wire (coil)
1.5mm x 0.5mm brass section
Cannon and Co EMD Fuel tank detailing kit
Cannon and Co EMD Chain tensioner
New tools...
Soldering iron tip
Tip tinner
S
I've been messing around with my new photo plank, testing out scenic techniques for my P4 layout, Meadow Lane.
I'm pretty happy with the undergrowth now, and it's just the track that needs a little weathering, and the edges of the board painting white.
I have built up the grass using a layering technique I read about in Model Rail Journal a while ago... basically down goes Woodland Scenics 'Scenic cement' on to which Woodland Scenics fine turn is sprinkled until saturated - I used '
Inspiration comes in lots of forms, who would think the humble shed - the engine that marked the beginning of the end of heritage traction in regular revenue earning service with EWS - would fall into this category!
Add to that huge potential in the lovely Bachmann model it seemed a no brainer for Paxton Road. Then it happened - Martin (Pugsley) showed photos of his Class 59 project and the decision was made... one day I'd do a 66! Tony's beautiful SD50 build showed a fabulous range of
Paxton Yard? You've never heard of it?
My OO gauge photo plank was getting on a bit and I wanted to try out some ballast, scenic and weathering techniques on some track work so came up with the idea of laying a couple of tracks to give a different sort of photo plank. I was inspired a few months ago by both Exactoscale's Fast-track and the P4 Diesel Depot, Weston Road, that used coaches as a scenic back drop.
I'm pretty pleased - obviously this is still a work in progress! It's built on 2
I've just got back from a lovely week in the Forest of Dean with the family.
Of course we visited the railway (and rode behind City of Truro - a real treat!) and that's where my fascination started... two books, six sketches and lots of doodling later and I've not worked up a suitable track plan, decided on a location, period or anything really but I was inspired and it's another layout plan on my 'one day' plan.
I've always had a soft spot for the GWR and in particular the Collet cab 57xx pan
After my introduction to P4 with Exactoscale track and it's steel rail I've wondered about tinkering with my Nickel Silver railed Peco Code 75...
I'd read in Martyn Welch's 'The Art of Weathering' in my teens about using gun blue to get Nickel Silver to look like steel. I wondered if Carr's Steel Blackening fluid would work? (they do a specific Nickel Silver version - not sure whether that would have the same effect as this). So I tried it on a demo piece of spare Peco Code 100. Left hand ra
I had a lovely weekend visiting both the Llangollen Railway and the old Manchester Ship Canal Railway at Ellesmere Port...
Saturday I headed over to Llangollen. It's my favourite preserved railway - really beautiful scenery and in recent years it has also really tidied up the sidings and yards along the route and appers much more clean, tidy and professional. Very well presented!
Anyway it was a sunny day and my daughter wanted to travel on a diesel and a steam engine. We started at Carr
I spent a cold evening earlier in the week gluing my fingers together...
Exactoscale do some nice moulded plastic fishplates. When I placed my P4 order a few months ago I picked up an extra pack to use on Paxton Road. I finally got around to fitting them this week and after a dab of paint to blend them into the existing trackwork I grabbed a few snaps.
I think they are really effective and it does go to show that with realistic weathering and extra detailing you can make Peco Co
I've a peculiar habit - nothing like that! No I mean I've a habit of revisiting older models and bringing them up to my recent standards.
This is most evident when I have more than one of a locomotive type - actually that's nearly all my stock (3 08/09s, 2 33s, 3 37s and just one 58). I find working on a newer model makes me re-evaluate a previous effort and look to improve it. I guess this progression is pretty natural and is a good way for a beginner to progress - so guys, don't be afraid
I'm going to start a 'Meadow Lane' blog and forum topic now things have progressed but until I can put a thorough post together I thought I may as well share my latest doodlings...
First of all a more detailed track plan - nice and simple! Off to the left will be two cassettes and off to the right will be a sector plate linking the front and back lines together.
And after my last post which faced the shed here are some more views of the other end, facing towards the crossing. The build
Well it's addictive isn't it...
Whilst my daughter was drawing lovely pictures of her bike and our house I was drawing another sketch of what my industrial diorama mini layout looks like in my head. You can see the shed has morphed from purely based on the one at Ellesmere Port to a cross between that and the one at Mode Wheel, the hub of the MSC Railway's Trafford Park and docks complex.
The tankers are TTAs and represent the traffic from Eastham refinery - the track they're on in my head
A cold wet windy day and a trip over to my parents in Chester gave an excuse to head down to the docks to 'soak up the atmosphere' of the former Manchester Ship Canal railway line at Ellesmere Port Docks.
I do plan to go back on a sunny summer weekend, take a proper stroll around and get a better selection of snaps but with cold weather and a busy dock entrance I didn't hang about yesterday.
Compare these shots with those I posted about the Manchester Ship Canal earlier as a comment on
A trip to the Great Central Railway last weekend has spurred progress on my model of 37411.
First up - Lostock and some Smoking Barrels and the GCR itself - what a wonderful railway and a great achievement to have 8 locomotives in steam on the Sunday! From the Jinty through to Oliver Cromwell, my daughter and I were very impressed. My favourite was the BR Std 2 tender engine, Elly's was the LMS red Leander.
Some shots from the weekend - my favourite all weekend is the second one of Olive
I've found myself browsing the internet with all this new found love of etched brass kits, P4 and industrial lines and have come across a few things worth sharing.
First up - sorry - no photos in this post, I always hate blog posts without snaps, but it's the copyright rules mean I can't link the photos directly!
So what have I found?
Here we have some interesting cab shots of the Sentinel shunters used on the Manchester Ship Canal railway along with some interesting text. This appea
Not another one I hear you shout! Paxton Road is 2 years in the making and still only 60% finished - and Rose Hill is barely 3 months in, what is he thinking?!!
As readers of RMWeb will be aware this week I've been musing over building a 230hp Sentinel shunter - a chain driven one based on the Manchester Ship Canal examples - using a Judith Edge kit. This would ideally be P4, DCC and possibly even sound fitted. It would definitely feature working headlights, cab light and flashing beacon on the
Another mad-cap scheme... or the lure of the Judith Edge kit!
I've long held a fascination with parts of the Manchester Ship Canal railway, the stub at Ellesmere Port and the network around Trafford Park. In the early days of planning Paxton Road it was a line that inspired some early sketches as to what this could look like and gave some direction to a layout that has gradually evolved into a completely different area and subject! Such is modelling fiction.
http://railwayphotographs.fotopi
Are aftermarket components any better then what can be achieved by fettling off the shelf products? I'm not convinced. The air horns on my Bachmann 37 are a good example.
Plenty of firms (A1 and Markits spring to mind) offer turned brass air horns for the model. I think people think that it must be better, otherwise why would someone have produced it? Yes they may be more robust, and I've definitely seen them added to a model to good effect. However, I'm cheap!
The Bachmann moulding ac
I took my daughter for a trip out this afternoon to our local preserved railway, the Churnett Valley Railway at Cheddleton near Leek.
We spent many happy days there earlier this year and were hauled on numerous occasions by the lines resident Class 37 due to a steam engine failure for a lot of the summer.
The line is 'closed' during January but I thought we'd see something today, and since my daughter really wanted to see some trains it was worth a punt. Cheddleton was pretty busy and
Christmas and New Year were great fun, but combining the family commitments and putting together an issue of my mountainbike e-zine I had very little time for modelling. The first two weeks of January have seen a reversal with a snow bound last week and issue deadline out of the way.
So what did I get for Christmas and what have I been working on recently?
I treated myself to the Bachmann sound equipped class 37 (in Railfreight grey) and a Dynamis controller. This has proved great fun (a
I've always had a thing about Class 08s and 09s - and when younger rememeber seeing the Bachmann model appear as a pre-production sample in every years catalog and the model never make it to my local shop. [
When I returned to the hobby two years ago the Bachmann and Hornby models were available, with pro's and con's to both. I personally prefer the shape of the Bachmann model and they run very well on Paxton Road. I recently chose to model 09007 based on the Bachmann model of 09006. This re
It feels good to have made some solid progress in the last fortnight, Paxton Road is at last coming into the final phase...
The MOD warehouse on the back of the layout needed to be completed before I could finish the ballasting or scenery on the front of the layout. However since building the plasticard shell in the very early days of the layout I've struggled for inspiration... these new photos are 2 years on from when it all started:
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68
I've been keeping a project under my hat since Members Day this year where I picked up a model of 09006 from the Bachmann trade stand for a bargain price...
Over the following 8 weeks I transformed her into a model of 09007, complete with my trademark step modification and scratchbuilt hi-level brake pipes. I faded and weathered the bodywork and took step by step photos. After I approached Ben Jones at Model Rail, I wrote it all up for an article and today, I finally saw the fruit of my labo
Sometimes you know it's ridiculous, sometimes you know it is a waste of money, sometimes you know there are some fundamental flaws in the model - but sometimes you're just very very tempted!
The Barclaycard is in for a bashing. I've wanted a DCC sound locomotive for some time, and after taking some advice on the best RTR options I'm on the brink of breaking the seal and dipping my toe in DCC as well as sound for the first time.
I've had a soft spot for 25/3s after seeing the one at Llang
Well it seems to have been an age but progress on Paxton Road has been made, despite the distractions of a new project!
The warehouse that was constructed right back in the dawn of the project before even the boards were built has been brought inside for 'finishing off'. The layered plasticard construction has caused a little warping in places that I've tried to put back with some thick bracing and superglue. The roof is going to need totally replacing.
I've started to detail it a littl
Well it's been a few weeks now since I first posted my intentions to modify a Hornby Pacer up to more modern standards and after a stint on my rake of PNAs and some structures for Paxton Road a parcel arrived from Mainly Trains...
Handrail wire and short handrail knobs! Just what I had been waiting for - and an excuse to get the Pacer back out.
I've removed all the plastic handrails and replaced with wire on one unit so far, it really does lift the model. I've also tidied up the doors with
