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Thanks to @phil_sutters selling me some of his surplus road vehicles, I have spent some time trying to re-paint various kits and models, sadly in a quality quite unworthy of his prior work. The chemical tanker looks as if moulded from icing, so thick is the paint, but all have photographed better than I expected.
Two Bedford chassis will have box bodies made for general grocers' or light engineering companies' collections and deliveries, when I have the inc
Snow is falling, which is reason enough to assume air-dried modelling clay will not cure properly in a freezing cold garage as ballast, so I have put the viaduct passenger station frame in situ, and come indoors for a cup of tea and an early brandy paanee. The station, of which one will see little of the building, is to be my homage to Mr William Baker's 1865 London Broad Street, the memory of whose derelict, un-loved, Renaissance atmosphere still haunts me. Quite whether it will be worthy, on
I have been spending the last few weekends trying to finish a few projects that have been dragging on for ages. This, the attempt to finish a section of 'new' track for the yard, has had enough done to it as I can manage. The conceit is that the entrance to the yard has been relayed recently with the lifting of a short siding against the warehouse/ grain silos loading bay (all yet to be built), replacing the king-point with a 3-way and slewing track to a single, shared siding along the side of
It has been another case of 'two steps forward, one back', spending a few days off in the garage on short tasks. Panicked last night at realising - why only now?! - that if my track around the passenger platforms was raised on 2.5mm. cork, there would be an unrealistic step up to the coaches. It had not dawned on me that wishing to sink the buildings into a 'scenic base' to eliminate gaps, meant they would be too low. Next I was worried the curved platform was too close to the track, so the e
... Scarlet, and Crimson with rage. A point has broken, so must be dug out thus destroying all the track leading from it, then replaced and ballasted again. I tried to fix it by soldering a 'jump lead' to the following rail, but did the wrong rail (should have been the inner), and cut the wire too short to move it to the correct one. My, how I laughed on realising.
There is plenty of 'real life' going on around me to keep this problem in perspective, but why bal
In an effort to provoke the Fates into an announcement of a ready-to-run new 'OO' wagon, instead of all these high-spec. re-releases, I have made a model of an IIB 'Inter-frigo' ferry-wagon to convey (under Rule 1) meat and fish to and from the Sussex Weald.
Unworthy of close examination - owing not least to my unsteady hand and unwanted ability to glue tiny pieces of plastic to everything except where wanted - I am content with its capturing the
Pottering between jobs awaiting replacement permanent way for the south fan of sidings, I have tried to maintain my motivation by composing a few pictures of wagon-load goods trains. Taking delivery this week of a new Bachmann 'Pipe' SOV, I included it in a 'military special' from the West Country, pulled by a Hymek - such a handsome loco. I took @Fat Controller 's idea of having a filing cabinet buttressed by stout timbers in a VVV as a load. Thanks!
The local copper
Killing time waiting for the modelling clay ballast to dry on the left of the yard, I made myself a few wagon-loads of various minerals for my POA wagons. Cut an oblong of card or plasticard to fit the Open, mould a lump from floral foam and glue it to the former. Paint, or cover with glue and chippings:
The wagon on the outer left has two, incorrectly shaped, 'heaps' glued to a base, unpainted. My first attempt, this will be re-done. The inner left is an exper
It is a Summer Monday morning, and the staff and traders arrive at East Yard with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Mr Hunt the coal merchant is looking forward to the sound of his coal loader, compared to the noise at home of the grand-children all day yester-day which left him with a head-ache and needing an early night. However, the family lunch had been excellent, and at least the little 'darlings' ("So spirited!") had given his Austin a good clean beforehand. Not that this has made up for t
Waiting for the garage to warm so I can do some soldering, I have been churning out six-dozen 'wool sheets', thanks to @enz and 'British Wool' (formerly the British Wool Marketing Board). I will edit this post later to provide additional information if the latter's kind correspondent permits, but these white polypropylene sacks took over in the mid-1970's from the smaller, brown, 60lb. hessian sacks to be seen in pictures of the Tetbury wool sack races. These will be another project.
Atherington Victoria station's tarmac platform is laid, and more viaduct parapets are made (if not glued in place yet).
I am unsure where all the photographs of the platform's progress are, but pleased the task worked on over several weeks is better than expected. My heart-felt thanks to @simon b and @Wheatley for giving their expertise on a previous post (no. 40) about making tarmac surfaces. This is just the basic structure, with more work needed to vary
Despite Mr David Larkin confirming for me the floor of a XVA wagon is an open frame-work, compared to the BDA steel bolster wagon's wooden platform, I am determined to have a means of conveying over-size steel from the manufacturers up north to a small ship-yard south of Atherington East Yard, at Tilling Docks. The wagon would be conveyed at the head of the goods train 'passing through' my goods yard, so I need not consider load handling in my little general sidings.
What decided me
I have not posted here or done work on the layout for a long while, owing partly to the temperature of the garage and partly to reluctance to start the destructive relaying and points replacements in the goods yard. I know I will leave this half-finished and unusable for ages if not fully motivated.
Inspired by @Andrew P 's scenic work on Tonleigh Bridge East Yard and @young37215 's wonderful photographs and work on his West Highland Line, I decided to devote the long Easter weekend
Apart from problems with 0-6-0 shunters stalling on the 3-way 'king' point, all is going well with the layout so far. Thus tempting fate, I hope to start sawing the plywood sides of the viaduct level to-day, plus re-number a Dapol '73', and try and see where the shunters are losing power on the afore-mentioned point. I posed some rolling stock this morning for a 'vacuum-braked wagon-load' photo-shoot to send to a chum, which might be of interest, working along the layout from 'north to south':
Weary of paint and modelling clay, as the coal/minerals yard starts to look presentable, I thought I would try posing some stock. Herewith my efforts. Sorry about the backgrounds.
A 71 pretending to be a 74 pops into the minerals siding with a special delivery of tar.
Said tar wagon is taken off by the yard shunter, releasing the 71. Now we return to Speedlink air-braked services...
The aggregates mer
I managed to endure the cold before the temperature dropped really low recently, and scared the bejezus out of myself by snipping and drilling 0.5 mm. nickel-silver sheet into some sort of electric panel. The first time I had drilled metal, and I hope the last. Despite pilot 'dents' with a nail on marked out dots - the push-to-make switches and power-input plugs are at 7/8" pitch - the drill gave a decidedly 'eccentric' hole on seven of the ten. However, it fits, which is all that matters.
Waiting for pay-day and a trip to B. & Q. for more Araldite for the aggregate merchant's office, I could put off the cleaning and electrical testing after ballasting and painting no longer. Two naughty points caused problems, but with much track-rubber, rag and meths, and ultimately sand-paper, their sidings functioned again. Not as bad as feared, so I thought this was a photo-opportnity for my second-hand (Douglas J. Fryer of Lewes!), Hornby breakdown-crane. We saw one of these (or so it
My order of figures arrived to-day, so I have arranged a few quick tableaux. These are Woodland Scenics and Noch :
The last pallet is removed from a VIX from abroad, and the lorry is loaded for the last delivery run of the day.
A small crate is put into the back of the N.C.L. lorry, ready for delivery.
I am ridiculously pleased with the two ModelU figures, and had to show them off, even if only part-painted and sti
Unable to resist the 'wide-screen' temptation of my new brick background, I crept out into the garage after lunch to take a few shots, deluding myself I am Peter Greenaway's Director of Photography. A pity everything looks as if taken 'straight out of the box' (which it is); this will be my next challenge...
And now in pretend 'Ultra-Panavision 70' ...
And for art-cinema connoisseurs, the black-and-white option :
An A.B.S./Speedlink day to-day. The coal bins have been painted, and thanks to Oasis bought before the latest confinement, some mounds of minerals have been put into them: three piles of 'coal' painted an undercoat of black, and various mounds of 'aggregates', one coated in Woodland Scenics medium buff ballast. Two more 'green mounds' await painting.
The coal merchant's top-loader is fitted with a bodged, larger, shovel from Plasticard, with a 'weights' box added to the
Having bought many Preiser figures last month, I have taken photographs trying composition and colours. The layout is strewn with 1970's wagon-load stock at the moment, and while bauxite shades dominate, I wanted to try other-coloured wagons in some pictures to see the effect. Sadly, focus and camera-shake is not my strong point, and some backgrounds must be excused.
D7070 rests in the grain/warehouse siding, having brought in a special Company train of minerals from Acton Y
Progress on the ballast and station platform being slower and less competent than wished this Bank Holiday, I finished a kit that has been cluttering my work-bench for years. The Ratio Lineside hut has been modified to be 'more Southern' with a pukka brick chimney and replacing the stone base with brick again.
The chimney is a piece of plastic rod with Milliput to embed it as cement. I was most pleased with still having the dexterity to attach the dra
Just a quick attempt at another picture with some more figures. The coal-men start filling the first sacks for the next round at the hopper. Sadly, the driver's colleague is obscured in the hopper's frame, but his colleague's coal-sack rests on scales under the chute, if you look closely. Not the finest pic., but I am learning, I hope.
Just a quick shot of the local staff gathered about the test run of an air-braked PRA delivering a consignment of clay to the Sussex Weald. All are 'not quite sure' of the '25' and the strange new wagon - my latest purchases - and there was much muttering on their appearance earlier. Just what Acton Yard will send next is a subject of much speculation...
The digger driver finishes his sandwiches, perched on the wagon steps, enjoying the view. I would have bought two PR
Waiting for the paint to dry on my wagon-loads, I knocked up a little shelter for the aggregate merchant's J.C.B. yester-day.
The area on the right will be filled by the office building and a couple of motor-cars. Now I am playing with modelling clay again, ballasting the right hand - general merchandise sidings - side of the yard.
