As the title suggests it has been a long time since I have updated this blog and for that I can only apologise.
A lot has happened to Ffarquhar since the last entry and one thing I have found out is that there is nothing quite like an exhibition deadline to force some modelling!
The Braintree and Halstead Model Railway Club, of which I am a proud member, held a their first exhibition in Braintree town centre since 1984, The year that Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends was first broadcast! Ffar
Hello, two updates in as many weeks? This blog is like waiting for a bus! Anyway I digress, this update is to show you the extension to Ffarquhar thus far...
This was the state of play on Tuesday:
and here is what it looks like at the end of this week:
all that is left to do is the wiring and she is useable! in the meanwhile I couldn't resist placing Thomas and Percy on the bridge area!
Next time I shall cover some of the scenery!
Until then, farewell
Dear Friends,
It has been a while since we have heard from Thomas on the Ffarquhar branch. There have been many happenings such as Thomas went to an exhibition, Daisy arrived, and... but I shan't tell you anymore, you will have to read it for yourselves.
Flyingscotsmanfan.
A lot of progress, and I mean A LOT, has been made to Ffarquhar before it went to the Colne Valley Railway's Model Railway exhibition in June. A lot of scenic work was done including, ballasting, the Tunnel mouth, the
As I have access to a proper computer for an hour or two I am utilising the time to bring you a quick update on Ffarquhar.
First up is that have now attached the Control Panel to the layout, which is bolted on and secured with wing nuts, this is so I can take it off after a running/working session and for transportation/storage.
I have also given the track a preliminary coat of Railmatch Sleeper Grime which does take away the "Toy Train" look of Peco track, the least enjoyable bit
The track witing has been completed, and i works, the only thing giving me any trouble was the Doubleslip as I intially wired it up wrong.. Doh! Oh well as it is the first time I have used one I will let myself off... but just this once!
I have also constructed a control panel for as can been seen here:
as you can see it is run on good ols fashioned DC complete with isolating sections. The whole panel is hinged for easy access and is secured down with velcro. To finish all hat is ne
So the Track laying for Ffarquhar has been completed:
To start with the baseboard tops were covered with cork which was stuck down with Copydex. After previously using it on two layouts I am a firm copydex convert and love it's sound reduction properties!
On the cork a copy of the trackplan was stuck down. Then on top of the plan the track was stuck down again with Copydex. Sounds simple, but is slightly more complicated than that...
All the track is Peco Code 75, The Tu
So the layout is progressing very well the main woodwork on the boards has been completed with the asthetic woodwork to be completed later on in the build. Track has started to be laid and will hoefully be completed by the middle of next week.
A small update on some of the rolling stock I have been working on:
Season 1/2 Annie... she has a lowered bufferbeam and I have fitted handrails to her. This is the closest I can get the Bachmann model of Annie to look like the season 1/2
So... as the title suggests I am having a bit of a sleepless night, various things on my mind means that I need something to try and relax me... so I set up Ffarquhar and placed a rough print out of the trackplan down. There is something magical about placing the trackplan down on a fresh baseboard for the first time and this time was no different but it didn't stop there, soon I was placing Locos and Rolling stock to get a feel for the layout:
I have also tested jus
I had been toying with what to call this layout for a little while and I have finally decided to name it Ffarquhar after the station at the end of Thomas' Branch Line.
The trackplan isn't as Rev. Awdry built his or how it is depicted in the books or on TV. It is a simple trackplan that will enable me to run my Thomas stock in the space I have and I'm happy with it and that is all that matters
Also:
The baseboards are nearly finished... Just got to attach the legs and make up
Today I had a day off, today was also the day that the timber order for the new layout and of course not having much else to do I just had to fore up the circular saw and start cutting the timber to size...
Soon I had the parts laid out on the baseboard tops:
The frames are built from 4x1 as will be the two outside sets of legs, the inside set of legs will be built from 2x1.
I was going to leave it at that for the day but idle hands and all that:
I couldn't resist gluei
After the school boy error of forgetting to plug in the battery charger I thought that I wouldn't be able to cut the baseboard tops until the morning.. I didn't realise how quick the charger wouls charge the battery! I have managed to cut the ply to shape!
As mentioned in the first entry to this blog I decided to have a curved fascia on the left hand board, with which I'm quite pleased with the way it has turned out.
The right hand board is behind and has no interesting shape just a s
Why the picture of the battery charger you ask? Well this morning I put the battery on charge for the circular saw and went to work..... or so I thought I had! I came back this afternoon to find I had neglected to plug the charger in....
The main reason for charging up the battery was so I cut the baseboard tops from 4ft in length to 3ft for this new layout... I had already marked it up as well:
Ah well that is a vaulable lesson learnt.... no matter how well prepared you are there
My long term, stay at home layout, Halstead Sidings is operated on DCC which I enjoy operating and working on very much but I have no where to run my Thomas and Friends Stock on. Thomas and his Friends are all DC and I have no intention of DCCing them in the long term future. So I decided to build a small compactish layout on which to run Thomas, Percy, Toby and some of the more smaller engines on.
I have set myself 4 rules:
The Layout mustn't be expensive to build,
The layout must be
