With the imminent arrival of Sherlock Holmes, it is time, once again, to dig out the London Transport Underground stock and give it a whirl.
Having put together the four car Northern line set - powered by two Tenshodo motors courtesy of Metro-Models.
John did the conversion on a Bakerloo non-driving power car in London and sent it over the pond.
All that then had to be done was to replace the body with the Northern Line version already here.
So I now have a spare Bakerloo Line non-driving po
A short update..
Bridge building has begun.
Here is a knocked together mock up (or an artists impression) of an Iron Girder Bridge.
The main bridge structure is a simple piece of 3/4" ply that spans the 30".
The girders were designed to drop in place.
They were built using odd scraps of wood - Ply, Balsa and Bass.. And are minus about 2000 rivets...
The abutments and sidewalls are made from 1/4" hardboard and covered with brick paper printed using a laser colour printer.
They, lik
What went up has stayed up so the two different layouts are now separated - The experiment has begun.
How to put an H0/H0e layout within and O gauge layout.
What..
Began as a simple O gauge arrangement - which then had a simple circle of track included so I could run and enjoy my old OO stuff, has morphed into a much more ambitious project (and expensive!).
The H0/H0e part is placed in the Austrian Alps around Innsbruck and the Zillertal -
(This all happened because I could not wait for the
Having summoned the will the new layout is under way..
It would be completed but cork is in short supply - here in Canada we are at the wrong end of the food supply..
So as a coarse idea of what it might be like here is WIP image..
Very messy, as always, just like the real thing..
The new location for the O gauge part of the layout is about 8 inches higher than it was..
I hope it is all going to work, after all the effort to get thus far..
....
It is odd how a layout that once fit
The latest news from Barcoombe...
Well having now fulfilled my O gauge dreams of having a viable circle of track and a BR Mark 1 BSK new problems emerge...
Having 40" set-track curves solved the problem.. of having a circle in limited space...
But they are un-prototypical and so having scale models run on such a curve can present new difficulties.
There is enough slack between the coach and the engines to work just fine in forward motion..
However..
Reversing a mark 1 coach out from a sidi
The reformed layout is rising from the ashes in its new digs. For now it is still called Barcoombe but all will eventually be renewed.
The size is 11' x 10' which is not ideal! But it has been possible to squeeze much of the functionality of the previous layout into it - plus a circle of track so that the Locos can get some decent 'running in time'. This new version has allowed the construction of a small OO/H0 layout - plus a small OO9/H0e/N scale/'spur' layout. The OO/OO9 will be based on the
Well this arrived after a Regent and three Esso versions and very nice they are too...
They have a good heft, the bearings are all sprung, have nice screw link couplings -
However the hooks were designed almost identical to the prototype and are thus a bit awkward to use..
They might need their points fettled to increase the gap to improve their ease of use.
The other day I noticed an end link from a screw link coupling upon the floor of the train room (in and of itself a miracle)
U
To me, one of the things that helps set a good railway layout are a few vehicles.
Cars of any vintage can be found off the peg or RTR at a scale of 1/43...
Trying to find Trucks, Lorries and Buses at this scale in any kind of UK outline vintage or not - impossible.
It appears that the scale of choice is 1/50... In other words useless....!
Many have tried to persuade me that 1/50 when seen from a distance is just fine.
Fine for them maybe but not me.
So imagine my joy to discover that one c
On the 20th Nov last year I moved to a new home - still in Nova Scotia but now in the town of Bedford..
Much closer to civilization than before .
There is space for a small trainroom that permits a layout that is about 2' wide in the form of a 11' X 10' rectangle...
At last the locomotive stock can be properly run in.. The previous shunting layout did not permit any going around in circles for half an hour at a time...
Here is view of the new premises..
(At this point I have abandoned us
The days grow short and the nights longer and its time to get back to some serious modelling...
However I have yet to pluck up the courage or whatever it is that is needed to assemble and paint a brass kit of a working loco.
In the meanwhile I have turned to the manufacturers of RTR locos.
The latest arrival is a model of Childrey Manor - commissioned from Tower in Blackpool.
It was made by San Cheng in Korea as supplied by Finescale Brass to Tower who completed it for me.
I placed
The move to O gauge has caused me to come to the conclusion that I needed to wind down the old OO gauge layout.
So a couple of weeks ago the task of packing up all the models, creating an inventory and disassembling the layout commenced.
Clearing all the stock off the layout had a purgative effect and allowed the entry of fresh thoughts...
Thoughts - like the need to never again leave the models on the layout but to place them there fresh every time the layout was operational.
The clut
It's been a while and a little more progress has been made...
The layout has gotten a name - 'Barcoombe'
I don't know why it sort of came to me and has been pleasantly irritating me ever since.
The missing stove for the Springside signal-box detailing kit arrived and now the signalman can keep warm, dry and have a cup of tea...
Springside were very good about the missing part - even though I bought he kit over a year ago - and sent it over for free.
I managed to acquire some Skyt
Having begun and almost finished a white metal kit from Duncan Models - Henry - the Shunting Horse...
There was one more kit left to attempt - the Springside Signal Box Detailing Kit... It is all white metal and requires a great deal of time, focus and concentration. It is, I think, well worth the effort - even if its never going to be seen again, hidden in the signal box, once made. It forced me to consider the layout in terms of a working railway. There was research needed into how th
The transfers from Fox miraculously appeared in the post thus introducing me to my worst nightmare, 'Applying Transfers'...
So I carefully read and re-read the instructions that came with them...
... and dutifully gloss varnished the areas where the transfers were to be applied
Then as test of skills decided to first place the XP - having found out where it was supposed to go.
The first attempt was an abject failure as the transfer simply rolled around the backing paper and stuck to it, ra
The Slater's BR Van kit, which arrived here over a year ago has now been built.
The last plastic model I ever built was an Airfix Sunderland Flying Boat way back in 1960...
So I have had to resurrect and improve my modelling skills to tackle this job...
Here is an image of the finished van - all that is missing are the transfers which, hopefully, are on their way from Fox.
The build seems to be quite straight forward, but if one has never done anything like this before, very slow.. very
And here is the result notified in the last post...
Introducing - Jock the shunter, signalman Dave and naturally Andy the guard - more to come...
Including engine drivers, a fireman and a passenger..
It was quite enjoyable painting them - not exactly professional...
The was a minor disaster with the water crane, leaving a it little out of plumb...
Somehow the epoxy resin took longer to dry than it should
Jock's shunting pole lost its prong and was repaired using a bit of copper wir
A whole range of white metal kits and figures from a variety of manufacturers arrived in the post quite a while ago, they just sat in a bin as progress on the layout ground to a halt.
Recently things started moving again, and it was quite a surprise to rediscover them. Now was/is the time to assemble and paint them...
Here is picture of some of them before painting - all ghosts from a far distant past...
To this day I am not sure what I was thinking when they were ordered..
The Water
The Peco Level crossing has been assembled and painted and located (not finally, but good enough for now,).
The paints used were Tamiya and excellent they are too, they give a good finish and are water clean up. They appear to be consistent in quality, which is more that can sometimes be said for other brands.
Because of the way The gates were hung and in trying to conform to Peco's picture on the box. Essential if one does not know what one is doing, it wound up with having to put the cl
Activity has resumed after a lengthy hiatus. Buildings have appeared and are appearing, mostly RTP. Fences are being planned and located. The garage/coal merchants has now a home. The Peco level crossing is mostly built - all it needs is some final assembly and a paint job. At last some RTP 50's lorries in actual 1/43 - this truly a wonder - I found them advertised in the O gauge guild magazine...
So things are looking up and if the momentum continues - summer is a busy time for my business and
Things slowly grind on, I'm a thinking about getting a Tower Models B set...
My mind is going around in circles with the folowing...
Should I go for GWR livery and mix it in with the early BR?
I do like the GWR but its not going to fit...
I should really get Blood and Custard - I much prefer Bachmann's paler custard colour on their MK 1's rather than the Hornby as they used on the maunsells...
But BR Maroon is a much neater colour - did the B set ever appear in all over crimson?
That woul
A maroon auto coach W38 and a class 6400 Pannier Tank number 6421, shed plate 83D - Laira, have arrived from Lionheart... Goodness knows if they ever worked together in the real world - but in this alternate universe they are about to...
They are lovely models - at least I think so - but beauty is in the eye of the beholder -
A standard BR van kit is on its way from Slaters so some real modelling will also get done.
The planning for the backscene has started - The plan is... (u
After much thought and 'Outlay' and a happy accident a proposal for a 'Layout' appeared...
Not being versed in the black arts of Templot and its kin, this is a rough sketch.
The happy accident referred to above, occurred when the mails managed to mangle a left hand point being sent over from Kernow. Believing Kernow had no more in stock, I ordered two more from Hatton’s, and informed Kernow about the tragedy.
Now before you could say 'refund' Kernow had mailed out a replacement -
The build of the Peco Signal has gone as far as it is going for now... It comes in kit form and comprises...
An instruction sheet
Some white plastic parts for the pillar and the signal arms (you get a choice between Home or Distant)...
Some dark brown parts for the finial, cap, hinge brackets for the signal arm and the lever, lever weight, ladder platform, lamp and lamp base.
A black plastic fret holding the ladder...
A brass etch holding - the lens holder, 3 washers, platfo
Having discovered how to load images to the blog here is a picture of the rolling stock so far acquired for this new 'O' gauge adventure.
Now the serious modelling must begin -
(1) A layout plan would be useful and much research is currently going on as to what exactly can be done in 7mm scale on a 12 x 2 foot board... It will probably evolve rather like my adventures in 4mm scale, piecemeal - but it needs some overall idea as space is at such a premium. (It would be more than eassy
Somewhere in the west of England during the early 1950's there is a small branchline station with a coal siding, and possible freight depot serving the local industries which mainly consists of agriculture and light manufacturing... Now to get all that plus something a bit more stimulating into a 12 x 2 foot space at 7mm scale!
So far there is no name for it... But I thought to record its progress. So far the stock includes a small Tower Models steam shunter 1364 (made for them by San - Cheng)
