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Season's greetings from the FSWDC

After a slight delay (no doubt caused by the villainous LSWR and MSWJR) the christmas mail has arrived. Merry christmas and a happy new year everyone!  
Mikkel

Mikkel

9
Intro

Design principles

Here's an introduction to the main approaches and principles behind the Farthing layouts.       1. One bite at a time. Each layout can be set up and operated in our living room in a short space of time. They show different parts of the same overall station, meaning that I can explore my interest in junction stations in a limited space, step by step. Some of the layouts use Peco track, others use C+L handbuilt track.         2 . Into the scen
Mikkel

Mikkel in Intro

2
Stories

Fitted fish and piles (1947)

More "forward-dating" of Farthing here, this time to 1947, with some of my ageing RTR stock brought into play.     No. 9319 of the 93xx Class serving as station pilot at Farthing. At this point in time Hawksworth is in office at Paddington, but the loco carries the hallmarks of his predecessors Churchward and Collett. This is the Bachmann model with just a bit of light weathering. Not too sure about the chimney and other details, but I do like the GWR 2-6-0s.    
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

11
Stories

Bunker first (1927)

Farthing is normally set in 1907, but a while ago I decided to give my "out of period" stock a bit more attention by doing dedicated operating sessions for alternative time periods. Yesterday was a "1927" day, and here are a few shots. Above, Small Metro No. 1492 runs bunker first during shunting operations in the bay area. The loco features the enclosed cab and Collett style bunker with which many of the older tank locos were fitted in the 1920s.       Driver Henry Pull
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

18

Railway Modelling and Art

Once a week, a meeting takes place at Farthing Station where staff and regular passengers engage in learned discussion about some of the great questions of our time...                                     Link to Far Twittering & Oysterperch Link to the Wallace and Gromit layout  
Mikkel

Mikkel

16

Ready-to-plonk freight

A parcel arrived today with a small selection of ready-to-plonk freight items.     There's still something magical about opening parcels. With a cheerful Hornby logo peering out at me, I even longed briefly for the Christmases of my childhood. Then I remembered the two months of hysteria we have ahead of us, and good old cynicism returned .       The depot is going to need a lot of goods. I already have some of the white-metal offerings from variou
Mikkel

Mikkel

11

Playing with mirrors

Been experimenting with back-scene effects for The Depot. Basically it's a mirror, thereby doubling the size of the interior in visual terms. The idea is to take a photo similar to these once the building is finished, and blow it up in size for use as a moveable backscene when viewing the layout from the alternative side. In the photo above, the mirror begins between the twin pillars behind the wagon. Everything beyond that is a reflection. The lack of buffers at one of the wagon is not part of
Mikkel

Mikkel

8
Musings

The mists of time (and all that)

This may not be to everyone's taste, but I've been playing around with some photos of the Victorian coaches that I recently dug out (see last blog entry). For some reason, out-of-focus photos of historical stock have always captured my imagination. Like ghosts from the past, or whatever. These manipulated images are a quick attempt to recreate something similar.       This shot somehow looks quite "real" to me. Perhaps a reminder that there are other avenues in layout pr
Mikkel

Mikkel in Musings

6
Coaches & Browns

Hand-me-down coaches

Supposed to be cleaning the basement today, but ended up sorting through a box full of half-forgotten rolling stock that I've picked up second-hand over the years. Obviously I had to give them a spin on the layout. (“Just to see if they’re still working, dear"). The above trio of Victorian coaches were originally scratchbuilt by Chris Edge. I couldn’t resist them when they were up for sale a few years back, even if they are a bit early for my 1900s timeframe. If I’m not mistaken, the models repr
Mikkel

Mikkel in Coaches & Browns

15
Structures

Dusting off the cobwebs

Forget glacial progress, this is more like continental drift. After a good start, work on The depot has been all but stalled since spring. But with working hours beginning to look more reasonable again, I took the plunge and dug out the layout in the basement today. See if you can spot the layout in the photo above! Funny how I can spend days working on some minute detail of a layout - only to abandon the whole thing for months afterwards in a remote corner of the basement. But that's the nice t
Mikkel

Mikkel in Structures

6

Summer silliness (video)

Just a silly little video clip here, fooling around with an off-cut from another Farthing video. It seems Shunter George "Bulldog" Mullins had a bit too much of the good stuff last night.      
Mikkel

Mikkel

2
Coaches & Browns

Motley crew

After a tough spell at work it's been great to just run some stock back and forth today - no rules, no schedules, anything goes. Fortunately, GWR trains at the turn of the century lend themselves pretty well to that state of mind. A variety of stock, styles and liveries could be seen mixed together in the same train. Who said Great Western trains were all the same! Here are some examples as seen on Farthing.     Above we see the Westbury stopping train with a motley assembly
Mikkel

Mikkel in Coaches & Browns

19
Structures

Dry Run

Following concerns over the slipping time schedule, an inspector was recently despatched from Paddington to review progress of the new goods depot at Farthing station.       The inspector in conversation with the responsible engineer and builder's foreman. Despite the delays it would appear that some progress has been made on the main structure. That said, this is really just a dry run - little of what is seen here is actually fixed in place.      
Mikkel

Mikkel in Structures

37
Structures

Kit-bashed roof structure

The roof structure for the "The depot" has been underway for some time as I've been busy with other things, but it is now nearing completion (sketches of the goods depot can be found here). My original idea was for a large single span roof, but after ploughing through photos and obtaining some sound advice from fellow RMwebbers (thanks everyone!). I decided on multiple lesser spans instead, of which two are visible on the layout.         The structure is built from
Mikkel

Mikkel in Structures

6
Stories

The Remains of the Day

While researching a book on the real Farthing station, I recently acquired a set of photos from the 1900-1910 period that I thought I would share here. My sources in Farthing have been able to provide a bit of background on some of the staff featured in the photos. Above, we see the bay platform at Farthing, with station staff in attendance. The stationmaster Mr A. Woodcourt is seen second from the left. The stock presents something of a mystery. While it has been known for some time that loco N
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

8
Figures

Footplate crew

I've been on the lookout for 4mm pre-grouping drivers and firemen recently, but so far with limited success. Meanwhile, here's a couple of modified ones from IKB. For me, tiny projects like these are as much fun as the more substantial work.       The IKB fireman seen above is unusual in that, unlike 90% of 4mm firemen, he is not furiously shovelling! Unfortunately the mould lacks a bit of bulk, so I extended his girth using plastic putty. The nose was re-sculpted and th
Mikkel

Mikkel in Figures

21
Misc.

GWR Modelling website

Just a brief note to say that I have passed on the "GWR Modelling" website to a new webmaster. This is none other than Russ Elliott, who is well-known here om RMweb (although under a different name) and in the modelling world more generally. I can't think of a better man to take over the site, and I'm sure I'm not alone in thanking him for doing so and for keeping the website going. Also a big word of thanks to those who helped facilitate the changeover in practical terms.   The transi
Mikkel

Mikkel in Misc.

3

Once Upon a Time in the West (video)

Here's a little video showing scenes and train movements at Farthing station - including the arrival, shunting and departure of the Westbury stopping train. It's 2,5 minutes long. Be warned that it features music, although only a quiet piano.  
Mikkel

Mikkel

21
Layout construction

Soft body, hard shell

No, this is not a description of the average RMwebber, but a reference to the baseboards for my 2010 challenge layout "The depot". As Kenton keeps reminding us, the clock is ticking so I thought I'd best move ahead with this. The scenic section of this GWR micro- layout is to be housed within an Ikea "Snackbox". This plywood shell now houses a "soft" self-contained baseboard, made from 10mm foamboard and measuring 35.2 x 54.1 cms (13.9 x 21.3 in). This serves to raise the scenic section, and pro
Mikkel

Mikkel in Layout construction

9
Stories

Blue skies and horse traffic

It is afternoon in the Overbourne bay at Farthing station. The all third "strengthener" rests in one of the sidings, while a worker from a local cartage company is lost in thought. The coach reveals that I'm still in the process of fitting couplings to some of the stock.       The regular branch engine No. 1961 of the "850" Class shunts a horsebox to diagram N5 into the horse dock. The horse seems nervous at the prospect of travelling inside a box on wheels. Perhaps in re
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

22
Stories

A parcel for Mr Ahern

Our story begins inside a parcels van on the Westbury to Farthing stopping train. The parcel in the middle is of particular interest to us. It is addressed to a Mr Ahern at No. 7, Memory Lane, Farthing.         Safely arrived in the bay at Farthing, the parcels are handled by Porter P.W. Saunders. The one for Mr Ahern is under his hand. The flat package in front contains a scientific manuscript, in which a certain A. Einstein proposes that space and time are not con
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

14
Layout design

Sketches of "The depot"

Here's a first attempt to visualize "The depot", drawn with the Sketchup programme. As mentioned earlier, it will be constructed within an Ikea "Snackbox". The scenic part will be raised to allow ample room for electrics etc in the space underneath. I've used the same principle as on "The bay", where the viewing side is opposite of what you'd normally do. The idea is to increase the sense of being "inside" the scene, rather than viewing it from a distance.       So we're
Mikkel

Mikkel in Layout design

13
Layout design

Shunting Puzzle

I've been working on the trackplan for the next Farthing layout, which will show part of a large GWR goods depot.       In order to improve the operating interest, I've decided to incorporate a shunting puzzle in the track plan. For anyone interested in shunting puzzles, I can recommend the excellent Model Railway Shunting Puzzles site, plus of course Carl Arendt's site. The simple plan above (not to scale) is an initial design, and may be revised. Any ideas for improvem
Mikkel

Mikkel in Layout design

6
Musings

Six Lessons Learnt

Well they say we have to learn as we go along, so here are six "lessons learnt" that I'll be taking with me from the scenic work on "The bay". Some of it is basic stuff I suppose, but perhaps there are one or two things of interest to others.     Wiltshire or Arizona?   1. Kill your darlings I tend to have these little pet features on the layout that I really like when viewed on their own, but which somehow don't fit into the bigger picture. After much agonizin
Mikkel

Mikkel in Musings

8
Stories

A most implausible arrival

One of the reasons I chose to model Farthing was the rather unusual combination of stock sometimes seen in that area. In this case, East meets West as the thoroughly Cornish 0-4-4T No. 34 heads a train of Holden 4-wheelers from the Metropolitan area. A highly implausible combination, especially during this period and in this location! Above, Driver T. F. Oberon eases the branch train into the bay, while Fireman R.S. Peaseblossom is looking desperately for his lunch bag.      
Mikkel

Mikkel in Stories

16
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