Entry posted by Norton Wood
517 views
Having returned from the Great Electric Train show, I, of course, did the most dangerous thing...buying things.
The show was very good, although I think it could have done with a few more layouts themed at different periods and area's as most were BR, GWR, SR or BR (S) or BR (W). Something I think Hornby Magazine needs to look at in future... Unless I am missing a point with them and there focus is Southern & GWR??
Anyway while at the event I needed to get quite a lot of things to support the layout to add lots of little details...
I purchased:
Will Kit
Ratio Kit
Double O gauge society Sleeper spacer and track gauge
Black Ballast/ Coal
TMC's specially ordered Plate Wagon, which has been weathered to suit
Road Signs - As part of the Grimy Times stand
And finally the buffer heads for the Mineral wagon
The next day I set about building the kits and working on regauging the track, plus a few interesting things that modelers might like...
The board
So I sourced some wood to make the board, and so far the frame has been made with a plan to use some mdf to make the baseboard. At the time of writing this has been cut down and will be cut to the 3ft by 1ft size required. As of Sunday the 21st of October I will be testing the layout with board 1 to see if my measurements have been correct, this will be at my local model club so if you are in Norfolk and fancy a visit to a small upcoming heritage line, you can come to Whitwell & Reepham Station.
Track Laying
As readers will know the track plan was already set up, however, the plan was to lay the track and leave it. Well at the Great Electric Train Show I bought a sleeper spacer so the sleepers would be to the correct spacing to British Standard Gauge. This took around an hour and a half to carry out but I finished that job, laid the track and tested it. The Point, of course, I've not changed but I will cover up the sleepers so it's practically impossible to see that the sleepers are the wrong gauge.
Here are the results
Once that had been completed I began laying the track and getting it into the right position, which has turned out quite nicely.
(Photos)
Talking about track something I would like to do in future using correct 4mm Track will be from 'Finescale - Track building Systems' which have been working on something which will be better than the Peco 'bullhead' range - The photos below are from the Great Electric Train show, I have to say I'm very impressed with the track, as it not only has the sleepers correctly molded and spaced but also will show the chair and keys which will be molded into the sleeper, something which will also cost a lot lot less than the Peco range which has a lot more compromises, plus the track is being made in the UK. From my discussion, there should be lengths of track available in November at Warley.
Little Bits
In the meantime, I've been working on the coal merchant building, Staiths, Road signposts, and the mineral wagon.
Merchant building & Staiths
So what has been done so far is the building has gone into White Primer followed by painting of the brickwork, roof tiles, and the wood to follow the LNER theme being Green & Cream. The Staiths had gone into Grey Primer followed by painting into matt black, and the coal painted into Satin black. After that had dried I began using the coal I had bought and used it to cover up the plastic coal effect from the molding.
Road Signposts
Quite an easy job really, firstly I cut out the signs that I wanted, I then found some brass wire which I had lying around which I used on my P2 & W1 kits. The wire and back of the sign were painted black. After this had dried I applied white paint to give the black with white stripes on the signs. After this, a little weathering left this effect.
The wording says - "Crossing No Gates"
Mineral Wagon
So far the only progress that has been made is the white primer, as we enter Autumn, getting good weather is getting harder and harder to get the ability to go out with the airbrush and paint the model grey is getting harder to do. But I shall endure and will wait until a good day comes around where I can do this.
So, all in all, it's been a productive time working on this layout, and I've enjoyed working on it so far. But I can't do any more work until the Whitwell & Reepham Model Railway Show, as board 4 will be part of a demonstration that I will be working on, over that event.
To end off then, board 1 has now got a name as each section will have a name it's now called "Thelveton". As this is what our light railway terminus station will be called.
Until next time
-
4
2 Comments
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now