Leaderboard

The chassis of this model includes a representation of the inside motion, visible in the gap 'twixt boiler and running plate. It's bright red! I didn't want to hide this completely, so decided to add a layer of wash to the parts that were visible. The rigger brush was ideal for this task, enabling just enough wash to be deposited.

Following the debacle mentioned in the previous blog entry, 5MT 73049 has now been paired with the correct type of tender. The route I went down was to buy a second hand Bachmann model of 73049 itself, what I should have done in the first place, but since I'd already gone to the trouble of weathering and renumbering the original loco, I decided to swap the tender from the new model and use the old tender and new model (do keep up at the back there) for a future repaint and relining job into BR black. An additional consideration was that the BR green lining wasn't as finely applied on the new 73049 for some reason, so I thought I'd retain the older model for that livery. It wasn't all plain sailing, though. The tender was pristine and needed some weathering and toning down of the lining, to blend in with the earlier loco. I also reckoned that the shade of green on the tender was a bit brighter than the older model, although that might just be a function of the weathering I'd already done to the loco. Rather than dig out the airbrush, I set about using weathering acrylics, applied thickly then immediately swabbed off with a cotton bud. Disaster! The lining, and the BR emblem, immediately started to lift! I managed to back off before any more harm was done, but it was already too late to save the emblem, and the lining was now broken in patches. The weathering acrylics are quite mild so I can only conclude that I still had some cleaning solvent on the brush when I first dipped it into the acrylic pot, and enough of this transferred onto the tender to lift the printed details. However, I was still surprised at the speed with which it all started to come away. I've had this happen with two other locos, both Bachmann. In one instance, the mixed traffic lining on a 4MT began to lift just from the model being handled - again, possibly due to solvent residue on my finger tips - and I remember a similar issue with a Prairie. I've certainly not encountered similar vulnerability with the printed details on Hornby locos. In order to repair the damage, I removed the emblem completely, using Micro-Sol and a blunt cocktail stick, and then replaced it with an HMRS decal. I also used HMRS lining to repair the missing areas, which is a bit of a bodge but I really didn't feel like lifting and relining the entire tender side just for the sake of a few small areas. The HMRS stuff is a bit wider, and more orange in hue than the red-tinged lining applied by Bachmann, but I think a little toning down hopes it blend in well enough. I think the picture below shows that there's still a discrepancy in the BR green shade between loco and tender, even after weathering, but it's not something that the eye picks up quite so readily. One final touch, which I've forgotten to do, is to add a proper set of numbers to the smokebox, but that'll be attended to in due course. Oh, and I'll do something about the coal. and maybe add a tablet catcher if I can find one. All good fun.

It's been a few days since I last posted but progress have been steady. I've been focusing on completing the das clay roadway around the Dock area. More rolling between balsa formers to get the right depth before smoothing off with a shaping tool. (rolling out the das clay to correct depth and standard width before laying on a pva layer) There was a lot of cutting and shaping the clay to get it around lots of tricky corners. (all the clay in but looking a bit rough.) Once dried I sanded down the clay to get rid of the wrinkles and smooth out some of the bumps. (sanding down the clay. The small triangle on the right hasn't been done yet and the sleeper end bumps can be seen through the clay. These were sanded out). Once all the clay was sanded and the dusted hoovered up I then started to infill the tracks with thin strips of balsa. Straight lengths of track were relatively easy whilst points were quite tricky. Radius tracks required me to wet the balsa and gradually bend it between my fingers. (initial infilling with balsa strips) Once every piece had been cut out my type 66 was driven over it to check clearances with flanges and that all the electrics still worked. (type 66 testing the infill) (limit of progress today - a few more points to be infilled) A final shot of the dockside: (Nord pas de calais back in Dock) (the second Linkspan paving beginning to stretch down to the train deck) Thanks for reading

So having settled on Railmatch acrylic Sleeper Grime... I've run out. More on order. There's a coupe of pics in different lighting of the test piece now it's fully dry. The difference in the light is just the camera being a few inches higher in one that the other. As the pullies have arrived, I've made up the three sets needed for the platform signal and dummy I'd omitted. I've used Design No.3(a-198) for these - because I'd not ordered enough. Rather than making a pair represent one pulley, I've use single ones spaced a bit. The thing is stuck into sleeper off-cut so it can be superglued rather than soldered. Just two more single ones to go... probably. And to the manholes. I put one on a spot of flat ground and it looked like an after thought, so I've made a surround to represent the top of the manhole which can be sunk in a bit. I did the circle one first as it seemed the hardest, but to be honest plasticard is so easy to cut that was a bit OTT worrying about it. Decoration will take place in a bit. In the mean time a spot of planning of Soddingham's drainage system - nothing scientific, just to avoid placement looking entirely random. The signal box has also been officially planted. I moved it back a bit as the rampy thing over the rodding at the front was a tad cramped. With this in place I built the ground up to suit, and the box walls to also remove the 'plonked there' look. Some grassy bits and stuff will appear when I'm feeling artistic. I could really do with getting the shed kits to complete the signal box area set up.

A K's cast white metal kit for LNWR 'Problem' class 2-2-2 "Lady of the Lake". Retrieved from the fabled Round Tuit box and still on the vacuum-packed cards. Silly me, I've fixed the footplate before fitting the driving wheels, so this is going to be fun. One of the bearings still needs opening up with the broach, but has twice come unglued from the chassis. The tender is going together slowly: I'm fitting a Tenshodo spud bogie with about the right wheel spacing. The wheels themselves are a bit undersized, but once the bogie is in place the tender sits level. Whether it will have the oomph to move anything more than the loco and tender is something I'll find out later. The boiler was squashed in storage - or perhaps before - but lucky me, I found a length of dowel which is a good fit inside, so it's been possible to tweak the metal back into shape. The marks left by the pliers can be removed later.

It's the turn of the airbrush now. The inderframe will be discoloured using Railmatch Sleeper Grime, applied with an Iwata Eclipse SBS. The driven wheels are turned while the paint is sprayed, to prevent there being a patchy finish to the rims. With N Gauge and OO/HO Gauge engines this can be done with a PP9 battery, but this doesn't work with O Gauge. I use two pieces of scrap OO Gauge rail screwed into place through a piece of wiring terminal block set at the width of the wheel treads and bent to the width of the battery terminals on the other side. The wheels are airbrushed first and then the rest of the underparts, not forgetting the buffer beams. The wheels on the trailing axle are turned by hand. After I thought I had finished I saw from the photographs that I was wrong. I had to return to the spray booth and finish off the patchy bits I thought I had avoided!

So it has been an indecent amount of time since my last post. I have been busy.... As some might have been following, I’ve now got a layout thread (which also had not had a post for a while) and a 3D workbench thread which because I can do it in my lunch break at work gets rather more progress, although when the prints get printed they fall into the workbench black hole! Still when family, work and home maintenance permit I have actually managed to do some real modelling - just none of it mine! First was a Brassmasters easi-chassis for the Hornby 42xx for Davies the bridges. This was, despite its name, a difficult build. But the dam things finished, worked on the bench and as soon as lock down is over will be dropped back to its owner. Then there were these strange things: Yes, they really are diesels and no they are not 4mm scale. They belong to my 6 year old son who had been given them by a friend on mine who wanted to dispose of his N gauge stuff. The end result was that Teddy gained two more locos, some more coaches and a lot more track that just had to be incorporated into his layout! The class 47 also needed some tlc as it made an audible clicking and ran roughly. After much investigation (double drive is great for haulage and electrical pick up but my word them are lots of bits) it was found that one bogie was binding. Yet more investigation found that it was one axle causing the problem, and the problem was a split gear. Replacing the axle and gear solved the problem. The DMU needed to be de-chipped but getting the body off was nowhere near as gentle as the service sheet implied! Eventually it came off without damage. Teddy now enjoys drive the diesel in the dark so he can see the working head and tail lights, which impedes work on my workbench! Another update to follow to discuss the GWR ex MSWJR 2-4-0 as the photos exceed the 10mb limit...

Buffer beams get dirty. They're not alone in that, obviously, but this aspect of weathering doesn't always get the attention it deserves, and I include myself there. There is much opportunity for detail weathering in O Gauge, so I decided to put a little more effort into this subject by applying a wash to the varied protruberances on the buffer beams. A straightforward process, involving a rigger brush, white spirit and MIG Dark Wash. The brush bristles are first loaded with white spirit and then dipped into the bottle of wash. The tip of the brush is applied to the edge of a detail (bolt head in this case) and capillary action will take the fliud as far as the consistency permits. The thinner the wash the further it will travel. You should be able to see just where it has been applied by studying the photographs. Note that the colouring will be lighter once the wash has dried, as is always the case with the paints we apply to our models.

Having completed the cliffs and having an evening to spare I decided to tackle a fairly long section of road. Having learnt from my earlier mistakes with the overbridge and Linkspan I didn't try to put the ironworks in first. They can be a finishing touch instead which stops them getting bashed about. It also saves a lot of fiddly cutting about the das clay. I used the air dried clay again as overall I was pleased with the result last time and I still have a large block to use up! Sticking two strips of balsa down to my kitchen work surface gave the correct depth and width to roll out my clay between. A Liberal application of PVA to help bond it to the ply and then I carefully peeled the clay off the work surface and laid it gently down trying to avoid too many finger marks. Once on I used my wooden das clay shaping tools to gently smooth the clay into the corners, adding a bit more here and there to make up levels. (first section complete) Considering I had rolled it out as a straight piece it coped with going around the tight corner surprisingly well with a bit of persuasion with my modelling tools. Second section was the ramp (ramp paved) After that was a wide section of tarmac to join the first two sections together (top piece smoothed into place) And then to finish this section a large piece that will go under the bridge (the last piece butting up against the railway) Much checking of clay heights, point operation and flanges ensued to try and ensure I wasn't storing up trouble for myself later on. Just need to let this all dry out so it can shrink a bit before coming back with filler then painting, white lining and adding the self-adhesive decals and ironworks. (first main section of road complete) Thanks for reading

The main assemblies for the wagon are now largely complete. Frame has been detailed, spring castings should have more leaves but those look ok to my eye. Body has the sides fitted. and the floor is planked. Note the holes in the body sides. I think these were to enable the screw clamps to be tightened up when used at a lower level, together with a pair of clamps at the bottom of the well. The fiddly bit was making the support frames. This has taken me three attempts to get the proportions right and find a method for glueing all the bits together. I will cut away the part between the bottoms of the uprights after painting, for now its useful for strength and ease of handling. A photo of it all sat together. It looks the part, but I wish I had some better idea of the design of the interior parts. However I suspect that such info has now long vanished. A coat of primer and bolthead detailing next.

So the ex MSWJR 2-4-0... a nucast kit built by Great Shefford of this parish, but in exchange for him cading the hull for a St Ives Mackerel Driver (don’t ask) I said I’d do the chassis. The chassis was to be nice simple and rigid. The issue was the leading pony axle. It needed to have a degree of compensation but also needed to take a lot of weight, the 2-4-0 being quite nose heavy. The solution was a central pivot from the main chassis that would take the weight and be easily tweaked until the ride height was right. I then decided to make the tender on Mike Sharman’s free floating axle basis so that it would transfer the considerable weight of the cast tender to the loco and hopefully improve adhesion. I also added pickups to the rear fixed tender axle, using a 2pin JST plug to link tender to loco. At about this point I was chatting to GS abs he said something along the lines of ‘it needs to be dcc...’ which of course meant the 2pin was 2 wires too few for a chip in the tender. So I added to small brass tubes on pcb to insulate them from the tender - you can see them peeking out in the photo above. These take split pins soldered to wire to give the extra connections needed. So with that, my work was done abs having it run smoothly on the bench it too can go to its owner for painting and fitting the dcc chip. Still on the bench to finish us a P4 chassis for a nucast L & Y 0-6-2t for the Gosport Guru (who now resides somewhere other than Gosport); and a Bachmann Standard 4 mogul to EM conversion for Kipford which has proved to be a sod due to all sorts of problems with getting coupling rods that match the wheelbase. More on this when it’s finished - it now rolls under finger power without binding so I’ve just got to put all the gubbings back together and sort out the walschaerts knitting on each side....

Peter Strange lists 14 5 plank wagons all ex-MR in the WC&PR goods stock but it is clear from the available photos in his book that the sources of these were varied. At least two none MR wagons can been seen in the available photos, including #21 which is most clearly not ex-MR (H/T Compound2632). Those confirmed to be ex-MR stock from photos include #3,#5, #6 and #7. As best I can tell #3 and at least one other ex-MR 5 plank were D299 with the later Ellis 10A axle-boxes. The Slaters Kit 4027 provides an easy route to D299 MR 5 plank wagons of the correct vintage and I went ahead on this basis. Construction was straightforward but I fell into the minor trap of the newcomer as the kit has one crucial flaw pointed out by Compound2632 in his Topic on D299. This caused my buffer bars to be placed 0.5mm to high relative to the sole bars but once done there was no undo and it's only obvious to the experienced eye. If I build another I'll know better. .

My workbench has a number of ongoing projects involving Bachmann Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0's which will appear in various future blog entries. Watch this space.... Reading and perusing the photographs of the excellent Volume 4B: Gloucester Midland Lines Part 3: South * by Neil Parkhouse the Dursley Branch has always held a fascination since I read Ben Ashworth's Last Days of Steam in Gloucestershire. Now to me an Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 looks best in lined BR black. However Swindon built 46526/46527 the last two members of the class migrated to Gloucester 85B Barnwood shed in March 1962 working the Dursley branch until September 1962 before heading to Oswestry. Being Swindon built they were finished in fully lined out BR lined green. Now my ruse here is did they ever make it down to the Forest of Dean? Perhaps they may have but were never caputered by the illustrious Mr. Ashworth. Then again.. I managed to aquire a Bachmann lined green 46521 for less than £50 missing the accessory pack from a well know auction site. The Bachmann Spares Department came up trumps once more and the missing accessory pack was obtained for less than £10 included including P&P. Here's a few reference shots I've taken of 46526 my chosen example over 46527 owing to the fact it had an 85B shed code plate fitted. Following on from investigations into poor steaming at Swindon in the early 1950's the Ivatt 2MT's were fitted with a number of different styles of chimney. Some appeared to represent those fitted to the BR Std Class 2 78xxx which was inspired by the Ivatt design. Thankfully PDK still produce a lovely turned brass design suitable for fitting to an Ivatt 2MT. I removed the original Bachmann example with the aid of Zuron track cutters, a scalpel and fine grade wet and dry. Here it is fitted. I used a shimm of plastic tube inserted in the turning to help with secure fitting. The brass turning was finished with Halfords grey primer and satin black before receiving a coat of Vallejo black. Notice the Bachmann numbers and water softening triangle logo have been removed from the cab sides using T-Cut applied gently with cotton buds and cocktail sticks. Also the builders plates have removed from the front frames using the above technique ready for electrification flashes. Tamiya masking tape has been cut to size to apply the Fox Transfer numbers in a straight line. Note the centre marking point. Being a WR loco the front and tender rear lamp irons have been turned 90 Degrees to represent the prototypes designed for WR style lamps. These have been touched in with Precision BR green enamel. Another Ivatt 2MT design feature subject to varience was the tender steps. Bachmann's 46521 comes with an elongated cab end step seen below. Looking at photos 46526 had rung ladders to the front and rear of the tender chassis. Therefore a quick chassis swap and addition of spare rear tender steps resulted in the following. Smoke box numplate wise I'm going to use the Pacific Models printed examples which look fantastic and are excellent value for money. As you can see I will also be using the brilliant Fox shed code plates. More photos tomorrow. Cheers, Mark * The whole range of the Gloucester Series books by Lightmoor Press is a well worth purchase. They are very informative accompanied by some inspirational photography. Well recommended and a suitable Festive Gift...

The Sharpie is indeed used for removing the bright shiny finish of the wheel rims, and the coupling rods, too. I have found in the past that airbrushed paint on these bare metal surfaces can rub off too easily, and even flake off if applied too thickly. I read, many years ago somewhere, that this could be prevented by blackening the surfaces before applying the paint. At the time I didn't fully understand the term, 'blackening', and used a marker pen. That looked blue to me, rather than black (yes, I did use a black marker!) so immediately rejected the idea. If I now work on something with bright surfaces that will be airbrushed, I will apply a coat of black (still looks blue to me) from a marker pen before airbrushing starts. You might be able to see the difference in this photograph, where the wheel rims and coupling rod have been done, but the flanges have not. Perversely, they look pink in the photograph rather than blue.

Just a quick update tonight as I didn't have much time. The shrubbery has grown dramatically today with the rest of the embankment covered up. I've left a small amount of embankment clear for a small diorama depicting a landslip. (embankment fully vegetated) There are two structures that will adorn the top of the cliff. The first was an abandoned WW2 observation bunker. These were always very crude bits of architecture so thankfully quite easy to model. Digging through my box of bits I had some 3mm ply which I cut the walls and roof out of. Having glued it all together it was painted up in suitably grubby colours before being stuck above the tunnel portal and then covered with encroaching scrub. (the old bunker with a commanding view of the harbour) The second structure for the cliff will be the concrete control tower but that will have to wait for another day. Thanks for reading

So having left the plaster to dry overnight today was a painting day. Firstly I painted the soil a lightish soil colour having seen some photos showing how the underlying chalk affected the upper soil colour (pic of light brown soils on the white cliffs) (soils painted-its lighter than it looks) Having painted the soils I then painted the cliffs some very light shades of grey and white. Initially my son asked me why I was painting my cliffs to look like Stilton rind so with this constructive criticism ringing in my ears toned it all down with a bit more white. I was really pleased with the final result, picking out some of the rocks with darker shades to try and show up some of the geology. (the stippled cliff face) Having some extra time I then started adding the scatter. A brown scatter first before then adding then some burnt green over the top. (brown scatter on first) (burnt green scatter on) Lots of hoovering in between scattering to clean up. Then using the clump scatter I started to create some shrubbery on cliff tops and the steep embankment. (some of the clump scatter on the steeper bank to suggest larger vegetation.) Now I have all but completed the the main landscape edges I can continue with the roads around the layout. (a view from the ferry with the white cliffs rising in the distance) Thanks for reading

And so after a few false starts today was cliff building day. The cliff is the only major landscape feature on the layout and hopefully will really set the tone and feel for the layout and give it the character of the Kent coast. First thing to do was to remove the polystyrene along the back scene which hadn't really worked and replace it with landscape mesh. To set the right angle I used cardboard from an old cereal packet to create some formers. (cardboard formers in) (mesh screwed into place with 10mm screws) Having got the mesh on then the messy (ish) job of apply woodland scenics plaster impregnated bandage began. I followed a tip off a youtube video applying the bandage onto the layout dry then using a water spray bottle to wet it insitu rather than dipping the bandage first and dripping it everywhere. Seemed to work well enough and I used my finger to smooth the bandage down and fill in the holes with the moist plaster. (the completed cliff) I placed a second coat of bandage on certain areas where the bandage holes were a bit obvious. Pretty pleased with the end result although the quality of the flock and painting will make or break all that work! Having completed the cliff I then covered the final 3 landscape banks to complete the landscape areas. (embankments infilled as well) (final result that now needs to dry for 24hrs) Next will be painting this all earth and chalk colours before adding lots of flock. Will also need to clean up the tunnel entrances which have been splashed with plaster during this process Thanks for reading

Did a bit of work around the station this evening. Produced some brick walls to the rear of the viaduct to represent the rear of the structure. I also used some modern platform paper to complete the finish of the platform surfacing. (paving paper done from scale model scenery. Like the look of the tactile paving) (brickwork parapets 'laid' along the backscene) I also have had time to do a bit of bodge wiring. Whilst my father is a retired electrical engineer the electrical genes weren't passed on! I currently have a Gaugemaster controller on order so wanted to put some wiring in place on the tracks in order to be able to do proper track testing before I start ballasting and infilling paving around the track. (stripping wire and covering joints with insulation tape to create a wire extension to attach the new controller to) Once the controller turns up I will try playing around with some lights. Thanks for reading

It's been a little while since I last posted. I've been concentrating on getting the sea finished. Eventually after 48hrs the PVA dried. Now for the fun part of tacky glue and making some wavy texture. (Dock ready for texturing) Put an angle on it to make it look like the breeze is blowing across the Dock. The glue holds its shape pretty well and with the aid of a cocktail stick I could get rid of the bubbly bits and make it more wavy. I did two treatments of this to infill between rows. (second row complete and left to dry) I was pretty pleased with the end result when it had dried (final texture result) I also wanted some seaweed attached to the edge of the Dock and piles so using the tacky glue fixed some medium flock around the edge of the water. (flock stock round base of Dock) This flock was then painted dark brown to replicate seaweed. A few flecks of white were also painted on waves here and there to replicate breaking waves. A final layer of PVA was then splashed over everything to give it a glistening look. (final sea finish with seaweed bobbing in the water) (everything in place and cliff beginning to rise in the background) The cliff was causing a few issues so gave up for the day as I was beginning to lose patience with polystyrene and pva! Thanks for reading

So today the self adhesive road markings arrived from scale model scenery. Having read the instructions which seemed straightforward enough I gave it a go. Tried out one of the cycle lane logos first as a test which with a bit of help from a craft knife and a strip of masking tape. This all went well so tried a 'stop' white lining for the Linkspan. A few minor issues with trying to get the various letters to unstick themselves but in the end all was well. Having managed both stop white lining decals I tried the arrows aimed at encouraging those coming off the ferry to use both lanes on the bridge. Again all went well. (lettering and arrows on and weathered down a bit) I then turned my attention to the back scene board setting up my jigsaw to cut some fibreboard sheets. These all went on well enough and are providing a frame for the layout now (back scene boards on. Now just need to get artistic on the back.) A small detail to go with the stop line were a couple of barriers I made up with thin brass rodding and balsa. (two barriers with their first coat of paint) I had some stop signs on my sign sheet so cut a couple out and stuck them on the painted barrier. (barriers in place guarding the Linkspan. You should certainly know where to stop! I've also put an additional bit of kerbing with a semi-circular section to act as protection to the kiosk. (additional kerbing with initial paint on) I must have really slapped the PVA on thick yesterday as it still hadn't dried 24 hrs later. (PVA still drying) Hopefully it will be ready in a couple of days and I can get the waves on at the weekend Thanks for reading

I've been thinking about trains which will run into St Catherines's Bay, with consideration being given to their length and the number of each type required to operate the day's services. I've pretty much nailed on the passenger services, I think. Most trains will spend life as permanent sets, and most will have a dedicated cassette for storage, when not in-play. Express 1 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, RMB, FK, BSK, SK Express 2 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, SO, RU, FK, BSK Express 3 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, SO, RU, FK, BSK Express 4 - Thompson - BSK, CK, FK, *RMB (GRESLEY), SK, SK , BSK Express 5 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, SK, RU, FK, BSK With the exception of the Thompson rake these are based on the rakes used for the Glasgow Buchanan Street/Aberdeen 1964 train sets. Motive power will be drawn from: Double Headed (DH) 27s, DH 26s, DH 22s, DH 25s, DH 24s, 44, 52, 42, 40, 47, 7p Royal Scot, 6P5F Jubilee, 5MT Stanier and B1 classes. Semi-fast 1 - Stanier - BFK, SO, SO, BSK, BG Semi-fast 2 - Gresley - BCK, FK, SK, SK, BG Semi-fast 3 - Hawksworth - BSK, SK, SK, CK, BG Semi-fast 4 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, BCK, GUV Motive power will be drawn from: 22, 24, 25, 26 and 27 classes. Pullman 1 - PFP, PFK, PFP, PFK, PSK, PSP, BOGIE B Pullman 2 - Midland (Blue) Pullman Motive Power will be drawn from: 47, 52, 55 and Princess Coronation classes. Sleeper/Motorail 1 - SLF, SLF, SLSTP, SLSTP, CCT, CCT, CCT, CCT, BY Sleeper/Motorail 2 - SLF, SLF, SLF, SLSTP, BSK, CCT, CCT, CCT Motive power will be drawn from: 40, 45, 47 and 52 classes.

My little station has a name. I think I have settled on Monclarence. My SO had a cat, a blue British Shorthair whom she wished to call Clarence, after the angel in "it's a Wonderful Life", her favourite movie. The name Clarence was vetoed by her then husband as not being a name for a cat, and so he became Bubba, which to be fair my SO also chose and liked. Since his passing a couple of years ago, I have always wanted to honour the fiesty-yet-affectionate little fellow somehow, without being tacky or twee. And so he has a sleepy branchline Terminus named after him. I felt "Clarence" was a) less than subtle and b) a little "American", striking images of a midwest gold mining settlement, with its associated lawlesness... and so with the idea that the area is elevated (from sea level) I have settled on Monclarence, a local corruption of Mount Clarence. I wanted to supply Monclarence Station with some additional traffic and a further reason for Monclarence village's existence, beside agriculture, and so off scene there is now a small quarry which produces crushed stone for railway ballasting purposes. Empties will arrive at the station platform where the locomotive will run 'round and take them to be loaded at the quarry. The process is mirrored for loaded departures. The station building for Monclarence will be a copy of that at St Cyrus on the real-life Inverbervie Branch. The goods shed and signal box will resemble thosee from the same line. Passenger trains for the Monclarence branch will be selected from: A 3-carriage Maunsell set BSK - CK - BSK with a Type 2 A 3-carriage Bulleid setBSK - CK - BSK with a Type 2 3-car 101 DMU 3-car 108 DMU 2-car+2-car 101 DMU

In order to establish just how much grease needed to be removed, the chassis keeper plate was unscrewed and the result was: All this was tackled with a cocktail stick and some clean paper towels. Even though lots og grease was removed, there was still a plentiful layer left to lubricate all the moving parts. I thought I'd better check the top end of the transmission mechanism as well, and found this: Back to work with the cocktail stick and paper towels.

I've been working on refining the track plan for the terminus station and I think I'm just about there (famous last words...) The terminus has also gained a name. And so, gentle reader, I give you St Catherine's Bay (pronounced Cathereen): Goods Shed Goods Yard Goods Yard Locomotive release runaround Passenger platform Passenger platform Locomotive release runaround/van storage Passenger platform Passenger platform Carriage siding Carriage siding & Motorail loading Fish loading shed Goods yard headshunt Milk loading shed Goods departure siding With no apologies, St Catherine's Bay is based on a shortened and single-line fed Bournemouth West. I love Bournemouth West and I'm delighted to be able to incorporate a station derived from it on one of my layouts. I'm hoping to emulate the colours of the area in the ballast, ground cover, platform canopies, etc. I've moved the locomotive shed on the other side of the approach line, to hopefully help give the impression that space is at a premium at the front of the layout, where the light green will be quite a steep slope. The terrain will rise quite steeply on the engine shed side as well, with the area carved out of the hillside for the locomotive facilities, the approach line being on a ledge. I tried having the arrangement flipped, with the turntable on the left of the formation, as per Kyle of Lochalsh, but the geometry wouldn't fit. Permanent Way will be British Finescale Code 40 Finetrax. Buildings initially at least will be refined Metcalfe Settle & Carlisle kits just to get something down, and then later I'd like to go back and design my own etched building kits a la Severn Models.

I think the intermediate station is now getting closer. I'm now much happier after removing the dual main line past the goods yard. The goods area now feel sufficiently separate from the running line(s). Over the weekend, I started cutting/modifying baseboards, and after physically seeing the lack of separation between the hidden lower line (dashed on the illustration) and the line of the visible trackwork, I've realised that a viaduct is not viable, on the basis it will require low boards to accommodate it, which means I wouldn't get proper access to the hidden track in the event of a problem. Instead, I will make it an embankment with lower ground at the front. This also, happily, allows for a headshunt without having to worry about a double track viaduct. It also reduces complexity, removing the need for a single and a double slip, with just one double slip remaining. In addition, I think this track layout makes for interesting operations. With no direct access to the Goods Yard from the Down line (Down is right to left), an arriving goods train can either reverse into the Goods Yard from the single track section adjacent the headshunt, or it can enter the station "wrong line" and cross into the Goods Yard through the turnout and the diamond crossing. Finally, I believe this layout will make signalling simpler.

The intermediate station, I think, needs the most work. Based on Kirkby Stephen, albeit on a single track line, it' s the single track part that is causing me deliberations. A milk loading siding has been added. Buildings will be Metcalfe S&C initially, pending an aspiration to design and build etched brass buildings in the future.: I'm unsure whether to put a facing crossover in where the red circle is to allow a goods train to be overtaken, for instance, or two allow a goods train being shunted to be left in the loop that the crossover would create. I'm also unsure about whether to elongate the stub at the blue circle, into a proper headshunt onto the viaduct. Otherwise shunting would require the train being shunted being brought out onto the main line. It's not that busy a line, but I'm not sure that wouldn't jar with me. Despite being single track, it's still a mainline, akin to the Highland line between Stanley Junction and Inverness. I've no idea, really, how to signal this station, so that's something I'll need to look into. The viaduct will most likely be built from ratio viaduct kits, and I had contemplated sawing the deck in half to make it single track, but I wouldn't need to do that if I lay a headshunt. I'd need to see if this type of track layout existed in the real world ( I can only think of Bewdley off the top of my head, but that twas double track rather than a single line and a headshunt.) Dark green is higher than light green, and I am inclined to make the light green moorland beneath the viaduct, but that poses a problem for the backscene, so it may just that the viaduct cuts across a steep hillside slope

A couple of years ago, whilst having a wobble around whether my man cave (converted garage) layout would ever begin to see fruition, I dabbled in the idea of an imaginary island existing in the North Sea, not unlike the Isle of Man, or for that matter the Isle of Sodor, in the Irish Sea; Only "my" island would be larger. Based on this premise, I hit upon an idea to design a layout that operated as a complete system, i.e. a terminus at each end, and a couple of intermediate stations in between. In this way I laid out Bournemouth West as the first terminus, and then a Settle and Carlisle inspired station next, complete with freight holding loop sidings. Further on there was a terminus station that necessitated trans reversing to carry on further up the main line; a cement works and an oil loading facility (the island being rich in Lime and hydrocarbons, as well as granite). It was a grand scheme and really quite ludicrous, with a peninsula, helices and double deck arrangement akin to an American Model Railroad. But it was a welcome distraction and, designed on AnyRail, I still have it tucked away in a folder of fantasy layouts that will never see the light of day; I've rarely thought about it since. The wobble mentioned above revolves around the complexities of my "lifetime" layout. This has had a long and painful gestation, moving through divorces, house moves, financial issues, health issues, Nelevator issues to name a few, but I've always rested safe in the knowledge that this is the layout I "want". Lately, however, with the most recent wobbles I've realised that the layout plan has become a bit of a millstone around the neck and I've come to the conclusion that I'm ploughing on with "Perth Caledonian" (plan attached) belligerently for no other reason that that's what I've been doing for the past 8 years, and because I've bought so much stock that is tailored to the project; Having spent time reflecting on it, I've come to understand that the very notion of building and financing the railway is causing more harm than good to my health, and stepping back to look at the financial and time undertaking I simply cannot justify something on that scale anymore. Not only that, I've become disillusioned with the whole concept of the layout. Whilst I'm of the view that fiddle yards and storage yards serve an important purpose in a model railway, much as the backstage changing rooms do in a theatre, the plan as it stands involves a 16ft scenic section, whilst 35ft is hidden for storage yards and approach tracks. In other words, two thirds of the room available is being used just to get trains onto the stage. I've no reservations that I have the skills and abilities to complete the project (the bench-work is already largely complete), but the project as it stands is no longer what I want, and for health reasons, no longer what I feel I can take on. Dejected, my first thoughts were (as is usually the case) to jack it all in and list everything for sale. However, this last wobble has coincided with an item that popped up on my Pinterest feed, a map and article about pre-historic Europe, the landmass that existed before sea level rises, and the gradual disappearance of Doggerland, penultimately resulting in an Island between the UK and Denmark and finally Dogger Bank as we know it today. This immediately reminded me of the "system" layout I had dreamed up and the kernel of a new idea was nourished. The system plan was still out of the question, arguably as unwieldy as Perth Caledonian, albeit for different reasons, at its heart was exactly what I wanted: more on stage time for the trains.

The railway room is approximately 17ft3 by 9ft9. First up, the entire plan, without annotations showing the extent of the layout. The fiddle yard is along a short wall, 12 inches deep. In front is a small rural terminus, roughly 3.75 inches lower and again 12 inches deep. Maximum train length is 36inches, which is roughly 6 N Gauge mark 1s. Along the top wall is a Settle and Carlisle inspired scene with the line emerging from the fiddle yard, splitting into the double track station off scene, a Kirkby Stephen style goods facility and then across a viaduct into a tunnel. Next, the line crosses the railway room entrance door. This door open sout the way. A lift out section is envisioned with a cameo scene so that anyone opening the door, with the section in place sees a scenic diorama rather than the back of a board or a hidden railway section. It also eliminates dealing with the unsightly joins if the section were part of the main scene. This would be practically the only part of the railway room with hidden track when viewed from inside the room. The line then passes over another short scenic section, possibly another viaduct and then into a tunnel for the 90 degree turn into the terminus section. The approach track may be on a ledge as it traverses sloped terrain before arriving at the opened out level area of the station. A line extends out of the fiddle yard in opposite direction, passing and descending behind the terminus board, descending along the door wall and under the intermediate station board to emerge 3.75 inches lower at the rural terminus station. The same drawing with annotations, most of which is self explanatory. The Turnouts will be controlled by MegaPoints equipment and momentary push button switches. Train control is by NCE DCC, with plug-in terminals strategically placed around the layout. I've still to decide if signalling will be by semaphore or colour light signals. Whilst the line will be operated primarily by diesel motive power, principally type 2s, steam still exists in medium sized form, such as class 5s and B1s. A shed and turntable is provided at the terminus for light turnaround maintenance. Co-housed is a diesel fuelling point. The Terminus station tracks serve as follows: 1 & 2 Goods yard; 3 Goods Shed; 4 Arrival platform with loco release; 5 Arrival platform with loco release, 6 runround road and /or storage; 7 Departure platform (arrival with loco release if required); 8 Departure platform; 9 Carriage siding with & Motorail loading/unloading; 10 Fish loading; 11 Milk loading. The intermediate station has Goods yard, Goods shed and Milk loading facilities. The rural terminus is a sleepy affair with a three coach platform with loco release, a Goods yard and a Goods shed. It was once an intermediate station on a longer branch but the line was truncated here and so the station is now the end of the line.

The roof has been airbrushed with a mixture of Railmatch Weathered Black and Roof Dirt to represent a well-used example. Care was taken to avoid paintless shadows behind the torpedo vents by painting those areas first. Only once the vents and surrounding roof were painted did the process move on to the remainder of the roof. If airbrushing the roof of a ready-to-run coach, when the roof is not easily removed, a card mask can be used to protect the sides from overspray while this is being done. Masking tape could be used, but I find that a piece of card does the job just as well when weathering. It's a different matter if you're airbrushing the main colour in the first place. It's a pity I didn't put the roof back on properly before taking the photograph . . . . . .

When the whole underframe had been airbrushed it looked too pale, so I added some Railmatch Weathered Black to the mixture and airbrushed a thin coat of the new colour combination over the top of the previous layer. In this photograph you ought to be able to see that the left hand end of the chassis looks a bit darker than the right hand end, which has yet to be completed. The roof has been removed for painting, something which is not usually possible with ready to run coaches. With these two coaches the roofs are a good interference fit into the sides, so this removal is easy.

A recycled piece of protective foam strip from a worktop is used while airbrushing the underframe. This helps access to the inside underframe details on the opposite side of the coach to the one I'm painting. The whole of the underframe will now be treated to a thin coat of Railmatch Sleeper Grime, starting with the bogies. The air flow from the airbrush is used to turn the wheels and paint is then ejected for long enough to coat the whole wheel as it turns.

The process continues. When hardly any fluid transfers from the brush to the panel corner, it is time to replenish the brush with thinner and wash. However hard you try there will inevitably be blobs appearing in some of the panel corners. Leave them! They can be dealt with later - at least 15 minutes later. Don't worry (at this stage) about uneven application, either, it will all be sorted in a subsequent step.

A rigger brush, a thin wash and capillary action are all used to get dirt into all the edges and corners of panels, doors and windows. By dipping the brush into clean thinners (white spirit) and then into the wash (MIG Productions Dark Wash), a good volume of fluid is ready to be transferred onto the model. The inevitable large blob on the end of the brush is removed by touching the tip against the rim of the bottle and the tip is then gently touched to a corner of a panel or junction of door shut line, window, panel, etc. Capillary action will take the fluid from the brush and run it into corners and along edges as if by magic.

Set 732 is to be depicted as a BR(S) liveried pull-push pair fairly late in the life of its green livery. An example of similar stock was found in a Michael Welch book containing many images of the southern region at the end of steam. The plan, such as it is, is to produce a weathered pair of coaches that shows a build-up of dirt around panel and window edges, a very dirty underframe and roof, but cleanly maintained sides. The dirt build-up will be achieved using MIG Productions Dark Wash, the underparts will be coloured using Railmatch Sleeper Grime mixed with their matt black, as will the roof but in different proportions. Before starting, everything will be well mixed in jar by my trusty Badger battery powered stirrer. The wash will be applied using a rigger brush, and I'll let you imagine what the chopstick rest will be used for. The coaches are by North Star and were, I believe, painted by Larry Goddard. The challenge is to make them dirty without ruining an excellent paint finish. Is that possible?

The recent crop of Peckett locomotives from Hornby has lured me back into collecting habits. Temporarily! Their reproduction of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM) locomotive, 'Westminster', which ended its days at Kidlington (Shipton-on-Cherwell) cement works (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.8539534,-1.3086071,1896m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en), proved too much of a challenge for me and one was purchased specifically for the purpose of describing how it was to be weathered, in great detail. Thorough investigation of the model revealed that there was significant work to be done before any weathering materials got anywhere near it. The grease that is applied to the model during manufacturing appears to have been applied using a dessert spoon. The result is that it gets everyhere that it is meant to, certainly, but also to many places where it is neither needed nor welcome. Here is how it appears when viewed from underneath the chassis: Here you can see how there has been too much applied to the motion: If this excess is not removed then there will be disappointment ahead! The stuff is thixotropic, and once it meets rubbing surfaces will spread everywhere that it can. This means body interiors where it is spread by centrifugal force from rotating mechanisms, and bodywork component joins where it is spread by capillary action through all your carefully applied pigments and washes. It has to be removed. This is just the beginning - the whole chassis will have to be dismantled and drastic action taken. . . . . . . . . . .

Its been a while, but I've not been too idle.... Commissions have been keeping me busy (or as busy as a 2+ son and a 10 month old daughter allow) with P4 dominating over EM for the last few months (but I'm due to pick up a loco for converting to EM at the weekend. The Bachmann Hall was straightforward, although huge amounts of filling was needed to fit the P4 wheel sets to the tender. The Gosport Guru also prevailed on me to convert 3 Bachmann L & Y radial tanks as a rush job for an exhibition. Having made the deadline with hours to spare I handed them over to the Guru who then decided he would fit the dingham couplings and found that Mazak chassis blocks are a swine to file away. So back they went to his contact who had milled out the mazak tank sides to make space for the P4 wheels so have slots milled in each end of the chassis, which meant they didn't get to the exhibition anyway. Still he's very happy with the end result. D