Hector Lawn

I’m very shocked to hear about the impending demise of Hattons. I used them for almost all my N gauge purchases after I moved to Australia. They were a boon to an expat wanting to model British outline. Their service was excellent and international postage for a loco was initially about £5 - a lot less than the VAT that I didn’t have to pay for! However, after they fell out with Bachmann and stopped stocking Graham Farish items I had no choice but to switch my allegiance to other online retailers and unfortunately I have spent very little in recent years with Hattons. Thank you Hattons for enabling me to continue modelling UK outline after I emigrated. Sorry to see you go. Hector

Nothing for me this season - I’m still waiting for a re-run of Black 5’s and mk1 maroon coaches (as are a lot of others it seems). Are Bachmann actually listening to what their customers are asking for, which will also encourage them to open their wallets by the way? Hector

Once again I am thoroughly amazed at the breadth and depth of knowledge of the people on this forum! Thanks to everyone that replied and especially for the links to the N-gauge kits that are available and the books should I wish to research this topic further. regards Hector

Hi all, I’ve just finished reading my copy of John Palmers ‘The Great Central Railway: What Really Happened’. In the final chapters it mentions that the 1960’s Starlight Express overnight sleeper service from Scotland to Marylebone consisted of covered car carrier wagons with end doors to transport passengers cars to/from their destination. Up until now I’d assumed the sleeper service consisted of mk1 passenger coaches only. As I’m going to be replicating this service on my Charwelton in N layout does anyone know what these covered car carrier wagons would have been (and how many would have been required)? I can’t find any reference to such wagons online or in any other books on the GCR that I’ve read so far. Thanks in advance to anyone who contributes answers regards Hector

Someone on the N-gauge forum had a similar problem and has built their own version of the Nelevator using Arduino, stepper motors, and the whole thing is counterbalanced as per Harlequin's suggestion above. How good are your engineering and electronic skills? I'm sure if you asked them they'd only be too willing to share their construction plans. https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=57217.0 Hector

Hi Jack, It’s your railway so you should be able to do what you like! You can only fit it in the space you have available. However, if you’re worried what others will think I suppose you’ve got to ask yourself if someone was to view your railway as you plan to build it are they still likely to recognise it as the prototype? I’ve had to compress my N-gauge model of Charwelton. I’ve had to compress the distance between the southern end of Catesby tunnel up to bridge 489 by 1/3, however, the layout still has all the essential elements that make it instantly recognisable to anyone who knows the station and it’s setting. I hope this helps somewhat. Regards Hector

Nice to see another N-gauge layout. I agree, very nice looking and well built layout. Not easy to get such great close up shots that look that good in this small scale. I particularly like your night-time shots, the lighting at the ticket machine and inside the telephone kiosks looks spot on! I commend you on your high standard of work!! Keep the great pics coming. Hector

Check to make sure they are not grounding on the points. Some Farish 47’s had covers over the driving cogs which would make contact with the point crossing. I had two like this - the answer was to remove the covers and file away some of the excess. I did this to mine and experienced no more stalling. See this thread: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/15157-farish-47-grounding-on-points/ I’m not sure if the latest batch still have this problem but worth checking. Hector

Hi Ch4lkst3r, I've only just discovered this layout thread. Great looking layout so far and I'm impressed by your modelling prowess! Love your work on the canal - it all looks very natural and flows well. Also love your Scalescenes buildings, very well constructed and very neat - not easy in this small scale. Keep up the excellent work! I'll be following this thread with interest. Hector

My first DCC sound fitted loco's arrived recently - the recently released class 31 in green and the 8F late crest. I'm blown away by the addition of sound even though I'm only running them on DC on a test loop of track. Both loco's are silky smooth at slow running straight out of the box. However, I've noticed that my 8F is behaving like it has 2 and a 1/2 cylinders and I'm getting 5 beats per revolution and so it sounds like it's running faster than it actually is. I'm not complaining, just an observation, and it doesn't worry me as I plan on running them on DCC to get the full benefit of sound anyway. I assume they're all fitted with the same sound file so has anyone else noticed this? Regards Hector

I’ve just been out for my first cycle ride for 2021 on New Years Day. My ride takes me along the Booralong Road which runs virtually parallel to the Great Northern Rail line for the first 8 miles or so north of Armidale. First stop was at the rail crossing at Waraine Road 7.5miles out of Armidale, looking East back to Armidale: Not much to see here as the line is so overgrown but you may just be able to make out the tops of the rails. Then looking west toward Black Mountain and Guyra: You can just make out the cutting between the line of trees. A mile further up the road and the line passes under the Booralong Road. Being careful on the lookout for snakes in the knee and sometimes waist high grass while walking in my cycle shorts and ankle length socks I walked to my vantage point under the old wooden bridge that used to take the road over the line: . . . which has now been superseded by the concrete and tarmac structure behind it. From here the line heads north towards, what I assume, is the next stop at Black Mountain and so this is where my cycle ride and the Great Northern Rail line part ways. Hector

Hi Laurence, Thanks for sharing your video of the abandoned Great Northern Rail line. I actually live in Armidale, the last open station on the the line, but often pass many of these locations when cycling (Dumaresq Station being very local on my regular cycling route) or when journeying North to Queensland. I always look at the line with sadness when I think of its abandonment but in reality I think it would need too much of an upgrade to be a realistic option of reopening the line - the whole line of track and every bridge would need to be replaced and I’m not sure that the traffic is sufficient to consider the cost of this. It would help if the line was express rated, but as your video states, it already takes 8 hours to get from Armidale to Sydney! If more people from the northern end of this line were to use it trains would need to be significantly faster. However, it would be great if there was an option to get from Armidale to Queensland via this route rather than expensive air services. Thanks for sharing! Hector

What a lovely looking layout! This is the first time I’ve come across it, don’t know why I haven’t seen it before now? Great work on the scenery and especially the Loch. It looks very interesting to operate too. regards Hector

Hi JimSan, Nice video explaining your plans. While it will be nice seeing your trains run through a nice country setting will it not be operationally limiting doing away with the fiddle/storage sidings? Just wondering how many trains you intend to run on it? Regards Hector P.S. Jeez, you’re putting that poor little loco through its paces - can you slow it down a bit?

Hi Michael, What a great idea for a layout! Love your work on the tunnels, bridge and viaduct. Some very neat looking work there. What plans do you have for the station end? Regards Hector

Hi Fezza, Thanks for your comments. Is your modern 1990s GCR version a layout in progress? I’ve had a look around but I can’t find it. Or is this just an idea that you’re toying with at this stage? Regards Hector

Hi andyb, Although I have not yet commented on your Charwelton - into the 80’s layout rest assured I’ve been following the updates with interest! An interesting concept for sure. I’m still not sure about the demolition and simplification of the station buildings but that’s modernisation and progress I suppose! Best regards Hector

I agree Pete, I never realised how satisfying it is to build something from scratch until I gave it a go. A laser cutter and 3D printing certainly would make things easier for me and enable my building to be somewhat more accurate and a lot neater. For the time being I’ll have to settle on my faithful scalpel and ruler! I’m not sure I have the patience though to build my structures a second time even if I have learnt lessons along the way! Time will tell. Regards Hector

Hi Richard, I’m surprised I haven’t come across your Dettingen before now until you replied to my post on my own layout, it being GCR and all. I’ve just read the first 10 pages (might take me a while to read the other 53 pages)! - and I really admire your scratchbuilding of your buildings - I wish I could get as much accuracy and detail into my 2mm buildings. I also really admire your scratchbuilding and kitbuilding of your wagons and locos. This is something I’ll have to tackle once my buildings are complete as I have a K3 kit waiting to be built onto a Farish V2 chassis for my fish train as there’s no r-t-r available. I love your attention to detail and I’m flattered that you were interested enough to post on my own layout efforts. I shall read the remaining 53 pages with interest. Best regards Hector

For the benefit of those who may not be following my topic on the Layouts section, here’s a few picks of my latest efforts, the Charwelton (N) platform canopy. More pics and descriptions on my Construction link below: A quick mock-up to see how it looks on the platform: And here’s the original: Regards Hector

I agree, your buildings are extraordinary Grahame. Well done. I am very envious of your building skills in such a small scale! Regards Hector

OK so, having procrastinated for several months for fear of possibly undoing all the good work I did on the booking office, I thought I’d use the many hours being spent at home during lockdown to get on with the platform canopy. The roof has utilised Scalescenes asbestos sheet paper while the ornate supporting brackets are from a Ratio platform canopy kit which was purchased purely for the brackets only. Bear in mind that these are extreme close up shots, which can highlight the minutest of errors but from normal viewing distances these are not noticeable. The booking office is only 32mm wide and about 35mm high: Looks like the support bracket on this side has gone slightly astray - that will need re-glueing before it goes on the layout! Here’s the underside construction. I didn’t have to cover the underside with asbestos sheet as you can’t see it once it’s the right way up but ‘I know it’s there‘. I also made this station name board/notice board - it measures only 25mm wide x 18mm high. ‘Charwelton’ was printed on a laser printer but it still appears pixelated close up but again is not noticeable from normal viewing distances. The knobs are actually a couple of ‘100s &1000s’ from the kitchen baking cupboard stuck on top the posts and then painted! - You have to be a bit resourceful when looking for suitable sized materials in this scale! The luggage scales were scratchbuilt from 1mm card and evergreen plastic sheet, posters are Scalescenes and luggage trolley and sack barrow are from Modelscene: And so having completed it all, I did a quick mock up of what it will look like on the platform. The buildings are not yet stuck down. See what I mean about normal viewing distances? I then tried to get a couple of comparison shots of similar angles to photos of the real thing that I’ve been using for reference. One is of the existing Quorn & Wood house on the preserved GCR, the other is a Charwelton photo from 1951. What do you think? Link to copyrighted comparison photo here. And finally, here’s a couple of shots with the working lights on! I really like those last two shots, they look very atmospheric. All in all I’m very pleased the way the station buildings are all coming together and it has been well worthwhile making the effort to scratchbuild rather than purchase the Bachmann offerings. It’s all looking very GCR London Extension now! I’ll have a break for a week or two now then it’s onto the waiting rooms. That just leaves the gents toilet then. Thanks for looking Hector

When laying my curves I used a 3rd radius Tracksetta to get the inside curve laid to ensure a smooth curve. As there was no 4th radius tracksetta in my pack I then ‘borrowed’ some of the kids 4-stud square LEGO bricks and butted them up against the outside sleeper edge to act as spacers. It was then an easy job to bend the outside curve round the bricks to get the perfect gap for N-gauge, ensuring a smooth curve and that even with mk3 coaches they wouldn’t bash together when passing on the curves. I dare say a similar packing item could be found for 00? regards Hector

Here's the latest construction for my Charwelton in 'N' station buildings. Ignore the roof, it's only temporary while I build the platform canopy. It also needs the capping stones at the top of the end walls after the canopy has been added: Hopefully, anyone who's been to the preserved section of the GCR, partcularly at Quorn or Rothley stations will recognise this building, but just in case you don't here's a link to a picture of the real thing circa 1951. Hector

Having had some 12 days off over the Christmas/New Year break but the fact that it's been so damned hot here on Oz over that time (30-35 degrees C!), I've not had a chance to do much outdoors but that has meant plenty of time indoors to do some more modelling! I've made a start on the Charwelton booking office and so far the progress is thus: Basic structure of double-skinned 1mm grey card. Internal walls covered and some items stuck to the walls. I intend to internally light this building and so it would help if it didn't look totally bare inside! Floor lined in Terracotta tiling, some furniture installed (serving counter, bookcases and table), chimney added and brick paper added to tops of end walls. Note the Edmondson Ticket Rack to the left side of the counter. Probably should have been on the right hand side but I'll pretend I have a left-handed booking clerk!!: External walls bricked and lintels added. I started to think I was getting a bit anal with my detailing when I found myself adding a strip of skirting board to the wall when said skirting board will be hidden behind the serving counter! However, if I didn't include it I would know it was missing, and to my mind that makes the model incomplete!! The almost finished article. Ignore the roof - that's only temporary until I complete the platform canopy. Also awaiting coping stones to the top of the end walls which can't be added until the aforementioned canopy is completed. Signage is from Scalescenes: The white parts of the windows are cutdown pieces of Scalescenes 'Scaleglaze'. The maroon window frames have been constructed by filling an A4 sheet filled with maroon colour on a printer and then cutting out strips to assemble the window frames and stuck to Scaleglaze windows of the appropriate size: The 'Private' marked door was made using the same method as the window frames but just sticking the paper strips onto clear plastic. I need to do something about that chimney - it looks completely straight in the previous two photo's but this shot shows a definite lean! How does that happen!! Here's a link to a copyrighted photo of what I'm trying to achieve. As always, thanks for looking! Hector