westernviscount

A flavour of things to come... Some wagons shuffled into place to mimic one of the few pictures available of Caia Road. I spent the evening removing the webs between sleepers ready for the track to be painted and ballasted. The fun bit!!

Thank you Steve. Now the trackwork is fully operational (death star like) the modelling can get going which will hopefully see tge layout transform a little steadier. Up until now it has looked very much the same for many months.

This has been a "just get on with it" piece of modelling by my standards. The addition of the back blinder sees the signal arm permenantly fitted into the spindle. It has been a nice piece of learning too as I had no idea how a back blinder should be positioned on the signal. The lenses were cut just bigger than the apertures and set in place with thinned gloss varnish. The fronts were varnished also as the instruction recommend. The operatimg wire is .3mm I think amd blackened with a permanent marker. The blance weight and lever operate the signal arm very nicely and the signal finds its level using the lever crank. Very pleased with it all...except that finial. Talk about splodging the paint on.

Thanks captain. I know exactly what you mean. Beyond the signal the line proceeds over a bridge and gently curves to the right which adds to the mystery.

The post and arm were primed with halfords white rattle can. The arm was then airbrushed with phoenix precision signal yellow. The post was very carefully masked so the base of the post butt, ladder and lamp could be airbrushed black. Personally, as a novice airbrusher, I get best results with revell paints thinned with white spirit. The arm was masked using tamiya masking tape with a chevron cut out. I printed the instruction sheet a few times as it includes a to scale diagram of the signal chevron. It isn't perfect but the results are pleasing. I was able to line up the front and rear chevron on the arm well. Next come the positioning of lenses in the spectacle plate and the installation of the back blinder and operating wires.

A welcome step forward into modelling proper (away from lectrics and trackwork) is the construction of the distant signal for Caia Road. I used the MSE gwr tubular post signal kit and enjoyed putting a representation of the Caia signal together. I find soldering to be the most engaging and rewarding process in model railways. I do not profess to be an expert but really enjoy it. I like the kit in terms of detail and the construction of the signal arm from two pieces was tricky but worth the effort. I didn't do a great job of interpreting the dimensions of the signal and built it too tall in the first instance. As a result the butt of the post is too tall, but next to the shed, having chopped the post down and rebuilt the arm bearing, I feel the dimensions are right against the mockup shed.

As is the nature of trackwork and lectrics most of the work does not affect the look of the layout and it can appear that very little has been achieved. The scenic section of the layout depicting the Caia Road Goods sidings circa 1960 is complete in terms of functional track. I have been fin tuning some of the pointwork which have found certain locos binding slightly. It seems everything is running smoothly. The acid test being locos can creep over points and stop and stary straddling points. I have spent a bit of time "playing" and stock has started to accumulate in the sidings! Having played, I think the layout offers good scope for enjoyable shuffling of wagons and gentle passage of short passenger services.

There is a taking yourself TOO seriously? I am afraid I had no idea ;-)

This makes a lot of sense. I personally experience no negativity about my hobby from people who matter to me and most 'outsiders' are impressed by the skills involved in the hobby.

Agreed. I don't know the motivation behind why some minimise model railways as playing with toys. I have every sympathy if it is in some way related to how they have been treated for loving trains and honouring that love through making models of them. Sometimes we want to denigrate ourselves before others have the chance to. I would hope that in time we find the courage to stand up for our hobby. Personally, the minimising of it is at best uninspiring.

Thanks Mark. The flush glazing is well worth the effort. The toplight windows are very fiddly!!

Thank you @46444. It is alot of work and I am not likely to do too many more. I did enjoy the project though. Yep, Railtec are really superb fair dues.

I have been working on a couple of Autos for Caia Road. This has included a comet BR(w) auto, an uplifted airfix and a Bachmann example. I have been doing a bit of weathering and have given the airfix one a spray of muck. The roof remains loose as I need to finish some details inside. The sides were kept relatively clean on the airfix coach I made a bit of a mess (not in the intended way) of the Bachmann example but have tried to correct this. I have gone quite heavy but don't have pictures as yet.

I have tonight ckmpleted decals on the Presflo kit. The wagon was primed with Halfords red oxide and then I droped the whole thing on the floor. Some detail was losr and a couple of cracks needed to be sorted. The project was very close to being binned! But.... I persisted and I am rather happy with the decals. The colour is mixed from Mr Hobby brownds which I have never used before and , although not righyt provide a base for an interesting weathering project. I need to pock some bits out in white but am ready to call it finished and will park it on the "to be heavily weathered'road.

A brief update on the Presflo. I have used some lovely railtec decals on top of my own mix of mr hobby colours. Not right but this will be pretty heavily weathered. I will pick out some details in white then call it a day finishing wise. I had a disaster whilst priming it due to my completing a coat of halfords spray then dropping it on the floor. Bits did get lost and I almost abandoned the project.

A trainset could be said to be elevated to model railway status as soon as track pins are involved. I believe an attempt at semi permanence is the threshold. Carpet dwelling track is a trainset. I don't believe prototypical running or anything to do with prototype matters when it comes to model railways.

Dad has loaned a couple of prairies for the layout which I am going to clean up amd refurb as required. Wheels need a clean up and the motor needs de-fluffing.

And a quick stock update... I have scratchbuilt some autogear for the Bachmann autocoach. Built from plastikard with dimensions taken from the MJT kit on my airfix Rods made from .45mm brass and the screw of the handbrake made from guitar wire. Primed. Sprayed black and fitted to the underframe.

I have laid the remaining sections of the sidings including the buffer stops. Based in the ordnance survey map the sidings were staggered as I have tried to recreate. It makes it visually more interesting this way. Hopefully I can solve my CDU seep point motor problems and crack on with painting track and ballasting.

I have fitted the Bachmann detailing part to both ends of the coach and positioned my autogear. The result is just how I like my modelling - completely out of view and hardly worth the bother! I know it's there and enjoy fiddly plastikard things.

I am building a model of a prototype location in Wrexham NE Wales. Caia Road goods was a small set of sidings along the Wrexham - Ellesmere Cambrian branch. Before closure in 1962 the mainstay of passenger traffic was made up of 14xx and autocoaches. Here is a airfix coach being upgraded using the MJT detail kit... A BR(w) auto coach I built using the comet kit... And a bargain from Rails of Sheffield bought not so long ago... I have copied the bits and bobs from the MJT kit to detail the Bachmann coach. The focus is the auto gear under the driver's cab. This connected to the loco amd operated the handbrake. I attempted to source a 3d printed part but lost touch with the seller. The frame for all the gubbins was scratchbuilt up from plastikard. As it is rather small, I use tamiya extra thin as opposed to my usual EMA. .5mm brass wire was used for the pivots and small bits of plastikard used for the linkages. Guitar wire was used to form the handbrake screw. The structure has been primed and will be airbrushed black. A nice little morning project. Making the most of my week off.

The Hornby pacer was my favourite as a boy and I still have it today. The first Bachmann class 25 represents my return to the hobby and is beginning to aquire nostalgia status.

I had virtually the same experience a couple of years ago. My layout is small but not pre- grouping however. I understand it is not to everyone's taste and confess that I enjoy appealing to a particular kind of modeller. However, I do not enjoy my efforts being treated with contempt. I feel for those who modelling foreign layouts as I can well imagine they are seen as fair game for ignorant comments. I remember one incident where a lady glanced at my layout and said fairly loudly "oh, there isn't much to this one." I offered her an apology in the hope of at least embarrassing her a little...I doubt it had the desired effect.

Oh absolutely. I cannot think of a time when anyone has stopped me or frowned upon my hobby except me. The nature of one's work certainly does impact the enjoyment of a hobby. The more fulfilling, secure and well paid a job (allowing for the provision of a normal life with a family) the more fulfilling time away from it will be (in my experience). Also, as you allude to, even if a role has value, but one gets the sense that you should be doing more or something different, then that is hard to shift.

I binned facebook some years ago. I never used it for work so it was fairly easy to do. I also found youtube to have a miserable effect on me but I am learning to use it more carefully.