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ianLMS

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About ianLMS

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    Steam Engines, LMS - 1930's, North West England, Lake District, Walking, Motorcycles,

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  1. A couple of 4mm Foden models/kits listed here. Not for sale, just a directory I believe but at least you know what to search for in Ebay! http://www.modelbuszone.co.uk/tmb/lists/Model_Kits.htm Ian
  2. Thank you all for another great weekend and i really enjoyed it. Looking forward to next year already!!!! Ian
  3. For those of you who would like to follow me on my new adventure into P4, here is the new thread I have just started. Oxenholme(ish) Engine Shed - c1939. A P4 Layout for the Scalefour Jubilee Challenge - Layout topics - RMweb Thank you Ian
  4. For the last 11 years or so, I have been building my OO gauge layout, Jencaster and many of you on RMWeb have followed me, supported me and gave me so much advice. I didn't operate it much, and with bad knees, difficulty accessing some of the areas on the layout, and a damaged ceiling to contend with, I decided to have a re-think. This was a couple of years ago!! During the last 2 years or so, I contemplated what to do next and seriously thought about 3mm scale and was very tempted. I then came across a couple of P4 layouts which really interested me. I joined the Scalefour Society while meandering around the Warley Show in 2022, and after attending the Missenden Modelling Weekend in Mar 2023, and seeing the difference between the track and standards of modelling, I was convinced this was the right direction for me. The thought of building my own track however daunted me and trying to build to that level of accuracy was indeed something which needed time to think about before making the final decision. I came across an article in the Society's quarterly publication about a competition designed to encourage members, non-members and novices to build a P4 layout and join the club! There is a post already on RMWeb which goes into more detail about the rules etc, so I won't repeat the information here. The main stipulation was the scenic area cannot exceed 18.83 sq ft and the track plan has to have at least 3 operational turnouts. This could be the push I needed. The hunt was then on for a suitable track plan, and many LMS stations etc were looked at until I came across Oxenholme, on the Kendal to Windermere line. It's the right area for me as I love the North West, Lake District etc, and it would be LMS of course. Oxenholme seemed to tick all of the boxes. Formerly LNWR owned, it comprised of a station, goods yard, junction, 3 signal boxes, road over bridge, engine shed, turntable and coal/water staging area. Perfect I thought, until that is I started measuring on Google maps and realizing the whole area would need something along the lines of 40 feet in 4mm to do it justice. No amount of compromising would get me to shrink that down into 18.83 sq ft!!! I then started to compartmentalize the whole track plan and worked out that the turntable, engine shed, one signal box and coaling/water staging area would fit if I trimmed off the edges a little and tapered the scenic part of the baseboard. Oxenholme(ish) was born!!!! I played around with the various maps etc and researched as much as I could via Google and Facebook as well as discussing it on the Scalefour Forum before moving ahead fully. I also purchased a point kit from C&L as I wanted to make sure I could at least build simple track without getting into all kinds of muck n muddles. I downloaded Martin Wynne's excellent Templot track design software, and using the guides, help pages, Templot forum and You-Tube, I managed to get a track plan that followed the real plan relatively closely, and would work in the space constraints. Further posts will cover the build and hope you will join me as I progress along this journey. Ian PS. See you at Missenden in a couple of weeks if you are going!!!! I will be slinging paint, thinners and bow pens around in the Painting & Lining course with Mr Geoff Haynes. I hope he has as much patience with his students as he does skill in his chosen subject! OS Map Oxenholme Engine Shed - 2.5 inch to Mile - 1912.pdf
  5. It is a painful process, especially after 11 years of investing blood, sweat, tears and money. Having said that, what I have learnt during the build, re-build and dismantling of this layout will pay dividends going forward, and, to be honest, I hadn't operated the layout for a long, long time and in a way, it was inevitable. Entering into the Scalefour competition gave me the final push I needed. During the dismantling phase, I have managed to salvage most of the buildings, some in mini-diorama's (like the garage & forecourt, church & farm, cottages, terraced houses etc) which I will try to sell on so hopefully someone can make good use of them. If not, they will go into storage. I will sell the points (scenic ones are weathered, and all of them are electrically modified, have holes for pins and the tie-bars trimmed so I don't expect much for them) and some of the track from the fiddle yard which is perfectly re-usable. The rest will be binned. Point motors, auto-frogs, DCC Concepts solenoid decoders (ADS-8SX & FX) etc will hopefully be sold off to go towards the cost of the new layout. One last photo before I go.
  6. I have, after many days/weeks of agonizing, decided to move to P4 and enter a layout in to the Scalefour Jubilee Competition. In order to make space, repair the ceiling and re-organize the railway room, my OO layout Jencaster has had to be dismantled. Due to lack of foresight and over-engineering, the layout is basically being ripped up and destroyed. I will close this thread im a week or two and open a new one with the new layout which is going to be based on Oxenholme Engine Shed during 1939. Thank you all for your kind words, advice and support over the years and hope you will continue to follow me when i start building the new layout. Ian
  7. Not recommended. A newly married couple from work travelled home from their honeymoon. They must have noticed a problem with the tyre as it appeads they swapped it for the spare. Apparently, they carried the damaged wheel on her lap probably so they could keep the wedding gifts and dress in the boot of their sports car without getting them wet or damaged. The tyre blew while on her lap and killed them both!
  8. I used chinchilla sand which is superfine and gritty rather than powdery and sets solid using traditional water/pva/fairy combo. Easy to colour with paint as well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303114739853?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=CuWFuocgRry&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=h-I8RE2kQg-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY For ballast of that colour, i would look at Greenscenes scale ballast. Now sold via Squires i believe. https://www.green-scenes.co.uk/store/product/gs405-ballast-2mm-scale-light-brown They used crushed shells and dont change colour unlike traditional granite chippings.
  9. It will probably take me until dec 2024 just to come up with a suitable prototype location and a layout that will fit in the space i will have!!! I plan on a 9' x 2' scenic part with fiddle yards at both ends, whilst trying to keep within a min 42-48" radius. My room is 14' x 12' but a fair bit is taken up with my workbench and storage lol!!!! I am open to ideas though! I prefer to model the LMS during the late 1930's in the North West or Midlands. I have a few books on various LMS and S&C stations which i am trawling through but very few are jumping out at me.
  10. The rules states: d. The layout has to be portable and capable of being transported by a single car or similar size vehicle and exhibited by two people (see also expense rule 14). I was planning on starting a P4 layout so this might be the nudge i need!!
  11. Just purchased one of the Stevenson TPO coaches to build from Squires stand at Warley. He had a few different TPO kits, LNWR as well as LMS depicting the TPO's with and without nets. Will let you know how i get on when i eventually get around to building sometime during this decade!!!
  12. Brass to brass = solder if possible. Superglue works well Brass to plastic. epoxy or superglue should work. I would drill a hole in the plastic and push the rod though to secure Brass to wood. As with plastic. I am sure others may have better solutions but i have only used superglue, evo stick or epoxy in similar situations.
  13. Next coach, BSL Stanier 57' Corridor 3rd D1899 ready for priming with Phoenix Precision 2-part etch primer from the airbrush, before top coats of Gloss Precision Crimson Lake and Satin Black for the ends, chassis and bogeys. Bogeys are MJT white metal non-sprung with AGW wheels. Will be fitted with microscope slide cover glass and homemade corridor connections, MJT screw couplings and a few peeps which need to go under the surgeons knife to fit the ratio seating!! Will paint the interior a sort of brown for varnished wood and the seats i do with Tamiya colours. Base grey with colourful splodges for a pattern.
  14. I picked up one of these from my model shop. Work quite well and does the job. Guagemaster now sell a similar model. https://www.rolsontools.com/products/household-hobby/hobby-tools/3-6v-33pc-cordless-rotary-tool-set/ Ian
  15. I used twigs as the main trunks and boughs of trees, then drilled holes in and inssrted sprigs of seamoss. Sprayed with adhesive and applied flock of various types. The two larger trees in the pics were done this way. Ian
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