Dbr1295

Hi Andy, How did you fare with Gabrielle? We had tree come down on the drive and there was a few trees down around the district but on the whole I think we missed the worst of it. Not much mention of Tauranga on the news so hopefully you came through OK. Not much happening here. I bought a couple of wagons at the show which I need to weather, been adding little bits of more foliage and made a cable drum to sit in the goods yard and that's about it. Been doing a little bit on the NZR stuff, currently have a Ur wagon under construction. Enjoyed your video clips on Facebook the other day. Enjoy the UK and the trip to Little Bytham. Cheers, Les

Hi Andy, Sorry I didn't have a chance to catch up with you at the Tauranga show. I saw you there, busy encouraging the next generation of operators! What a good show this year, well done to the organizers. Cheers, Les

There are metric coarse threads, M6 x 1.0 pitch if that's any help

You definitely can make a small layout look much bigger with careful photography. Though saying that, it can be difficult to achieve this at times without including too much distracting background. I think when planning a small layout you do need to take into account how to make it appear larger. I did this by keeping the track plan simple and using small and few structures. Also, though the platform can accommodate a tender loco and 3 coach train limiting it to 2 coaches helps the illusion of size, same with keeping the length of goods trains short, typically no more than 6 4 wheeled wagons plus van and loco.

For those that are interested, here is an overall view of the layout, all 3.6 meters of it. It stands 1 meter high and the scenic section is 2.67 meters long. There is a 4 track traverser for a fiddle yard. I do have some ply put aside to eventually add a facia to it to tidy it up. Cheers, Les

Early summer 1955 and small prairie 4673 approaches the terminus of the Wyd Valley branch with a goods train.

Looks good Andy. Boat shed is great idea.

Here's a pic of 4573 arriving with the pick up goods, taken from the field along side the station. And a bit later in the day 5796 is seen sitting in the platform with a passenger plus attached van.

Today the stone train is in the hands of a 2MT no. 41241. Not sure how it's ended up on the branch, but makes a change from the usual ex GW motive power. Seen from the embankment as it's about to disappear under the road bridge and into the fiddle yard. Thanks for looking Les

2MT 41241 runs around it's train. Les.

Hi Andy, Looks good. I particularly like the last picture. Keeping well I hope? Cheers, Les

Thanks Mr Wolf. The strainers also serve a practical purpose like in the real world. As I use Ezline elastic cord for the wire and without the bracing the posts will pull over. Cheers, Les

After shunting it's out bound train, 7754 waits in the loop as 9028 arrives with the midday passenger service. 7754 eventually departs with it's short train. Thanks for looking. Les

Pannier 7754 shunting a trio of vans into the goods yard for unloading at the warehouse. And another view taken along the goods yard approach road.

Goods yard scene. Grounded wagon body from a Ratio iron mink kit. Underframe bits hacked off and mounted on some strips of wood. The sacks are from a US brand, I can't remember who though. Stone wall Wills, as are the granite sets. Wheelbarrow and spade Cooper Craft.

A quite time at the engine shed. Lately it's always quite, apart from the bird song. This was scratch built back in the 90's from plans in an early edition of BRM (though I think the original may have been brick and had a water tank on top), way before the layout. It was a long time ago, but I think I decided to build this layout to put this shed on. Construction is hardboard and cardboard, with scribed Das for the stonework. Roof tiles were cut from wall paper. The original doors were card, but have since been replaced with ones made from plastic. Cheers, Les

4573 has arrived at the end of the Wyd Valley branch with a very short daily goods. Does not bode well for future goods traffic on the branch. On the platform there is a solitary passenger waiting.

Thanks for the nice comment, I really appreciate it. Cheers, Les

Happy new year Andy, I hope you're keeping well. Thanks for the positive comments, little backwater is what I am aiming for. Shame about the show, hopefully things will get back to normal sooner than later. Cheers, Les

One thing that has been done in the past year has been to knock together this billboard from Evergreen plastic. Posters are from a 1970's Builder Plus sheet. No idea if they are appropriate to the time and location. Cheers, Les

Unbelievable, over a year and a half since I've posted about the layout. Where does the time go? I actually haven't done much work at all in that time so therefore the paucity of posting. On holiday at the moment so I thought I'd take a few pictures of the layout and post some on here just to show that the layout is still in existence for those who may be interested. Cheers, Les

4573 on a Sunday service

It may be of interest that the ITV item was on the news here in New Zealand last night.

Looking good Andy. Nice trackwork. Great to see progress on Hawkinsfield. Cheers, Les

I've always loved old Aussie cars. Owned several in my time, Falcons and Holdens, but not a Valiant. Many years ago I had a HQ Premier with the 253, certainly not a performance car by any means but lovely to drive. Even had a vinyl roof. Loved that car, really regret selling it now, especially seeing what they fetch these days. Later had a XD Falcon as well, ex traffic cop car with a 302. Went well but really sucked the gas and was difficult to stop. Still drive a Falcon now, but a FG. Cheers, Les