Booking Hall

Interesting to hear these alternative approaches to the problem. As far as the DMU is concerned, my approach was to use Gibson 12mm DMU wheels and convert the existing 9/16th Tri-ang axles to fit them, which I detailed in my thread, but it does mean access to a lathe. I haven't tried it (yet!) on my dock shunter, but I see no reason why, in principle, it shouldn't work provided that finescale wheelsets of the required diameter are available.

Looking great David. Nice work!

In the end I cut down the tall shelving and fitted some new ends, then it was a quick spray with primer from the £1 shop and add some clutter, sorry, goods in transit. I just used what was to hand, or easily and quickly adapted. I'm not one of those modellers who spends hours carefully creating details that will hardly be seen. Now glued onto the back of the shed, the shed itself can be fixed in place.

Building scenic parts for the club layout has occupied most of my modelling time for the last few weeks, and I really wanted to get on with making some storage racking for the transit shed, as I can't fix the shed in place until that's done and installed. Anyway, with a temporary lull on the club layout (until tomorrow!), I took advantage of the time to draw some shelving frames in AutoCAD, print them onto A4 size sticky label paper and glue them to cereal box card. Then, after a lot of cutting out (oh for a Cricut or similar machine!), they were glued together. They are not a strict copy of any sort of racking, just sufficient to go in the rear of the shed so it looks like a working environment. They need painting of course, and it was only after I'd taken the 'completed' photo that I realised I'd made them too long to fit! So now I have the choice of cutting one of them down, or making up a shorter length with some of the spare pieces . . .

Hello David, and welcome! It's good to know people are still occasionally reading this blog, and thank you for your kind words. Re-uploading all the images which disappeared during site maintenance last year has been on my 'to do' list for a while, and I've completed it on my 'Docks away' posts. Since you've asked, perhaps now is the time to start on this one. It will take a while though, but I'll obviously start at the beginning, a very good place to start!

Not much progress on Broadhaven due to the eagerly looked forward to task of filing our tax returns and other household administrative things that crop up at this time of year, but as some relaxation from all that I've been making some 'goods in transit' to busy up the quayside and shed. Drainage pipes came to mind, and at the time period in which Broadhaven is set (early 1960's), they would have been the short, socketed, salt glazed earthenware type, which as far as I know aren't available commercially, so I decided to make some. After a few experiments, I settled upon the plastic drinking straws which come glued to the side of small juice cartons, and of which I had a plentiful supply collected over the years just waiting for their time to come! The critical details are 1) colour and 2) the enlarged end which forms the socket for the next pipe. I made this by gently warming the straw over a candle and then forced in a 3mm drill shank. After cooling I marked off the required length, in my case 12mm to represent a 3ft pipe (they came in 2ft and 3ft lengths in the 9" diameter), then inserted a barbecue skewer to support the pipe whilst cutting it to length with a knife. Repeat lots of times, then paint with burnt sienna paint. They could probably do with a coat of varnish as new pipes tended to be quite shiny, but I'm not sure I'll bother. Now they need a crate and to go in and some straw to pack around them.

I'm really liking this, and the way it is developing.

One of my least favourite railway modelling tasks is painting figures, having to go back to each one several times with different colours and to touch up where I was a bit clumsy. But after several sessions, most of the figures I need for the layout are nearly complete. The last stage will be to give them a wash of thin black to highlight creases and folds in the clothes, and to remove the bases and insert pins up their leg. The figures are a mix of the Dapol workmens set, the two figures which came with the Dapol mechanical horse, and some 3D printed figures from an Ebay seller.

Hi Barclay, thanks for the kind words. They're downloads from Wordsworth Model Railway, but I've wrapped them around a straw liberated from McDonalds. I detailed the process earlier in the thread on June 3rd 2020 if you'd like to look back for it.

A mixture of general pre-Christmas busyness and the cold weather means that not much time has been spent in the model railway room this week, but I have modified, assembled and painted a bufferstop for the quay siding (it needs weathering when the paint is dry). This is one of the new PECO code 75 bullhead rail ones and was the only type my local model shop had in stock. The modifications consisted of removing the moulded lamp from the top rail and cutting off one set of the clips which are intended to hold the bufferstop onto the rails. I will glue it in place eventually.

Just been up on the roof of the International Stores at Broadhaven, and snapped the view from there.

A Google Earth type view of the layout to compare with the original plan . . . . .

Well, in the end Broadhaven wasn't required as a last-minute stand in at our exhibition, but at least the possibility gave new and renewed impetus to the project. Just need to keep it up and finish it now! I did a thorough search for the ancient bottle of conductive paint, without success, so I've ordered a small bottle which should be here this week. I'll leave the layout set up in my modelling room for the time being until it comes and I can try it out, then I'll continue with the detailing. I'm not entirely happy that the fiddlesticks overhang the spare baseboard on which the layout is sitting, but it's currently the longest flat piece of board I have. A few things which remain to be done - make some cargo items to put in the transit shed, then it can be glued down and bedded in. Add a buffer stop to the quayside line. Add some cargo to the hold of the puffer (whether it's being loaded or unloaded is anyone's guess!). Once that's done, glue both boats down to the sea and add more waves to hide the gaps, paint and varnish. Add mooring lines. Add general dockside clutter and cargo. Paint and add people. Add telegraph poles and lighting columns to the roadway and bridge. Repaint the road on the bridge so it matches the town street. Add seagulls and their deposits! etc. etc . . . .

Well, that's been a disappointing evening. I set the layout up on its stands, cleaned the track, vacuumed it all, plugged on the fiddlesticks and ran a few small locos. Sadly, only one (the BCGD 0-4-0ST) managed every track without stalling. All the others stalled on every point, and in some other places as well! Of course, the main reason is trying to run slowly over the Setrack points and their large plastic frogs. I don't think I will ever use them again as I have similar problems on Brierley Canal Road. However, that doesn't help here, so I will try some electrically conductive paint on them. With each 'road' being just a dead end and only two power feeds for the whole layout there should be no polarity bridging issues. I think I have a bottle somewhere, but even if I can find it, I know it is getting on for 40 years old, so it may well be just a solid lump by now!

Glad to have helped Trevor.

One fiddlestick completed, the other is partly finished. These just (at the moment) connect with fishplates which are soldered to the removable section. In time I will come up with a better, more positive way of attaching them to the main layout. They just allow a loco and up to three short wheelbase wagons to be shunted clear of the pointwork, which should be adequate.

Thank you Andrew. Enjoy your afternoon read.

Been a bit of a marathon, but all missing photos have now been reinstated in this thread.

Some further details and an important operational aid have been added to the layout today. For cargo handling a lifting net has been provided, courtesy of our local supermarket where I found a net bag of assorted cheeses. Cut up, painted and given a lifting eye at each corner, it doesn't hang quite as flexibly as would a proper rope net, but it's pretty close. A small piece of lead below the barrels helps. The drainage engineer has also been busy, installing some 3D printed gate valves. Water trickling out will be added when I re-do the sea. Finally, one of the 'plug-on fiddlesticks' has been made, which will increase the scope of shunting operations. I will add some sides and an end after painting, to prevent stock being knocked off. Not particularly elegant, but hopefully adequate. A further one for the opposite corner is in manufacture.

Now weathered and ready to glue into position. Also finished is the Scammell mechanical horse. An overall view shows the state of the layout at present.

All rigging now done, tyres added as fenders (on both vessels). Time to fire up the airbrush and dirty the fishing boat up a bit, it looks far too clean as it is!

Rigging the fishing boat is well underway (and testing my patience!). Adding to the detail by making tiny pulley blocks makes me glad it's not a Tea Clipper!! I'm making them from a piece of plastic sprue turned in my mini lathe, with a strip of metal cut from a beer can as the frame. The mechanical horse has now been painted and awaits its glazing, transfers and weathering; and pPainting the resin moulded detailing accessories is coming along nicely.

I've attached them to a PM Ian, don't want to infringe any copyright, even though EAMES are long gone now.

The chassis is made by EAMES. I also picked one up and used it in a Dapol railbus. Mine came with the instructions if they are any help to you?

A few days steady work has brought the fishing boat to an almost complete stage, now just the rigging and detailing to do. I think I will model it as if it's just getting under way. Once it's complete I intend to glue both ships in place and then re-model the sea around them to 'bed' them in. As a change from building the boat, I've also been working on an old Dapol kit of the Scammell Mechanical Horse which I will finish in British Railways colours. I scratchbuilt a second trailer top to use up the underframe details which are provided for the Watneys Beer incarnation. Also in view are some of the resin moulded accessories which have just arrived from AnyScale Models. Painting these is another job on the list.