Dufus

Hi Jake, That is looking really good. If you want some colour pictures of rockface try googling the cliffs at Hunstanton. That is chalk at the top and carstone (a form of iron ore) below. Best of luck with it Chris

Well done. Absolutely brilliant.

Hi Paul, Seeing what you are doing is inspiring me to maybe have a go at extending one of my cake boxes. When I did the Accident with the Rocket I had always intended extending it. I had a 3D printed open carriage for the Rocket that would not fit the cake box. Because of that I never got around to gluing it together or painting it. This would give me an excuse to to get on and finish it. I also have the files to print a closed carriage, but they are too big for my 3D printer. I have always thought I might try cutting the long sides in two to print then gluing them back together. An alternative might be to 3D print the chassis and try printing the body on card. Just need to find a few more hours in the day. I am not entering the challenge this quarter but still don't seem to find the time to do all the modelling that I want. I'll follow this with interest and hope it will keep me inspired to finish the RTA layout. I likewise have changed printer. A little more drastic as work have given me a colour laser printer to replace an old inkjet. I have yet to try sealing the colours on the new one but did find I had to use the spray on the old inkjet with care or the ink could run! Regards, Chris Have a Merry Christmas all.

That clay pavement is brilliant. A tip, if you are short of corrugated fencing - Starbucks coffee cup holders are a slightly finer scale corrugation than other well known coffee shops. Not that keen on their coffee but it makes a fine roof for the workshop I am building on my layout. Regards, Chris

Hi Joe, Looking really good, just to be awkward I prefer the single cabin, as you say in this case less is more. A double stack would draw the eye away from the welder who is a key feature of this layout. Either way it is looking good.

Or maybe Platform 93/4 at Kings Cross?? Just aim at the brickwork Harry!

Thanks every one for your comments. Phil, Just to let you know a package arrived yesterday from Hornby/Humbrol with a selection of goodies. All will come in very handy. Thank You Chris

Thank you all. Really pleased as there was some very tough competition. Chris

Hi Stewart, I got my transfer paper from that well know auction site. Search 'Waterslide Decal Paper' should find it. They do a transparent or white version. Costs about £4 for 10 A4 sheets (less if you buy greater quantities. Be warned though, I found it shrinks when you put it in water. I ended up printing my images 20% bigger to allow for shrinkage. It did work however once I worked out what size to print at. The other issue to be careful with is if your transfer is big, there is a danger of it warping. Just need to be careful and tease it back into shape. I did some stained glass windows for my oo gauge church this way. Regards, Chris

That is looking good. I like the welder, that effect really works well. Look forward to seeing it complete. Chris

Brilliant, That brought back some memories.

Hi Marly, In 1964/5 my dad was stationed just down the road at RAF St Athens. The back garden of our married quarter backed onto the military railway branch that ran into the camp. There was just a chain link fence between the bottom of the garden and the track that I could squeeze under to put half pennies on the track. We would regularly go to Barry shopping and would take a bus over the viaduct towards Barry Island and look down on all the old locos in the yard. I can remember a high brick wall near some of them but don't see it in any of the photos. I can also remember there being a bank of earth where you could stand and look over the top of some of the locos. They seemed to go on forever! Sorry,I can't remember what the fencing was like there, I was only 10 or eleven at the time. Ten years later I was posted to the North Atlantic Weather ships based in Barry, I traveled down by train from London, took one look at the old Flower class corvettes and decided I would rather go to sea on one of the scrapped locos and quit. There were still rows and rows of locos there then and by now all looking very rusty. I recall there were security fences up now as there had been lots of pilfering. Haven't been back since. Good luck with this project, Regards, Chris

Hi Marly, Is this the type of picture you remember. This is off my office wall and is a picture of one of my daughters holding a picture of herself holding a picture of herself holding...... It goes down at least 5 levels before it gets difficult to see. Regards, Chris

Hi Kev, That is exactly what I have used them for. I missed out last year but have had a go at all 3 this year and used them to try out techniques before using them on my main layout. I have had a go at static grass, weathering, using Slaters plastic brick, etched brass and 3D printing. It is a great way to learn, and never mind the competition side of it, you should have a go anyway. You will find a friendly bunch here, always willing to make constructive suggestions and help. regards, Chris

Yet another check. Did you get 'Camping Carriage'? Regards, Chris

Looking very good. We have a couple of miniature railways in North West Norfolk, One at Norton Hill, and two at Wells next the sea. I think your carriages look better than the prototype at Norton Hill. Well done

Well the entry is now submitted. I thought I would share the interior of the coach. I have made the roof and one side removable to show a couple of bedrooms and a living area. I avoided the issue of a toilet by putting the brick outhouse on the platform behind the porter with the luggage. I couldn't get the platform lights to work. Another lesson learnt, test them before fitting as it is going to be difficult to replace them now. Non of the three lights works and I suspect them to be a faulty batch. Oh well they look the part even if they don't work. I am pleased with the way the furniture worked out although the rooms do look a little spartan. I might do some more work on it yet and put some railway camping posters on the walls.

Hi Dickon, The longer coach at Heacham was a pullman. If you look at the coach in the top right picture above you can see word Pullman on the side. I did hear that it was sold for renovation a couple of years ago. The retired army officer that bought it had a quarter of a million pound budget for renovation.

OK, so the base board is just about done. I have picked a time after the Heacham - Wells line has closed and the branch line side of the platform has closed and the rails removed. I have a family arriving for a holiday to put on the platform with a porter and their luggage. The rails of the goods line siding are still in place for the Camping Coaches although that side of the station is starting to show the neglect. The carriage is an old Ratio kit that I picked up a couple of years ago. It was going cheap as there were no instructions. Thank you to those of you who sent me scans of similar ratio kits. As you can see the coach just fits within the 8 inches! I have all the furniture made but still have to finish the internal walls before I can fit it. Some has been 3D printed, some built from a brass etched kit. The carriage roof and one side are removable to see inside. The brick toilets on the platform were my first attempt to scratch build from plastic brick sheets. The toilet doors do have a Ladies and Gents sign from Google but too small to see on the photo. The canopy supports were 3D printed, the valance was laser cut by Scale Model Scenery and was what was left over from an earlier build. The Heacham sign is taken from a photo of the actual sign that I took at a display the Terry was doing of the Heacham Station. I was going to do some transfers of 'Pullman Camping Coach' but that was only on the longer carriage not the short one that I am modeling, so I have left it off. I might do a badge on the side later. Almost finished, but little work tomorrow as I am judging a Honey Show. Only about an hour or so to finish off inside the coach and one more set of steps to make for the side of the coach. Get them done by Monday ready for submission.

Rapidly approaching the closing date. Most of the work and the painting is done. Just a matter of putting all the bits together. Before I show where I have got to, I have been doing some more research and spoken to Terry who owns the old station now. When the Heacham to Wells line closed there were two camping coaches in the goods siding at Heacham. One was called Montana, the other was Maid of Kent II. They remained on site for several years after the Kings Lynn to Hunstanton line closed and the rails were removed. Eventually the carriages were trailered away. Terry tried to buy then back several years later. One was part of a residence and the other was just too expensive. He acquired his current coach from elsewhere. The attached pictures show the carriages at Heacham before the main line closed.

Thanks for the link. Some useful pictures of what to put inside the carriage. Looks like a good spot to base from. I like the goods carriage conversion, that works well.

I had been thinking of a camping carriage sitting beside a station. I measured the length of all my carriages and all the oo gauge ones were too long. Even diagonally they would not fit! I thought N gauge would be too small so was having to think about something else. On Saturday, as part of Norfolk day one of my neighbours gave a talk about his house which is the old village station that shut in the late 60s. He lets the waiting room and has a 60ft carriage in the garden, both being used as holiday homes. His carriage is still too long, but as part of the talk, he showed some pictures of the station when it was open for business. One of the pictures showed one of the original camping carriages in the goods siding and it is much shorter. That set me thinking, I have an old ratio kit of a Midland Suburban coach that I bought for a quid out of a bucket a few years ago. There were no instructions but some kind souls sent me them a couple of years ago after an appeal here on RMWeb. I never did make up the kit as I had other modeling priorities at the time. I dug it out and yes it is less than 8 inches long so will fit. My plan is to copy part of Heacham Station as it was in the mid 60s in the attached photo. I am a month behind so need to get a move on but let's see what happens.

Some more images that I did not use in the final entry. This one showing the real coal that came from my sisters that was crushed by hand. Together with a couple of the D&G Models figures. I did try making a top had for the driver but it did not work out so ended up being removed. I liked this little urchin and can just imagine him asking the cop for the MPs boots. There was a slight defect in the 3D print of the top of the chimney. This was covered by the cotton wool smoke. I tried not to be too gruesome with the leg but the kids I have shown this to wanted more blood!

Just to show it fits in an 8" x 8" x 6" cake box here is a picture in the box with rulers. Unfortunately the boxes used by Mr Bun my local baker are only 3" high

Thanks for that. I did wonder why the Prime Minister would be at the trials. It being the opening makes more sense.