AVS1998

Must I hock it in a nasally voice with an artisanal non-dairy low-fat eco-friendly-cup latte in one hand?

I'm reasonably happy with this simple plan for the photo plank/diorama. A single line (purple) with a short siding, a watering stop by the waterway, and a field to the right third of the board. I'm thinking a small farm cottage or possibly dilapidated chapel in the top left would be quite nice, too. In the meantime, I've been working on the K's Mataros. They're fiddly as anything, and not a good fit. Lots of fettling and some bracing required (one of the first class sides snapped and needed bracing internally). I'll fit a false floor so I can add weights and inside bearings (I'm thinking of re-using the Hornby Mansells from my bashed six-wheelers). Name ideas are possibly The Beck or The Water. That's about all I have for now.

A large sheet of foamboard has been acquired, a diorama/photo plank in the making. I'm thinking a sleepy single line which crosses a tributary, with some trees, a field in the background, and maybe a siding or watering stop. Simple and understated, to cut my teeth on scenic work.

I've been doing a little pondering on how to make things better for myself, give myself something to do, and I rather like the idea of building a photo plank/micro layout that fits on top of my chest of drawers. Hobbycraft sell large sheets of foam board and stiff card, which is good enough for this sort of thing (it's a solid wood chest, so there's not much needed in terms of support, it's just keeping the pieces together). It'll be good practice for scenic work, and somewhere nice to pose items of stock when I've finished them. Still planning it out, but I think I'll try to push ahead with it. It'll also lend itself well (if I keep it vague) to any future deviations in period or region that I may be drawn to.

Half-inspired by something someone suggested in 'Modelling Mojo and State of Mind' the other day (building small kits unrelated to your main modelling theme/goal), I came up with the notion of a 'Maunsellised' BR railbus; It's not perfect by any means, but my thoughts are that it would be a lightly-built EMU or possibly a prototype DEMU for working lighter branches/lines. Alternatively it could be a two-car configuration, and would have a large sliding door either side for ingress/egress.

I've got a lot of mounting issues cropping up in my life recently (personal and professional), and I wish I had some modelling 'bits' to do here in Belfast, but aside from a pair of Keyser carriage kits I bought recently, I haven't got anything with me, and no space in my house to do anything. All I want is a distraction for a few hours that isn't Netflix (or other streaming sites), food, or sleeping.

Here's a question for you, folks. On the HMRS website, drawing no. 1504 describes an 'overseas brake' converted to a 10T ballast brake. What the devil is an overseas brake? The drawing shows a six-wheel carriage, possibly a third, fitted with a stove, end windows, and what looks like hoppers where the seats used to be in the compartments?

When I get around to building these, I'll be replacing the buffers, adding larger metal wheels, scale couplings, and they'll likely be representing either absorbed Blackstone Co. carriages or early SER carriages (I know there were some stragglers from the 1850s which were still very highway-carriage in style). This photo from 1893 has a good example on the left-hand side, second from the end (I think the very last carriage is possibly a 6W second?) Whether they're in very localised revenue service or they've been decomissioned to be used as fruit or tool vans, I'm as-yet undecided.

My goodness, those are teeny-tiny. And yes, I still have the Nelson (despite many efforts to get shot of the thing.)

Something rather out of my modelling period but of interest to myself (and hopefully to all of you). I was finishing up packing for my flight tomorrow and had YouTube on in the background (I quite like Tom Lynskey's videos on maritime history), and happened to be re-watching his coverage of the Collins Line fleet. Well, it transpires that the SS Atlantic was (sort-of) displayed at the Great Exhibition in July 1851, with dignitaries being conveyed from the exhibition (presumably from Sydenham station?) via the GWR for an evening meal. Now, I was curious as to where the Atlantic could have been moored, and my bet is likely in or near Bristol, for ease of access from London. Plymouth's railway access hadn't been built yet. My mind did turn to Liverpool/Birkenhead but getting there over the GWR (or not-yet-GWR) lines in 1851 appeared challenging.

I'm returning to Belfast tomorrow, but I'm very happy with how far the LSWR diner got. The underframe is practically finished, it just needs painting in matte black and weathering (I found my airbrush the other day, though I don't know what condition it's in). I added a piece of scrap etch to the dynamo to give an impression of the drive belt, just to lift the model a little more. Bogies still need painting and tweaking, I'll try to address that next time I'm home (the coach is sitting low at the right hand side as one of the bogie sides fell off, it's something to be fixed). Very happy I added the plastic stretchers, though, they feel very solid now. The interior is mostly done, seats have been painted (blue for first class, red for third), and will be fitted at a later date. I might add antimacassres too, probably just a quick dab with white nail varnish for a uniform width. One thing I am a little wary of is the clerestory itself, it seems a bit flimsy but I'm sure it'll go together fine when I give it a go. I do need to have another go with the soldering iron on the coach end etches, that'll really help give the overall impression of the saloon once they're in place, complete with sprung buffers and (hopefully working) gangways. It's quite a heavy carriage considering most of it is aluminium, plasticard or OHP printed sheet. I did find some carriage handles in my stock, though I don't know if they're quite right for this project. When I return to this project, I need to be more careful with drilling for the roof vents. I gave it a go with my drill and it went fine for the first line but the second, while perpendicular, was too far to one side, so I filled all of the pilots in and will tidy up the roof before giving it another go next time. The roof vents are all painted body colour, as per the instructions. I know I said I was toying with illuminating this carriage, and it's something I'm still toying with, but I'm leaning more toward 'no', mostly due to the construction type requiring a strong seal between the body and the roof, and I don't want to jeopardise that for a novelty feature. It may well be populated, though. We'll see.

April 30th, 1921. ''An antiquarian survivor was recently brought out into the daylight, having been under cover at Blackstone carriage shed for a number of months. Originally built in 1850, this saloon was built for the short-lived Blackstone Liberty Railway (known to locals as the Blackstone and Marshes), but delivered to the South Eastern Railway upon its absorption of the BLR. It was made available for hire, in service in its original BLR livery, and operated until 1881, when it was brought to Ashford for rebuilding. The roof and windows were of poor construction and had received several repairs prior to withdrawal. In contrast, the underframe, running gear, and bodywork below the waist were still strong. It was stripped to the waist panels and rebuilt in a modern style, and fitted with gas lighting. In 1904, the saloon was once again removed from service for refitting, this time to a picnic layout, with bench seating throughout. The three small windows were removed and replaced with a picture window, with those doors also closed up. In 1915, it was withdrawn from service entirely and languished at the back of Blackstone's carriage shed until this month, when it was brought out for evaluation by Colonel Stephens who is looking for additional stock on his Kent and East Sussex Railway. If not purchased, it is likely the saloon's body will be removed and either sold privately or burned on-site.''

It's the 1319 series, the very earliest I think; I bid on a whim on eBay a while ago and won, so once it's built it will eventually go in cross-country and inter-company trains. Mike King's An Illustrated History of Southern Coaches has a photo of a diner in such a train coming into Brighton on page 15, the caption outlining the composition: ''The leading ex-SECR three-corridor set is formed of two 1907 Brake Composites and a steel-panelled Third of 1920 [...] followed by an ex-LSWR three-corridor set plus a Dining car.'' Granted the diner there is one of the later non-clerestory types, but Rule One and all that. Always been curious as to what the 'three-set' is? There's scope for a little variety in these trains; LSWR brake composite corridors to SR diagrams 131 and 410 were used on Dover - Birkenhead trains from September 1923 (and possibly on other interregional?), and I quite like the idea of possibly using the Emigrant brakes for a Blackstone portion, but I'd have to read more into that. SR diagram 411 is an attractive prospect but likely too modern to have been cascaded to these services in my era.

I'd imagined the Stroudley to be converted to electric, and I'm fairly sure the SW saloons were electric from the off but had gas tanks for the kitchen supply.

I'm at home until Tuesday, and brought the LSWR dining saloon kit over with me to see how far I'd get. PC kits are far from 'shake the box' but they're far simpler than the etched kits I've tried in the past (and not had the skills for yet). This is a comfortable middle ground, with some minor soldering but by-and-large it's a cut-and-stick exercise. The underfloor detail was very clearly marked out in the instructions (to scale!), so I snipped out the diagram and kept it parallel to the model until everything was in an approximate location. My thinking is that parts moved around so much over refurbs and so on, if things are slightly out of place it isn't a big deal. Bogie castings are gorgeous, heavy whitemetal, but I was concerned that the one thin etched bolster/stretcher unit wouldn't stand up to task, and that the sides would bow after a while. Remembering I had a few (several) wrecked Kirk Maunsell bogies, I filed a pair down in width after removing the bogie sides, ground off the boss on top, until the remaining units fit between the PC components. This is mostly to add structural rigidity but also to allow for an alternative mounting (I don't know if I'll have the bolts going up INTO the coach or coming down FROM it) I tried to tackle the etched ends but they're very tarnished and need a polish for a key. I'll have to dig out my big soldering iron (wherever it is). In the meantime, I was in Lidl yesterday and picked up a cordless soldering iron, multi-piece screwdriver, multi-piece drill... thing, and a scalpel set for around £55 all-in. Overall, I imagine I could probably have the kit finished before I return to Belfast, but we'll see. My Hattons Genesis brakes arrived and I'm a little disappointed. The SECR colour is worse than I expected and I don't know whether I'll keep it and weather it heavily or if I'll just sell it on. The GNR teak is nicer, though, and I'll keep that, scumble it a bit more heavily and see if I can find some LCDR/SECDR lettering for it. It doesn't match the initial drawings Hattons released on the project which I'd based my cut/shut idea on, so I imagine I'll keep it as a one-off survivor which somehow still hasn't been painted Lake. The Bachmann C class will remain as such. I looked at doing the conversion to a B2 and it's a bit more involved than I expected. My efforts with the GBL model still stand up though the cab is looking a bit tired now, so I might replace it with plasticard. Tender still needs wheels, buffers etc. Kent Cousins. The Hornby 12W Pullmans are gorgeous, more so than I remember. I feel a tad guilty about painting Rosalind Lake now. I'm trying to decide how I'll go with those. It's a shame to repaint the Hornby livery, but the cars didn't wear Umber and Cream until the 1930s... The Stroudley bogie first needs a chassis, bogies, buffers - I was trying to find out if Peco still sell the MR 48' chassis separately as a kit or if that went out of the window years ago.

Just a quick query to anyone with a bit more LSWR know-how than me: what are the main (visual) differences between the Adams 3300 and 3000 gallon tenders? I've spied a kit I'm considering of an X2 (it's definitely a ''want'' not a ''need'' and would definitely go in the ''years down the line'' stack) which is sans tender, and I can think of two sources for tenders but one is possibly incorrect for the prototype. It wouldn't be really appropriate for Blackstone, but alongside all the other Victorian/Edwardian beauties, and the Drummond 4-4-0s transferred to the SE/Central sections, with a prototypical lower chimney and dome, it'd be a fun little what-if. Maybe. We'll see.

Afternoon all, I'm just on my break at work and was searching through for a build date for an LNER coach diagram. Last night I came across a photo on eBay, dated 1934 - 38 around Bromley, of an E1 pulling an interregional train headed by an LNER d. 182 third open, followed by an ex - LNWR third. I've a feeling the LNER diagram was introduced around or after 1928?

Whoops! Well, I had the money... They're being delivered to my parents', I'm hoping to go home and visit next month. I'm unsure if I want to try and repaint them in SECR (I believe a proportion of the Chatham cars stayed in Lake until at least the late 20s) given how involved lining can be. I'll think on it.

The dining saloon arrived today. I've never seen a PC kit in its pre-assembly form, there's a lot more than I expected. For those who also haven't seen one before, the kit includes (from the left, working across): - vacuum-formed seating, a Bostwick gate print, trussing etch, rubber diaphragm for the gangways - printed sides (coach body and clerestory lights, plus ventilators and other bits), aluminium roof, dividers/clerestory roof, floorplate, chassis sides, buffer/couplings, whitemetal bogies, wheels, ventilators, underfloor components - end etches (outer and inner skin, gangway plates), etched stretcher and bolster, transfers The instructions are fairly comprehensive, and the kit doesn't seem too difficult. The hardest part is most likely trimming back the aluminium where required, and keeping the cuts of the sides very neat. I'm looking forward to working on this eventually. I've considered upgrading some of the detailing, such as the handles and bits of wire, just to lift it a little. The cars were electrically lit, so it's tempting to try to fit some low-level lights to the model, but we'll see (I probably won't).

Not the most practical purchase for Blackstone, but for the price I got it at: An unbuilt PC LSWR dining saloon (in Maunsell livery; the LSW liveried types seem scarcer). It'll be something to tinker away at in Belfast until I next go home to see family, and probably will work in cross-country trains in time.

I re-downloaded Anyrail and found the plan that @BlueLightning, @Corbs and others helped to make (I couldn't get my head around the software). Here's what they came up with among them, according to my specs (screenshot of the plan and some labelling by me in MS Paint): The inspiration from Hastings is very evident in the plan, with the V-shape. For the longer platforms at the top of the plan (the through platforms) I still like the idea of having the buildings in the style of Canterbury West, with the original-style canopies, too, though that might change. The lower platform and main building will (hopefully) be Hornby's R8713-4 Terminus set, which are very obviously based on Rye.

I think that when Sem and I were originally planning out Blackstone years ago (when it became a shared idea), Blackstone West was the original station, an extension of the Brighton - Hastings route. It would make more sense to have the first arriving company be the SER, I suppose, taking over from the (very short-lived) Blackstone and Marshland who had only purchased a few items of stock and broken ground in the town before being bought out. That, then, would be Blackstone (Town). Blackstone (West) would become Blackstone (Admiralty St)? Just a switch in the arrivals.

After my account was suspended a few months ago, I'd forgotten that I'd lost my layout planning thread, so it seems pertinent to create a new one, have a place where I can discuss my research and also share plans for the (eventual) layout. Firstly, the location of Blackstone is still very much the Kent/Sussex border, although maybe a smidge toward the former. I'd always imagined it being somewhere between Camber and Jurys Gap, but looking at a historic rail map of the area, I think it makes a little more sense to shift Blackstone toward Dungeness. Not by much, just a few miles, so it's more firmly where Jurys Gap is, effectively replacing it on the map. That way, I can take advantage of the Dungeness/New Romney line from Appledore, still work in an alternative line from Rye, too, and have the fictional LBSCR route across from Hastings coming into the town south of Rye. This also means I can make true the 1880s plans of Dungeness ('Brief History' section goes into a bit of detail about this) and by extension, Blackstone being dredged harbours, with Dungeness taking more of the cross-channel traffic and Blackstone seeing some transatlantic (as Dover did, pre- and post-WWI), connecting with London, Brighton, and Paris conveniently. I don't think I'll be changing the stations really. Blackstone Town I might rename to Blackstone Admiralty Street just for something different. Blackstone Pier, maybe to Blackstone Maritime?

(Credit: British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000293/19250307/037/0002 ) ''That train has been running for over twenty years [...] At first it started from Bexhill and had a Pullman on it and then it came through to Hastings''. Interesting that the Bexhill Special Express seems, according to J. M. Glover, the author of 'Railway Deputation: A Member's Views', to have survived from its inception in 1900 in some form or other, and was highly successful. This is the only article I've found praising the Express to such a degree after around 1907, and I'm not going to take it as gospel that it did survive the Great War, but nevertheless, it's an interesting thought. I wonder why I've found no other mentions of its longevity (unless Glover is mistaken?)