Tricky

So, having dragged out of storage the ancient and dusty Monk's Gate, I am loathe to shove it back from whence it came, but at a tad over 8' long I was stumped as to where it could go in my relatively cramped workshop. So I reduced the working height of Tewks and strung up Monk's Gate over it from the Dexion rafters! Not very pretty, and not easily accessible but at least it now has a place in the workshop - and very poetically, a place once more in my affections!

I couldn’t decide where on RMWeb to post this, so thought I’d pop it here. I had one of those flashes of inspiration over the weekend; just as I pulled Tewkesbury out of store a few months ago to resurrect it and finish it off, I decided to also drag out the original ‘Monk’s Gate’ which has also been languishing in the dust depths of my undercroft. I’m now thinking way ahead but this will be re-purposed and re-modelled to the next in the ‘Midland in…’ series as ‘Midland in Nottingham’. For those of you with good memories, you may recall this layout as my first real attempt at a layout about 7 or 8 years ago. I am loath to waste the boards and track and some of the scenic elements (although much has moved on in my methods since then). You’ll see that Nottingham Goods provided some inspiration even then with the canal and stone walling. This time around I will extend the canal to include the tunnel and also include the grain warehouse as a back-drop. My thinking also is that I may even keep M in N rather than sell it on…we shall see. The B&W photo is lifted from Midland Record no1 - the photo that started it all!

Who makes a decent 7mm kit? I like Princess of Wales but not keen on bogie tenders! Also, who makes a kit of 1757 Beatrice?

Progress update! Coming together slowly but surely. A lot of detail work has been done, some not obvious from these few pics. Ballast is all laid but still needs weathering along with the rails. The engine shed is in need of some TLC and then it’s concentrate on the ground works. Work is also progressing in the background on three locos. Updates to follow at some stage! The water also needs re-doing!!

Here’s another diorama I’ve finished today. This is based on the Midland goods yard at Ancoats but if the notice board was changed and the door to the office repai yes could be anywhere. It measures 1230mm x 480mm x 500mm high and the back panel with houses attached to it is removable. It makes a very effective static diorama to display O Gauge rolling stock. It’s available for sale for £900, rolling stock not included! I have loads more photos if needed.

Photos would be great!

I woke up in the night last night and for some strange reason started to wonder about the following: One day I’d like to build a Spinner. Working inside motion is a must with all that fresh air under the boiler, but how does one power it as clearly the gearbox can’t mount on the one and only driven axle? Is the tender driven perhaps? But doesn’t feel right pushing the loco…any thoughts or experience?

Johnson Half Cab back from having DCC and sound fitted. Runs very smoothly indeed and has full working inside motion - not that you can see any of it! Tomorrow I will strip it down and start painting. Let’s hope it goes back together as it should!

Sweet! Lots of frantic activity from the working innards, not that you can see any of it!

Thursday’s update: the station canopy roof has been extended to follow the curved backscene in its new position, painted and fitted. The loading bay has also been glued down, as well as the framing for the rear goods platform. Finally the brewery has been fitted, track behind painted and blanking panel between the mill and brewery. The last structure is, of course, the engine shed but I will have to finish ballasting the trackwork behind it before fitting it. Really cracking on now!

Another update: this time on the right hand end, a very low-relief building to hide the track exit. Shades of ‘Bristol’ with hidden text. And also work progressing on the back right corner. None of this (apart from the rear-most buildings) is fitted permanently yet, but will be soon.

I plan on being able to post some progress pics over the next few days. Here is the mill end, almost finished. The left hand building is actually fixed now. The right hand one (brewery) needs a bit of detail but not far off. I need to fit a black blanking panel at the end of the dummy track. The track behind has been ballasted, just needs some weathering. Still thinking about what to do between the brewery and the engine shed - some sort of brewery yard probably. More water to vanish and stone quay wall to paint. And you may have noticed the rather fetching red surround rather than the dull grey! This has meant the railings couldn’t stay red and are now black!

I can indeed confirm that @Schooner is a very well behaved customer!

Hi Pete, I came across this thread whilst googling images of your signal box, as I am just about to send you an email. I am a scratch-builder of exhibition standard architectural models and have built several GW boxes in both 4mm and 7mm. Have a look when you get my email and my contact details are on there too. Best regards, Richard

Very fetching cover. Things are looking upward and onward for the new style MRJ. How about an email for ad submissions and on-line subscriptions?! 😏

This - believe it or not - is the smokebox/boiler/firebox. I’ve turned it up from some nice hard maple, primed it and rubbed it down prior to removing it from the lathe. Once I chop off the ends, I anticipate adding a wrapper around the smokebox to create the saddle for it, as well as cutting away the top part of the smokebox to receive the saddle tank, and a recess for the motor/gearbox. Unconventional to say the least!

Fact and fiction. In case you thought that I’d never make my mind up about this blessed mill, I’ve been quietly beavering away. Today I managed to make the bridge railings and spray them with red primer. I actually quite like the colour and will probs keep it. The mill buildings themselves are coming along nicely but none of it is fixed down yet until I’ve ballasted the track behind it all. Great to make some real progress though. I’ve added an image lifted from Google of the real thing.

They look perfect. I hope your wife manages to rest her ankle.

Mike, I can laser cut 4 rings for you, with holes for bolts. I could use 0.6mm laserboard. Let me know if you would like to give it a try.

Oh! Oh well, I don’t fancy making it three times! Nevermind, but thanks for the info.

A bit more action on my ‘plastic’ loco. Thanks to @41516 I was able to confirm that the overall sizes I had for the saddle tank weren’t far off, however the positions of the chimney and dome were off so I decided to make another. This was made as before with about 25 mdf laser cut layers stuck together like a loaf of bread, sanded, covered in paper, and then a couple of coats of shellac sanded smooth. I also re-drew and re-printed the dome as photos seem to indicate a shorter than standard version with the salter posts actually appearing from the base of the dome rather than the boiler as in tank and tender engines. I think next I will add the remaining details to the tank and then turn up a boiler. I may also have dug out an old motor/gearbox from my spares box so that’s good. This engine (if it works) will have been made on a budget that’s for sure!

Any suggestions on a suitably tiny motor/gearbox combo?

However the jury is still out on whether plastic locos are a good idea!

More progress on the saddle tank. I’ve been raiding the spares box again and found buffer planks, coupling hooks, buffers (with large heads!) horn blocks and guides and coupling rods (with a bit of tweaking). The wheels are new! It’s almost a rolling set of frames, just a bit of binding and clearance issues to sort.

Any measurements and cab etch scan would be very helpful, thank you!