Pugsley

2 Pieces of Extruded Polystyrene, ideal for baseboards, free to a good home. Must be collected from Taunton area by next weekend, otherwise they're going to the tip. Both are 200 x 60 x 6.5 cm.

Never finished. They're still sat on my workbench in pretty much the same state, only with more dust.

Thanks for the unexpected words of support everyone - that never crossed my mind, I saw this as more of a sales pitch :-) BTW, if anyone does want the layout, PM me and make me an offer. This decision has been a long time coming, so there's no chance of wanting to go back to 4mm scale. The 7mm stuff is staying for now - there's more chance of me getting back into that at some point in the future.

In the immortal words of Jim Morrison: This is the end, beautiful friend This is the end, my only friend, the end Of our elaborate plans, the end. I'm never going to complete this layout - I've lost enthusiasm for modelling in general and 4mm scale in particular. If anyone is interested in buying an EM layout that is virtually complete track-wise, needing a little bit of wiring, along with various bits and pieces to complete, such as buffer stops, electrical bits plus some other bits, drop me a PM. Pretty much all of my 4mm stock will be cleared out at some point in the not too distant future - keep an eye on my workbench blog for more details of that. I'd like to give RMwebbers first dibs before the rest ends up on ebay. The 7mm stuff is staying for the time being and we'll see what happens. it's been a blast!

In the last post, I wrote about the track and wiring putting me off doing anything with the layout. I don't think that was the case in the end, the lack of progress with the layout was another symptom of my wider modelling malaise but I'm really glad I went down the route that I did in getting somebody else to do the bulk of the track and wiring. This update is long overdue in a couple of ways. One in as much as that this is the first update to this blog in two years, and the fact that the layout came back to the South West last year, and attended the annual SWAG members day as a last minute 'work in progress' demonstration. Looking along the length of the layout, from where the fiddle yard will be, down to the end. The VEP is stood where the main platform will be, with the oil terminal off to the left and the bay platform to the right: Simon has done a cracking job on the track and the wiring, I'm glad I asked him to do it for me. There's a little bit left for me to do in terms of laying a bit of track on one of the terminal sidings and a bit more wiring, then I can get on with the installation of the third rail. A wider view of almost the whole of the layout: I don't expect progress to be particularly rapid, there's a few workbench projects I want to get out of the way first, including the tanks that are currently on my workbench, and the 455 which is definitely going to be required for the passenger service on the layout. However, the intent is there and I'm thinking about what I need to do to get it completed for the first time in years, which can only be a good sign. I need a few more tankers to fill these sidings:

Thanks for the comments everyone - I wasn't expecting that kind of response!

Yes, it's been a while. It's been a very long while, in fact. Following the completion of the 37, I didn't really feel like doing any modelling at all. I think that, perhaps, a part of that was me thinking about how I could top that, and not coming up with anything, so nothing was done. I've now come to the conclusion that I don't have to top it, I just have to do something I'm going to find enjoyable. As a self confessed tank wagon perv it seemed only natural to ease myself back in with some tanks, so to that end, a couple of weeks ago 5 of my Bachmann TTA stash found their way onto my workbench, ready for conversion into some more of the Total tankers previously seen on these pages. The last batch concentrated on the 'Esso' type of catwalks, with the central single ladder at the end. This batch, with the exception of PR58255 all have the other type of catwalk, with the ladders extending down each side from the central platform. Some of the conversions are a bit more adventurous this time as two of the tanks to be modelled (PR58134 and PR58276) are both of diagram TT024A and were built with both chassis and tanks approximately 1 foot longer than the design represented by the Bachmann model. Here the wagons have been completely dissassembled, including freeing the metal weight, which was glued in pretty well, and are waiting for the surgery to begin. Here the surgery is complete - the weight has been used to secure the two halves of the chassis back together, before the resulting hole is filled with a combination of Evergreen styrene profile and microstrip. The extra length is evident in the photo - it'll be interesting to see if anyone ever picks it up in person. Now with the gap in the chassis filled, attention can be turned to removing the unnecessary strengthening ribs on the chassis, in preparation for adding new ones where required from strip styrene. This picture shows all of the wagons currently being worked on, with all of the required ribs removed. The one at the top will become PR58241 and has had all of the axlebox, spring and spring mount detail removed to be replaced with a different kind of spring mount, parabolic springs and Timken axleboxes, as can be seen in this picture (the Bachmann model features the SKF type of axlebox): http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brttanks/h2890b48a#h2890b48a Currently, all of the chassis have the new ribs stuck in place, some of which need to be trimmed flush with the solebars, on the two Standard built wagons, the ribs need to be filed back a bit and given a curved profile. Next steps are to make the brake gear and other underframe detail reflect the various prototypes, before slapping on a bit of paint. Then, after that, attention will turn to the barrels. It's good to be back

I was right, it was My Replica/MJT VEP is still a collection of parts under my workbench.

Now sorted, thanks!

I don't know why, but I think it's a Prairie tank of some description.

According to this, it wasn't Southern National: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_National Unfortunately, it doesn't mention what it would have been. It could have been Devon General though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_General

Stunning!

Of course, the cat may have actually enjoyed it

MTK lives! Shame really, I wanted one of the TS's to make a 455/7, but won't be using that as the basis.

How do you accidentally end up in Scotland?