TimC

I have finally finished the Ruston 48DS. It now has a full complement of axle boxes, steps, sandpipes and torque reaction arms (not that some of these show much) . Also I've added another couple of sheep wagons to the stock box though I only need one for St Oswalds in shunting puzzle mode. They'll come in handy one day no doubt. At Compton Dundon, I felt a bit of a fraud saying that St Oswalds was Welshpool inspired but I had not got a Welshpool loco yet so I've made a start on a Dorset Kits W&L 0-6-0T which will eventually be 822 'The Earl', in BR black. Still a very long way to go but as others have said before, its an excellent kit but the loco is HUGE! I may need a bigger layout.... St Oswalds next outing is the RMweb SWAG Members Pasty Fest on Sunday 28 April 2024, see link below.

A very enjoyable day yesterday and a fitting tribute to Howie. He'd have certainly enjoyed it if he was there. Many thanks to Barrie and the team for organising the event and to Robin E for helping out with operating St Oswalds. Barrie didn't seem too keen though whilst we were packing up when someone asked him if this was going to be an annual event.....

Weston has been and gone. It was an excellent show. This Saturday (24 February), St Oswalds is appearing at the 'Bye to Howard Martin' show at Compton Dundon. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/183837-farewell-to-howard-martin-show-compton-dundon-24th-feb-2024/#comment-5399539 I've finished a couple of new wagons - a Welshpool cattle wagon and a Welshpool sheep wagon. Both my own 3D prints. The layout and the rest of the stock has been tested and fettled so we are all ready to go for the weekend. Please say hello if you pop by.

St Oswalds (O16.5) will be there.

Hi Kevin Good to meet you. Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks for the kind words regarding St Oswalds. The Ruston didn't stay on the layout for long as its unfinished (still awaiting axleboxes, steps and sandboxes from Shapeways) but hopefully, it'll be ready for the next outing at Compton Dundon on 24 February. I made an effort to run all of my locos yesterday, only five of them but it rings the changes. A big thank you to Mark and the team for an excellent show yesterday, the St Oswalds and Abbots Morton gang from Sodbury Vale MRC had a great day. Cheers

Looking forward to the show tomorrow. St Oswalds is all packed up ready to go. If you pop by, please say hello.

Shocked! I dealt with Nigel quite a few times and he was always a pleasure to meet. A real loss to the hobby and the West Somerset Railway too. RIP Nigel.

Top job! Well done. Look forward to 26043 returning to service.

Thanks Dave! Yes, looking forward to Weston on 15 January. Looks a good line up. Hopefully, I'll get the Ruston finished (or presentable) by then. Cheers Tim

One of the main reasons for constructing the layout was to have somewhere to test and run O16.5 stock that I'm building. While I have a general plan, I'm very susceptible to diversions. One such diversion is my current project a narrow gauge version of a Ruston 48DS. Over the summer I had to fix my O Gauge Ruston 48DS which makes the occasional appearance on 'The End of the Line' (my 88DS, its larger brother, is preferred as you don't see too many of them around - though not for long now given Accurascale's recent announcement). About the time of the repair I also came across a picture of a 3ft gauge 48DS on Flickr. Having plonked my O Gauge model on 'St Oswalds' it looked a 'good' size so I started thinking about a 48DS in O16.5. Some of my other long term projects had stalled as they awaited some 3D printed components so after re-learning Fusion360 I've been knocking a few things out, including a cab (later style with a door), a bonnet and a chassis block for the Ruston. While I can draw reasonable well, my knowledge of designing for structural integrity of 3D printed items is seriously lacking and I've had a lot of issues with getting the cab square (it arrived from Shapeways looking like a curled up leaf). The other thing I've been meaning to try on a model is chevrons. What a fight! Good job there was more than enough spare in the Fox transfers pack. After a couple of failed attempts I had to cut the transfer sheet out in pieces to avoid the grille and windows. I did try Micro Sol to get the transfer to sit down over the detail but it makes the decal too soft and it just broke up. Anyway, I got there in the end. The chassis block is similar to the ones I did for my 'Conway Castle' locos. It uses a N20 motor (12V 2000rpm), some gears to drive a layshaft and Tenshodo work gears to drive the wheels (Gibson 4mm scale 4' 2" disc tender wheels). Miniature roller bearings for the shaft and the axles help keep resistance down. If it ends up like my Conway Castle locos then it'll not be the quietest but good enough for exhibition use. There is plenty of room of lead, dcc decoder and stay alive under the bonnet. . After glazing the cab, I've also now built the buffer-beam / underframe unit. The cab and bonnet were trial fitted to see how it looked. I played around with a few versions of the buffer beam before going for a full depth version. The kadee sits quite low and a shallower buffer beam with the coupling fitted below its bottom of edge didn't look as good to my eye. The underframe unit needs axles boxes, cab steps, sand boxes and a few other details. Though the next step is the motorise the chassis unit as its just sitting on its wheels for the moment so I could get the ride height correct.

Its mostly hidden by the curtain when the layout is exhibited but the leg system does draw interest (seen below during the layouts first live test - I didn't have any O16.5 locos at the time so a Bachmann pannier did the honours). Its an aluminium collapsible concertina table which measures 1.6m x 0.53m. Lightweight but sturdy, its quick to put up and folds down into a couple of bags for easy transport. The idea came form a German friend who uses a similar table for his exhibition layouts. Mine came from https://www.gazeboshop.co.uk/gazebo-accessories/aluminium-folding-concertina-tables/ (ususal disclaimer - no relation, just a satisfied customer). Not cheap (though it was a bit cheaper when I bought mine 2 years ago). However, I'll use it for subsequent layouts. Levelling is achieved with beer mats under the feet. The table top itself comprises of aluminium sections which slot in between the longitudinal angles that fit on top of the legs. I only use the table top sections under the fiddle yard, the main board of the layout has a couple of wooden rails which locate between the angles of the table (seen below). The baseboards were made from 6mm exterior quality birch plywood. There is a local company to me in Keynsham who you can send a cutting plan and they supply whatever you've requested. It was glued together with Delux Materials Aliphatic Resin, which has good grab on first application and good strength once set. It made for a relatively easy build.

I've been working on an O16.5 Inglenook shunting puzzle layout now for a couple of years. The layout is named 'St Oswalds' which has its origin from Oswestry and while it has no exact geographical location then its over that way somewhere. For the last nine years, I've been exhibiting Giles Favell's old layout 'The End of the Line' (TEOTL). After 60 odd shows its getting towards the end of it life I have a plan for a successor layout to TEOTL but as someone once said 'you can't there from here, you have to go somewhere else first'. That somewhere else is St Oswalds and I've been quietly building a small fleet of O16.5 locos and rolling stock. Eventually, it will have a Welshpool & Llanfair flavour but for now the locos and stock reflect a bit of what I fancied. Track is PECO O16.5, control is DCC (Daisy II/Piko SmartControl Light) and couplings are Kadee. The uncoupler magnets are under the track and can be raised/lowered by a servo. I've gone for an open scene with a muted colour palette. The scenics follow techniques described by Gordon Gravett in his Modelling Grassland and Landscape book. In the main, the scenic materials are from Polak and Mininatur. The goods shed is made from Mount Albert Lumber bass wood and is mounted on 3D printed brick piers. The guttering has Modelu fittings. St Oswalds has appeared at a couple of shows already and is next out at Weston-Super-Mare in January 2024. I'll cover the stock in a bit more detail in a later post.

'Moors View', taken at the Minehead Show, 5 August 2023

Thanks to Dave and the team for a cracking day yesterday. I didn't get too much time off the layout but I did manage to catch a few snaps. Moors View Winter in France Harris Sidings Sheep Dip Ashover Light Railway The picture I should have taken was of the pasties we had for lunch. THEY WERE ENORMOUS!!!! Thanks again!

St Oswalds, my O16.5 Inglenook cameo layout, is all ready for the Minehead Show on Saturday. If you pop by, please say hello!