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Apocrypha, USA


SonOfMike
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  • 2 months later...
On 17/10/2020 at 20:23, MarshLane said:

Superb layout and well done on the buildings :), great detailing and cladding.

 

Now following along.

Thank you very much for the kind words - I'm sure I will post an update eventually. I need to get my mojo back. I've not exactly lost it; it's more like I've put my mojo at the back of a cupboard for a while :D. A welcome return to full time work in July after a short furlough period has meant that I haven't had as much free time and I have been devoting what time I do have to other hobbies which are easier to dip in and out of and involve less clearing up.

 

I have quite a lot of holiday left to take before the end of March so I will most probably get back into modelling when I'm off work. I need to plan my waterfront module and finish that last building I started and I also still have some details and figures to add to the main Apocrypha module. I should just get on with it really...

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2 hours ago, SonOfMike said:

Thank you very much for the kind words - I'm sure I will post an update eventually. I need to get my mojo back. I've not exactly lost it; it's more like I've put my mojo at the back of a cupboard for a while :D. A welcome return to full time work in July after a short furlough period has meant that I haven't had as much free time and I have been devoting what time I do have to other hobbies which are easier to dip in and out of and involve less clearing up.

 

I have quite a lot of holiday left to take before the end of March so I will most probably get back into modelling when I'm off work. I need to plan my waterfront module and finish that last building I started and I also still have some details and figures to add to the main Apocrypha module. I should just get on with it really...

 

Yes been there for the past couple of years.  Limited time, and the thought of getting things out and clearing up, leaves you with around eight minutes to do something!!  Started telling myself, that Thursday afternoon is my time, nobody else home till late, and house jobs etc, done in the morning and then I can get the layout boards set up after lunch and I have got all afternoon to achieve something!  I take the approach that AndyP (of this parish) uses ... plan in advance what you want to do, keep it small and achievable.  If you get more done great, but equalling or bettering expectations is more productive than failing!  Seems to work for me, and my small US layout has really moved forward in the past three or four weeks - no track down yet, but getting all those laborious bits and pieces like woodwork done, before track laying and the distraction of running trains commences!  But each to their own, and take your time.

 

Do you have any thoughts/ideas for the waterfront module?

 

Rich

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  • 1 month later...

Good luck Johnny for the restart in due course, only just found your thread, what I really like about your layout is the fact that you've resisted using all the "usual" buildings (unlike me when I did American some years ago!).

 

More power to your mojo!

 

John Bruce.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Well, the cakebox thing didn't happen; I lost my mojo. I think I may well be close to finding it again though, and once I've brushed off the dust and re-chromed it I may start planning the extension to Apocrypha properly.

 

In the meantime, one of the things I have wanted to add to the layout is people. I have been looking online for ages and not found any that I liked - I could find nudists, fairies, brass bands and photographers etc. but no "generic people doing nothing specific". Anyway, a visit to my local model shop (Baz's Model Rail in Yardley Birmingham - no affiliation just a very happy customer) for some detail bits ended in me being allowed to have a rummage through a jar of mixed miscellaneous second hand figures that they had acquired. I selected about a dozen and was charged next to nothing for them. 

 

The following posts contain pictures taken by my 12 year old daughter for me - they show some of the townspeople of Apocrypha for the first time...

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WARNING - EXTREMELY CRUEL CLOSE UPS ALERT!!!!

 

Old man Anneka used to take the time to talk to his workforce, unlike his son, who after taking over the mill has adopted a "modern" management approach involving mostly folded arms and tutting

 

WhatsApp Image 2021-06-05 at 16.03.50.jpeg

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Some activity at the catfish shack and the gun store. Meanwhile Daniel waits for Bernadette at the old juke joint

 

 

 

 

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WhatsApp Image 2021-06-05 at 16.03.46.jpeg

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There appears to be some sort of misunderstanding / argument outside Frenchie's place. Over at the depot, Mr and Mrs LeBlanc ignore each other, as seems to be the case most days according to Claudette. 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

There has been progress!!! Nothing worth taking a photograph of, but things have happened nonetheless.  I've been building up a to-do list for a while and collecting photographs for inspiration but I have been devoting my attention to another creative hobby of mine and I find it difficult to be active in both hobbies at once. I think it's just the way my mind is wired (I am also notoriously bad at multitasking) and I find that I need to finish what I am doing in one area before mentally changing gear and doing something else.

 

Anyway, I have managed to  get my head into modelling mode and started thinking about my second module. It's not going to be a waterfront now, because... reasons, but the fog is clearing and I have some ideas at last.

 

Before I start on that there were some things I needed to do, and I have been doing those things today.

 

Firstly, the backscene wasn't properly affixed; it was sort of semi-affixed but now its been made secure.

 

Secondly, the wiring was a lash-up. Yes, I know there are only 2 wires involved but never underestimate my ability manage a bodge-job. Until today there was wire soldered to some track connectors which were just stuck on the left-hand end of the layout; this definitely needed changing before I could add an extension. Now there are two neat small wires soldered to the outside of the rail at the same end which run unseen to a socket on the front of the layout. The controller plugs into the socket currently, but the same socket will be used to join the layout electrically to the new module when I get around to it. Well done me!

 

Thirdly, I have started building a fiddle stick for the other end of the layout. I say "building" but "lashing up" or "bodging" would be more accurate. It's all glued together from some bits of wood that came as part of the packing for a flat-pack bathroom unit I bought a while ago, which I had kept because I thought they could be useful some day. Once the glue has dried and I have stuck one remaining piece to it I will order some track for it (unless it falls to pieces) and then I think operating sessions could be a bit more interesting as trains will have somewhere to come from and go to.

 

Then I need to get cracking on the new module -  a trip to the retail park for some supplies is in order. Watch this space....

 

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Well, I think I've had a fairly productive weekend, despite the heat. Friday was a trip up to the retail park to get another floating shelf to act as the baseboard for the new section (slightly smaller than the Apocrypha board) plus supplies to make the backscene etc. Yesterday I had a stroll up to my local model shop (Baz's Model Rail in Yardley, Birmingham - no affiliation, I'm just a happy customer) for some track, a few other bits and bobs and a natter, and then today I actually started doing something with it all.

 

The track is on the board (Copydex still drying in places), it's wired up and it works. I tested it linked up to the fiddle stick rather than the main board but I'm confident all will be well and I know the track aligns properly. The little switch at the bottom left of the board is for an isolating section at the end of one of the spurs.

 

Next jobs, when I have time, will be to paint the track and make the 3 sided back scene.

 

 

20210718_141906.jpg

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I'm slowly getting there. A bit more bodging during lunch breaks on the days when I have been working from home and there is a bit more to see. Apologies for the poor photograph, the light indoors wasn't great despite the weather and I didn't want to move the board outside as the glue was still wet in a few places.

 

The track has been painted and a backscene put together and fixed temporarily; I will need to remove it for scenic work but having it in place helps me compose the final scene in my head. "That flippin' building", which has been looking for a home since I built it, now potentially has somewhere to live. The various bits of white foamboard are just me playing with locations for various structures etc. The composition is very much a work in progress currently and the footprints and locations of potential buildings are not definite. I do have an idea for the scene but I don't want to give much away at this point in case I change my mind. I also have an idea for disguising the hole in the sky but I'll keep that to myself now too, for similar reasons.

 

 

 

 

build 1.jpg

build 1.jpg

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Had a bit of a play today and had the new extension, main board and fiddlestick all connected together for the first time. Having somewhere for the trains to come from and go to has transformed the layout operationally for me. The extension may only separated from Apocrypha by a hole in the backscene in reality but in my imagination it's miles away. :).

 

I now potentially have the world's largest micro layout - it fills up one side of my kitchen, using the breakfast bar and an old keyboard stand. It was difficult to get a photo that showed it all but I think you get the idea from the picture below. I'm really fired up to get cracking on the extension now; lots of structure building ahoy.

 

all.jpg

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In other news, I've wanted a road vehicle of some kind for a while and finally decided to treat myself. Today I took delivery of an Oxford Diecast HO scale 1957 Chevrolet Nomad. I think I can get away with it both when running in "transition era" mode, with steam locos and a diesel or when running in 80s mode with the later diesels on the basis that by then it's a "classic" (or an old banger). Anyway, it's my train set and I'll do what I like ;).

 

20210723_162126.jpg

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On 22/07/2021 at 16:46, SonOfMike said:

I'm slowly getting there. A bit more bodging during lunch breaks on the days when I have been working from home and there is a bit more to see. Apologies for the poor photograph, the light indoors wasn't great despite the weather and I didn't want to move the board outside as the glue was still wet in a few places.

 

The track has been painted and a backscene put together and fixed temporarily; I will need to remove it for scenic work but having it in place helps me compose the final scene in my head. "That flippin' building", which has been looking for a home since I built it, now potentially has somewhere to live. The various bits of white foamboard are just me playing with locations for various structures etc. The composition is very much a work in progress currently and the footprints and locations of potential buildings are not definite. I do have an idea for the scene but I don't want to give much away at this point in case I change my mind. I also have an idea for disguising the hole in the sky but I'll keep that to myself now too, for similar reasons.

 

 

 

 

build 1.jpg


Great to see this building has a home - I do think it looks better in these more spacious surroundings (than in the 8” cakebox).  Looking forwards to seeing more, Keith.

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  • 2 weeks later...

More progress. Another structure bodged together from a card shell, hand cut strips of basswood and balsa, masking tape shingles and some door and window castings from a nearly depleted stash. The windows are actually cut down from some that were 3 times as big originally. The glue and paint is still drying in these photos and it was difficult to get any decent light indoors but far too windy outside to take any outdoors. As usual, the camera reveals all sorts of faults, gaps and mistakes but overall I'm happy with it so far. I will probably do what I usually do and decide to add all of the final details once it's installed on the layout and then subsequently never get around to adding them, but you never know. 

 

Firstly, a few snaps of it on its own

 

 

 

 

 

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Fact:

The Lombard Steam Log Hauler was invented by Alvin Lombard of Maine, and was the first successful commercial application of a continuous track to a vehicle.  The Phoenix logger was derived from the Lombard Steam Log Hauler, patented on 29 May 1901 by Alvin Lombard, and was built under licence by the Phoenix Manufacturing Co.

 

Fiction:

The Dubois Steam Log Hauler was invented by Joseph Dubois in 1907. Resembling the Lombard machine in many ways, Dubois was able to get around Lombard's patents on the basis of demonstrating radically different drive and steering mechanisms and supplying a substantial bribe.

 

Fact:

This model of a Dubois Steam Log Hauler was mainly built in an afternoon and  is constructed from: bits of an Airfix half-track kit, cylinders from a Dapol Pug kit, a cab made by modifying the pug cab and using the sides inside out, a saddle tank made from the plastic thingie inside a gloss roller, some sort of lid for a smokebox, a couple of brass castings and various scraps of plasticard, card and sprue.

 

Fiction:

Local lumber magnate Albert Guidry bought a Dubois hauler sometime in the 1920s. It was nothing but trouble - the pneumatic tyres were next to useless on the rough forest floor and the "radical" drive system prone to constant reliability issues. The machine had been retired and left to rot by the time he sold what was left of his empire to the Crowell & Spencer Lumber Company in the late 1930s.

 

Fact:

The slowly decaying machine will be a scenic feature on  the new module.

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Wow!! That machine is the very definition of the word "Contraption", isn't it??!! I dread to think what it's turning circle would be, with the steering axle waaaay out front, there! ;) :mosking:

It's like something  out of Wacky Races! As far as turning circle goes, the video shows it to be more of a generally held desire than an actual circle.

Great "Dubois"representation though.

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