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Two Sister's yard


Broadoak
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A couple of photos to show the balsa hut under construction. It is made with an opening door which opens inwards, the reasoning for this being that the high winds blowing across the Fens might cause problems with door blowing back and forth. The door on the model opens and closes using a short length of paper clip glued into the balsa at the top and bottom as hinges. Fixed in a pre drilled hole with super glue to try to help harden the surrounding balsa.

The hut has now been repositioned to a more useful site giving the loaders room to work. This is still only temporary to see how it actually works in practice.


 

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Peter M

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The Opel Blitz truck has always been a favourite because it was the first motorised lorry I built when I first had the idea of the potato railway. To be honest I would have preferred a British Bedford version as I had seen photographs of some working in the New Zealand logging industry. Ten years ago when I had the idea of the railway the Opel was the nearest thing I could get. It did however prove that it was possible to motorise the lorry with an Athearn switcher chassis that gave excellent running qualities.

At the time these photographs were taken I was adding more green vegetation testing clearances and free running as I did so a bit at a time.


 

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Peter M

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A busy scene at the sidings, the loco in the foreground a scratch built fictitious beast is about to leave with a loaded train of grain in sacks. A three crop rotation system is used on the estate, potatoes, wheat, and sugar beet. This keeps the field disease free.

The scratch built wooden bodied Simplex in the background has just arrived with a short train of empty wagons to be loaded later.

Note; Ground cover, a little at a time was being added at the time this photograph was taken.


 

Peter M


 


 

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This selection of photographs shows the re-motored, well actually re-chassied GMC truck being tested pulling a short train of V tippers. These are Bachmann ON 30 items really but I think they look acceptable on a 1/32 model. Ground cover is still being worked on at this stage.


 

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Peter M

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The piles of rusting junk are still growing rather slowly as I find more suitable items in my scrap box.

The shunter has just arrived with some bales of hay to supplement the poor grass in a neighbouring field. The bales will be delivered to the fields where the cows are grazing by tractor and trailer.

The GMC rail truck is seen passing in the background with a minimal train of tippers.

I am disappointed with the way the foreman's hut has turned out so I will eventually re-build it in Plasticard, when I can replenish my stock. The model still needs more green ground cover at this stage.


 

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Peter M


 

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A few shots of the left hand end of the layout before being grassed over, a work in progress at the moment. I ran out of suitable glue which held up progress, but I have now managed to get some more PVA which I like as it can be thinned with water which makes it more versatile. I have tried to represent the typical fenland landscape with a big sky.

You will note I often use shunters with bogies as these are preferred by the drivers for the extra braking they give because most of the wagons used don't have brakes.


 

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Peter M


 

Edited by Broadoak
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Following a trip up into the loft one evening last week I have found a few more bits and pieces from scrap military kits that I was given some time ago and have never used. The most useful was a jeep trailer, much too small to use behind a tractor but ideal for the scrap pile.This I tried in different places until I was happy with how it looked. Another small item was a jeep windscreen which I distressed until it looked more interesting and that too went on the scrap pile.

I also added a lot more ground cover, testing clearances as I did so until I'm reasonably pleased with how it looks doesn't affect decent running.


 

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Original position of jeep trailer which I thought didn't look quite right.


 

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Peter M

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I have at last more or less finished laying on the basic green ground cover which was done using three different coloured flocks all made by different makers as well. I mixed small lots at a time varying the proportions to give a more random mix. When the photographs were taken it was still a work in progress. I find with scenic items a little at a time works best for me.


 

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One of the larger shunters with a train of V hoppers passing a Fordson Super Major having its battery topped up.


 

Peter M

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At this stage ground cover is still being added a little at a time then checked for clearances and smooth running by keeping the flngeways clear of flock. It takes ages to do but I find it sort of theraputic but I don't know why.

The big GMC truck has proved to be more versatile than I originally thought it would be, so can be used for pulling or pushing loaded wagons around the estate.


 

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Peter M

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A few more photographs to illustrate the layout with yet more more ground cover having been added. It's a fiddly job, a bit like ballasting, care needs to be taken to not get the flock on the rail head or in the flange ways. So it's a bit at a time, testing as you go to get the best result.


 

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Peter M

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When I originally had the idea of a narrow gauge railway in an agricultural setting with unusual vehicles pulling the wagons this was the vehicle I had in mind. At that time though the model was out of production so I used the Opel Blitz instead. Some time later the gun tractor became available so I bought one. The model is powered by an early Bachmann motor of the ringfield type which is much better that the can motor they  later replaced it with.


 

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This vehicle, a Canadian Ford always got more comments at shows than any of the others, the most common being. “I drove one of those when I was in the Army.” Doing my National Service.


 

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Another favourite of mine is the tall Fordson Major these in reality really smelt gorgeous as they ran on paraffin. The model is a Scaledown white metal kit on scratch built chassis powered by a Tenshodo bogie.


 

Peter M

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The Opel gas producer, not the most efficient vehicle on the farm, as it only produced about 40% of the power of petrol when running on the gas produced from wood shavings. That is why there is a largish petrol tank under the front nearside mudguard. The truck is started on petrol and then when warmed up the petrol is turned off and she runs on the gas, as most of the estate is fairly level the lack of power is not a problem. (All nonsense of course but my excuse for running an interesting vehicle.)

She is seen on a weed killing train, judging by the greenery badly needed. This was done rarely in reality as the chemicals used to kill the weeds damaged the track.
 

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Peter M

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The little Davenport shunting in yard a task for which she is ideally suited. You will note that the foreman's hut has had a coat of light green paint to smarten it up.


 

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The grey device is actually a mobile generator as well as a shunter and is shuffling wagons in the yard. Then pulling a small train across the open fen. More ground cover has now been added to give a neglected look to the track. The area round the loading bay and hut are still to be done though.


 

Peter M

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A few shots of the wooden wonder built in the estate's own workshops at Grundy Fen. The scratch built body is made of plasticard and has opening doors. The whole device is mounted on an HO scale Con-Cor chassis with a five pole motor and two flywheels, she runs very well, slowly and quietly.

She is used mainly for the longer runs to the standard gauge interchange. It is obviously the school holidays as the driver has his son with him for company.


 

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Peter M

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The little Porter, a much modified Bachmann model, on its way to the stone quarry on one of its rare excursions out on the main line. She is often used during the potato harvest when she can stand in for a diesel that is otherwise engaged, or being serviced. I think she is an attractive little locomotive when seen shuffling along with a small train of wagons in tow.


 

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Peter M

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This is the last selection of photos until I get a chance to take some more once all the ground cover is finished.

The yard foreman is seen out in his jeep with a minimal load of a couple of empty wagons on his way back to Two Sister's Farm yard.

We see a couple of wagons with items for repair left to be collected later then taken to the farm workshop. Some of the items seem to have ended up on the scrap pile.


 

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This brings things up to date and is as far as I've got at the present time. There is still work to be done but as it stands it can be run in a realistic way for the time being. The next job to do is re- roofing the hut, adding more vegetation and finding some more suitable figures to populate the layout.

In the meantime I still have much work to do on my OO scale Ex Great Western layout, but that's another story.

 

Peter M

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