Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf
Replaced picture

[Donw]

Keep going I think you are doing well.

 

Don

[Regularity]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

It was, I didn't get chance to get a better shot of the main station building, which was so neatly made.

It's 4mm scale, I didn't ask about the gauge, the trackwork looked that good it wouldn't matter to me if it was OO or P4.

 

Yes, I'm a philistine, I have come to terms with it....

I believe it’s 00.

 

I don’t understand all this strange stuff about different gauges representing the same thing within a single scale.

 

Just a little mention for the oldest scale-specific finescale model railway society. In the world.

75 years old this year.

[MrWolf]

23 minutes ago, Regularity said:

I believe it’s 00.

 

I believe that you're right.

 

23 minutes ago, Regularity said:

 

I don’t understand all this strange stuff about different gauges representing the same thing within a single scale.

 

Me neither, I take my hat off to those who have the time / patience / funds to build their own track / loco chassis / stock, but my personal feeling is that life is too short to worry all that much about 1.33 millimetres.

 

23 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Just a little mention for the oldest scale-specific finescale model railway society. In the world.

75 years old this year.

 

Oddly enough it was the S scale rendition of Lydham Heath which was the spark that got me started on my interpretation of the proposed but never built railway through the Clun valley.

Edited October 16, 2021 by MrWolf
Attack of the grammar nazis

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Regularity said:

I believe it’s 00.

 

I don’t understand all this strange stuff about different gauges representing the same thing within a single scale.

 

Just a little mention for the oldest scale-specific finescale model railway society. In the world.

75 years old this year.

Didn't the gauge change from 7/8" to 0.884" a few years ago?

 

Just sayin'.

[NHY 581]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Me neither, I take my hat off to those who have the time / patience / funds to build their own track / loco chassis / stock, but my personal feeling is that life is too short to worry all that much about 1.33 millimetres. 

 

 

I also admire those who go down this route but it's not for me. As you say, life is too short. 

What I do dislike is the attitude of a small minority who model these gauges who assert and proclaim that other gauges are not worth bothering with. 

 

I've had a 'gentleman' pause at my layout at exhibition, loudly proclaim to their companion 'it's 00' and walk away followed by their lapdog. Some have even commented 'nice to see a bit of EM' then walk away looking slightly bewildered having been told it's  PECO code 75, 00 gauge..............just carefully laid and painted. 

 

One aficionado told me that the layout was nice but I was probably ready to move up to EM................I  replied that I really didn't think I was that skilled and I would leave that to the experts. The 'expert' said, no, I was definately ready and that the layout was let down by the narrow track. I asked him about the tension locks. The expert looked surprised and peered in before confirming he hadn't noticed those...

 

Chassis building is another matter. I have all the bits to complete a Comet chassis for a Jinty. I must apply myself. 

 

Rob. 

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Didn't the gauge change from 7/8" to 0.884" a few years ago?

 

Just sayin'.

1964.

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

What I do dislike is the attitude of a small minority who model these gauges who assert and proclaim that other gauges are not worth bothering with. 

Good modelling is good modelling.

Quote

I  replied that I really didn't think I was that skilled and I would leave that to the experts.

He was probably right: nothing “expert” about “finer” standards, just whether or not it is an issue which concerns you enough to make the effort, or if you have other priorities in your modelling. 
I personally like the way real track looks, and to model it accurately you need standards as close to scale as possible, but that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea - and I prefer coffee anyway!

 

As for people not being able to tell the difference, most exhibition visitors think S is EM…!

[NHY 581]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

Good modelling is good modelling...

 

 

 

....or if you have other priorities in your modelling. 

 

I personally like the way real track looks, and to model it accurately you need standards as close to scale as possible, but that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea 

 

 

 

 

Exactly. 

[Tortuga]

Should I ever get to exhibit Alsop (as is my eventual intention), I think it’ll have to be advertised as “4mm Scale”.

Entirely because I intended to run RTR locos yet ordered point kits with pre-assembled crossings that have 1mm flangeways. So now the track gauge will vary between 16.2mm and 16.5mm mainly because I wanted to avoid regauging locomotives, because there isn’t a consistent back to back measurement between different manufacturers and because PECO have yet to produce a Tandem point in bullhead rail.

 

I don’t think the gauge discrepancy between 16.5mm and 18.83mm is obvious, especially when viewed from the side as most layouts are.

[JustinDean]

16 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

 

 

I don’t think the gauge discrepancy between 16.5mm and 18.83mm is obvious, especially when viewed from the side as most layouts are.

I think the sleeper size and spacing is way more noticeable than gauge. Especially PECO vs handmade. 
Jay

[St Enodoc]

14 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

I think the sleeper size and spacing is way more noticeable than gauge. Especially PECO vs handmade. 
Jay

And track that flows rather than a series of circular curves joined by straights.

[JustinDean]

14 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

This is looking great and I’m particularly enjoying the expanses of scenery  - definitely has that feel that the countryside came first and the railway later on. 
Jay

[Alister_G]

15 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

 

 

That's really coming on now Rob, it looks great.

 

Al.

[NHY 581]

16 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

 

 

I omitted to say, 

 

Tidy. 

 

I thank you. 

 

R

[chuffinghell]

17 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

 

Great stuff Rob, it's looking fantastic 

 

[Tortuga]

18 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Still have months of work to do, but I think that I am halfway there.

 

 

Got distracted by the 4mm scale gauge debate and forgot to say:

This looks awesome. So realistic and definitely in the “railway through the landscape” camp. I also think you made the right decision to lose the engine shed; you’d lose some of that open aspect if you’d shoehorned one in.

[MrWolf]

On 17/10/2021 at 16:28, Tortuga said:

Got distracted by the 4mm scale gauge debate and forgot to say:

This looks awesome. So realistic and definitely in the “railway through the landscape” camp. I also think you made the right decision to lose the engine shed; you’d lose some of that open aspect if you’d shoehorned one in.

 

Thanks, that sort of encouragement from people who have been building and learning about model railways for years spurs on the efforts at this end. 

The locomotive shed idea came from the original Shipston on Stour track plan, I'd originally intended to keep it on the tenacious grounds that there is very little room at the Clun terminus for locomotive facilities and only a bay platform at Craven Arms on the LNW/GW joint. 

There is in reality a nice flat piece of ground at that spot, but once the railway fences and a few more weeds are installed, I am hoping that it will look less like a tennis court. 

 

This is it, the small pond and cracked willow tree just left of centre will be appearing on the model.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf
Picture no load!

[KNP]

Shaping up very nicely......getting a nice feeling of space.

[MrWolf]

I will be taking a very close look at the real thing and the methods that you have used between railway and potato field when it comes to putting in the fence between that field and the railway Kevin.

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

 

Thanks, that sort of encouragement from people who have been building and learning about model railways for years spurs on the efforts at this end. 

The locomotive shed idea came from the original Shipston on Stour track plan, I'd originally intended to keep it on the tenacious grounds that there is very little room at the Clun terminus for locomotive facilities and only a bay platform at Craven Arms on the LNW/GW joint. 

There is in reality a nice flat piece of ground at that spot, but once the railway fences and a few more weeds are installed, I am hoping that it will look less like a tennis court. 

 

This is it, the small pond and cracked willow tree just left of centre will be appearing on the model.

 

 

You do yourself a disservice Rob. That rough-but-kept-short-by-sheep grass looks to be a nightmare to replicate, but your effort looks spot on and nothing like a tennis court. Looking at your prototype photo, I’d say you need to restrict the longer grass and weeds to the fences with only the odd tuft of longer grass or weed in the field proper.

[NHY 581]

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Thanks, that sort of encouragement from people who have been building and learning about model railways for years spurs on the efforts at this end. 

The locomotive shed idea came from the original Shipston on Stour track plan, I'd originally intended to keep it on the tenacious grounds that there is very little room at the Clun terminus for locomotive facilities and only a bay platform at Craven Arms on the LNW/GW joint. 

There is in reality a nice flat piece of ground at that spot, but once the railway fences and a few more weeds are installed, I am hoping that it will look less like a tennis court. 

 

This is it, the small pond and cracked willow tree just left of centre will be appearing on the model.

 

 

 

 

This is really lovely, Rob. 

 

Reminders of another favourite layout of mine, Horsley. Previously a GWR layout called Tapley. Simple and very scenic. 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by NHY 581
Removed linky that didn't work.

[NHY 581]

One of Mike Wild's photos of Horsley. 

 

 

 

[Regularity]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

once the railway fences and a few more weeds are installed, I am hoping that it will look less like a tennis court. 

It doesn’t.

Restraint is the key here. Those tussocks might be enough to trip up an unwary walker, but wouldn’t even have to 0.5mm high on the model to be big enough for that. A few bits of ground foam, covered with more static grass, or just a few areas with some longer static grass, might be all you need.

[Nick C]

11 hours ago, Regularity said:

Good modelling is good modelling.

He was probably right: nothing “expert” about “finer” standards, just whether or not it is an issue which concerns you enough to make the effort, or if you have other priorities in your modelling. 
I personally like the way real track looks, and to model it accurately you need standards as close to scale as possible, but that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea - and I prefer coffee anyway!

 

As for people not being able to tell the difference, most exhibition visitors think S is EM…!

I agree. Half my problem is that I've not quite worked out what my priorities are yet! I keep getting tempted to dabble in EM, but I'm not sure my scenic modelling skills would then do the trackwork justice...