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Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.


gordon s
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Excellent news that you have decided on a path that you feel comfortable with. I'm also flattered that my trials and hickups have actually provided some encouragement instead of putting folk off!

 

A gluten-free diet is known in our family. She adapted to her new diet and is energetic enough to have completed the London Marathon a few weeks ago. Good luck on both counts Gordon. :imsohappy:

Edited by coachmann
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Gordon, good to have you back yet again now that the modelling mojo has resurfaced. I will be looking with great interest at developments no matter how slow. I may just have to get into the loft and lay some more floorboards.

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Gordon - I am very pleased to see you getting "back in the saddle" as it were; your work on Eastwood Town has always been an inspriation to me, and I must admit there is a part of me that wishes you would persevere, if only because, quite selfishly, I'd love to see the end result in all its glory.

 

Having said that, I understand your decision, and certainly wish you all the best with the new layout incarnation.  Anything that gets you posting more regularly on RMWeb is a good thing!

 

Kind regards

 

Scott

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Hi Gordon,

Like everyone above, I'm pleased you are carrying on with Eastwood Town.  The name is evocative to start with, it would be a shame if it suddenly disappeared.

The good news.....is......you'll have something to do when you're not playing golf - certainly when the weather's not fit for purpose, when it's pitch black outside (unless you play golf under flood lights of course in which case the layout will be stuffed!) or when Mrs S is off doing her own thing.

We share an outdoor and an indoor interest and they seem to survive quite nicely together - so far, the former depending on how well my arm recovers which is not as speedy as I'd like but ya takes what li'l ya gets.

 

I've not got any track down at all yet - so I wouldn't worry too much about the speed of progress.  I guess we could all bear in mind that the prototype offers us a good example  - not all trains work at express speed and some are decidedly s..l...o...w..going.

 

Best wishes

Polly

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I fully understand why you are going for a more simplified version Gordon; as much fun as it is building layouts, it is incredibly rewarding to sit back and operate and watch the trains go by and if the build itself is too complex or going to take too long, then it's easy to see how you may get disillusioned. Another thing is that I presume that much of the time you will be the sole operator and as such, is there much point in a huge terminus station, MPD, etc., if you can only control one or two locos at once?

 

I'm really looking forward to see what you come up with here as I'm sure it will be top class.

 

Cheers,

 

Jason.

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Gordon - great to see you back in "modelling mode". All that golf must have had a therapeutic effect!

 

Anyway, whatever you have to do in order to continue ET - in whatever form - DO IT. There are many people on here who take a great deal of inspiration from your work - myself certainly included.

 

Looking forward to whatever you decide to do!

 

Jeff

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Good Gordon to see that you are back on stream.  Your carpentry has been much of an inspiration for my own simple layout and I am using a lot of techniques picked up here for my own baseboards not least your curved ones.  

 

I too had the same dilemma as you and chose a simple layout in order that I could concentrate on the stock longer term which is my main motivation.

 

Good luck and looking forward to the future.

 

Peter

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  • 3 weeks later...

Glad to read you dun-it, as they say, and are already planning afresh. I see from the drawing that you still have long sweeping high speed turnouts that are pretty space-consuming. I remember when the plan at Greenfield was to use the Peco American Code 83 large radius points everywhere, but the plan fell by the wayside when it was realised how much space they took up and how they effectively shortened loops and sidings.

Edited by coachmann
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Gordon, I wonder if the crux of thel problem is that you're building something that is essentially freelanced, and so has no clear 'end point', no interesting track layout, no operating scheme, no connection with what drives your interest in model railways.

 

I wonder if something like Peterborough North, Greenfield or Grantham might show you the way forward?  Not necessarily in size or scope, but in focussing your talent and energy on something that satisfies that inner itch?

 

You've proven time and again that you can build beautiful track, and great urban scenery but then the wheels come off and you're back to square one.  I just wonder if finding a suitable prototype and trying to replicate it will give the direction to surmount the obstacles that keep you from completing the layout?

 

Hope this hasn't come across as a bit presumptuous - heaven knows, I'm hardly one of the greatest completists myself, having taken almost a decade and a half to not finish anything...  Although that should change this year :)

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Can't disagree with the point you are making DGB, but I really don't have that discipline to stick rigidly to one area or time frame.  I've never pretended otherwise and the stock I have accumulated over the years is a real mixed bunch.  I often stand back and admire those that can work within tight parameters, but it's not for me.  We're all different and having spent years understanding behavioural profiles, running to a timetable and very strict rules is just not in my make up.  Maybe that's why I may get bored and lose interest once something fails to meet the standards I set myself.  Time and time again people say it's the journey not the destination and I can see that.  The pleasure of building something, even though it may not get finished, may well outweigh the finished article.  There are many serial builders on RMWeb, so I guess I may not be alone.

 

Life's about memories and seeing A4's with 10 coaches thundering through Wood Green in the 60's was just as pleasurable as standing next to AC4400's with a mile of Trinity Hoppers at Lake Louise a few years back.  The pleasure for me is watching trains run and revisiting those memories.

 

I've made no secret that I'm just a big kid playing with the train set I promised myself all those years ago.  Of course I've developed some skills along the way and eventually I hope to build something of a reasonable standard.  Of course it will have some key pointers towards BR Eastern Region in the 60's, but don't be surprised to see some large Midland locos appearing as they were also favourites of mine.

 

I've talked about compromise before and perhaps buying buildings ready made from Gilbert was a compromise.  To add a whole lot of scratch built material may be achievable, but not to Alan Downes standard, so that was a short cut for me.  Good quality trackwork and decent running are very important to me and something hopefully I can achieve.

 

Thanks for your views.  They are very valid, but just not for me....

 

Of course there speaks someone who hasn't finished anything.. :biggrin_mini2:

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I must say that I wholly agree with you Gordon.

I too am building a fictitious location, and although I spend a lot of time trying to work out how things will fit together, I find Rmweb really helpful in solving those problems.

 

Yesterday I got some very interesting replies from signal men who didn't have access to a toilet next to their box, so now I know some of the practicalities of operation, or the impracticalities of signal men crossing their legs in busy times.

I may not have photos of a location to copy, and I had to spend half a day thinking about if the signal box should have a toilet or not, but it is progress of a sort, and I now a tiny bit more about railways, even if it is a bit obscure.

I also find railway modelling is a bit like my music collection, I might go for a couple of years without listening to a particular artist, but then have a real binge on their music, and so with model railways, it is good you had a few months playing golf, but you still have the railway to come back to, and if you want to do Eastern in the railblue for a while that is great, and you can do midland in green a while later, perhaps after a few more rounds at the golf course.

 

Nothing against those who reproduce an exact location at an exact time, I admire those greatly, but again like music, sometimes a bit of free-form jazz is what you want, and other times a solid song.

 

Jamie

Edited by Jamiel
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I have to say that I'm in exactly the same position Gordon.  I have a ridiculous collection of eclectic stuff, my interests change on a whim, and the last time I 'finished' a layout it got torn up within weeks and I've never come close to finishing anything since.  I can go for months not thinking about model trains, and suddenly it's back and I'm day dreaming about that perfect layout again.

 

I too wish I could devote my energy to one goal, but I go round in a big circle - which takes around two years - of US HO proto (limited ops so got bored) O scale UK (too expensive) - OO gauge Scottish BLT (no stock, bloody rubbish couplers) Chinese HO (scarce, expensive) Irish OO (pretty Big GMs, sod all else) G scale US proto (space, size, sheer hard work) - US HO proto.... and so on for another two years, with occasional hankerings for French HO....

 

So I shall raise a glass to you and to me, and all the others like us who can't finish anything but have fun anyway.

 

Then I'll raise another to all the committed souls who plough on and produce wonderful layouts that inspire me in my futile fiddling.

 

Cheers!

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My layout is based on Greenfield, which is merely an outline in which to fill detail as simply as possible.... Hence a ready-to-plonk Midland Railway station building adapted to suit LNWR. Having an outline is interesting in itself because I am learning about the why & wherefore I never noticed as a young man. I doubt working freelance would hold any challenge, but as you say Gordon, we are all different.

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"focussing your talent and energy on something that satisfies that inner itch?

 

You've proven time and again that you can build beautiful track, and great urban scenery"

 

Maybe the itch you are refering to is creating the track and landscape, not doing all the balasting etc that needs to be done to complete a layout?

Edited by jpnewbold
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Picking up on your thoughts Larry, space is such a limiting factor unless you are prepared to make huge compromises on what you wish to run. During my six month sabbatical, I thought about the prototype route and considered my local station which meant so much to me as a kid. N2's and Quad Arts plus the ability to bunk in over the fence and play for hours in the old goods shed, just north of the running lines. 

http://www.signalbox.org/diagrams.php?id=655

From here we could sit and watch J15's shunting the local coal trains and in essence it was a contender, but even with 18' available it was a non starter. Once you allow clearance either end plus two 3' radius curves, you were left with just 11' for the station and yard, so without severe compression or taking the yard around the corner, it couldn't be done. Of course this was just a branch station on the Hertford North loop, so only saw suburban traffic, other than when engineering works were on the ECML and express traffic was diverted up the loop to rejoin just south of Stevenage.

My view was that if I wanted to follow a prototype then I would have to compromise on stock within the space available. I'd rather compromise on location than stock, hence the freelance route. I do try to incorporate some indicators as to where the location may be and many modellers have achieved this. You only need to look at Borchester and Tetleys to see how a freelance location can work if the stock and buildings tie in.

Of course had I 35' to play with then Wood Green would certainly be on the drawing board. Sadly I don't so ET will have to do.

I've just ordered some Wills dressed stone sheets, so will be following your processes to try and lay out some new retaining walls. No doubt I'll be in touch...

Edited by gordon s
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