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  • 3 weeks later...

Tim,

That's looking wonderful; I wish I could have been there at the AGM but we were at sea, midway between Santorini and Malta - well, someone has to do it. I don't think I could take Warley but, who knows, I might manage Kean House on 20 November.

I agree absolutely with your view on the need for subtlety with texture in 2mm scale and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the results of your airbrush skills on the ballast and cesses.

Very best wishes,

John

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have just completed a Chris Higgs chassis to finescale a Farish J39. This was very easy to assemble and should make for a really useful engine - especially as I replaced the tender motor with a Maxon 1016, which makes it much more docile.

 

Tim

 

From this I am guessing that you have retained the tender drive and are just using the loco chassis as a rolling one?

 

Chris

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Just looking at those last few pictures - there is so much track and related scenics / lineside work going on - and I wonder how those that work on this layout organise it all. 

 

Like is there a masterplan or spreadsheet that clearly lays everything out step-by-step? Or do you just all muddle through with stoic trust that it will all come together at the end of the day?

 

Either way, continued good luck with this wonderful, inspiring layout :)

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The only masterplan, Mark, was the original drawings that JBS, myself and Mike Randall worked up in 1983. The original concept was sketched out on a Spaghetti House knapkin. These plans were signed off by the MRC committee in December 1983 and John made this little concept model from them:

 

jj7lfl.jpg

 

It is quite impressive, I think, that the outcome in 2016 is pretty much what we intended 30+ years ago. Quite a lot of people could not "see" the idea behind the project (in particular, the late Cyril Freezer) especially in the first ten years when we only had the northern (RH) end of the model complete. We do indeed all "muddle through with stoic trust that it will all come together at the end if the day". We're just not saying which day....

 

There is a huge amount still to do. The LH end is effectively a new layout scenically and there are dozens of signals to be made, let alone getting the GY fully functional. It will keep us busy for many more years and anyone who wants to help is very welcome.

 

Tim

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Just looking at those last few pictures - there is so much track and related scenics / lineside work going on - and I wonder how those that work on this layout organise it all. 

 

Like is there a masterplan or spreadsheet that clearly lays everything out step-by-step? Or do you just all muddle through with stoic trust that it will all come together at the end of the day?

 

Tim is the man with the master plan and he can be quite persuasive. When I was on the team, many moons ago, it was the first time that I had heard the expression 'benign dictator'.  :jester:

 

He is far too modest to point it out himself, but It is mostly through his drive and determination, aided and abetted by Mike R., that has progressed the layout this far.

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Prior to our little expedition to the NEC next week, we had CF running at the MRC Open Day today.

Gary Fletcher has devised a very elegant shuttle mechanism for the underground and Richard's buildings made major progress as he demonstrated building construction today. The main buildings and roads have been given a more convincing colour wash at the south end (which belies the large amount of work still required) and Mike's eye aching lattice bridges are beginning to look the business on the ramp line. The goods ware house will be lowered to single story for three bays near York Road after the next show - it would be more in keeping with the potato warehouses at this site and make the building 'stack up' better.

 

2q02fph.jpg

 

313hjio.jpg

 

We have maintained professionalism in the Club on York Way, as can be seen by one of the photos: probably a senior member of the legal profession in the Jaguar (KX is/was a noted professional area).

 

29wn711.jpg

 

Look forward to meeting up with any interested parties at the NEC next weekend. Make yourself known and come round the back if you wish (but probably best to avoid first thing on Saturday morning).

 

Tim

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Prior to our little expedition to the NEC next week, we had CF running at the MRC Open Day today.

Gary Fletcher has devised a very elegant shuttle mechanism for the underground and Richard's buildings made major progress as he demonstrated building construction today. The main buildings and roads have been given a more convincing colour wash at the south end (which belies the large amount of work still required) and Mike's eye aching lattice bridges are beginning to look the business on the ramp line. The goods ware house will be lowered to single story for three bays near York Road after the next show - it would be more in keeping with the potato warehouses at this site and make the building 'stack up' better.

We have maintained professionalism in the Club on York Way, as can be seen by one of the photos: probably a senior member of the legal profession in the Jaguar (KX is/was a noted professional area).29wn711.jpg

Look forward to meeting up with any interested parties at the NEC next weekend. Make yourself known and come round the back if you wish (but probably best to avoid first thing on Saturday morning).

Tim

Tim and the CF team,

Stunning stuff and very impressive progress. I'm sure that you'll have a marvellous appearance at Warley - enjoy and try to get out of the car park by midnight!

Nice to see that you have a girl working on the model.

John

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suggest a check is made on 2MM november diary as I can only see this listed at Warley on sunday - no mention of saturday!

 

Ah... that was me... For attempt 1 I managed to put the event into my own calendar and then spend ages wondering when it was going appear on the 2mm web site. Then for attempt 2 I shifted it to the 2mm calendar but looks like I somehow managed to delete Saturday.

 

Hopefully fixed now! Third time lucky?

 

Thanks for pointing this out.

 

BTW, any member can be granted access to add events to the Google calendar. It's dead easy to use ;)

 

Regards, Andy

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Weekend at Warley

Stowing arrangements were excellent in the van that we hired as it was a fraction longer than hitherto, although also a bit narrower.

 

ip8myw.jpg

 

Setting up was restricted to 4 hrs because of a delay getting into the hall - we need five, to include getting stock on. Needless to say, our running on Saturday morning was a bit of a trial. The major works at the south end give the layout a big improvement in its overall ambience.

 

4kyclh.jpg

 

1zyhimt.jpg

 

After a few bits of new track were further fettled, the layout settled down to running OK by Saturday afternoon. I find it very relaxing to sit at the front and shunt Mrs W's yard whilst talking to the public - on Sunday the whole ensemble was purring along (this is why I like three day shows).

 

Taking still pictures of the layout is quite tricky with moving trains, but some videos really show it off better. I have loaded a selection to You tube; it is interesting how the videos show the trains running at a fair clip, but to the eye they seemed quite slow

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J01qizfywrU

 

Could be the opening credits to the Ladykillers, but shot at greater altitude.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bywl6jaxu4

 

When the operators at each end were 'in sync' we had some good juxtapositions of engines.

 

https://youtu.be/2bywl6jaxu4

 

https://youtu.be/TmItAlaUxd8

 

But sometimes it didn't work quite so well: the public still liked it tho'.

 

https://youtu.be/wVVtItEu3J4

 

Indeed, the comments from viewers were really wonderful. Perhaps the most touching was from someone who was seriously disabled in his wheel chair, who said to his helper, "This is the only layout I am going to stand up for".

 

For Mark's benefit I took some photos of the tube in situ.

 

5yre9z.jpg

 

2q2gzr4.jpg

 

This worked well after an errant bogie was picked out and sorted on the Saturday morning.

 

https://youtu.be/D3mMXDZLY0g

 

We were packed and loaded in 2.5 hrs and back to London by 1100. Our next outing will be to the CMRA show in Stevenage. Between now and then we will massively reduce the amount of crap that travels with the layout and streamline transport arrangements.

 

Tim

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The only masterplan, Mark, was the original drawings that JBS, myself and Mike Randall worked up in 1983. The original concept was sketched out on a Spaghetti House knapkin. These plans were signed off by the MRC committee in December 1983 and John made this little concept model from them:

 

jj7lfl.jpg

 

It is quite impressive, I think, that the outcome in 2016 is pretty much what we intended 30+ years ago. Quite a lot of people could not "see" the idea behind the project (in particular, the late Cyril Freezer) especially in the first ten years when we only had the northern (RH) end of the model complete. We do indeed all "muddle through with stoic trust that it will all come together at the end if the day". We're just not saying which day....

 

There is a huge amount still to do. The LH end is effectively a new layout scenically and there are dozens of signals to be made, let alone getting the GY fully functional. It will keep us busy for many more years and anyone who wants to help is very welcome.

 

Tim

 

I have admired this project from the start. I suspect Cyril just couldn't believe there would be enough dedication to see the project through. It is one of the most impressive models I have seen. The are plenty of places in London where you can see a wide expanse of cityscape only 2mm would give you the opportunity to model it in a sensible amount of space.

Don

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tim

 

This layout in my humble opinion, is one of the best around today. You must be very proud having seen it through from card board mock up to what it is today. I wish I had the skills to make an acceptable contribution. As time goes by and the garage gets colder I am very tempted to have a bash at 2mm which I could sneak into the shack in one of the spare rooms! 

 

Good to see you at the club the other night too. 

 

Martin Long

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Last night our over generous satellite provider showed "The Lady Killers".  It was the first time i had seen it but it was absolutely fascinating watching it and comparing it to the model.  Some amazing period railway shots.  Out of curiosity is there really a signal that can be accessed from the over bridge as well as the line side  and if there is, is it modelled.

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The signal was made specially for the film and bolted to the Copenhagen Tunnel portal. There was a real signal slightly further south that we will be modelling. We have never modelled the house, as the compression of scale on the model makes the topography difficult in this area. There is an excellent video of the film's out-takes available as "Steam on 35mm" available from Video 125. If you are really interested in the area, Irwell have recently re-worked their book on KX, which has a whole chapter on the film. (http://www.irwellpress.com/acatalog/LONDON_NORTH_EASTERN_RAILWAY.html#a804)

 

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I think I have finally sorted CF's new engine, Papyrus. With 13mm drivers - the N gauge ones were 13.8 - the bogie wheels at the front needed much more vertical clearance and so she did not run at Warley. With a bit of luck we might have a useful engine for the CMRA show at Stevenage. I am now going to get back to working on Lord President.

 

2i1gq68.jpg

 

From another thread on RMWeb discussing early N gauge locos I pasted a couple of Youtube videos of early N gauge efforts, forty years ago. Thought they might amuse the finescale modeller of today (note the ML10 in the background).

 

https://youtu.be/rmlq1OitnIg

 

https://youtu.be/bxaRVshbJaw

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Tim

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From another thread on RMWeb discussing early N gauge locos I pasted a couple of Youtube videos of early N gauge efforts, forty years ago. Thought they might amuse the finescale modeller of today (note the ML10 in the background).

 

 

I've never understood why N-gauge has such a massive 6' way.  Is it a function of Peco turnout geometry, or to make sure that the overhangs on coaches don't clash on the tight curves?

 

How did these 'mutton chops' go down in Guy's?  I don't think they would have been tolerated in GDH!

 

Merry Christmas to all.

 

Jim

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