jukebox Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 Thanks very much for the kind words, Julian. Yes, I've looked at that pile of kit sitting in the riverbed a number of times and thought I should move it before I shoot the next video... which would then make me feel guilty I haven't filled it with resin. Or the small river for that matter. I'm holding off on those till I do the last of the plastering - the dust would, I'm sure, end up on the water surface... That video was a bit of an experiment - I was using the iPhone, and trying to take footage from places I don't normally use. There are some that didn't work this time, that I will go back to. I'm on the lookout for a Gorillapod. Once I get one of those, I'll be able to place the camera deep into the scenes and "look out" - which should be special. The great news is I am almost done with my auctions - the duplicate DP1 has gone up on eBay, along with 89001 and her 9 coaches, plus a fistful of others. Once they are all in the post, I will refocus on the layout. The starting point will be a few "niggle" spots - where there's twist or dips, that impact running; the Bachmann locos are good for that. I'm going to fit tender picks ups to the Bachmann steam fleet - it's noticeable they are much more fussy than the Hornby models - even Wild Swan, which is one of the new DCC-ready models, seems to need scrupulously clean rail heads or it falters... I also need to work on the rail levels at the lift up section, and the temporary big bridge - there is a step in them that is not impairing running, but is shredding the track cleaning cloth under the CMX. So a bit of change in the overall plan - trackwork first, then back to the trees. But in doing so I will also be able to bring the storage tracks into use (right now I've just got two shorter rakes parked on the mainline) and store a few more complete trains under the scenic level - which will make photography and video more fun. Onward! Cheers Scott 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 It is a delight to see the number of those places you planned, for trains to run out from a feature, to traverse a {visual} space and only to flow away out of sight into the next feature. The opportunities, with a video editing App are just endless, you must be well satisfied with the way your plans are now bearing so many developing fruits. Power to your elbow, Scott, so very enjoyable to see. Thank you for sharing J 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) On 03/06/2020 at 03:22, jcredfer said: It is a delight to see the number of those places you planned, for trains to run out from a feature, to traverse a {visual} space and only to flow away out of sight into the next feature. The opportunities, with a video editing App are just endless, you must be well satisfied with the way your plans are now bearing so many developing fruits. Power to your elbow, Scott, so very enjoyable to see. Thank you for sharing J Thanks Julian - what you describe is not an accident; it was an idea that I read about in an Iain Rice bookazine on layout planning - he talked about LDE's - "layout design elements" that are basically mini scenes joined together to form a larger layout. I recognised the possibilities for that with a layout orbiting four walls of a room, and so have tried to put it to good use. That goes as far as my colour palettes, with the window side having a deliberately bright set of tones compares to the wall side. I've ordered a couple of cheap Gorillapod knock offs from China - one small, one large - that I hope will let me plonk the phone in some more spots I can't do properly now. But with Covid slowing down air freight times, I am guessing it will be a couple of months before they arrive. Winter solstice in a couple of weeks, so whilst the temperatures will keep dropping for another two months, at least the days will start to get longer again. Hope you're doing well and keeping Covid-safe. Cheers Scott Edited June 4, 2020 by jukebox typos... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) Hi Scott, I've been dragged into the garden for several days whilst the sun has been out to build raised flower beds and ease the pain of weeding, not that I'm on that detail..... The rest of the time has been golfing under SD rules, but still enjoyable. Sat and watched your latest video and it really shows the work you have done in a very good light. The landscaping and static work is excellent and well worth all the time and effort you have put in. Edited June 4, 2020 by gordon s Talking garbage...:-) 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 Okay, so we are a week away from Winter solstice here Down Under, and tonight the last of my rolling stock auctions end on eBay. It's been a very cathartic, if eye opening process. It encouraged me to do what I have never actually bothered to do in 25 years of modelling: a stock-take! (In the past, it never seemed to be important. But after the B1 debacle, I thought I really should refresh my aging memory). So I did. Because I started to wonder if I will have enough track space in my MPD. 29 steam locos. 5 d/e's. 5 unmade kits. Using a rough estimate, it's about 10,000mm track length of steam stock, which should be okay and allow for some future expansion with my current track plan. And I'm happy to have a few locos off layout on display in a cabinet in my study, which takes the pressure off. The exercise also crystallised a few other concepts I'd not given nearly enough through to. Namely that the 5 d/e's will be stored at the heads of train in the storage tracks. About the storage tracks... I may have some issues with space there, too! After I'd counted locos, I counted coaches. Enough for 8 passenger formations from various eras. Then there's four wheel wagons for *cough* at least four goods rakes. 6 storage tracks under the layout, so I'll need to fit 2 rakes of something in each storage track. As I said, I've not given this anywhere near enough thought until this month (learn from my mistakes, dear readers!). It's not a terminal issue, just one that will need a bit of care in operation. I had always envisaged fixed rakes, and have set up Kadee uncoupling magnets on the front of each storage track, so that rakes can be left loco free at the front of each siding. Plus the storage tracks are ~7m long, with four of them having a turnout ladder halfway along. At worst, I may need to cycle some stock off the layout - which I would be likely to want to do with the goods wagons, anyway. *** So to close out the purge, indulge me in some photos of the GNER rake that I currently have up for sale on eBay; 89001 + DVT + 8 Mk.4's. The Class 89 is a DC kits model, and the DVT a resprayed Hornby. I was shocked how long the whole lot is when I set it up to photograph it for eBay a few weeks back - it is huge. Those Mk.4 coaches are really long! So long it didn't all fit on the straight sceniced section of the layout. I will always love it the GNER deep blue, especially with the DVT on the end, as to be it evoked a modern day version of the LNER Coronation set with a beaver tail on the rear. Speaking of which, given Hornby's move on the LMS equivalent, I am hopeful that an RTR LNER Coronation will find it's way to the shelves in my lifetime. That will be another 9 coaches I'll need to keep space for! Back next time with some real modelling! Cheers Scott 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted June 15, 2020 Author Share Posted June 15, 2020 The perway gang was out with the soldering iron tonight, reattaching a number of the copper clad sleeper rails near bridges, that had come adrift in the last 24 months of inactivity. These had been causing nuisance derailments that were edited out of videos shot recently. Once I'd sorted that and cleaned them up, they needed a bit of testing. I'm not usually a fan of videos like this, but seeing Wild Swan and Great Eastern having a bash around the room for 15 minutes or so to make sure all was well, felt very mainline-like. With that sorted, I am going to tackle relaying the terrace house curve next. That will take a bit longer to fix... Cheers Scott 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) So whilst living in the most isolated city on the planet is not a bad thing in the times of Covid, our state's strict hard border lock-down laws have put a massive throttle on both freight and passengers arriving into Western Australia. International postage transit times are just dire. Today, the third piece in a puzzle I started to assemble over three months ago finally arrived: Thanks to Gordon S of this parish for his kind agreement to redirect some "UK bidders only" phosphor bronze wire that was going for a song on eBay, and sellers in Taiwan and China selling pre-made micro plugs, and 2mm heat shrink, I now have assembled the materials I need to fit pick ups to the tenders of my Bachmann fleet. Those plugs in particular are a bargain; 20 pairs of male_female connectors, pre-made and ready to for for under £1.75; my eyesight, and the time I'd take to make them up out of the component parts, are worth 10 times that. Possibly x100, as the parts alone would cost me just as much here in Oz. The plan is to use the heat shrink to disguise the connector cables, and be able to detach the tenders via the plug and socket if needs be. I can see this being a campaign fitting - once I get on a roll, I will probably just barrel through and do them all so it is out of the way. Stay safe everyone. Cheers Scott Edited July 23, 2020 by jukebox 7 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold lezz01 Posted July 24, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 24, 2020 Hi scott. Further to your lame J72. Shapeways also do 3d printed axle centers including gears. There is more than one option as well so I'm guessing they probably have your version covered. Hope this helps mate. Regards Lez. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jukebox Posted December 22, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) Wow, it has been awhile since I posted here. My apologies. Since I last posted, I dabbled a little - did start to fit those wipers to the tenders, and wire them up to the locos, but they need tweaking - too much drag on the wheels, and the tender-to-loco connections are too stiff, and to be honest, I just got jack of it. A phantom short saw me remove a suspect turnout, only to find out it wasn't the problem, and then have to refit it. Sometimes you need a win, to build up momentum. I've not had that in the latter part of 2020. *** Against the lack of progress, there was sad news brewing in the background. On the 4th of July, my father, who was 87, was crossing the road at the town centre where he lives, when a car didn't stop at the pedestrian crossing (or more pointedly, it slowed to stop, then sped up, knocking him down). He fell to the pavement, breaking his leg and arm. The driver, 91 (!) sped away, but was apprehended by police the next day, thanks to CCTV. Dad was rushed to hospital, and looked after well. His bones eventually mended, and he went from ICU, to the ward, then was shifted to a rehab hospital, where he had his 88th birthday. In early October, the nurses told my mum they though he would be ready for an overnight stay back home soon - he had not been out of hospital since July. But in late October I took a call from mum, telling me Dad's condition had suddenly deteriorated massively, and that I needed to come across to Sydney ASAP. Here in Western Australia, we are "an island within an island", with our state borders closed because of Covid. I could fly out, but needed to get permission to re-enter. Thankfully, I was granted a travel pass, and was able to fly out on the Monday. Dad was still with us when I got there, and over the next four days, I saw him in various states of consciousness, but no pain. The doctors were kind, but frank. His kidneys had failed, and he would not be going home. He had 3 weeks to live, at best. So I was able to say my goodbyes - I had a laptop, to Teams video my estranged brother (who lived in Melbourne, where they were in lock-down from the second wave of Covid, and therefore was banned from travelling to Sydney), and I played him some YouTube videos of the Class 60 NSWGR Garratts, that he took me to see as a young boy when we lived in Newcastle. The smiles on his face as he watched those clips from his hospital bed were priceless. I said my goodbye, and came back to WA to quarantine for 14 days. Dad passed away in the middle of the second week - I was actually up in the layout room, replacing that turnout when I got the call from Mum - and so at the end of the fortnight, I flew back to NSW for his funeral, and the returned for *another* 14 days quarantine. Again, my brother was only able to watch via a video link. So here we are now. *** I'm 53, and this is the first time in my life I have had to deal with the death of anyone close to me. My dad and I were not particularly close, but I am grateful I got to say goodbye, and that my final memories of him are happy ones. When he was a boy, my grandfather, who was something of a photographer, took photos of Dad and his sister in the back garden of their house in Hendon, that backed on to an LMS line. So I'll close this post with some of those photos from circa 1935. Merry Christmas, everyone. Stay safe. Wear a mask, and socially distance. I wish you all the very best for 2021. Cheers Scott Edited December 22, 2020 by jukebox 2 1 31 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 So sorry to hear of the loss of your father, Scott. I did wonder if something else was happening that none of us were aware of. Those are beautiful pictures from Hendon. So much has changed now, but the simplicity of those times and pace of life sadly are long gone. The loss of a parent is always a huge event as we all believe they will be there forever. My thoughts are with you.... 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold trw1089 Posted December 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 22, 2020 Sorry to hear about your father Scott, but thankfully you got to see him before he passed. Those photos you posted are an amazing keepsake to remember him by. Hope you are going ok in that other country state over there, though I think Qld and WA are now back on speaking terms. We won’t talk about NSW though, I think they hate both of us at the moment! Cheers Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted December 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 22, 2020 Very sad to hear of your loss, Scott. Hopefully 2021 will be a better year for many of us. Those photos are wonderful. Not just for the memories they give you but for their history. I hope you'll make them available to MR/LMS societies. That 3F in early LMS livery is great and how clean the engine is. Are there any more perchance? 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 You have my deepest sympathy Scott. I know how you feel, my Dad passed away many years ago rather suddenly (heart attack) so I didn't get the chance of last farewells, not sure how I would have coped with that emotionally. All the best for Christmas and the New Year which surely can't be any worse than this one. Best Regards, Brian. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Here's wishing you, and everyone else, a much improved New Year, at least the signs are getting more positive, even if the actual roadway, is a little misty still. I do appreciate how well the Scientists, Medical people and "most" of the world have taken on the problem. Their work has been amazing to watch and appreciate what they have achieved, the sum total of their combined effort is outstanding in so many ways. At times, reports of people's efforts have brought this old f**t quite close to filling up, which must be significant, as by this age quite a number of "events" have passed the eyes and ears. ..... shakes head and tells self to get a grip... and ask if the last of the pictures might contain an oil fired Loco, with oil tank in the Tender? I hope everyone has a lovely {quiet} Christmas and a better New Year to come. All the very best wishes to All. Julian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted December 26, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 26, 2020 Hi Scott. Having checked in today and enjoyed catching up I was deeply saddened to learn of your news. So for what it might be worth i wish you Merry Christmas to you my friend. Regards Shaun 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Todd Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Carry on as you are, you have come along way, in the year's I have known you. Best for 2021. dt. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 Hello from Perth, Australia, everyone. I just wanted to take a minute or two to thank those of you who have asked after me, and Stockrington, these past six months. All is well, my family and I are safe in the Covid19-free bubble that is Western Australia, but I have not made any further progress on the layout. Life, and a general malaise about my job, has been sapping any enthusiasm. As many of you will be aware, Gordon Stolliday passed away this week. His work on his layout, Eastwood Town, was an incredible inspiration to me, and we chatted both on-line, and in direct messages, about modelling techniques and ideas. He was a kind and generous gentleman, whom I had hoped one day to be able to meet in person. He was very much a kindred soul, who managed to strike the sort of balance between pragmatic realism, and remembering that our efforts were just building glorified train sets at the end of the day. His passing, like that of Graham Jowett-Ives a few years back, feels incredibly sad to me. Despite being on the other side of the world, and being some years his junior, I considered him a friend, and hope he felt the same of me. I will miss him here on RMWeb greatly. In perhaps of moment of synchronicity, last month I resigned from the job that made me feel so hopelessly undervalued. A Covid outbreak in Sydney this month means that a trip east I planned to visit my nonagenarian mother cannot occur, and I find myself with a fortnight of no obligations to anyone but myself before I start my new role. I am going to try and use some of that time to rekindle some mojo, and schedule some work on Stockrington. The plan will be to perhaps work on some of the vegetation that I'd imagined will frame the golf course. As he was such a keen player, going forward this will be known as "Gordon's hole" in recognition of my distant friend. Cheers to all - hope you are safe, and well. Scott The only substantive work in 2021 - four big trees now planted. They form the visual barrier I'd hoped for, and the size helps lift the scene from being "toy train". I need to go back and disguise the tree bases with static grass and flock A couple of figures at the base of one tree to get a sense of scale. I've put the possible 5th tree to the left on hold - a combination of not wanting to overpower the area, and that it might get damaged as I am finishing the rest of the detail here. 2 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted July 18, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 18, 2021 I'd completely forgotten that Gordon had offered his advice regarding the golf course part of your layout. It's good to be reminded of your layout with the latest photos and I hope it inspires you to more modelling very soon. Good luck with the new job. There's little worse than being in a job you don't like - not the some have the choice of course. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 So, here we are, a year since my last post. Two years since any substantive work on the layout. The good news is, the sleeper has awakened. Until recently, I have not checked in on RMWeb, but I gather there was a mishap with a host, and we now have lost all of our images? That's an incredible waste. I'm sure everyone who has a layout thread on here feels that as harshly as I do. I was proud of having this thread as a document of Stockrington's construction. Very sad. Life Down Under has of course carried on. The layout lay dormant all that time; a short had mysteriously appeared around the time of my father's passing, and that, combined with a long period without use, made running unreliable, and it all felt too hard. I visited the room a handful of times, and each time was reminded I'd done so well up to that point, but just couldn't find the motivation to restart. Funnily enough, it was my partner who provided the catalyst. We were planning to meet friends of hers for coffee, and the husband is a beginning modeller. It didn't feel right not hosting them at my place, so he could see the layout, and that was enough or a prompt for me to do a clean up of the room. When that was done, I felt guilty I couldn't have a couple of trains running for him, so cleared out the area under the layout where I knew the short was approximately (that PSX circuit breaker paying for itself), and after 45 minutes solved the problem. So, a few weeks back, Stockrington had its first visitor, and trains ran. That was enough to remind me of the enjoyment I get out of the journey, and so I am slowly getting back into it. So let's see what's happening... 8 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukebox Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 In July of 2021, I had started to work on planting the tree line that was going to follow the fence along the side of the golf course. That was anchored by four large elm0ish trees; These were quite large, but did not look out of place: I then had a fence line that I wanted to plant up to, to create a green barrier that meant you would only glimpse trains going past: So I started by "planting low shrubs hard against that fence line - lichen and Woodlands clump foliage; Hmmm - been so long I forgot about file sizes. Time to reduce some for the next post. Cheers Scott 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jukebox Posted July 24, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 24, 2022 Okay, so I've created a herbaceous border... This part of the layout has lush green tones, so it's all pretty Cambrian, if you'll pardon the pun There a bit of variation in the depth , too, as the lower that hillside is, the more visible it is from the front of the layout: In front of that I need trees. To be brutal, I am not happy with the trees I make, and I suspect it's my dis-satisfaction is one of the reasons my mojo drained. But two years of wisdom had got me to the point where I can live with what I create, if that's what it takes to push through and move on to another part of the layout. So I have an arboretum in the making at the end of the layout: I can do the wire armatures with my eyes closed. It's foliaging them up I have no finesse at. But at least bulk crafting them make the process a little less painful: In coming days I'll plant that lot, and see if I need a few smaller ones to fully flesh out what my mind is seeing. Cheers everyone. It's good to be back. Scott 25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted July 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2022 Great to see you back and sharing your modeling with us Scott. Don't get wound up about the missing content, it's just data after all. We can all forge ahead forever onward and rebuild together. Worse things happen my friend! At least Andy Y got things up and running pretty quickly and if you try not to look back it's as if it never happened. Keep up the great work Regards Shaun. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Physicsman Posted July 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2022 Well, you sneaked back without a hint of a coming return....good to see you back on here. The vegetation you've created on here is very effective. I wouldn't let the tree issue put you off. If you're unhappy with them, re-do them gradually, but at all costs use the new momentum to progress with the layout. I'll keep an eye on your progress. Jeff 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted July 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2022 If only my tree production efforts were as tidy as that! 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted July 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 24, 2022 Welcome back. After a while you forget whose missing which makes it even better when they pop up again. Paul. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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