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Les1952
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Some very nice modelling!!! wil follow this now.

Your club building looks like an old ww2 installation..

 

 

cheers neil..

 

We're on the old RAF Newton site- the "old" clubroom we're vacating is the former chapel.  This is due for demolition for new housing.  One of the hangars is opposite the new clubroom and our building is in a designated buffer zone of light commerce between the houses and the hangars.  It looks as if we are sharing the building with the police dog unit and training school, and with the ghurka security guards.  Who is in the other parts of the building we've yet to discover.

 

All the very best

Les

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still awaiting the move...

 

Not a lot of point moving clubroom until the power is on (and for that matter the water in the loos....)

 

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Progress report shows the partition is up and mostly sealed both sides, and the floor is painted. Our area is at the far end.  We still don't have our own light switches (or for that matter a complete set of lighhts, and the power points need adding to.  Cleaning is continuing while we await the electrician.

 

On the layout front, we've been trying out more of Trevor's buildings on site- ready to dig foundations once the move is done.

 

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This is one of trevor's competition pieces.  The diorama will be cut in two and this end will be installed at track level with the fancy side of the tower facing the punters.

 

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This end of the same diorama will go next to it but with the PW trolley facing the track and thereby largely undeen by the punter.

 

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Meanwhile Geoff has almost completed the station cottages.  

 

Jim and I have been up at the new clubroom while all this has been going on, getting lungfuls of dust.....

 

All the very best

les

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Moved and power nearly on...

 

We have now moved into the new clubroom and the layout is standing on its end out of the way of the electrician.

 

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Following a long delay the electrician has arrived to install the ring main and fix the only one of the lights that club members hadn't been able to find a tube for.  He also has to get two pairs of lamps that are currently on dodgy pull switches to work off the new wall switches by the door.

 

Hopefully he'll be done before too long and we can get on with the layout....

 

Les

 

Still no water in the loos yet....

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Progress with electrics and benching.

 

The electrician has been working this week and we now have a 32amp ring main on the walls, with the lighting being routed to new wall switches.  As a result we've been able to build the benches (or rather two of them) again with the third going off into the OO area as a base for the pillar drill and other such objects.

 

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The group having a natter about the next step having put the bench back up.  It isn't a trick of the lens- the end leg does lean, mostly as a result of having some distortion due to pipework behind the bench....

 

More next week- the lights will have been finished so we will be able to re-erect the layout and make plans for a quick start after Christmas.

 

Les

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Christmas update

 

The layout has now been erected in its new home!  Work should now proceed at a rate of knots...

 

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The group discuss what to do next- which scenic bit is first.  Jim was just turning away to talk to someone out of the pic.....

 

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Along the wall above the workbench will be a test track- analogue feed at one end and digital at the other.  May yet be dual gauge, but I'll sort that out.  We seem to have appropriated the club kettle, at least for now.

 

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Looking along the end where the new development is taking shape.  Trevor brought the buildings for this bit in last week but I had only one picture's worth of charge on the phone.  Geoff's Station Cottages sit well here and the gardens are taking shape on the sub-base behind.   The station and Alf's arches haven't been photographed together before.

 

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The buildings on the backscene of Top Valley Marketplace.  Some still to finish and some of the centre black has already been done.  In the background is Yeaton.

 

All the very best for Christmas- next update maybe December 30th.

Les

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  • 3 weeks later...

First meeting of New Year

 

Lots of pictures of the farm (by Trevor) - four buildings, all derelict.  These will be at the front of the layout above Top Valley Tunnel, and will have contractor's plant in the yard in the middle.

 

The farmhouse

 

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The three blocks on the other sides of the derelict farmyard

 

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Also new- Geoff has now added the sides to his maltings (?) building, low releif with a curved back to fit the curved backscene.

 

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All for now. More next time I remember to take the camera...

Les

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jan 21st - placing buildings

 

While Geoff and Alf this week worked at getting the trackbed weathered so that buildings can be placed, the Market Place had a couple of buildings trialled for the side over the tunnel.

 

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This lot is Stanley Terrace in Newark, or at least the side of it that no longer exists in real life.  Some may recognise its origins in a diorama Trevor built for the N-gauge Society modelling competition.  It has featured a few times in the NGS Journal since then. 

 

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Looking from the other side with the corner beyond it (as viewed from the front of the layout) filled in.  The three will be bedded in once the centre of the market has been sorted.  The Metropole is behind, placed the wrong way round- it will nestle against the backscene.   In the foreground will be a bus turning circle where NCT buses reach the end of their journey.  Barton or Midland general will continue along the back of the layout.

 

Les

 

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Play Time

 

Jim brought his latest toy for testing so this week we had a bit of fun with it.

 

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In the foreground the lifted crossover has had its ballast put in- still room for weeds etc.  Off camera (or cameraphone this week) all of the buildings have been tried together so the layout could have some pics taken (with his posh camera) by Bingham MRC's webmaster.  All I have to do is to write the blurb.....

 

All the very best

Les

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some progress

 

Jim and Alf have been gluing walls and raising ground levels, while Geoff and Trevor have been working on the cutting sides.  Jim and Alf turned their attention to the slope from the rock face top up to Geoff's cottahe gardens while Trevor has been remeasuring the backscene round the market.   I've been working on part of the ground cover by Top Valley tunnel mouth- layer two this week, more to follow next time.

 

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Strong sunlight hasn't been helping photography.  This is the cirrent state of affairs at Rise Part Cutting.  Stray glasses from the usual suspect......

 

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Rock face in place and slope at the top engineered.  In the next couple of weeks the Railway Houses and gardens should be ready and can be stuck down.

 

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The slope behind the station yard is being terraced.  Progress with the hot glue gun and filling.

 

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Vegetation going in at the wall foot by Top Valley tunnel.

 

All the very best

Les

 

edited as RMWeb software posted the thing twice and then threw me out of the topic......

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another week, another set of buildings

 

These are the left-hand side of Top Valley Market.  They will be end-on to the viewer, with Stanley Terrace behind them. The first two views from the end of the layout.

 

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Bill Mossop wandered over to for a chat, so we added in a couple of the surrounding buildings to get some of the effect.  Alf hacking away at the embankment with his usual finesse in the background.

 

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Lastly a view along the row extending out from the Market Place.

 

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Much still to do but things are moving.

 

Electrics one Thursday eveing before too long.....

 

Les

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  • 2 months later...

Where did two months go?

 

I'm not sure but we've been working on ground levels and colouring.  Meanwhile the clubroom has filled up with other layouts and we've had a very good show at Cotgrave, which only needed a few hundred more punters.....

 

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TV-RP is the layout at the foot of the picture under its dust cover.  Immediately beyond is the Cromford section (a modular layout) and beyond that to the right is Yeaton which is being converted to DCC before scenic work begins..  Lengthwise at the far end is OO-gauge Soarston, a DCC shunting plank while the higher level boards at the far end belong to Phoenix Park, now being made operational.

 

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being at the front this bit of ground has only been worked on slowly as the ground levels at the back have taken priority.

 

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A decent ground covering on the bank and a first coat of blue on the backscene- it will have photographic parts on it, the first of which are being readied.  In front the main road has been raised to link up to the minor road into the hillside- Trevor is costructing a footbridge to cover this entry.

 

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At the far end the cutting by Rise Park Tunnel has been coloured, though the smoke effect didn't work so needs to be redone.

 

Still plenty to do. 

Les

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  • 4 weeks later...

Almost another month gone...

 

The big news is that we've bitten the bullet and decided that no way are we going to be ready to exhibit at Grantham show.  We might make Sileby but more likely Cotgrave next year.  That will mean recruiting a pair of operators as for my sins I'm now show manager for Bingham MRC.  Geoff will take charge of the layout over the weekend and I'll have a short play if I get the chance, or more likely not.

 

This month as well as modelling Geoff has been on holiday, I've been to Manchester for 5 days and Alf has been playing with his racing cars.  These are 12 inches to the foot scale by the way- 80 and still running his team.  Should we start calling him Bernie?

 

What a difference a bit of colour makes.

 

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Trevor has made the footbridge over the side road exit,  This looks a little more plausible now the grass is in behind it.  A few overhanging branches and bushes and it will look good.

 

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Rocky outcrop coloured by Jim with the first layer of grass added by me - before I vacuum most of it off again next week.....  There will be assorted clumpy bits and about 100 trees on the grassy banks at the back of the layout.  Note cloudy backscene paper to the right but not yet to the left...

 

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Also grassed is the bit behind the railway at the Top Valley Market end of the layout.  Trevor's Works Street buildings in place.  Again the base sky colour makes a real difference even though the cloudy paper hasn't yet been applied.

 

Plenty still to do, starting with some vacuuming next session.

Les

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well into June...

 

Plenty going on- the drains are almost laid on the building site, with the manholes in and ready for painting.  the grassy bank at the back of the centre board is getting its trees now the backscene is in place and the basic grass done.   I've been doing Thursday evenings as well as Tuesday mornings to plant trees while nobody else is working in front.  We have a shopping list for the Great Central Show (Jim and I are there all three days with Furtwangen Ost- come and say hello).

 

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Starting at the left hand end the trees are of necessity smaller as the bank gets a bit close to the backscene here.  There is a bit of hedgy stuff to put along the back to hide a horizontal backscene line.  Plenty more to go in yet....

 

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Starting to hide the fact that the lane is a road to nowhere.  The  line of trees and bushes here need to turn towards the houses on the backscene behind it to make it look as if the road actually goes that way. Not the easiest of illusions to pull off and maybe easier if the road had actually been there to hide....

 

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Looking back through/over the footbridge it is easier to see- the trees on the uphill side haven't yet gone in.  When they do the road will disappear into a leafy tunnel- or at least that is the hope...

 

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Lastly the subterfuge to hide the end of the backscene near Hodkin's works. This and the last two also show the houses on the backscene.  Although this area is going to be woodland the idea is to retain glimpses of the houses that are there alreay- a little too posh for the real Top valley but the idea is to show a green belt between Top Valley Market Place at one end and the new Rise park development at the other.

 

Still plenty to go in- next pics might just show progress on some of the other areas.

Les

 

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  • 1 month later...

A little more progress across the back

 

Well,  I've had a weeks holiday,  Jim has had two weeks, Geoff has had a week and Alf has had a week with another three or so to come in the next couple of months- all right for these octogenarians!

 

 

Meanwhile we've been getting on with the area in front of the backscene now the sky has been fixed.

 

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Looking along the layout from the Rise Park end, showing that there is a thumping great discontinuity to sort out in front of Hodkins works.  These houses are nearly ready for bedding in once Geoff finishes a backscene insert to go behind them.

 

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Moving Northwards away from Rise Park Market the lane now completely disappears into the cutting, and the tree line beyound suggests it heads off towards the backscene.

 

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The basic ground cover at the North end around the building site.  Alf scrounged the bases from every tree that was cut to size further along the layout to put in the corner, and Trevor made the manholes where the new drains are going in.  The part-built houses for this bit are ready to bed in- the foundations have been cut out ready for them.

 

Still plenty to be getting on with- the buildings will be put into place ready for an impending Royal visit- Andy Y is coming to the clubroom to photograph one of our OO gauge members' layout before long so might get a chance to see that a certain N-gauge layout actually exists......

 

Les

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A few pictures for July

 

With Andy Y coming up to the clubroom shortly to photograph Chris Trafford's layout, and since TV-RP is next to the sandwich table (amongst a host of practical reasons), we thought we'd set out all of the buildings in their approximate locations and see what gaps there are to fill.

 

The next few weeks will mostly be spent bedding in the buildings and finalising the backscene layers and positions. Then we are into the detailing phase.  First show is Sileby in February, then Cotgrave in April next year.

 

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Starting at the North end of the layout with the derelict farm.  The building site that will become Rise Park Estate is behind.  The farm will be populated with contractors' kit.

 

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Rise Park Estate is being built.  The show house at the end is complete and the garden will be landscaped. Alf made the houses.  Note the soldered scaffolding on the left end house, and that the cavity walls have cavities....

 

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Geoff's station houses.  On the left the stationmaster's house and to the right the railway houses, a terrace of four.  The gardens of both units are highly detailed- pictures will follow at some stage.  Also visible on the right Trevor's row of new houses which are still being fitted to their plot.

 

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We've had some recent pictures of the middle above the railway.  This one shows the water tower immediately in front of the station, and the signal box further along.

 

 

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Views of and from the Market Place.   No new buildings here recently, though Geoff has been putting the Warren buildings into their place before those in front are bedded in.

 

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Lastly views of the whole layout from South and from North.  We have tried to go for a "railway in the landscape" approach.  Hopefully this is working.

 

All for now.

Les

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Six Months to first show!

 

 

The housing estate is making progress.  Alf has been marking out plots for the next set of foundations.

 

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Meanwhile the cottages at the very front have been bedded in, at least temporarily.  There is a path to go behind them with a hedge to install to hide the edge of the insert.

 

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The final building for the front has now arrived from Trevor's- a nondescript warehouse to go beside the reclamation yard.

 

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Still lots to do- there is some tidying up to do along the backscene and roads to reroute then colour in.  Not to mention populations to purchase, customise and plant.....

 

Six months doesn't seem long.

Les

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  • 1 month later...

Recently discovered this thread and had begun to worry that other than the general location there wasn't much resemblance to the "real" Rise Park and Top Valley at all - nor even to the older buildings at Bulwell just down the road.

 

But then saw the Housing Estate being built, and was very pleased to see that at least the detached houses do actually look quite close to the real thing.  (I should know, I live in one!).  Do be aware though - if you can be sufficiently bothered - that they were built in the first place with numerous small variations such as number and position of chimney stacks,  extended lean-to kitchens etc.  The builders (Ennis was the firm, I believe, if you need to put a signboard up) apparently allowed the initial purchasers a much wider degree of input into the specification than would be the case nowadays on a large new development, so my elderly neighbour tells me who has been here since the mid-60's.  So even from the outset they were only 90% identical but each one had 10% of its external and internal structure comprised of numerous permutations.

 

Now then - how about an extension with a version of Rigley's Wagon Works, where Tesco Top Valley now stands?  You can see one of their main buildings to this day, it was rebuilt at Butterley.

 

Good luck, keep it coming.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello.

 

The end house, the one with the red boards, is a model of Alf's house on Rise Park (close to the church).  This part is Alf's responsibility.   A more recent view.  However, these are only the two completed ones.  The buildings at the other end - "Top Valley Market" mostly exist in and around Nottingham, but not at the same place.  Alf is currently making the wiring of a trolleybus turning circle at this end.  A Nottingham trolley will give more of a local feel to it.  

 

Of course the railway didn't actually go anywhere near the real Top Valley or the real Rise Park, which means the whole thing is invention.  the idea is to get the "feel" of North Nottingham.  No real location on the railway Noth of Nottingham would fit a twelve foot layout and be convincing.

 

 

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Not a lot of photographable activity going on as most work at this stage involves bedding the buildings into the boards.  They don't always look any different before and after. 

 

 

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Looking through some new trees to the pegged out site for the second four houses- these have only just been begun.  Workmen and general builder's stuff to be added. The area to the left is where the old manor house will sit.

 

More to follow - eventually.

Les

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Some more progress

 

Trevor and Geoff this week got on with working around the Market Place, after gluing a few more houses into place.  Meanwhile Alf has been sorting ground levels on the building site while Jim and I moved the sockets for the hand-helds after it had been decided the uprights for the lighting rig wanted to be on the centre board rather than the end boards as planned.

 

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The cottages are now bedded in with the hedges reaching one side.  Alf and Jim have filled in round them ready for me to finish the job with scatter next week.

 

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Behind this the contours have been changed and the surface of the contractor's track to the building site laid.  This needs colouring and finishing with scatter once thoroughly set.

 

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The showhome now has its lawn, and the third and fourth houses are in place, together with pallets of bricks and breeze blocks.  Note these were all made in the prototype of the show home....

 

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At the other end Geoff's Market Cross has arrived for its first fitting.  The trolleybus will probably also be placed here "just leaving" the scene so we don't have to change its destination.  The wiring lattice will be clear of the Market Cross.  Also arrived is the kit for the carousel to be placed on the pavement here.

 

Still a lot to do.  I'm going to start using Wednesday evenings cleaning track and soak testing, to allow scenic work to continue a little closer to the first show in February.

 

Les

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some pics with the mobile phone

 

Having worked out that the mobile phone takes better close-ups than the digital camera can manage I tried a couple on Rise Park this week.

 

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Geoff's railway houses.  These are opposite the station entrance.  Below and to the left is the cutting.  The area around this needs finishing.

 

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The chicken shed in the garden behind Geoff's railway cottages.

 

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A close-up of the scaffolding on Alf's house under construction.

 

More later.

Les

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Trains

 

As well as scenic work going on at the Tuesday Mornng sessions, Jim and I are working on Wednesday or Thursday evenings to get the layout running well enough to survive its first two shows.  Last night was playing with trains- we found another dead spot and a couple of iffy bits as far as keeping trains on the track.

 

The three trains that were tried extensively were Mr Simon's fish vans behind the Dapol Hall, Jim's rake of coaches behind a Jubilee and the windcutter iron ore rake behind the K3.

 

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Mottram Hall passes the signal box, showing up a piece of grot that missed the tidying-up

 

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The K3 approaches the signalbox on the windcutter iron ore train.  The ore wagons are those featured in the weathering article in the next N-Gauge Journal, and I think are on Page 8 of Mr Simon's work bench.   Not really suitable for Hawthorn Dene as they didn't really get onto the Durham Coast Line, they are eminently suitable for Rise Park and will probably run behind Jim's WD or perhaps the O4 if I can get it working reliably enough...

 

Here they are-

 

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Still a lot to do, like getting the O4 running...

 

Les

 

 

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More details

 

Today Alf continued with details on the estate, Geoff got details around his railway houses attended to, Trevor had a look at the old farmyard, Jim and Geoff applied polyfilla to one or two obvious holes and I had a look at the area behind the buildings to the right of Hodkins works, where the bottonm edge of buildings on the backscene was only too obvious.  The solution here involves Redutex walling to act as a pavement supported by foam rubber left over from stock box purchases.

 

Only two pics- I re-took a couple that didn't work last week using the mobile phone to get up close.  These are both of the yard behind Geoff's Railway Cottages.

 

post-13358-0-64175700-1448394828_thumb.jpg

 

Mrs Thing hangs her clothes on the washing line, not really expecting it to come back as white as it went out - especially if the railway is busy.  Mrs Whatever has come over to discuss whether she should have sent young Stan out with the mower after all, and whether she'll need to boil some water for the tin bath as he is sure to be well sweaty when he finishes.

 

 

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Meanwhile young Stan the porter is on a rest-day and has been told to get the grass mown in the garden.  His mower doesn't seem to be doing that great a job of it. He is a little worried he should have gone off to the barber's.  The stationmaster keeps on at him about the length of his hair.

 

More eventually...

 

Les

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  • 4 weeks later...

We have a new member in our little group.

 

He has lowered the average age of the group from 71.6 to 63........

 

Signalling and platform surfacing has been taking place this week.

Pics later.

Les

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Hello.

 

Of course the railway didn't actually go anywhere near the real Top Valley or the real Rise Park, which means the whole thing is invention.  the idea is to get the "feel" of North Nottingham.  No real location on the railway Noth of Nottingham would fit a twelve foot layout and be convincing.

 

 

 

 

Les

 

 

Sorry, have to take issue with that statement, the GN Derbyshire line ran alongside Hucknall Road and Rigley's (not Wrigley's, they're the chewing gum people) wagon works were pretty much the site of the current Tesco Top Valley store, where there was also Bulwell Forest station. 

Bestwood Park Drive and Top valley Drive the main roads into the area, cut right through the embankment and if I recall correctly there's still, certainly was a few years back, a small occupation bridge in place which is used for the footpath on one of the roads cutting through the embankment. The line of trees alongside Hucknall Road shows the route on Google satellite view:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0043192,-1.1776418,1829m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Edit: Just checked on streetview and I think the occupation bridge was on Top Valley Drive, but removed when the new bigger Tesco store was built a few years ago.

 

There's also a concrete signal post hidden in the trees between Tesco and Bestwood Park Drive, I think it would have been the distant for Bulwell Forest.

There's a forum topic about Bulwell Forest station including a couple of pictures here:

http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6221

 

I well remember the area as I went to school not far away on Gainsford Crescent in Bestwood, Rise Park was just starting to be developed then 1963-69. The school had a cross country running route taking us around the back of Rigleys (I think, because the first time I did cross country I realised I wasn't very good as a distance runner and got left completely behind. Imagine the outcry if that happened nowadays, an 11 year old left out on their own! Didn't matter then, being a train spotter I was well used to finding my own way about and already knew the area)

Edited by great central
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