Fryers Lane - Speedlink in the '80s (P4)

[Stubby47]

1 hour ago, Mark Forrest said:

Yes, I was thinking the same just the other day.  Maybe if we mention caravans and grotty outhouses three times he'll appear

Just be careful what you wish for....

[Mark Forrest]

13 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Just be careful what you wish for....

Good to hear from you, hope that you're keeping safe and well.

[Stubby47]

13 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

Good to hear from you, hope that you're keeping safe and well.

Yes, all good here thanks, just had a few months of not modelling/ no interest,  so dropped off the forum.

 

Not 100% back yet,  so don't expect too much from me.

 

Apart from the odd pithy comment where necessary, of course.

 

[Mark Forrest]

3 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Yes, all good here thanks, just had a few months of not modelling/ no interest,  so dropped off the forum.

 

Not 100% back yet,  so don't expect too much from me.

 

Apart from the odd pithy comment where necessary, of course.

 

Know exactly what you mean, I've struggled with motivation and interest in all of my hobbies over the past couple of months, then suddenly it just seemed to come back for no obvious reason.

Comments, pithy or otherwise, always welcome 

[Indomitable026]

3 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Yes, all good here thanks, just had a few months of not modelling/ no interest,  so dropped off the forum.

 

Not 100% back yet,  so don't expect too much from me.

 

Apart from the odd pithy comment where necessary, of course.

 

These things come and go.

 

I’m sure your mojo will be back soon and probably manifest itself in the largest model caravan site ever built...

 

Good to hear from you “Stubzie50”...

[Ramblin Rich]

Strangely, in the dark lockdown times when indoor pastimes should be most appealing, my mojo also vanished. Now the days are getting brighter and warmer, the motivation returns, but wanting to be outside not modelling... 

[Stubby47]

45 minutes ago, Indomitable026 said:

These things come and go.

 

I’m sure your mojo will be back soon and probably manifest itself in the largest model caravan site ever built...

 

Good to hear from you “Stubzie50”...

 

Stubzie57 now....

 

Am planning a 14ft layout with a seaside theme, 4ft fiddle yard on your baseboard ( thanks again) and 2 x 5ft boards.

 

So plenty of space for caravans

[Mark Forrest]

Speaking of planning, this print out of the revised track plan has been on my desk all week, I've been doodling ideas for some of the buildings.  Excuse my rubbish drawing, hopefully you get the idea.

[Indomitable026]

1 minute ago, Mark Forrest said:

Speaking of planning, this print out of the revised track plan has been on my desk all week, I've been doodling ideas for some of the buildings.  Excuse my rubbish drawing, hopefully you get the idea.

 

sorry Mark, we need to concentrate on the job in hand - you now have full attention..

[Mark Forrest]

14 hours ago, Indomitable026 said:

 

sorry Mark, we need to concentrate on the job in hand - you now have full attention..

Not much else to say at this stage, I'm mulling over where to go with the large warehouse building on the new board.  Options are currently an extended version of the original warehouse building or a taller brick structure with a loading platform alongside.   I doubt I'll make a decision until the board is built and I can mock something up.

 

In the foreground,  I'm looking for something to hide the baseboard joint, not sure what that will be yet either though.

[Stubby47]

1 hour ago, Mark Forrest said:

 

In the foreground,  I'm looking for something to hide the baseboard joint, not sure what that will be yet either though.

 

Caravan and/or grotty toilets.

 

Obviously. 

[Siberian Snooper]

2 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Caravan and/or grotty toilets.

 

Obviously. 

 

It would seem that normal service is resumed! Welcome back.

 

 

[AY Mod]

It's easy to distract the eye of many modellers.

 

 

3D glasses for the finescalers.

[2ManySpams]

8 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Caravan and/or grotty toilets.

 

Obviously. 

 

He's back!

[Mark Forrest]

I finally got around to printing out the Templot plan for the new track today, looks like it should fit.

Apologies for the terrible photos, with the lighting for the layout now stored out of the way, lighting in the room isn't great - something that I'll need to address.

I'm limited on how far I could slew the front track forward as I wanted to avoid track crossing onto the board extension at an angle.

It has occurred to me that rather than having the board extension as a separate removable board, it might be better to permanently attach it to the existing board.

 

The left fiddle yard has undergone a bit of component recovery, including removing its end with alignment dowels for reuse on the new board.

[Siberian Snooper]

If you intend to continue to exhibit the layout, how does permanently fixing the boards together affect portability and transportability? Just asking.

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 28/02/2021 at 10:35, Mark Forrest said:

Not much else to say at this stage, I'm mulling over where to go with the large warehouse building on the new board.  Options are currently an extended version of the original warehouse building or a taller brick structure with a loading platform alongside.   I doubt I'll make a decision until the board is built and I can mock something up.

 

In the foreground,  I'm looking for something to hide the baseboard joint, not sure what that will be yet either though.

 

If you made the large building a WRD (old hat I know) then the world is your lobster wagon wise.

 

Mike.

[Stubby47]

9 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If you made the large building a WRD (old hat I know) then the world is your lobster wagon wise.

 

Mike.

If you made the large building a fish processing plant, then you could use lots of fishy-named wagons....

[Mark Forrest]

56 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

If you intend to continue to exhibit the layout, how does permanently fixing the boards together affect portability and transportability? Just asking.

 

 

That’s a good point.  While (for the moment) I’m in no rush to get back out onto the exhibition circuit (assuming such a thing exists post-Covid) I don’t want to rule it out.

 

When I load the existing layout in the car, the scenic board lies on its back, so with the extension added, there is no change in footprint.  That said, the added depth (which becomes height when loaded) would probably cause an issue, I seem to remember the board was close to the rear screen in my 3 series touring (and also in a Focus estate that preceded it).  Current car is smaller than either of those, so I’d have a problem even with the existing layout boards.  This is how it went in the 3 series.

 

The other challenge is with the new left end board as the 650x600x450 cube of this will take up a very different space in the car than the fiddle yard it replaces.  There is still the need for some sort of lighting rig/fascia too.

 

All things considered, I think exhibitions will require a van (or at very least a borrow of wifey’s SUV).  We’ve been considering changing one of the cars for a van anyway (primarily for days out on the mountain bikes) so by the time I’m ready to think about shows, hopefully that problem might have resolved itself, otherwise it will be weekend hire of a small van.

 

 

[Mark Forrest]

44 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If you made the large building a WRD (old hat I know) then the world is your lobster wagon wise.

 

Mike.

The thought had crossed my mind.

I’m wondering whether I go for any buildings at all.  Having printed out the track templates and seen it on the board I’m thinking any building I add there is going to look a bit contrived.  Instead, I’m looking at places like Pensnett where a variety of different loads were handled, but mostly in the open.

 

33 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

If you made the large building a fish processing plant, then you could use lots of fishy-named wagons....

Can’t go wrong with a few fishy wagons...

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

On my Span Yard I haven't got any buildings in the middle of the layout, just low relief ones at the extremities, and all lines actually go off the ends of the baseboards onto fiddle sticks, at one end via a warehouse flat end wall, personally, I don't think a small plank needs a fiddleyard, there isn't that much stock, and losing it frees up transportation space, amongst other advantages.

Pictures available if you wish?

 

Mike.

[Grampus]

1 hour ago, Mark Forrest said:

The thought had crossed my mind.

I’m wondering whether I go for any buildings at all.  Having printed out the track templates and seen it on the board I’m thinking any building I add there is going to look a bit contrived.  Instead, I’m looking at places like Pensnett where a variety of different loads were handled, but mostly in the open.

 

Can’t go wrong with a few fishy wagons...

Nice crabs.  Deceptively simple-looking wagon and an easy build.  I have a couple on the go currently, one the prototype with additional external strapping.  Considering having a go at a clasp-fitted one too.  Yours look very good.

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Grampus
Spelling!

[Mark Forrest]

12 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

On my Span Yard I haven't got any buildings in the middle of the layout, just low relief ones at the extremities, and all lines actually go off the ends of the baseboards onto fiddle sticks, at one end via a warehouse flat end wall, personally, I don't think a small plank needs a fiddleyard, there isn't that much stock, and losing it frees up transportation space, amongst other advantages.

Pictures available if you wish?

 

Mike.

Interesting point about fiddle yards; probably not the best use of space.  My idea for when I (eventually) do something based on Wolves Low Level is to have the stock that isn’t in use stored in sidings at the rear of the layout, operations will consist of shunting vans between the sidings and the platforms for loading/unloading.

 

Yes, would be interested to see some photos of your Span Yard plank, can’t remember if I’ve seen it before.

[Mark Forrest]

9 hours ago, Grampus said:

Nice crabs.  Deceptively simple-looking wagon and an easy build.  I have a couple on the go currently, one the prototype with additional external strapping.  Considering having a go at a clasp-fitted one too.  Yours look very good.

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

 

 

Like all the Chivers kits, they go together very nicely, only change I made was to add some Bill Bedford sprung axleguards.

[Mark Forrest]

Making the board extension a permanent fixture would allow the curve on the front line to start sooner, which actually starts to make my original idea for this extension more feasible - taking the layout around the corner.

 

Of course the temptation then is to just add one more turnout, but the result of doing so is short sidings...

 

 

All things considered, I think I'll stick with the straight version.