Rising out of the mess.... The Foxwater Light Railway.

[Annie]

Yes it's a nice looking small river port with plenty of character and nothing outsized so it couldn't be fitted into model.  If I can muster my fairly miserable artistic skills I'll use background of the photo as a guide to painting a backscene.  I'm not sure if 'spectacular' is quite the effect I'll be working towards.  More a kind of slight shabbiness, but in a polite and well meaning kind of way.

 

I hadn't seen the Gainford Spa  thread before, but yes the two locomotives were built by the OP who started off that layout thread.  I'm perhaps not so keen on the box tank, but I certainly wouldn't mind the other one with its lovely piano saddle tank.

 

Amongst the things I had filed away for Foxwater I have this fish van litho I made very much in the spirit of the tinplate era.  

 

 

I also made a bogie version to fit a Leeds wooden bogie van body I have.  I still need to make the artwork for the ends, but that shouldn't be a big job.

 

 

And last of all a litho for a salt wagon.

 

Edited February 28, 2018 by Annie

[Nearholmer]

I hadn’t realised how extensive the gleanings from your tin mine were ....... enough to keep you going forever there!

 

Have you got one mechanism that is “the best”? I ask, because it might be best to focus tightly on creating a loco with that, otherwise there must be a risk of total distraction in all directions.

 

Kevin

[Annie]

Distraction in all directions is something I'm good at Kevin.  I do have a good mech made by Middleton I think.  It's a modern can motor powered chassis with a compound gear train and bevel gear final drive intended for rejuvenating old Hormby No.1 locos.  It's pretending to be a wagon load in this picture.

 

 

 

And you've seen the green loco I built from scrap M1 and No.1 Hornby bits along will some LSWR Adams 'O' gauge fittings...... That works fine and can haul 21 Hornby open wagons so it's a really useful engine.  It's powered by an instrument motor driving through chunky robotics gears.

 

 

Well I have all the parts necessary to make a second one and if I use the Middleton mech I could make it a slightly longer 2-4-2 with the same family resemblance.  Not a difficult task as it mostly involves putting Hornby bits together in ways the maker didn't intend along with a couple of easy to make tinplate bits that can be glued in with epoxy.  That would give me two reliable engines which would be all I need to start with to run the layout.

 

Otherwise I have most things I would need in the way of goods rolling stock, but I am short on coaches.  The coach problem can be sorted a bit with litho sides and junk Hornby 4 wheelers until I can make something based on Leeds parts.

 

The big thing now that I've got everything unpacked that I'm going to use is to clear away the clutter and sell the tinplate stuff I no longer want to help fund the layout. Once I have a clear space I can mount and support the layout boards properly and tracklaying can begin.

 

And I must do my best not to get distracted until the layout boards are fixed in place.  Perhaps I should write that out 100 times to make sure I remember it.  

[Marly51]

Nothing wrong with your artistic skills Annie! The wagon & coach artwork is lovely!! Makes me hanker for a fictional railway of my own, but not quite yet...

[sir douglas]

i havent been up to the library yet as i cant be bothered going in the snow but i will be going sometime soon as i have some scanning to do

[gobbler]

A proper eclectic mix of bit and bobs you have there Annie.

I shall be dropping in on this thread to see how you're getting on.

 

Love your layout plan too!

 

Scott

[Annie]

Thank you very much Marly and gobbler for your supportive comments.  The modelling ply and card I ordered have arrived, but I'm having a bit of a struggle at the moment with not being very well so I haven't done anything much at all.  

[Marly51]

Hi Annie - enjoying learning more about the early model railways through your posts and others. I knew about litho printed paper details for dollshouses like Schoenhut and Bliss, but had not been aware of their use in wagons and coaches. My daughter had one of those pull-along nodding dogs in the early 1990s (new from the Early Learning Centre) and the wooden body still had a printed detail on the main body of the toy. Sorry to hear you are not well, but hope you feel able to do a little modelling soon?

 

All the best, Marlyn

[Annie]

While looking about for useful spares for some of my old clockers I came across this auction on our local auction website for a down on its luck Hormby M1 tender loco  https://www.trademe.co.nz/toys-models/models/railway/locomotives/auction-1568799152.htm?rsqid=f937d59f2bf4417eb66c5ea2b5467382

 

Only $NZ118.00, - a positive bargain!  Since I already own several that are much the same that now makes me potentially a modestly wealthy woman  

 

Not much is presently happening with this project of mine at the moment as I'm presently spending anything up to 18 hours a day asleep and when I'm awake I'm constantly feeling like I'm about to fall asleep.  Trying to build a layout looks like being a step too far, but I may be able to do some repair work on some of my tinplate treasures if I take my time and be patient over what it's possible for me to achieve during the time I'm able to maintain a useful level of concentration on the task at hand.

[Marly51]

Have you had time to make a start on your cardboard locomotive, Annie? I am hoping to have a go later on - not specifically for a Forum Challenge, but just for a side project to see how I get on. When it comes to the motor assembly, no doubt, I will be shouting “Help” at some point!

 

All the best,

 

Marlyn

[Annie]

I haven't actually done any physical model-making since I started this thread Marly.  I've been struggling a lot with sleepiness and general brain fog so all my model-making has been with my digital trainset.  With digital modelling it doesn't really matter if I fall asleep in the middle of it as there's nothing to spill and no risk of cutting or hurting myself with tools.

Don't worry I am still having fun though and very much enjoying the fact that I'm able to do continue my hobby interests even if it's all in the digital world.

[mervyn]

Just stumbled on this thread ,must say its inspiring ! I am meandering towards doing a coarse scale branch when energy and time allow so will keep watching this thread with interest ! Thanks for sharing Annie ! in the meantime more Maldon track to thread...sigh!

[Nearholmer]

A bit of olive oil, smeared on the rail foot, helps, as does filing a very slight lead on the rail end, but you will still end up with wounded thumbs, if my long experience of this exercise is anything to go by.

[mervyn]

Track now threaded ,thumbs in recovery mode !!!...hopefully wont need any more straights !..thanks for the idea of olive oil Kev !

[GRASinBothell]

Is Maldon Rail "some assembly required" then?

 

Gordon

[mervyn]

Hi Gordon yes you get three lengths of Peco 16mm track and a bag of hard plastic sleepers which have to be threaded onto the track and the plastic is a very tight fit on the track ! worth it in the end tho !

[Nearholmer]

You can buy it assembled, with two different sleeper-spacings, but it is more economical to suffer discomfort, and it is certainly better to ‘thread it yourself’ if you need to cut short lengths to create the desired track-plan. The curves only come ready assembled I think, but I bought most of mine with the wide sleeper spacing and threaded extra ones on.

[GRASinBothell]

Thanks. I like the look of it - it goes well with tinplate trains, and the sleepers have an "embedded in ballast" look, obviating the need for that miserable task, but already having a full complement of Atlas track for my layout, I won't be changing any time soon,

 

Gordon

[Annie]

'It's Alive!'

 

So after a long pause and some encouragement from RMweb members I'm reviving this thread to see what I can do with it and if I finally can actually manage to build a layout.  Something basically simple in the way of a trackplan was needed so I looked at that again with the aid of Anyrail and the use of Lionel O-27 track to provide somewhere for trains to run on.  The layout board is 8ft X 2ft 6inches, but I'm not restricted to a space that size and I have plenty of room for fiddle yards and return loops as well.

 

 

 

The tight curve will most probably disappear into a scene blocker like a gasworks, brickworks or brewery which will disguise storage sidings and a return loop and the straight run away from the station will cross a long bridge in front of a doorway over to another 8ft X 2ft 6inch layout board that I haven't decided what I'll do there yet.

 

Locomotives will all be small tank engines and wagons and coaches will be four wheelers.

[NeilHB]

Glad to see this is still alive Annie

[DLT]

Just caught up with this thread Annie, lovely project.

Anything further to report?

All the best, Dave.

[Annie]

Sorry Dave nothing further to report.  My health problems have advanced to the stage where trying to build physical layouts and models is impossible for me.  I've switched over now to doing all my railway modelling in the virtual world using the Trainz railway simulator.  I still have all my 'O' gauge tinplate and I should really see about selling it since all it's doing is either lying around gathering dust or else packed away in boxes.