pre-grouping and never-grouped narrow gauge

[Nearholmer]

There’s a steady following for 7/8” to 1ft these days, including r-t-r live steam, and that makes for some very nice models of the more petite sorts of narrow gauge trains.

[cornamuse]

Fair point about the gauge, and my original stock was for SM32, including a pretty little steamer. 
 

However, the arrival of my son meant that a G scale Thomas was purchased, plus some track, to allow postman Pat and playmobil elephants to ride around… and, if you can live with horrific radii on the points and curves, then you can fit a decent layout in a garage. 
 

consequently we have track that is rather wide, which looks odd end on, but not too bad from the side. It is a reasonable compromise as the stock for 2’6 and even 3’ at a push all can coexist, whereas on scale 2’ track, it couldn’t. 
 

plus, if you took a ruler to any of my models you would realise that gauge is the least of their inaccuracies! The people are the worst offenders, they range from about 7’ to 5’ tall.. 

[cornamuse]

 

last shot for the day, some Victorian wagons. Must be brand new or a museum looking that smart, but I can’t bear to weather stock! 

[Regularity]

45 minutes ago, cornamuse said:

Fair point about the gauge, and my original stock was for SM32, including a pretty little steamer. 
 

It is a reasonable compromise as the stock for 2’6 and even 3’ at a push all can coexist, whereas on scale 2’ track, it couldn’t. 

45mm gauge at circa 20mm/ ¾” scale covers 2’ gauge to 2’6” gauge quite nicely, with g3 (63mm) for the bigger stuff, but it’s not what happened. With bigger boilers and cylinders, etc, then steam engines would be more controllable.
 

Quote

plus, if you took a ruler to any of my models you would realise that gauge is the least of their inaccuracies! The people are the worst offenders, they range from about 7’ to 5’ tall.. 

 

People vary a lot in real life, although that height is perhaps further away from the average than we might expect to…

 

I think there is as much a place for whimsical narrow (or any!) gauge modelling as for finescale in the hobby. Personally, I enjoy the charm, and a working steam loco particularly is a real steam engine in its own right as much as a model of a real one.

 

I don’t like the “shove an Airfix pug body onto an N gauge chassis” school of modelling, and track gauge apart, I find Talyllyn and Ffestiniog stock on the same railway odd: the former is too tall for the latter's loading gauge, and the latter’s is too wide for the former’s, but a layout based on a specific prototype, or real freelancing such as DLT’s “Bridport” terminus are just d@mn fine modelling. 

⅞” scale is daft (I have been dipping a toe into that particular puddle for nearly a quarter century): whoever wanted to model to a ratio of 1:13.7? I understand the pseudo logic of working backwards from the scale of the track, but to me the logical thing is to start with an easy to use scale, and work out what the track gauge would be, and either build it all oneself using components such as rail, chairs (if appropriate) and wheels, or use the nearest commercial equivalent and not get too worried about it.

 

Anyway, whilst I might not care for, say, a pug on a Grafar chassis*, if someone else enjoys that, I am not going to stop them, I just ask that they accept that it’s not for me.
 

* In my mid teens, I “converted” an H0 US outline 4w switcher into something vaguely 0-16.5, plus a couple of wagons and even built a small (2’x3’) non-working layout, but realised that this did not float my boat, mire’s the pity. See, I have tried this and found it not for me. I just prefer (a) a logical scale, (b) standard gauge, and (c) off-beat subjects, but not freelance companies. (Tried that, too: didn’t work for me.)

 

But what you are doing? I love it. 

[cornamuse]

Nice logic, I like it. And thanks for the compliment! 
 

you are right about mixing stock from different narrow gauge railways, it doesn’t work because of all the different loading gauges. However if you keep each train pure it works, especially if you have enough to run with all one company out at a time… 

 

love the idea of 1/12 models and similar, but I’d need an aircraft hangar, and I’d be modelling ladybirds and mosquitos… mind you flowers and butterflies will be a possibility, which means choosing a season 😂

[Annie]

33 minutes ago, Regularity said:

45mm gauge at circa 20mm/ ¾” scale covers 2’ gauge to 2’6” gauge quite nicely,

Before I had to give up railway modelling due to illness I was starting to work in ¾" scale on 45mm gauge.  It's an easy scale to work in and being able to build goods wagons up plank by plank similar to the real thing was a lot of fun.

[cornamuse]

4 minutes ago, Annie said:

plank by plank similar to the real thing

My models are built exactly like the full scale models, assuming the originals are cardboard. And a bit wonky. 
 

but I do love looking at some of the larger scale built that way, they are amazing. Do you have any old pictures you fancy sharing? 

[Annie]

1 minute ago, cornamuse said:

Do you have any old pictures you fancy sharing? 

I'll have a look and see what I can find.  

[harris0169]

On 30/06/2022 at 15:53, cornamuse said:

Finally, we have electricity in the station, and even a sky, of sorts. Must say I prefer painting when the canvas if 15 feet long. What would be fiddly in my other scales becomes much more fluid. We are going with an impressionist landscape to match the less than accurate everything else 🤣 

 

 

Glad to see you back in action! Still very grateful for your help answering that huge list of questions I gave you a while back...and I have made first tiny steps in 16mm scale cardboard rolling stock.

 

Looking forward to more paper cutter and superglue shenanigans.

 

Thanks for sharing where your at.

 

All the best

 

Andy

[rockershovel]

I do like the "England" 0-4-0ST

[cornamuse]

Not much progress, but we can put that down to the army taking over the station for manoeuvres… 

 

 

[cornamuse]

The armoured simplex is my most complicated use of locoremote… we have the usual speed and direction, the klaxon operated from my phone, and a bodged up use of directional lighting and a sound card from a greetings card to provide the sound of a lister engine chugging away. It’s the wrong engine, but the noise is so satisfying… 

 

I’m my world, the local unit kept this one running with a “found” engine off a local farm, in true army style. Not sure which war they are engaged in, but there will be more confusion when a Martello tower and soldiers in red appear. Rule one* firmly in place in this version of the world. 
 

 

* rule one, for the uninitiated is “they are my toy trains, I’ll play with them however I like.” 

[Annie]

Unfortunately when my health deteriorated and I couldn't do railway modelling anymore I became very depressed and carelessly threw a lot of my models into boxes and I wouldn't know where most of it is now.  I did find these old photos I took with an ancient digital camera I had at the time so the quality isn't the best.  As you can see I liked to have a little whimsical fun with my models. 

I'll keep looking and see what else I can find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

And then there's this signal box which I do still have in the same half completed state.

 

[cornamuse]

Absolutely love it, especially the little people working away building it. I like to think of them livening a semi independent life once I close the door, but then I also claim my dog has an imaginary best make called dead vole, so I’m probably best left to my own devices… 

 

The tipping mechanism is great, as is the attentive doggo. There are many dogs on my railway, hidden away in carriages and the like, with plans for lots more wildlife 

[cornamuse]

Signal box is beautiful, almost Emmett whimsy there 

[Annie]

14 minutes ago, cornamuse said:

Signal box is beautiful, almost Emmett whimsy there 

Thanks.  I will confess to a slight Emmett influence, though Whimshire was also an influence as well.  I did have an awful lot of fun with building large scale models and it broke my heart when I had to give it up.  Like you I used to wonder what my little people would get up to when I wasn't looking.  There's a story behind the little dog as it was one of my toys when I was small and it only came to light when I was packing everything up to move out to where I'm living now.

The problem I have with model making is that my brain does micropauses as well as dropping into short episodes of sudden sleep.  It makes working with any kind of tools fraught with peril and even now with typing this I'm having to go back and edit out the random nonsense.  After cutting myself a few times as well as spilling things and making a mess I saw the writing on the wall and had to flag it all away.

Edited July 3, 2022 by Annie
fumble brain

[Regularity]

Oh, Annie. Such a shame that you couldn’t continue with these!

[harris0169]

On 01/07/2022 at 12:50, Regularity said:

That’s rather nice. Unfortunately, it had me looking back through the thread to find out more, only to discover the loss of images. :(

 

Before RMWeb had its own version of The Blip, I saved the first three pages of this thread by Cornamuse with the pictures. If you are interested they are here:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s6/sh/82526101-c5c3-4585-435a-c809f6152c0c/1274d95dd9be3206b947ee5cc9db5133

 

I'll find a way of saving this as a file uploaded to RMWeb in case I stop using Evernote at some point. 

 

All the best

Andy

 

 

 

[cornamuse]

The freelance rake of coaches out today. I was a bit obsessed by providing for the guard when I built these! 

 

In other news, the ballast and basic ground cover has had a soaking with the traditional pva, washing up liquid and water. Also traditionally, it has leaked everywhere, but not actually glued all the ballast. On a positive note, we have a platform now, awaiting dry brushing and all the usual platform stuff. Amazes me every time, but stations are BIG.. even a sleepy little one like this is having to be massively compressed. I had hoped of a few house backs and maybe a church or pub, but that is pretty unlikely, I think? 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by cornamuse

[Edwardian]

I absolutely love this

[cornamuse]

The glue might be dry now from ballast and ground cover, and we’ve had some baseboard warping. Good job it’s not a gauge, I’d need a rack railway! As it is, it’s not too bad, just adds a little realism to the run down country station look… 

 

platform is painted; next jobs are finishing the Corris brake van and building a platform shelter, followed by water crane and coaling facilities. I’m looking forward to putting in all the usual platform clutter too… 
 

 

[cornamuse]

Trying out a long Ffestiniog train… occupying around half of the available line so far. 

 

 

 

tbh the railway has the air of a newly preserved line- lots of stock stored on sidings, work in progress, a feeling of potential.. and very little running line, just a loco and a couple of coaches shuttling up and down a few yards of track 

 

I rather like it that way, too. 

[cornamuse]

Trying out the LED lighting. Not sure it is in the right place, really. I need to look at theatre style lighting I think- easy enough to achieve these days with all the remote control LED units around. Like having a massive toy theatre for trains really- suits me, I love toy theatres! 
 

 

[cornamuse]

Finally, some progress after months of real life getting in the way.

 

The Corris brake van is done. GWR markings and number totally made up, but I have built my first GW train after years of indoctrination by my West Country dad… I think one of the lovely Corris locos might be a bit beyond my skills, though… 

 

The mail truck next, and maybe another waggon or small van. I must say, I do like rolling stock to have two buffers - and yes, the van should have the door on the platform side, but then I couldn’t see Bill the Brake having his breakfast!