P4 Fryers Lane v2.0

[2ManySpams]

You can always put off ballasting Mark. Bike ride, pub visit, dental surgery?

[Mark Forrest]

2 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

You can always put off ballasting Mark. Bike ride, pub visit, dental surgery?

Done a bit, bored now.

[2ManySpams]

35 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

Done a bit, bored now.

 

Missed a bit...

[Stubby47]

41 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

Done a bit, bored now.

If you'd have used narrower track, you'd probably be done by now.

[Mark Forrest]

A quick blast of track/sleeper grime makes such a difference.

[2ManySpams]

40 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

A quick blast of track/sleeper grime makes such a difference.

 

Track will look even better buried in bushes and grass. You are doing the BR "can't be arsed to trim stuff" period aren't you?

[Mark Forrest]

1 hour ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Track will look even better buried in bushes and grass. You are doing the BR "can't be arsed to trim stuff" period aren't you?

As I want to depict multiple different eras, that's an interesting point.

Some inspiration...

 

https://flic.kr/p/YuCU8Q

 

https://flic.kr/p/23qScq6

 

https://flic.kr/p/kPNvF1

 

 

 

[Mark Forrest]

This view of Harborne in the '60s is probably a bit too overgrown.

https://flic.kr/p/Gkfwyo

 

[2ManySpams]

12 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

This view of Harborne in the '60s is probably a bit too overgrown.

https://flic.kr/p/Gkfwyo

 

 

There's even green stuff in the wagons. Could have fun with that...

[Mark Forrest]

1 hour ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

There's even green stuff in the wagons. Could have fun with that...

Note to self: keep the stock boxes well hidden when Spams is doing the green stuff.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Can't beat a trim bush!

 

Mike.

ps. Not the loco.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Can't believe it's ten years dince I posted this.

 

[wagonbasher]

30 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Can't believe it's ten years dince I posted this.

 

I know, although we were right to let it go I can’t get used to it not being at the house of one of the group.

 

it did a bit of sofa surfing. 

 

Andy

[Mark Forrest]

Slowly progressing with the dreaded ballasting.  On the new siding, I'm using DAS clay, quite pleased with how that's working out, although it's quite time consuming!

 

Texture in the clay is by stippling it with a paintbrush.

 

[Mark Forrest]

A bit more building work last night, think this is just about ready for a coat of primer.

[Mark Forrest]

A fairly productive afternoon today as I use up the last few hours of my annual leave entitlement.

 

Made a start on painting the pub and its neighbouring property.  Added a small retaining wall to deal with the height difference - ideally I'd have sloped the gardens down from the back of the building instead, but that's the problem with making it up as I go along rather than having a firm plan.

 

A bit of grass has appeared too.

[Mark Forrest]

Having spent the afternoon working on the layout, I thought I'd have a look at some stock for it tonight.

 

The extra siding space demands a bit more stock.  I've got a few wagons that are near finished, just needing couplings fitting to get them into a usable state.

So, I mass produced a batch of AJ couplings.

 

And fitted them to a VBA and VGA.  The ferry wagon was next in line, but there is so much detail underneath it I can't see anywhere obvious to attach the tail end of the coupling - so that now finds itself temporarily filed under "too difficult".

 

This also prompted me to check that the uncoupling magnets work.  3 out of 4 of them do; the one on the new siding (siding 2) has added itself to my pre-exhibition snagging list.

[2ManySpams]

I think Kadees would work nicely on the ferry van. Will bring some over...

[Mark Forrest]

54 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

I think Kadees would work nicely on the ferry van. Will bring some over...

If only I hadn't already chopped off the NEM sockets.

 

Three links on everything is the answer, I'll make a start on fitting them this morning.

[Enterprisingwestern]

14 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

the problem with making it up as I go along rather than having a firm plan.

 

A man after my own heart, that's my method on Wibdenshaw, but it can cause happiness and heartache in equal measures!

 

Mike.

[Southwich]

Looking great Mark - looking forward to further updates. 
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Stubby47]

You'd have thought with a wider gauge there would be more room under wagons.

[Mark Forrest]

Popped over to Statfold Barn today, primarily in the hope of picking up some more ballast and some engineers blue brick paint for Fryers.  I failed to get both of these, although did get the olive green paint I need to finish off a couple of engineer's wagons.  Exhibition itself was OK, I spent more time looking around (and riding behind) the collection of narrow gauge locos (and waiting for a veggie burger to be cooked) than I did looking at the exhibits though.  Good to catch up with  @2ManySpams, who was on day release from the naughty step to go and look at some trains.  It's the first time I've visited Statfold despite it only being 20 miles away, made for a different and interesting day out even if it didn’t help much with getting the layout finished.

[2ManySpams]

Filthy dirty locos...

 

 

[Mark Forrest]

23 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

A man after my own heart, that's my method on Wibdenshaw, but it can cause happiness and heartache in equal measures!

 

Mike.

Yes, so far it's working reasonably well here. I'm following your progress with Wibdenshaw over on EM 70s, it's coming along nicely.

 

It's funny, without the deadline of an exhibition I do nothing; with a deadline I have a tendency to turn the hobby into a chore.  With the layout appearing at the SWAG member's day (3 weeks today), I seem to have found a nice balance of wanting to get the layout done to a reasonable standard, but not feeling too much pressure to get it 100% finished. That seems to be making the whole process a bit more enjoyable.