Blacker Lane D.P.

[Barclay]

At least I'm not going mad, well I might be but not over that - Looking forward to seeing version 2 !

[37114]

Haven't checked in here for a while, really good progress Dave.

[Ruston]

Cheers, Rob.

 

Today I have been painting the crews for the BR engines.

[Ruston]

The layout will be run as different time periods by changing the engines and rolling stock. These ex-PO wagons will serve for the 1950s. I have 8 more to weather yet and these will also be joined by some more POs and a few steel-bodied 16-ton minerals.

 

The 14 that I have at the moment have been stored in a box since I sold Nant-Y-Mynydd and have now received extra weathering and BR 'P' numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick C]

On 18/08/2023 at 17:32, Ruston said:

Cheers, Rob.

 

Today I have been painting the crews for the BR engines.

Out of context, they look like they've consumed a few too many beers - especially the one on the left...

[Barclay]

Second from the right - "You're me best mate"

[Ruston]

I collected the parts for the viaduct, yesterday. Unfortunately, the arches and the front panels were supposed to have been altered to English Bond, with the arches themselves having headers instead of stretchers, before cutting. They have been done as on the test piece and are NBG. The abutments and all the other parts have been done to the new spec. and as a result this is as far as I can go with the RH side. The abutment for the LH side can also be taken to the same stage but no further.

[37079]

Hi Dave,

 

The weathering on the ex-POs is really superb, very easy to overdo it.

 

I don't know if the following will concern you or not, but it is offered in the spirit of constructive advice and if you choose to ignore it I wouldn't blame you... I don't think the George Matthews livery is correct for a 1923 spec wagon - the original is pictured in Private Owner Wagons vol 6 and is a 10 ton vehicle to 1907 spec.

 

Mike

[Ruston]

5 hours ago, 37079 said:

Hi Dave,

 

The weathering on the ex-POs is really superb, very easy to overdo it.

 

I don't know if the following will concern you or not, but it is offered in the spirit of constructive advice and if you choose to ignore it I wouldn't blame you... I don't think the George Matthews livery is correct for a 1923 spec wagon - the original is pictured in Private Owner Wagons vol 6 and is a 10 ton vehicle to 1907 spec.

 

Mike

It wouldn't be the first one to be deliberately done wrong by Bachmann and others. I've got a Goldendale one where I'm sure the prototype wasn't an RCH 1923 spec. wagon, but I'm not too fussed to be honest. I've got the wagons and they're too good to not use - why let facts get in the way of a good weathering? 😁

 

Today's job has been to make the waste tip. The form of it was done some time ago, using card and papier mache.

It has now been covered with crushed shale, sand, broken brick coal dust and some model ballast for good measure.

 

The glue isn't dry yet, so there are white patches everywhere.

 

[Purnu]

Long time admirer of your numerous layouts.

 

I’ve never felt I had anything to contribute but whilst browsing Flickr, came across this shot. I wasn’t aware the 2 were onsite at the same time.

[Ruston]

Progress with the viaduct. Two arches done, five to go.

I'm not altogether happy with it, but I suppose it looks alright from a distance. It's made from artists mounting card that has been laser etched and so, unlike plasticard, I can't simply paint it the main colour and then run a wash of the mortar colour in to the courses as it simply soaks in, leaving virtually nothing in the way of a mortar course showing. I've had to use polyfilla type stuff to fill the courses. Getting the excess off is a pain and getting a consistent finish on the different panels is not easy. The top surfaces of bricks at the outside edges of the panels delaminate at the slightest knock and filling in the white spots seems to be a never ending game whilst the thing is being worked on.

 

There is also the fact that my friend, who drew the CAD, made the sections join at the tops of the arches, which makes it very difficult to disguise the joints. If they had been on the pillars then it would have been as simple as an overlay to hide them.

[Ruston]

The viaduct is almost done. At 6ft. 4ins. long and 8in. tall it is the largest model structure that I have ever built.

[Ruston]

The viaduct has been removed to have the parts painted where the outside faces of bricks flaked off and for the final two curved insides of arches to be fitted. Fitting those last arches and painting in all the little bits was quite a task. With the viaduct being so large it can't be turned or stood on end inside the shed.

 

The trench which was left in the landscape for the viaduct to sit in.

Trees and bushes will be planted between the viaduct and the tracks, plus some trees between the far track and the wall.

I am getting the ground cover done now as it will be difficult to do with the viaduct in place.

When the viaduct is in place the open areas where there are no piers will be covered over with corrugated cardboard and they too will receive ground cover.

[Ruston]

[AY Mod]

2 minutes ago, Ruston said:

 

Nice work on the arch joint Dave.

[Ruston]

One loco has been missing whilst I've been building the layout, but it's one that I did a while ago.

 

The Dapol LSWR B4. It was in need of a Stay Alive, so I have just fitted one. The prototype was sold out of BR service in 1949 and went to work for Wm. Pepper on behalf of the D.O.C.P. at both Darton screens and British Oak. As the two were just a couple of miles apart and on the same BR line, I wonder if it made its way between them under its own steam?

 

I can see this being a favourite when operating the 1950s period.

[Ruston]

I still have plenty of scenery to do but it gets boring, so I need to switch to something else in between.

 

Road vehicles.

 

The plan for the cottage has always been for it to belong to a hoarder/seller of parts for old vehicles and so they will be scattered along the track between the road and the cottage. It is also another excuse for another grounded van body.

The Thames van is a second hand Classix model. When taking it apart to give a coat of matt varnish I discovered that the bonnet is in fact a separate part and so with a little effort, inner wings made from card, a rough representation of a radiator and a side valve engine, inserted, I glued the bonnet in the open position.

 

I had been given an army Bedford truck and an army Humber snipe tourer a while ago and so have now made use of them. The Bedford is has been weathered and is now dumped next to the track whilst the Snipe is undergoing demilitarisation.

 

 

 

The AEC Matador, seen above, is being converted to a tanker for fuelling plant machinery.

 

The problem with these Oxford diecasts is that the axles don't have enough articulation for parking them on any but the smoothest of surfaces and there's always a wheel off the ground. I took a slitting disc to the casting to allow for more articulation. In the same way as making 3-point compensation on a model loco, the front axle rocks on a knife edge.

 

It's sorted. It's gripped. Let's off-road!

 

Tank under construction.

 

[Ruston]

I went to the model shop this morning to buy some more orange paint for the tank lorry and saw a Corgi Trackside Morris van in the second hand department. It was all shiny and in the livery of a Wiltshire sausage company but now it looks well and truly second hand as as if it's been parked under trees for some time.

 

And I got an old favourite.

[cctransuk]

1 minute ago, Ruston said:

 

 

Is that the H&BR one, that Mr. Wealleans tells us elsewhere needs the inset boarding filling-in?

 

CJI.

[Ruston]

57 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Is that the H&BR one, that Mr. Wealleans tells us elsewhere needs the inset boarding filling-in?

 

CJI.

It is but I won't be going to that much trouble. I've cut the half moulded vac pipes off the ends and have filed off the half moulded roof vents. I'll probably give this one a corrugated iron roof as it's to be a grounded body.

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, Ruston said:

It is but I won't be going to that much trouble. I've cut the half moulded vac pipes off the ends and have filed off the half moulded roof vents. I'll probably give this one a corrugated iron roof as it's to be a grounded body.

 

Excellent - can't beat a really disreputable grounded body; don't forget a couple of school lads having a crafty ciggie before going home!

 

CJI.

[Ruston]

This morning, after taking the dogs out, I decided that the cottage yard wasnt looking nearly scruffy enough and that the owner needed some cover to work on the motors, so I finally made use of all those scraps of plastruct that I've been hoarding for years.

 

 

 

It needs planting now and some grass and weeds growing just around the outside.

[Ruston]

 

 

[LBRJ]

That shed is a classic piece of what one may call Allotment Architecture 

🙂

Edited September 11, 2023 by LBRJ

[Ruston]

This side of the layout is getting there.