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Kinmundy


steve1

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Hi Martin

 

Great Photos Martin and looking really good to, nice to hear the show went well...

 

Do you have any Photos of the layout at the show... no hicups along the way I hope...

 

Jamie

Well Jamie, if you look back to post 49 on this thread you'll see one lot of pics at the show and there are some more on the Doncaster exhibition thread.

 

Martin is very happy with the amount of invites he collected at Doncaster, I think most of 2014 is taken up and even some into 2015. The layout now seems to be quite a success.

 

steve

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Guest Natalie Graham

Having seen the 'before' and 'after', whatever the debate about the density of forrestation, the refresh has undoubtedly transformed the layout to something much better presented and more lively than it was. It may possibly have lost a little prototype fidelity but it is now a much more atractive and inviting exhibition layout...

I think Forres station is in a different part of the North-East. ;)

 

I suppose it might now be a 'better' layout and more interesting for both the owner and the exhibition viewer. For me, however, what made this layout stand out when I saw it in Railway Modeller was the way it captured the atmosphere of the area it portrayed. I can only think of Ian Futers' Lochside that exceeded Kinmundy in that respect. Lochside could no doubt have been made more 'interesting' by adding trees and other clutter but then it would have lost the sense of place that meant it could only possibly have been on the West Coast of Scotland. In my view Kinmundy, now, is a very good layout but really could be just about anywhere.It no longer has that amazing sense of being a part of the Buchan countryside that the original builder captured so perfectly.. 

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Hi Natalie, I think anyone looking at Kinmundy now would most definitely know it is set in the Great North of Scotland Railway area of North East Scotland if they looked at the buildings alone. A typical GNoS goods shed has replaced the generic Provendor store, a signal box based on Old Meldrum has replaced the Wills Great Eastern(!) box. Neil Rushby's superb station was quite rightly kept but has had the addition of lamps and a station clock added. Something that I consider a signature item of GNoS stations has also been added - a grounded GNoS van.

The Doncaster show saw a great reception for the layout and the way it performed is a tribute to Pete's track building. Anything that did come off was usually down to stock and certainly not track. One chap who said he was from Aberdeen felt as though he may have travelled on the line!

I enjoyed working on the layout and am pleased that others like what we have added to the original build.

 

Jeff

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Guest Natalie Graham

I think that is the point I am making though. The layout as built did not need the buildings to place it firmly in its locale. If you know what a Great North goods shed or signal box looked like then, yes, they tell you, but the additions, particularly the vegetation and bridges have, for me, lost that original atmosphere. I live about four miles from Nether Kinmundy and I don't look at the layout as it is now and see the landscape I see around me. I quite readily concede that it may be a more attractive, more interesting to operate and a more 'exhibition friendly' layout. It isn't my layout and if the owner is happier with it now then the changes have been for the best. It is just that, personally, the attraction of the layout was the sparse scenery which I felt really captured the 'feel' of its location in a way that very, very few layouts manage to do and I no longer see that in the layout. I am not intending to disparage the layout, just making the, very personal and subjective, observation that what set this one apart for me no longer applies.

Edited by Natalie Graham
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I think that is the point I am making though. The layout as built did not need the buildings to place it firmly in its locale. If you know what a Great North goods shed or signal box looked like then, yes, they tell you, but the additions, particularly the vegetation and bridges have, for me, lost that original atmosphere. I live about four miles from Nether Kinmundy and I don't look at the layout as it is now and see the landscape I see around me. I quite readily concede that it may be a more attractive, more interesting to operate and a more 'exhibition friendly' layout. It isn't my layout and if the owner is happier with it now then the changes have been for the best. It is just that, personally, the attraction of the layout was the sparse scenery which I felt really captured the 'feel' of its location in a way that very, very few layouts manage to do and I no longer see that in the layout. I am not intending to disparage the layout, just making the, very personal and subjective, observation that what set this one apart for me no longer applies.

Completely with you on some of the points made here, and I made some similar of my own earlier.  The original Kinmundy epitomised the atmosphere.  Particularly of some of the smaller coastal stations of Banff, Macduff, Buckie & Cullen areas that I visited summer 2011. I could kind of see them in the layout as it were.

 

That said the layout original was supposed to be set much more towards the Aberdeen end of the GNSR and I'm not really in a position to judge that as the only Aberdeenshire station I'm really familiar with is Insch, which is where I picked up my most recent motorbike, not before having a good look round.

 

you have to remember with exhibition layouts though that operational interest , keeping something moving and practicalities of operating & transporting a layout often need to come before slavish authentcity - I suppose many branchlines would not get a look in on the 'keeping something moving at all times' - though I did feel the original Kinmundy had this covered with the distillery scene & kritter.

 

At the end of the day - and knowing the layout owner ;)   - I think he was probably thinking lets see how many more wagon-building projects we can get out of this lol :) ;)

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Hi Martin

 

Hope it all goes well mate and gets a good reception as I'm sure it will... is this it's first outing since the modifications...

 

Jamie

Thanks Jamie!

 

This will be the second time it's out in amended form, with the stock roster modified to suit-that is rationalized with less items and fitted with new couplings to use in semi automatic mode. 

 

Other items may appear in Classified or (say it in hushed tones) Ebay!

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  • 2 weeks later...

:jester: If you're in North London this weekend don't forget to make yourselves known at Ally Pally! :sungum:

 

Also you can check out (sorry!) the 2013 Checked Shirt Collection-New to an exhibition near you! :jester:

Edited by MartinWales
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:jester: If you're in North London this weekend don't forget to make yourselves known at Ally Pally! :sungum:

Wish I could. Other commitments have got in the way of anything modelling related for the whole weekend. :help:  :stink:  :banghead:

 

Anyway. Hope you have a cracking weekend.

 

Duncan

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I can't explain it: check shirts are finding their way out of the depths of my wardrobe and throwing themselves into my weekend Ally Pally bag.

They seem to have a slight frosting too...

 

See you there Martin with Hospital and the gang mob handed!

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Wish I could. Other commitments have got in the way of anything modelling related for the whole weekend. :help:  :stink:  :banghead:

 

Anyway. Hope you have a cracking weekend.

 

Duncan

Shame! Never mind Duncan-I have more invites to the Home Counties in the offing so it won't be the last! 

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I can't explain it: check shirts are finding their way out of the depths of my wardrobe and throwing themselves into my weekend Ally Pally bag.

They seem to have a slight frosting too...

 

See you there Martin with Hospital and the gang mob handed!

Aaaargh! I'll look forward to quality Yorkshire Check Shirt and no doubt plenty of p***taking! :jester:

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a result of Ally Pally several invites have been recieved and consequently will be seen at several shows over the U.K. in the future-but I am trying to keep to 4 invites per year, in an attempt to keep the layout fresh and not over-exposed!

 

So the state of play is thus

 

2014-Southampton, DEMU (tbc), Barrow in Furness (tbc)

 

More updates a.s.a.p.

Edited by MartinWales
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Forgot to mention that Ally Pally was the first time with Sprat & Winkle couplings in place of the 3 links/instanters/screw couplings which I've used for soooo long but are'nt really suitable for all exhibitors-certainly untrained ones-and the S&W's used manually certainly keep everything moving smoother in an exhibition context, with less time to couple up and a lot less stock handling.

 

And a little more user friendly!

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Hi there,

 

First time I've had a look at this thread and I am very impressed by it all.  The winter scenery is stunning and truly convincing (it's actually making me feel c-c-c-cold).  I've been 'up north' on many an occasion and this colder look is spot-on.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

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  • 5 months later...

Due to a change of job earlier this year spare time has certainly been at a premium but despite this a few older items of rolling stock have been quietly put out to grass and replaced by newer kitbuilds, with the better quality items moved onto new homes.

 

A purchase of a Bachmann Cravens DMU at Ally Pally (for a ridiculously small sum) saw a Grand Prix Pit Stop style EM conversion running on the layout before the show's end. Now just to weather it, suitable for  60's NE Scotland! 

 

This together with another blue Cravens unit (ExpoEM North Members Sales) again acquired at a silly price (£30!) will help to ring the changes in future. That is to say, you won't see them ALL on the layout at any one show, of course, but I could take requests-if asked!       

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  • 1 month later...

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