A New Start

[C&WR]

This is a bit of a new start in more than one way.  Partly this refers to how about 17 months ago I pulled out my childhood railway to amuse my boy (The Small Controller, to be known as TSC) and partly as a couple of people here (some refugees from another site) have asked me to stick up what I have been doing in a chronological fashion rather than piecemeal as I had on here before.

 

I hesitated very much to do so for a couple of reasons.  Firstly I do not feel that my modelling is quite up to a lot of the standards on here.  Secondly I have absolutely no pretensions that my layout is anything other than a trainset for a child just with a few bells & whistles to keep me amused as well, and my other half (The Long Haired Controller, or TLHC) reassured that I am not in the pub - for work reasons we had not actually lived together for the time when I was restarting this until a month ago when we finally bought our own place.  

 

The original layout was built for me by my Father (aka The Pt Way Dept), a BR Western Region Civil Engineer for his whole career.  Dad is also a mighty fine carpenter and builder and has had a major part in the trackwork of the new set up.  Any faults are mine, and the fact that we have used the curve radii that we have is down to the space available.  His influence also meant that my stock was largely GWR, with some BR Blue thrown in, and also mainly second hand with the really shiny stuff coming on birthdays & Christmases.

 

It was dormant for approximately 25 years after school work (I was at school five-and-a-half days a week) sport (Saturday afternoons), moving abroad with the Forces, then settling down away from home led to not a thought of modelling.  At one point my Father suggested the whole thing be broken up & sold, but my Mother restrained him thank goodness.  As mentioned above it was TSC becoming old enough to play with it nicely & my discovering downloadable kits at a point when I had a period of "gardening leave" and the time to experiment.  After a few weeks of lots of time I then had less and less, so a lot of what you see has been done in the odd snatched half-hour or hour in the evenings.

 

As I had a lot of GWR stuff and some BR Blue I decided to bulk up the latter and also try and build a collection that would reflect TSC's era, so his, my & Dad's boyhoods were represented.  He has always loved trains, whether Brio, current or preserved railways and has been known to make us stay on a platform to see the train which will not be stopping at this station pass long after he has arrived at his destination.  He also loves the railway in my avatar, although this is as much as he as some grown-up friends there, there is a bouncy castle at one end, and he is sometimes treated to a bun! As TLHC & I had been saving for a house there was not a lot of spare cash around, so what I found for him was mainly in sales and thankfully BR Blue bits are readily available quite cheaply on eBay.  I finally plucked up the courage to start detailing some of these old models and so while I am without a layout so far in the new gaff can at least settle down to some quiet modelling now & again.

 

I hope what anyone reading will notice is firstly how my modelling has come on and secondly the improvement in my photography.  The former came about from very kind tips here and elsewhere; the latter after getting a Canon EOS 1100D earlier this year, with a further improvement having been to a lecture at Pendon by Andy York of this parish who helped what I achieve become so much better.  Ironically i was once quite a handy portrait photographer so I have had to learn to do almost the opposite to what I used to do to turn out a decent picture!

Edited August 22, 2013 by C&WR

[C&WR]

I'm going to try and keep these posts more thematic than chronological. Therefore I'll start off with:

 

Track and Permanent Way

 

The railway folded up into the wall of my childhood bedroom at home. It is completely DC, and likely to remain so. This pic gives context, but is actually quite recent as there's new wiring underneath that wasn't there before:

 

 

An idea of the track plan of what was there from before. Of course I hadn't thought about putting lots of pics of this up anywhere so didn't take many at the time, and back in the old days processing film wasn't cheap so we just have far fewer photos. Essentially we had two roundy-roundy circuits to represent main lines, with crossovers between the two at each side; an external spur to represent a branch line with associated sidings & headshunt; and an internal set of sidings for a goods yard:

 

 

 

There was a station area (the kits here will be subject to build posts):

 

 

 

Another view, with entrance to goods yard:

 

 

One thing that had inhibited me from doing anything more than basic building as a youngster (apart from the fact that I was too happy driving trains to bother - in the holidays I'd fold this out & sleep on a mattress on the floor underneath it for weeks on end) was that I had no idea how to do ballasting; it was a bit beyond my skills; and the products and advice were just not as available as they are today. Therefore I only bashed together some bits and pieces out of card and balsa, but these were just plonked on and removed whenever the baseboard was put up. For this rebuild I knew that I was going to have to ballast, but this didn't put me off frantically building downloadable kits in the interim.

 

Finally I hit on Gaugemaster ballasted underlay (with a good layer of grey paint from a Dulux grey tester pot underneath) as what would go under the track, with grey packing foam under points. I essentially decided to relay what was there, replacing old steel track which I had possibly wrongly identified as the cause of poor running of my motive power with nickel silver throughout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was when I completed this section that disaster struck. I made the last track join of the circuits, tapped in the last pin & then set to run my trusty GWR Pannier Tank round. It derailed spectacularly. Despite having followed exactly the old track plan, with carefully cut replacement bits of track where appropriate, a significant gap had opened up in the track & I could not understand why.

 

The Pt Way Dept was initially unimpressed & not very sympathetic. I think this came as he had been really hurt that I hadn't asked him to be involved; while I hadn't asked for help as I felt that as he is in his 70s & retired (while still very hale & hearty) & he didn't want to be spending his time crawling under baseboards & playing with track.

 

How wrong I was. Having had a vague suggestion he would have a look where I had mucked up I came home from work to find that the professionals had taken over, and also wanted directions to ModelZone as internet shopping was beyond him. Note the tools of a serious builder have come out rather than my Leatherman & pin hammer combo:

 

 

Nice & straight:

 

 

It turned out that I'd bodged the alignment of one of these points. This in turn, on a double circuit filling a c 9'x7' baseboard, threw out the geometry massively at the end.

 

 

Progress continued apace while I was at work. We also hoped to have something running by the next time TSC came to visit:

 

 

 

It was at this stage that The Pt Way Dept started having extra input. He knew I wanted water on the layout so suggested a slight incline with a culvert and bridge so I could depict a stream & pond:

 

 

We also decided to make the branch line end more interesting. On original building we had designed the layout based on a collection of second-hand points and as times were 'ard we had a slightly basic set up because we couldn't afford to buy more. I am told the headshunt, for example, would not have met approval from The Inspectors! This was tweaked & added to:

 

 

Looks like a rather messy Pt Way Gang has been about, must be my fault!

 

 

 

Further development:

 

 

 

 

 

Nice & straight again for the station roads. I'd moved the plan a bit further to the right of this picture to give more modelling space to the left & by the branch line, but if anything I had made the island platform just a little too small. TSC doesn't notice, though:

 

 

 

We also decided to add an additional bay platform to the station. This has been very useful (if not "prototypical") for isolating motive power, the collection of which has been steadily (& stealthily) growing. I rather like this:

 

 

 

A couple of "helicopter shots" of the final layout:

 

 

 

As I said, not a real location, but bits inspired by some, see the following posts about various scenic bits. I also appreciate that strictly speaking my curves are too tight but as I like watching trains go round and so does TSC I will live with this. They are all tested for end and centre throw of my longest carriages & there is no risk of collision.

 

The only slight bore is that I am limited to about one motive power & five or six coaches to fit in my station, but then again any more would not just be chasing its tail, it would be close on catching it!

Edited August 27, 2013 by C&WR

[Alister_G]

Well I think you've absolutely made the best possible use of the available space you have, and it looks great!

 

You've got scope to just sit and watch the trains go by, and plenty of interesting sidings for shunting as well.

 

Looking forward to more updates.

 

Cheers,

 

Al.

[C&WR]

Branch Line Bridge and Culvert

 

As mentioned above The Pt Way Dept knew I wanted a stream or similar on the layout and as a semi scenic break suggested a small embankment.  Therefore we researched suitable inclines and he then set to work:

 

 

The design is for a bridge with a concrete deck, brick parapets & brick wing walls I was reponsible for the parapets:

 

 

Dad then cut some nicely authentic wing walls (Civil Engineer, remember) which I covered in brick paper:

 

 

These sat beautifully in place:

 

 

We then set to so we could have a bit of a cutting.  Note to railway experts & geologists, this is not supposed to be real, just give an idea.  I know it is likely the raised section to the front may well have been carted away:

 

 

I then took over to do the surface with a base layer of another Dulux tester pot overlaid with PVA, various Woodland Scenics scatters, and some static grass surplus to the requirements of a friend from the Rugby Club who is into wargaming:

 

 

 

Again, note to the purists.  The face is supposed to represent rock not soil so would stand up.  Furthermore if you reckon rock and earth couldn't be this colour you've never been to Devon or past Teignmouth on one of my favourite bits of railway:

 

 

The next bit was to get the water in then do the scenic work around it.  Here I enlisted the help of TSC to give TLHC a lie-in on Mothering Sunday.  it's a bit hazardous working with a Cross Country CLass 220 thundering by, the HSE would have a fit:

 

 

This is Noch/Faller water with a mucky-coloured file cover underneath, that having been brushed with lots of layers of mucky watercolour (the ones that never got used) from a childhood paintbox.  Ducks are from Langley Castings:

 

 

Another view:

 

 

Now what is really needed is a gate an hedge to divide the field and goods area.  Gate from Evergreen Strip (I think 2mm x 0.5mm, but it may have been smaller) & cut according to a pattern from a manufacturer of 304.8mm/1ft farm gates, hedge from a value pot scourer brusjed with Tamiya acrylic paint:

 

#

 

That's better.  This is the age of the train:

 

 

I then painted the gate in Humbrol natural wood & added a fence.  The fence was made of Evergreen square-sectioned rod (1.5mmx1.5mm IIRC) and some grey cotton for wire and four round-turns-and-two-half-hitches (at the ends), twenty-eight clove hitches (two on each post), some glue, and a bit of paint I had this:

 

 

I also chucked in the little hut shared by Chubber from his friend Shaun:

 

 

A general overview, must be at dusk:

 

 

If nothing else it makes a nice scenic backdrop for pictures (yes, I know the warehouse is yet to be glued down):

 

 

 

High-angle shot to put it in context:

 

[C&WR]

Well I think you've absolutely made the best possible use of the available space you have, and it looks great!

 

You've got scope to just sit and watch the trains go by, and plenty of interesting sidings for shunting as well.

 

Looking forward to more updates.

 

Cheers,

 

Al.

Thanks, Al. It was actually your comment yesterday that I wasn't so bad at this that made me start the thread. Some friends from elsewhere had asked me to, but I didn't know if they were just being nice.

 

The aim is to have corners or sides that act as coherent sections, partly for photography, rather than it all running together. Saying that I did have the sea/stream at one end where the latter could conceivably flowed into the former!

 

Hope you like my solution to the gate problem. I could have just bought one, but with plenty of Evergreen, paint & a bit of time knocking that up was simple!

Edited August 22, 2013 by C&WR

[Alister_G]

I'd just been looking at your gate, funnily enough, and thinking I really ought to do a better job of the larger gate I did for the cattle dock, 'cos yours looks much better than mine!

 

I've found it quite addictive, once you get over the initial hurdle of confidence, and really enjoy scratchbuilding things now.

 

Nice job!

 

Al

[C&WR]

A Ticket Office Shelter After John Ahern's Plans

 

At some point I discovered John Ahern's work & publications.  I hadn't realised the connection with Pendon, somewhere my School bus passed twice a day and where I went as a child on wet weekends, and so snapped up a copy of his book from the web.  It is simply amazing to see what could be built in such days of austerity!

 

Inspired by the book I had a pop at a little station building.  I imposed the rule on myself that apart from texture papers this had to be entirely scratchbuilt.  So, the basic structure cut out & clad in appropriate paper:

 

 

A bit of Evergreen strip for woodwork, painted Airfix chocolate brown, and a Scalescenes timetable:

 

 

A little bench for inside, cut from various sizes of Evergreen (to be painted & upside-down here):

 

 

Close up with bench in place:

 

 

I then had a dilemma about the canopy valance.  I had tried using a set of pinking shears to cut the bottom edge, then scribing this and pricking with a pin:

 

 

It just wasn't right, though, overscale and irregular.  I therefore hit on the idea of borrowing one of The Pt Way Dept's carpentry tools:

 

 

In the end I decided this was overkill, but at least I had an idea how to make a fairly good attempt.  Finally put it all together with a roof made out of corrugated card from food packaging delaminated by soaking then painted with enamel paint:

 

 

 

Quite pleased for a first attempt!

[C&WR]

Rustic Walls

 

I needed some scenic breaks round the layout and hit upon walls as a way to provide some of this.  Bits of my city wall can be seen in the Permanent Way post, and I'll get to them anon, but here's a rustic wall first.  Ironically this has not been used as The Pt Way Dept had some ideas for the branch line area which meant this couldn't go where planned.

 

I was inspired by several walls on my way to work & in our local area, this being an example:

 

 

Relatively simple job to make a cutting guide:

 

 

The first foot or so:

 

 

Bit of detail:

 

 

The overall intended effect, the brick & flint papers glued onto corrugated card with some coping:

 

[C&WR]

Scalescenes Footbridge & Platforms Build

 

Relatively picture-light as I'd again not at this stage thought about documenting the builds properly.  I came across Scalescenes on a military website where they were recommended for use in dioramas.  I first had a pop at the free downloads:

 

 

 

Having seen how easily these went together, and really liking the results, I thought I'd invest in some decent card, craft knives & so on.  I then turned my mind to the things I'd need for the layout.  A station with platforms & footbridge sprung to mind.

 

First a platform.  I had to make this with a big cut out along one side to accommodate my old points which had a large but inoperative motors to one side & therefore needed me to be able to reach down to change them:

 

 

I also tried to make them pretty bullet proof by putting in a base and lots of cross-braces:

 

 

I have read elsewhere that these kits fit really well onto a balsa, plywood or cork tile base.  They are also really good as they are very flexible indeed in terms of the shapes of platforms that can be made - I also used this kit as the basis of my promenade, see the Building a Beach and Play Area thread.

 

Then to the footbridge.  This was a bit more challenging:

 

 

As I was on gardening leave, but also because I knew this was finite and that TSC was coming to visit soon I did these as a couple of almost all-nighters!  With the morning tea:

 

 

One thing I did learn here was how crucial it is to follow John Whiffen's instructions on card thickness.  My first set of stairs went together beautifully, I weighted them down to set but then found that because my card was too thin they were at the wrong gradient.  The swearfullness was terriffic as I had to rip them up & start again.

 

I eventually got to making the cross-bridge, which came with handy jigs.  A bit of Blu-Tack helped with setting the kit:

 

 

Eventually it was done.  It's sitting on a rough sketch of how the roads in the station sat so I could gauge whether it would fit:

 

 

In the end I reckon this looked OK.:

 

 

 

 

Note this is still on the early iteration of the track plan.  The station would take a radically different shape!

[C&WR]

Scalescenes Medium Station Building Build - Part 1, The Basics

 

Again not too pic heavy to begin with.  For my layout I knew a small through station would be needed and the Scalescenes Medium job seemed to be the ticket.  This build took from 4th February 2012 to 17th April 2013 to complete and get down onto the layout for reasons which will become evident!  It was, however, ceremoniously taken out and laid down on the model platforms every time we played trains.

 

First of all the ticket office block.  A nice, simple bit of construction:

 

 

TSC was absolutely delighted there was a lavatory open to the sky.  This is similar to one known by locals at my favourite country pub (The Bell, Aldworth) as The Planetarium:

 

 

As you can see this is still with the old trackplan and a different orientation:

 

 

A faintly ropy picture of the parcels office module.  Again, a nice little build:

 

 

The Stationmaster's house goes together:

 

 

And finally how it all sat together:

 

 

[C&WR]

Scalescenes Medium Station Building Build - Part 2, Adding Detail & Illuminating

Part way through the build I was inspired to try and get some detail into the rooms. This was one reason for the great hiatus in building as I had no idea where to source adequate furniture & so on, so I left the Stationmaster's house roof unattached and started on another project which I'll document later.

The answer to the furniture issue had been staring me in the face - the Scalescenes Furniture & Lineside Junk kit, although I had been searching for a slightly different kind of contents. I set to work:





Having done this there was then another break. It would be a pity for all this work to remain hidden, but how would I get lighting in? My last experience of LEDs, solderign and so on was at School when I was about 13, so the Stationmaster's roof stayed loose.

I then started a new job & became friendly with a CDT Master who had a secret delight in model buildings and solving problems. With his help, a gift of a bag of LEDs & some copper tape & having found our old soldering iron I pondered for ages then came up with some solutions:





The copper tape fits nicely up inside the buildings and can be painted over so it is completely unobtrusive.





OK the LEDs show up glue smears, 1:1 cobwebs & so on, but I was fairly pleased. Now some Peeping Tom views:





Probably my favourite one:



I didn't neglect downstairs either:







The lighting extended through the Ticket Office module:



And even into the Gents':



I was quite please with the overall effect. As it's not yet glued together there is some light-leakage:





The next challenge, having got the final trackplan sorted & laid, was to build new platforms and mount the buildings on them. To allow for a minimum of wiring through the baseboard I decided to mount a copper tape bus on the bottoms of the platforms and solder the power to the module to this, then put two leads through the baseboard to power the bus:



With bated breath I gave it a test:







Phew, it worked!

Edited August 22, 2013 by C&WR

[Alister_G]

I really love your interiors, they're brilliant!

 

Particularly like photo 12 with the Hi-Fi cabinet, I used to have one exactly like that!

 

Excellent work

 

Al

[C&WR]

Putting the Station Into Context

 

The Track & Permanent Way post shows a couple of pictures of the station in it's final configuration, but that focuses on track rather than buildings.  Therefore just a couple for context:

 

 

 

As you will see by now I'd upgraded from the phone camera (using either of my 35mm ones wasn't immediate enough & processing too expensive to waste shots) to a birthday present from all my friends & family of a Canon EOS 1100D.  I hadn't at this stage been to Andy Y's lecture, so depth of field & white balance are a bit iffy yet, and of course I was taking these at night under artificial light after 12 or so hours a day out of the house!

 

First of all to start getting the station more bedded in.  Fences are from Ratio, painted in what I would soon realise was a bit too bright a shade of cream, the bicycle shed is a Wills kit & a nice little build in it's own right.  The station steps were scratchbuilt using techniques learnt from the Scalescenes kits - simple wrapping & gluing:

 

 

Platforms got a bit of detail using PECO Lineside benches and Modelscene lamp standards painted appropriately.  The platform numbers on the lamps were painstakingly made up using MS Word, my PC and a lot of trial & error:

 

 

 

Then it was time to start on the utilities outside the station.  TSC has pocket money, money from the tooth fairy etc which then goes in his piggy bank for buying presents for friends and family.  He feels really grown up using his own cash to buy things for others and we have to restrain his generosity - I'm not sure he has enough to buy me an Aston Martin as he offers now & again, but a Modelscene pack of telephone boxes and a Scaledale set of pillar boxes were a lovely Christmas present:

 

 

 

(Still hadn't been to Andy's lecture).

 

By this time the layout had gained a name, Wallington-Super-Mare.  This was to reflect the seaside on the layout, my city walls and a little hint at my Army & TA Background with homage to Dad's Army!

 

 

 

As Great-Grandson of the head gardener at a stately home I just had to get some flowers in.  Too mean or careful to buy I died some sawdust:

 

 

Then with some offcuts from Noch trees as greenery made up a flower bed:

 

 

Needed to add some people:

 

 

 

Pulling it all together with illumination:

 

 

Part of me wishes I'd illuminated the footbridge, but I couldn't bear taking it part, and TSC hasn't yet questioned why the platform light don't light up!

 

 

Still a fair deal to do, but I feel it's starting to sit well.

[C&WR]

I really love your interiors, they're brilliant!

 

Particularly like photo 12 with the Hi-Fi cabinet, I used to have one exactly like that!

 

Excellent work

 

Al

 

Cheers, Al!  I was rather pleased with the way I covered the copper tape & messy soldering on the ground floor with a bookcase either side of the fireplace.  

 

Most of the stuff was glued to the walls, but I had to put the sofa & chair in the middle of the room.  I had made a proper wooden floor out of varnished coffee stirrers, but it didn't quite work so I bottled it and ended up gluing Scalescenes cream clapboard direct to the platform top, and the furniture to that before putting the wiring through the platform & sticking the buildings on.  

 

To an extent I regret not doing more work on the ticket office interior.  However having seen Chubber's version I never could have competed!

 

As for the stereo Dad was a master carpenter so he made something for the music centre to go on.  An Aunt & Uncle had one like this, though, suppose it was the intermediate step from my Grandparents' old radiogram!

[C&WR]

Scenic Break - The City Wall

 

As a scenic break down one side I decided on a city wall. there would be no free birds, corn etc as it wasn't to be lonely. I had debated for a while whether to use some kind of wall with arches underneath, but eventually decided based on a picture from a location I can't remember that the station was to abut directly onto the walls.

 

Back I went to trusty Scalescenes, this time the Retaining Wall in random ashlar. The first section was built completely as per instructions, although the sharp eyed will see I accidentally glued some of the wall capping layer direct to the wall rather than wrapping it round the coping stones:

 

 

I can knock out two bays of this in a few hours, less if I've pre-glued & laminated some of the parts. Eventually, having stuck the things between baseboard & layout side wall I dispensed with the back supports. It wasn't a lot of fun cutting and laminating a whole shed load of little card triangles where they are not necessary!

 

Also, because there was nothing to be seen behind the wall, I dispensed with some other elements and used cheaper (free) corrugated card than my usual mountboard. This pic was taken to demonstrate how I fixed it in place:

 

 

 

While an excellent kit it is very repetitive to make and can be a bit dull when about seven feet are needed. I ploughed on:

 

 

And on:

 

 

And on until it was finished. I had to as I needed to ballast round the station:

 

 

To finish off one end of the wall I wanted a turret or tower of some sort. The joy of the kit is that it can be played around with and so having discovered a tube from a particular brand of crisps was of a suitable diameter I used one of those cut in half. The floor was made with some paving from the platform kit; coping by carefully cutting v shapes from coping stones & putting these round the floor; and the plinth by shaping card round the tube with a rubber band, the whole covered in the texture paper:

 

 

 

The tower also grew a waterspout, cut from biro inner & painted in Humbrol Gun metal:

 

 

For the other end I wanted a gatehouse. Emboldened by current success I cracked on, again scratchbuilt less the textures:

 

 

 

Finished off with an LED & a backscene:

 

 

Before I glue this in place properly The Tart With The Cart will be moved up a bit and a small bit of wall or hedge put in front of her so there isn't that nasty black band along the top...

Edited August 22, 2013 by C&WR

[C&WR]

Scalescenes Signal Box Build

 

This was another one which took a good bit of time.  Started in late August 2012 it was finally stuck to the layout with lights working in June 2013, although ti was pretty much complete in November 2012.

 

I had bought the kit and the Brassmasters frets quite early on in the resurrection of the layout, but not set to as I was working on other bits.  I also needed some tips about preparing the frets for use.  Finally, having set myself for the work, I gathered some reference material on a family holiday in Sheringham:

 

 

 

 

First up was painting the frets including the levers.  here I was glad that my 20+ year old enamel paints were still in good nick:

 

 

 

I then got onto the box itself.  This was after one evening's work  which took place after I got home from the office, ironed for the next day, and cooked, ate and tidied up after supper, the family being away:

 

 

Everything had been pre-laminated so all I had to do was cut & glue.  At the end of evening two:

 

 

I had in the interim realised the levers I had painted white as inactive were towards the signalman.  That meant a bit of work with the turps & a quick repaint.  There was also a bit of carving of the frame necessary to fit the frets in:

 

 

Finally up to roof level.  This picture again shows how the tolerances of the card are crucial - the wrapping for the chimney doesn't quite go all the way round and the far front corner of the box is bowed somehow.  I eventually solved this, but it took some fairly brave hacking to do so:

 

 

In the interim I had been thinking about how to make downpipes & guttering for the buildings.  John Whiffen has improved these radically in the newer kits, but I felt it was a bit clunky on the old ones.  I went to another Pendon lecture by Geof Taylor of Gresley beat fame and aside from discovering GS Hypo Cement (invaluable for glazing as it has a very fine applicator & dries clear) took on board his ideas about using Evergreen rod.

 

It took a while to work out how to make the angles, but hot water did the trick and I was astounded that once bent the rod stayed bent.  Making the brackets was far more difficult - 0.25x1.0 styrene strip has a nasty habit of breaking when wrapped around 1mm rod, but eventually by softening it with polystyrene cement & wrapping it round the rod I had something usable.  A spot of paint & job's a good 'un:

 

 

Now for illuminating the box and getting the roof on.  Having learnt the copper tape trick it was evident I could layer it between laminations on the models.  The box was part complete before I discovered the tape, though, so it had to be done via the roof:

 

 

 

Not a bad effect, I thought:

 

 

 

 

Again my favourite pic of the lot, and the last one taken just as I was about to give up for the night:

 

 

Shows the phone camera can work quite well.  This was on a Nokia N8 which I'm afraid died.  I now have a Lumia which while a far more functional bit of kit has a far less capable camera.

 

Just to plant the thing in the layout, now:

 

 

Yous should be able to make out through the Stygian gloom the Signalman's flower/vegetable bed (dried used tea leaves glued into a styrene surround) and the drain at the bottom of the downpipe (another styrene surround with a Langley Castings grate in it):

 

 

Let there be light (again) & please excuse the background clutter:

 

 

If doing this again I'd probably consider putting in an instrument shelf and track diagram which I'd been concerned would block the view through the windows a little.  It is also a little twisted because of the card thickness issue & despite the rather bold trimming & needs some weathering to hide the mis-matched patches on the chimney.

[Danemouth]

What's happened to the photos please?

 

All I an see is image names,

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[C&WR]

What's happened to the photos please? All I an see is image names, Regards, Dave

 

From which point, Dave, I can see all of them!

[Danemouth]

I can now see hem, very impressed with the interior of the signal box!

 

Dave

[C&WR]

I wouldn't normally post a pic of something I had just bought rather than something I had built or at least worked on a bit.  However I'm going to make an exception a little for reasons I hope you understand.

 

The Pt Way Dept's birthday falls this week and he is remarkably difficult to buy presents for as he doesn't like clutter or want more "stuff". I had, however, heard him enthusing about the vehicle which appears at the front of this train:

 

 

Reason for his enthusiasm, my getting him one as a wee-by-the-way for his birthday, and my excuse for posting this is that approximately thirty years ago we kit bashed one.  It's a bit battered, but miraculously survived, here for comparison:

 

 

We didn't think it was a bad bash, bearing in mind we were working almost entirely off Dad's boyhood memories:

 

 

Speaking of his memories while we had a birthday pint yesterday he was reminiscing about how as a Schoolboy he had been allowed, on a regular basis, to drive the autotrain on the Abingdon Bunk either from the auto coach or the footplate of the 14XX.  Wouldn't be allowed these days, although back then as a concession to H&S he had to hand over the controls to the proper driver when running next to the main line in case an express with one of the Inspectors came alongside...

Edited August 26, 2013 by C&WR

[Steve O.]

The whole railway looks great! Nice work (like the castle walls), I'm sure TSC is delighted.

...and the trusty H&M Duette!

Cheers, Steve.

[Removed a/c]

Your layout is looking really great. I shall follow along with interest !! 

 

Regards 

Scott 

[C&WR]

Thanks Steve, Scott, Dave, Al, and all others who have popped in and left feedback.  Sadly what you see here is a retrospective of the last 19 months or so of work, done when I was lodging with my parents for wok reasons.  TLHC, TSC & I have now bought a house 45 minutes drive away from Wallington-Super-Mare so progress is going to be a bit slow!

 

I will be doing some remote modelling, starting with the Scalescenes Goods shed (for which I have the brass fret windows) and a scratchbuilt cattle dock (my first venture into building with hand-scribed card after some trial runs) which can then be taken home & put into position.

 

I have also plucked up the courage to start detailing locomotives.  I am in the process of converting 45039 The Manchester Regiment into 45143 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards (my first Regiment) and once this is done will get some pictures up.  In addition I've been getting hold of a load of Mk1 & Mk2 coaches from eBay and adding some basic detailing.

 

In the meantime I am trying to find time, space and money to build something at the new place.  I posted this on the "Playing Trains" thread to show how I am getting my fix currently:

 

 

The "real estate" available to build an outdoor railway looks like this:

 

The lawn is very steep, so it would be a feat of engineering to put something on that.  I am looking at making some interlocking boards covered in roofing felt to make a Scalextric-style set of tracks which can be put out & taken away as an interim solution.  Long term I would like to put a shed int he overgrown area at the bottom of the garden which I am in the process of clearing.

[C&WR]

Scalescenes Small Engine Shed Build

 

By the standards above this has been a lightning quick build, starting in June this year. I had been so impressed by the Brassmasters frets for the signal box I knew I was going to have to have the windows for this kit. So, having cleaned up & keyed the window frets I set to work:

 

 

It would have been so much easier to model the lights shut, but I had to have them open:

 

 

Painted up & showing the jig I made to cut the glazing:

 

 

The walls went together in standard Scalescenes way. One slight problem is that the frets do make the layering more difficult. While I had considered making cut outs in the card for the window fret edges I sacked the idea & just lived with the slight bulge. These pegs are great for clamping as they are quite gentle and have rubber pads which do not damage the printed surfaces:

 

 

I rather like the electrical duct and box, a nice touch by John Whiffen:

 

 

With a couple of other projects in the background, getting it all together. The brown paper sticking out is the protective backing from the copper tape used to run power to the lighting:

 

 

A bit further on with the roof trusses made up. I found my Father's old draughtsman's watercolours, one of which (neutral tint) when made up thickly made a really nice, creosote-y, smokey wood finish:

 

 

Trusses in place. Again these are really nick things to have even if they will be all but unseen. The LED to provide light can be just seen soldered to the copper tape:

 

 

A quick light test:

 

 

I then had a bit of a break because of moving, but got back to it in some 30-40 minute bursts. I'd tiled the roof earlier experimenting with Copydex, a mistake I will not make again as it just didn't work out, the tiles nowhere near as neat as when I'd used Pritt Stick:

 

 

The hoods were a devil to make. I'm glad I had built other Scalescenes stuff as on this occasion I don't feel the instructions were great & I ended up with some glued back-to-back pieces of double thickness paper but not really sure how they were to fit. Thankfully the overall picture of the shed gave a good idea of how the external one looked & this helped with the internal.

 

Quick & rather ropy internal shot. A bit of tidying up needed:

 

 

Putting the water tank together:

 

 

Despite my great faith in JW's designs I wasn't hugely sure that card & printed paper would make a convincing metal tank, but pressed on:

 

 

O Ye Of Little Faith! How wrong I was, I think this looks great and any problems with the kit are with how I built it:

 

 

Quick frontal shot with a hint of the other project:

 

 

As I was going back to Wallington-Super-Mare to celebrate Dad's birthday Friday night & Saturday morning were spent (after packing, cooking, cleaning up etc) working on the doors. There was a minor disaster that I had not laminated the paper to the card as well as I should have so had a bit of tearing of the paper texture, but I am painting this out:

 

 

And finally in place on the layout. It needs to be bedded in (there will be hardstanding round it and then cindering) and I need to connect the electrics. I'm quite happy with how it sits, though.

 

Andy Y would not approve of the photos, but they are the best I could get in limited time with a lot of back light through the windows. Shouldn't complain about the sun, though, and I was at home to celebrate with Dad, not spend the whole time playing with trains:

 

 

 

The Goods Shed will sit where the paper template is on the siding to the right of the Engine Shed, currently occupied by my brewery wagons. I'm quite please with the loads in the red truck at the back of the train on the main line and in the black wagon in the centre, these were made with polystyrene blocks painted black and covered in Woodland Scenics cinders glued in place with PVA:

 

 

 

 

 

Overall a nice build, just needing some tidying up!

Edited August 27, 2013 by C&WR

[C&WR]

Random Scratchbuild - An Art Deco Waiting Room

 

I have always loved station buildings like this:

 

 

I also spent quite a lot of time changing trains here:

 

 

I was most interested to see this was available:

 

 

But being far too mean, and bolstered by how much I enjoy scratchbuilding decided to have a pop at my own one.  First I made a boat-like floor and inner wall:

 

 

Bunged a roof on and made an outer wall.  Following John Ahern's ideas about modern buildings I used the glazing material floor to ceiling for rigidity and covered it:

 

 

Ready for some glazing bars:

 

 

The trusty Evergreen strip and Gs Hypo combination comes into play:

 

 

Basic shell finished and with lighting:

 

 

The sharp eyed will notice I cut the end off.  This was to facilitate putting in some benches and possibly passengers.  I also failed to put in enough brick supports - I think there will have to be some willing suspension of disbelief at my assumption the roof is going to be cantilevered off the central module.

 

So, just the other end module and the centre lift/stair module to make.  Not too much of a problem as this above took about three hours all told, it's just building a whole new layout for it to sit on as there's no room on Wallington-Super-Mare for it!