hornbyandbf3fan Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 And it's an opportunity to advertise your show as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 That is true Will. There will be a few posters stuck to the fiddle yard back board for the show and I will have plenty of leaflets printed and ready! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Another small update: Yesterday I managed a working session on the layout and carried out some of the required repairs. The packing crates, telephone box and station building were all re-glued - as were the grounded van body and the horse riders. I also swept off some of the ballast which had worked loose. I also took the opportunity to do a track clean and add some additional figures to the scene. I am on the look out for a new signal box to replace one broken following last year's Weston show. I also need to repair one of the fiddle yards. Hopefully all will be sorted before the layout's appearance at the Belper show on Saturday 28th March. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Today saw Skaleby West make its non-Weston show debut. After three successive outings at our own event, the layout was given a late invite to today's Belper show - filling in for others that had dropped out. Prior to the event I worked hard to tidy the layout up and give it a more professional appearance. The second fiddle yard board was given a coat of maroon paint to match the original fiddle yard and thus hide the original bare wood. I cut some thick black card and stuck it to the front of the layout to hide the exposed polystyrene which had previously been visible. A short spell on the computer saw me put together some maroon B.R "Skaleby West" totems which were added to the backs of each fiddle yard. Once erected at the show today, this work seemed to have paid off. I have to admit I was pretty happy with how the layout looked! Things did not quite go smoothly at the beginning. After arrival at the venue, with no transport damage, I managed to damage the layout during set up. Whilst adjusting the trestle legs, I did not pay attention and allowed the scenic board to slip off the trestles. The resulting fall saw several small scenic items work loose and the station canopy snap in two! Some hasty work with the glue was needed, but fortunately all was repaired in time for the 10am opening and, barring very close inspection, the station canopy damage would not have been noticed. I had failed in my search for a replacement signal box and so brought my Severn Valley Railway "Highley" model along with me. It was hardly ideal as it did not fit in with my Midland Region feel. It also did not cover the gap where the original building had been. A stroke of luck saw me find a Midland Region box for sale on one of the trade stands and this was purchased and placed on the layout straight away. After the difficult set up I would not have been surprised if the layout ended up running like a "bag of nails", but it worked perfectly all day. There were a few stalling issues in the afternoon, but that was all. The trusty Jinty and Midland 3F worked all day on the freights, supported by my two Ivatt 2 tanks sharing the passenger duties. A Standard 4 worked the fish train before being replaced by an Ivatt 4 and a Black 5. The layout attracted plenty of favourable comments which was very nice. It must have looked ok because as many as 10 people asked me where the real Skaleby West was and were surprised when I said it was fictional. Two people took away the layout information sheets which I had produced for the event. Whether this will lead to further invites remains to be seen. I forgot to take my camera with me, and so have no photos from the event. Anyone who took any of the layout are welcome to post them on here. I would love to see them. The official photographer has promised to email me the ones he took so I will upload those when I receive them. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 The official photographer from the Belper show has sent me copies of the photographs taken at the show. Both pictures are too large for the website but I have managed to wrestle with the image editor to resize this one. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornbyandbf3fan Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Unfortunate with the damage and let's hope you get some more invites. But at least you found a new signal box. I recommend using Microsoft paint for resizing photos as it's pretty quick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Morning Andy, Found the thread so apologies for the rash of ratings! Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks Will, and thanks Jock. There is a more detailed account of the layout's construction in my blog "what have I let myself in for". This also recounts the organisation of the first Weston on Trent Model Railway Exhibition. The show was the reason for the layout being built. Not had chance to resize the other official Belper picture yet so hopefully I will post that later in the day. A word on the layout. Since the Belper event I have managed to rig the layout up so that I can run it at home, all be it as a terminus station. It has seen a lot of use during the Easter holiday. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 The layout's outing at the Belper show came at the start of the school's Easter holiday. I was determined that the layout would not arrive home and simply be stored away as had happened following every Weston show outing. A quick reshuffle of the furniture in the spare room allowed the scenic section to be placed on a pair of trestles. The fiddle yard has been placed on top of my wife's old dressing table, at a right angle to the layout. The dressing table is no longer used so I have acquired the table and drawers, minus the mirror, for railway modelling purposes. The table is slightly lower than the trestle height, and there is a two and a half foot gap between the two boards. This has been temporarily bridged by a thin length of wood. It provides quite a gradient to and from the scenic section. As the trains approach it on a curve from the fiddle yard it can produce of test of driving to get the train up to the station. The Jinty seems much more surefooted than the Ivatt tank which surprised me a little. The layout is due to be exhibited again at the Weston 2015 show in November. My plan is to construct a scenic extension to replace the "gradient" during the summer and exhibit the layout in an extended form at the show. The first photo below shows the Jinty descending the temporary gradient whilst others were taken during an Easter operating session. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) The school has just started to use iPads to support lessons. Right now the staff have been experimenting with various apps. A little play on a photo editing app and Skaleby West suddenly has an interesting visitor with my young daughter awaiting a train. . Edited June 10, 2015 by andyram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Another update. Amazing what a wet Saturday afternoon outside of the football season can provide. I managed to finally construct the baseboard for the long planned extension. This will be a 2 ft long addition at the goods yard end. The wood was purchased from B and Q this afternoon, cut to size in the shop, with some trimming at home using my new jigsaw. All fingers intact! Then it was all screwed together during the afternoon, with help from my 3 year old daughter. The track will be a basic run, no need for more sidings here. The plan is to use the Hornby river bridge which was a impulse purchase from a recent sale on the website. I have mocked things up in the picture below. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukpepsi Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 pictures are too large for the website Hi Andy, I've noticed a common theme in your layout updates, in that you have the same problem I do with the size of pictures you'd like to post here. I recently discovered that if you open the digital image from your pictures folder you wish to post, then look at the top of the page and select "email". When the dialog box opens, select the picture size, small medium large etc. Then click attach, this should open an outlook page with the picture attached. Copy or cut the attached file back to a folder on your PC/Laptop, rename if necessary. Hey presto, it should be a much smaller picture you can post to RMweb. I'm using windows 8, so I don't know if this works for XP or other earlier windows versions, although I'm fairly sure it will work for windows 7. Regards, Ukpepsi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Yes I must admit I have had a few problems with uploading pictures. For the last few posts all photos have been taken via my iPad. They have been fine. Today's shot, taken with the same pieces for equipment, proved to be too big and needed cropping first. Many thanks for the advice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 A quick update. This evening I have begun the small alteration needed to the track layout for the extension. Whilst Skaleby West was a single scenic board the track layout at the goods shed end was a little ad hoc. A straight piece of track over hanged the board to allow joining to the temporary fiddle yard track. This would not really suit joining to permenantly laid track on the extension. To allow the gentle curve onto the river bridge which will be angled, I needed to start the curve on the original board. A piece of Hornby set track has been cut to size and placed in situ. As you can see on the picture, it will need weathering before I can pin it down. I will also need to remove the original side board that has the fiddle yard entrance. I am putting this job on hold as I am worried about wrecking the scenery. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Nice little layout. look forward to seeing the extension develop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Thanks. There is a little bit more woodwork to do which I hope to get onto in the next couple of weeks. Then the track can be laid permenantly. The hope is that the extension will be complete for the layout's outing at the Weston on Trent show in November. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Looks great,wil follow this now... cheers neil.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Thanks Neil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 I finally got round to do some work on the layout today. The final wooden batten was screwed to the small extension board. I then added the polystyrene blocks to build up the area for the track bed and river embankment. A section of wood has been glued on top for the track bed which will lead over the river bridge. This section will join onto the original layout at the goods yard end. To allow for the scenery to continue I have taken the brave plunge of removing the side board which used to hide the fiddle yard. There is no going back now. I have to get the job done!!!! Help!!! The first shot shows the work done so far. The glue bottles are weighing down the glued wood section. To the left you can see how the extension joins onto the original scenic board. The second picture shows the original scenic board from the direction of the removed side panel - opening up a new viewpoint of the goods yard. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Due to work commitments and then a busy summer holiday period work on the layout's extension has been a little slow. Without doubt it is well behind schedule, and if I am going to have it presentable for the Weston show in November I am going to have to get a move on! Today should have been a day out at the Severn Valley, but an ill cat and a need to visit the vets rather scuppered the plans. Once home and the cat was recovering from her antibiotic dose I found myself with a free afternoon. As a result some progress has been made. Firstly the track bed was prepared. Last time I mentioned that a layer of thin wood had been laid across the polystyrene blocks to mark the track bed. On top of this I have now glued cork sheet, cut into strips. This should give plenty for a track pin to go into so that the track can be fixed in place. Lengths of cork matting were then glued in place either side of the river bed to allow the bridge to be built up to the correct height. Two layers of cork were still not quite enough, but a couple of lengths of wood finished the job perfectly, and will provide an edge to the river. The bridge was then glued in place and a length of cork was laid across the top for the track to sit on. All is now in-situ and is drying before the rest of the landscape is built up. I am planning to build a tunnel to act as the entrance / exit to the fiddle yard at this end. As with the tunnel at the other end of the layout I plan to have some kind of road or maybe a farm track running across the top - in time this may lead to the village of Skaleby West, which may form the subject of a further extension in the future. Here are some pictures. All show the result of today's work, complete with Terrier tank 32636 on a work's train. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Panic stations! The Weston show is a month away and there has been little progress since my last post. That is a real worry. I cannot see how I can get the extension ready in time. This week I have started to pin the track down, with just the section across the bridge to complete. I have also altered the curved piece of track that will run through the tunnel so that it curves the opposite way. A amateur error on my part - the original idea would not have allowed the track to curve onto the fiddle yard board when the layout is in use at home. Now why did I not check that? I hang my head in shame! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 A small update. After a particularly stressful day at work I decided that I needed something to calm me down. A little bit of railway modelling helped. The result - all track is now pinned down and weathered. With a bit of luck I will be able to ballast the track and develop the scenic framework over the coming days. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 It's looking good Andy. Will you get the river and bridge scenicked in time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 I really hope so, but time is tight with less than a month to go until the Weston show. I am hoping to ballast the track this week now the weathering has dried. Then I hope to get the landscape formed over half term and maybe start on the scenics. I would doubt it will be finished in time, but I like a challenge! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Always a good show Andy, and so I'll be there one way or another, hahha Looking forward to seeing your extension. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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