Elsbridge Tramway Company: Elsbridge Town - NeilHB's layout

[NeilHB]

Three Indian Red locos, all lined out now:

 

 

Much happier now that I’ve repainted ‘Sigrid’ to match the others. Must get around to sorting out the steps for ‘Godred’ soon. 

[LMCFTW The Gunzel]

Add some external steps on ‘Godred’ just for something different. 

[NeilHB]

4 hours ago, LMCFTW The Gunzel said:

Add some external steps on ‘Godred’ just for something different. 

He'll get internal steps to match the others. I tried out external steps on the mk1 model of him, and they looked awful. 

[Johnson044]

21 hours ago, NeilHB said:

He'll get internal steps to match the others. I tried out external steps on the mk1 model of him, and they looked awful. 

I think you are right Neil- best to bite the bullet, I think, and cut in the internal steps. Any alternative might, at best, look quirky- and you'd probably feel unhappy that you hadn't done a proper job. The trio look magnificent.

[NeilHB]

A mixed day today, on the one hand I had great fun playing trains on my lunch break, having worked out that I can cross trains in the station using the loop:

On the other hand somewhat disastrous as I managed to drop one of the fiddle yard cassettes:
 

Very much an oh sh!t moment :( Thankfully ‘Thorkell’ still runs fine, and pretty much all of the damage is repairable. Just very very frustrating as it was due to my own clumsiness.

Edited November 11, 2022 by NeilHB

[NeilHB]

Wellsworth & Suddery Wagon Sunday:

 

 

The FQC 3-plank and one of the UMC 3-plank dropsides have now been repainted into W&S livery, in order to increase the size of their wagon fleet. 

I’ve also done a partial repaint to one of the W&S 5-planks, as this will gain NWR lettering on one side. This, plus one of the vans, and one of the 3-plank opens will all have W&S on one side, and NWR on the other. They will cover the transition period in my modelling between the independent Sudrian pre-grouping companies, and the North Western Railway, i.e. still carrying their previous colours, but with the new companies lettering. 

There’s one more UMC 3-plank dropside to repaint, and this will go into full NWR livery.
I’ll do the same with some of the ETCo stock as well. 
 

[Johnson044]

On 11/11/2022 at 21:42, NeilHB said:

A mixed day today, on the one hand I had great fun playing trains on my lunch break, having worked out that I can cross trains in the station using the loop:

On the other hand somewhat disastrous as I managed to drop one of the fiddle yard cassettes:
 

Very much an oh sh!t moment :( Thankfully ‘Thorkell’ still runs fine, and pretty much all of the damage is repairable. Just very very frustrating as it was due to my own clumsiness.

Crumbs! That's terrible, Neil- looking at the photo 'Thorkell' seems to have got away fairly lightly but the carriage has definitely suffered- I hope they can be pieced back together with no lasting damage.

 

[NeilHB]

59 minutes ago, Johnson044 said:

Crumbs! That's terrible, Neil- looking at the photo 'Thorkell' seems to have got away fairly lightly but the carriage has definitely suffered- I hope they can be pieced back together with no lasting damage.

 

Thankfully the only lasting damage to ‘Thorkell’ has been the handrails and a small dint in the top edge of one of the cab side sheets. A bit of careful painting and weathering should cover that up, and I’ll see if Mr Basten at Minerva can supply me with some new handrails in due course. 
 

Surprising the Tramcar has gone back together nicely as well, and the damage isn’t noticeable. The only permanent casualty being one set of balcony railings (not much left of them!), but they are easily replaced. 
 

I’ve just got to repair the sheep wagon now, which lost a couple of buffers and part of the railings around the top, both of which are easily glued back on. 
 

I think I’ve been very fortunate, and it could have easily been a lot, lot worse!! 

[Annie]

On 12/11/2022 at 10:42, NeilHB said:

Very much an oh sh!t moment :( Thankfully ‘Thorkell’ still runs fine, and pretty much all of the damage is repairable. Just very very frustrating as it was due to my own clumsiness.

 

9 hours ago, NeilHB said:

I think I’ve been very fortunate, and it could have easily been a lot, lot worse!! 

I'm glad the damage could be repaired without too much trouble Neil.  Precious models hitting the floor is every railway modeller's worst nightmare.

[NeilHB]

I’ve been pretty lousy for most of this week thanks to an IBS flare up, which left me with little inclination to do anything but sleep, so there’s been a distinct lack of modelling. 
 

I managed a little bit last night as I’d started to feel a bit more human thank goodness, and added the transfers to the North Western Railway wagons, increasing the size of that fleet considerably. Most only carry NWR lettering on one side, enabling them to cover multiple time periods. The only ones which do are those in full NWR livery of bauxite:

 

The others represent a mix of W&S and ETCo stock either still in their original colours with NWR lettering on one side only, or in full NWR livery. It adds a nice bit of variety to the fleet for when the transition period (1914ish-1925) is being run. 
 

I also added the classifications to the NWR liveried tramcars:

Though there’s still plenty to do on them, and I doubt they’ll be ready for Mickleover in January, not when I look at the rest of the list of jobs that need to be done by then!!

 

Speaking of which, I made a start on the Seed & Feed Mill:

 Got the basic shell cut out this afternoon. Next step is to sort out the loading platform (external and internal). 

[Annie]

Good that you are feeling better and have been able to do some more on the layout.

The NWR goods wagons look very nice and I like that you're doing some in a transitional livery as well.  A good start with the seed and feed mill and it looks like it's going to turn out to be interesting piece of modelmaking too.

[NeilHB]

Modelling mojo seems to be back in full force now (and I finally feel better, what a horrendous 9 days that was!!), and I’ve really cracked on last night and today between working:

The Seed and Feed mill is ready to be clad (probably stone though I keep changing my mind).

 

Then the Stables appeared:

 

And the Parcels Lockup on the platform:

 

Lastly, who left that blooming great thing there:

I’ve made a start on the framework for the train shed!

 

Gable ends next (though as they’ll be hidden behind solid ends I’m not going to bother with the framing).

 

Off for a lie down now after all that modelling, I’m done in 😆

[NeilHB]

Last night I said I wasn’t going to bother doing the framing for the gable ends. Having slept on it I decided that given the train sheds location right at the front of the layout that I couldn’t get away with that:

 

So I’ve made a start on them. I’ve also added all of the corner braces to each post (that was fun 🤪)

 

 

[NeilHB]

Virtual pub meeting last night, so I made some more progress on various projects.

 

 

I’ve started to clad the parcels lockup to match the goods shed, the framing will be next. 
 

The platform edging/facing has been redone, and is now brick faced and better than the first attempt. 
 

I’ve also done a bit more on the train shed and enclosed the nearest end partly as a bit of protection against the weather. I can’t do much more with it at the moment as I’ve run out of suitably sized strip for the roof trusses. They’ll get progressed in due course when my order arrives. It will then get clad to match the goods shed and parcel lockup so that there is a house style to the main buildings. 

[NeilHB]

My order of suitably sized strip to finish off the roof trusses finally arrived yesterday, so I cracked on during my lunch break today and got them all cut out and assembled:

 

Much better. A couple more bits of bracing to add and then I can enclose the far end up against the backscene, and start to think about the roof covering etc. 

 

Hopefully my Slaters order will arrive soon so that I can crack on with covering the various buildings on the layout too. 

[NeilHB]

A visit from Mr Young this afternoon for a cuppa and a catch up resulted in the chance to test out some lighting for the layout:

An adjustable LED Reading Lamp, with adjustable brightness and the option of daylight (as seen here), cool white or warm white settings. No complicated wiring, being USB powered, very easy to adjust to the right position and most importantly inexpensive! Three have been ordered which will cover the scenic portion of the layout nicely. 

[NeilHB]

The lighting units arrived yesterday, so were attached to the layout:

 

Just goes to show that layout lighting does not need to the expensive or complicated! 
 

Much better now.

[Johnson044]

Just want to say how much I've enjoyed this thread Neil. I was going to say that your developing layout "and others like it" have helped me keep the black dog (or black and white dog in my case) at bay this year - but of course Nil Unquam Simile! Thanks for your inspiration and indeed for the words of encouragement. Have a great Christmas.

 

All the best

John

[NeilHB]

Thanks John. Thanks to you and everyone else for all your comments etc during the last year, it’s been a big help at times when I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decisions.

 

Merry Christmas to all from the ETCo - there should be exiting things happening in the new year 😁

 

 

[Annie]

Merry Christmas Neil and all the best for the New Year.

[NeilHB]

No progress to report on over the last month for various reasons, but mainly because we made the mad decision earlier in December to put our house on the market, so it was a bit hectic trying to finish off all the projects that we’d started but hadn’t quite got round to finishing. It was well worth it though as we sold in less than four days from going on the market and for full asking price (eep!). That coupled with a delightful viral chest infection (bloody asthma but no trip to A&E this time so small mercies), meant that I’ve had no motivation for doing any modelling or work on the layout until the last couple of days. 
 

Panic mode may have kicked in earlier when the realisation hit me that Elsbridge is due out in just over 24 days to our open day (28th January)!! 
 

So I cracked on this afternoon and repainted the backscene:

 

Still needs a bit of tweaking and another coat or two on certain colours, but it looks much better now I think. 
 

 

First day back at work tomorrow (urgh), but I’m determined to try and do a bit every day between now and the 28th. 

[NeilHB]

Sometimes a rethink is required, and you have to take everything off the layout to see things clearly again. 
 

The seed and feed mill at the front left is an imposing structure, and I was coming to the conclusion that it’s a bit too imposing for the layout. Having taken all the buildings off to touch up a couple of areas of the backscene earlier this evening, I had an I wonder what if moment…

…and popped the goods shed on that siding instead. 
 

A quick exchange of messages with Mr Young resulted in a better suggestion, and the goods shed has been returned to its former location:

 

The Farmers Cooperative Society store has then taken its place:

It may get turned through 90degrees and made low-ish relief before I’ve finished deciding on its final position. I think this definitely fits the location better though.

 

In the midst of all this I discovered a new view point, so here’s ‘Godred’ sitting at the bufferstops under the overall roof, having just arrived with a early evening goods tram:

 

[Corbs]

I am absolutely loving the way the overall roof is looking already. The platform level view is great!

[Andrew Young]

Glad to be of service 😁

 

I like the view of the loco under the overall roof. 
 

Andrew

[NeilHB]

Progress report - fascia boards added, although they are temporarily propped in place for the photos but at least I’ve got them now!

 

They’ve tidied the front of the layout up nicely I think. I’ll glue them in place tomorrow and then give them a coat of paint. 
 

 

You’ll be able to spot the results of Thursdays virtual pub meeting - the Farmers Cooperative Society dock and store is now in place, although the store needs cladding. I’ve purloined the loading dock from the seed and feed mill (mainly because it was already cut to fit the awkward shape of the site), and the tree has moved location to lurk behind the loading dock, and blocks the hole in the backscene nicely. The house/shop in the background will move to the left now to sit next to the hole in the backscene too. Ultimately I may add another building to the grouping, but that won’t happen until after Mickleover. 
 

Speaking of which - our Modelling Day is fast approaching! 

Details are all on our website - www.henmoredale.org.uk 

 

Hopefully we’ll see some of you there.