AJon30

Hello Don and thanks for your comments. Yes the transition from a paper plan to 1:1 track on boards does show up both things that don't work and extra bits that can. Pleased with new station layout, and am not going to put a scenic end board to it, so maybe an extension in the future! The club layout we are building has gone for Tortoise motors, but there is sufficient space to mount most of them on the top of the boards. Because I am using narrow boards I don't have the ability to mount motors on top of the boards, so they need to be mounted underneath, and I don't have the space to mount Tortoises vertically so they would need the extra mounts to turn them through 90 degrees, which are rather expensive over the cost of the Tortoise. I have gone for Fulgurex because they are a) smaller and b) I got a bulk lot a a decent price! I have been working on a fitting to go under the point which will provide sufficient flexibility to take up the extra movement of the point motor and allow future adjustment/replacement, which the suggested Fulgurex fitting does, IMHO, not allow. This is a photo of the test fitting Rgds Andrew

Having now worked out the best positions for the tree's etc on the Kimbolton extension board, I have buried wooden blocks into the insulation foam to give a firm base when I come to "plant" the trees. Then it was all given a coat of Sculptamold, which dried nice and quickly in this warm weather and then I applied a coat of basic emulsion, I use B&Q Clay which gives a nice base colour and also allows the features to be seen. (Yes I did take a photo so I know where the block's are!) One thing that is making this more interesting is that I still wish to be able to join the original boards together, so any scenery on the extenseion board must fit in with the scenery features on the other boards. As there is a road crossing the baseboard joint this has caused some head scratching to get it resolved. Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Hello. Last weekend was the first one in ages that I have not been out at a show etc, so managed to get some work done. I did a trial run of transferring the layout plan from Trax onto the actual baseboards, which worked out quite well. With a bit of tweaking I have been able to add a short end loading dock at the station platform, as I had to move the whole track plan 3 inches to give enough space to put the control planel behind the station building. With the positions of the engine and carriage sheds roughly sorted, I then built a quick cardboard model of the engine shed so that I could check the placement of tree's etc on the Kimbolton extension board, as they will be crated together and need to fit. Moving items at this stage is easy and 10mm can make all the difference. I am aiming to get the buildings positioned so that they can be fixed to the layout rather than having to be removable, which would mean more boxes to pack into my car, more chance of damage etc. No this is not a bit of moden art - here I am looking at the positions of bracing bars etc under the layout to see if they fit with point motors etc. I am going to use Fulgurex motors on Great Barford to try and cut down on the repairs needed to the point tie bars, which take a bit of a hammering from the H&M solenoids. As if I don't have enough to do, I've also joined the Slim Gauge Circle, and have been constructing a 4 foot scenic module for their On30 layout - to be ready by the end of July - no pressure! As Great Barford is the interchange with the LMS/LNER and is the southern terminus of the line from the ironstone quarries around Kettering (the northern end) I need some ironstone wagons. In BR days the Ironstone tippler was very common (which Peco do a kit of) but the 1930's used hoppers of which there is not a great variety of kits. One I have found is a white metal kit from JPL models, which took a bit of fettling but turned out OK. Need to get a few more now! Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Further progress with the extension board between Kimbolton Town & Pertenhall & Swineshead. The back and shaped side boards have been added. And the insulation foam has been cut to shape. This is insulating foam used in loft extensions etc; with a bit of skip diving can be acquired for little cost. Easily cut with a normal handsaw to get the basic shapes, then I use a keyhole saw to cut the shapes down to the contour required. When I am happy with the shape it is covered in Sculptamold to give me final land surface for static grass etc. I inset pre-drilled blocks of wood where trees are going to go Cutting the foam is easy but VERY messy so out of the house for that! I will also primer and paint the underneath before strating on the landscape. Another job has been to replace the sector plate. This was one of the first items built for the layout and the replacement has to be built to exactly the same dimensions. I have extended the end so that it now protrudes into the next (new) board, which will be for Great Barford. THis will allow trains to run from the cassettes straight to Great Barford, or come from Pertenhall or Kimbolton and then either go onto Great Barford or back to the cassette. The curved end will allow for movement of the sector plate, final adjustment will be done when the new track is laid. As an aside it will be possible to exhibit Pertenhall & Swineshead and Great Barford as a separate combination, so entending the life of the layout. Off to Ely this weekend with Willowbrook Marsh, then the Great Train Robbery is at Railex before it goes North to Aberdeen for the Summer. Rgds Andrew Jones Lutom MRC

Hello Don At the moment, about the closest we are due to come to the West Country is Newbury next year, although we are always open to offers!. Its a problem of cost, although the short version does go in one car with operators etc once you start driving more than a couple of hours, you really need to go down the night before and that makes it costly. Its a shame as there are probably very nice layouts in different geographical locations that you will probably never see. One of my operators at Quainton is a mad keen GWR fan and he nearly had a fit when we walked in and they showed where we were to display. He had a grin from ear to ear all day! Rgds

Hi all. Wow where does the time go? We have been busy exhibiting layouts most weekends. The SHLR's last outing was a 2 day show at Quainton Road where we were located in front of some old scrap iron! (I'm sure that sign was straight when I took the photo!) The basic structure of the first of the extension boards has completed and I am looking at idea's for the scenic side Only 11 months to go! Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Sorry yes that's a double slip, but I havn't got any 3 way points on this one so swings & roundabouts!

Hello AndyJH Hopefully this track plan will be legible The station layout is basic. In the supposed history of the line Great Barford was never going to be a terminus, but only a through station on the line to Buntingford. The works were established here when the line was being constructed as this was the interchange for the lines from the GNR & LNWR. When the extension was abandoned, the traffic at Great Barford was not great enough to warrent any more sidings so they were just left with an end loading & cattle dock and the pair of interchange sidings, which are used for the outbound iron ore traffic (from the pits around Kettering), beer, bricks and general goods, while inbound is mainly coal and wagons for the gas works and various factories along the route. The works will consist of a carriage shed, running shed, with a lifting frame over a pit in the open.

Well its that time again. Recently we decided to hold another of our roving O gauge exhibitions, this time in Hitchin in April 2015. And who said, when discussing layouts, Ok I'll extend mine? Yes that's right....me! So now I am planning to add another station, Great Barford, which is the interchange point with the LMS & LNER, is the terminus of the "main" line from the Kettering iron ore quarries (the original purpose of the line) and is the location of the "works" - the Crewe of Bedfordshire! The new station will run the other way from Pertenhall and will join up with the sector plate (hopefully) Oh, and additionally I am going to add a scenic board between Pertenhall & Swineshead and Kimbolton Town as everything is a little tight at the moment (the odd clash of buffers under the bridge to nowhere is distracting!). So my nice little "just to show you don't need a large space for modelling O gauge" layout of 9 feet is growing into this monster which will be 34 feet long!! To get the ball rolling a quick trip to the local timber yard yielded this lot, which I also decided to have cut to size, as they make it look so easy with their cutter and I get some straight lines to the baseboards. More as things progress.

Hello. Good weekend at the East Anglian show at Huntingdon Racecourse - the weather was a vast inprovement on last year! Remembered my camera this time. Chris Fry brought along his latest acquisition - a Red Ixion so there was a full set running on the layout. Amongst the visiting loco's was a Beattie Well Tank, which was suprisingly large against the Ixion's and had a fair turn of speed with those big drivers. Have started an applying transfers to the coaching stock, which I thing is a great improvement. Next up are the loco's for transfers, nameplates, crews and weathering. Then on to fitting Dinghams to make the operation run a bit smoother. Finally a shot from a different angle Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Hello. Some additions to the stock list. The GWR Mex was aquired last weekend at Kettring at a very nice price. Built kit but unfinished. Cleaned up. painted & floor added, just finished off with a cote of Dullcote. A bit of weathering is next. The open wagon with no doors is an old Coopercraft wagon, which is now relegated for internal use only, with the big X on the side. Not for SHLR but another project on the go. Finally I have got round to adding the transfers to the ex MR brake. These were commissioned from Railtec and they are nice but I think they are a little "thin"? At the East Anglian show this weekend, at Huntingdon Racecourse. See you there

Hello. A good show at Saffron Walden - but I get so involved in running etc that I forgot to get photo's agian - sorry An addition to the Brake Van fleet has just come out of the paint shop in primer. No.1 an ex NBR Cowlairs Incline brake van. When the NBR stopped using the incline with rope haulage around 1909, most of the brake vans were modified to a more traditional outline and lasted in LNER service till late 1930's This one escaped south and was bought by the SHLR as a goods brake van which could also double up as a track inspection vehicle for the PW department. This is the 2nd No.1, the first one, built 1866 was scrapped when this became available. Anyway, in reality a whitemetal kit, the first I whitemetal kit I have constructed, so a bit of a learning curve, but seems to have come out OK. Will be finished in the standard SHLR goods stock brown and should be ready for Huntingdon.

Hi. Spent at bit of this morning swapping the layout sections around for Saturday. Also decided to have a quick look at the pick-ups on a Hawthorne-Leslie tank that I picked up at Tadrail at Wing last year but had not used as it did not run smoothly. A quick adjustment to the wiper pick-ups and quick wheel clean and a much nicer running loco. Will give it an outing on Saturday. The real thing is preserved at the Ongar railway Also running, due to a motive power shortage on the SHLR, were 2 loco's on loan from the GWR Swansea Docks. All three loco's were built 1918/19, so by this time, late 30's, no longer in the first blush of youth so some gentle pottering at Pertenhall is just up their street. Also in shot is a couple of the Tower Brassworks Tanks that need to visit the paint shop. Slightly odd that the W irons are screwed to the solebar with large screwheads projecting. Has anyone soldered them in place? See you at Saffron Walden Saturday

Hello DanielB, glad you like it

Hello. Good show at Milton Keynes at the weekend (despite blowing a gale and chucking down with rain when trying to offload the car) Slight hiccup in that I forgot the small bridge (you can see where it goes). Must add that to my packing list to check. Its the short version out now for a couple of shows - Saffron Walden this Saturday 22 Feb and the East Anglian show at Huntingdon Racecourse on 8-9 March. Hope to see you there.

Hello Mike Thanks for the link. I appreciate that there are commercial suppliers of corrugaed metal but, in my opinion, if I can easily (AND CHEAPLY) make my own then that's the way to go! Rgds Andrew

Hello Dave Re Dies I have tried to see if there were any for sale on Ebay, but have found that the gentleman who produced them has unfortunately passed away, and no-one has picked the items up. They were made of a robust material, don't think it was resin. You might be able to make one up with plasticard sheet and sections? Rgds Andrew

Hi Dave Yes I initially looked at coke cans and the like. I was going to use one of those corrugated paper making machines but the corrugations were too large and the coke can material too "springy" to hold the shape. That was when I went to the foil trays, because as well as making corrugated sheet they can also be cut up for lead flashing around chimneys etc on building roofs, or just as flat metal sheets for roofing (and all the cut off bits go towards making a scrap wagon load!) Rgds Andrew

Hello Dava I purchased a resin mould from the States (I got an S scale one as the O gauge ones, in my opinion, make too large corrugations - more like modern cladding rather than old style corrrugated sheet) I get the aluminium food trays that supermarkets sell ready meals in (it is thicker than the aluminium in take away foils), cut it down so it is a flat sheet, then go over with a block of wood to remove any markings etc. This also seems to stretch is slightly and makes it more "metallic" Then it is a case of laying the sheet over the mould and pressing the corrugations in (In use a bamboo skewer). Although the mould was a little expensive, you can make unlimited sheets of corrugated metal so the unit cost goes rright down. You can cut it into sheets, distress it etc, and if you don't like it, well just bin it! Here's a roof to a hopper that was laid over a wooden framework Hope this helps

Hello again. Well usual last minute rush! Main brewery building is well advanced. Cut out of foamboard, braced with pine strips from B & Q. Covered with Howard Scenics Brick paper, using the special adhesive that Freestone sell. - Fixogum. Using PVA wets the paper too much and it tends to lose the brick markings. Wiith the Fixogum, you spread a thin coat on the paper, wait till it dries, thenpsreda another thin coat on the building and when it is tacky lay the brick paper on. It can be moved slightly to get the best fit then lightly pressed down and that's it Here is the building with the windows it. Still got to finish the sack hoist and add drain pipes and other details but looking better. See you at Milton Keynes tomorrow

Time to brush the dust off this thread - off to Milton Keynes at the weekend, so cue frantic activity!! After a few comments regarding the mock-ups a start has been made on the Kimbolton Brewery. It is called the Old GateHouse brewery because, as the story goes, the brewery was built on the site of an old coaching inn and all that is left is the old gatehouse. I wanted this building to look different to the majority of buildings which are of brick construction so have gone for a rendered finish. To that end I have covered the building in fine grade wet & dry - the proof will be once its painted. Also to mark the changes the roof is an old sheet of Wills pantiles.

Hello. Well a long couple of days at CMRA show at St Albans. Few minor hiccups (broken tie bar at 0930 on Saturday morning!!) but otherwise ran well, although I need to start thinking about moving from the "building" stage to the "maintenance" stage as there are some "quirks" that were ok as one-off's but are now getting annoying! We had a visit from one of the new Ixion Folwers. ran very nicely as all Ixions do. We had a couple of comments along the lines of "it would be nice if it was finished" which made me think - what do you actually want to see when you go to a exhibition? a: pristine, fully completed models, without a clue as to how they got there or, b. as in my approcah, look here's how we prepare cardboard mock-ups, how things go to gether, how to do this, that, or the other? I've been building this for just over 2 years, and am the first to admit there is a lot to do. But one end is fully finished (at the brickworks) to show what the end result will be, but it will be another 2, 3, 4 etc years before we get to that stage.. Would you rather I had waited? Rgds Andrew Jones Luton MRC

Bit of last minute finishing. Why oh why does "matt" enamel paint not dry quickly or matt!

Hello. The SHLR will be appearing at the CMRA show at St Albans this weekend. A bit has been done, but not much(!) - been a bit busy recently.

Hello. The SHLR has just been invited to the CMRA show at St Albans 11/12 January 2014. Not sure which version is going at the moment as filling in for another layout that has dropped out. QUESTA was shown at Letchworth Show on 30th November Went to Reading trade show on 7th December and found this little bargain on the bring & buy It is the old Gateneal kit of the ex SR Drewry Railcar that ended its days on the W&CPR. With a little bending of history I am sure this will prove to be a great assest to the hard pressed operating department of the SHLR. Does anyone have any of the other bits (its just the basic shell at the moment)?