hayfield

The canopy was 1.99 + £3.50 postage. The trouble is its a different style to Bodmin, which I can live with, very intricate with lots of small parts making up the skeleton. Worst of all only 2" wide where I need 2.5" wide.

As for the station building, the Ratio parts do seem to lend themselves to being cut up which I do with a very fine cut razor saw and a 2" engineers square. Also the style of the stone blocks also help disguise the cuts

I think I will have a go at certainly splicing the end gable changing the window,i f not the central part of the front elevation

I keep away from PVA as it locks everything up solid. My wife got me on to Copydex and I would normally use it at a contact adhesive for sticking the closed cell foam to the Plywood, as Simond has said most latex glues are fine and thanks for the heads up with screw fix as I use diluted Copydex to set the ballast

My local store was out of Copydex and suggested I use a product called "Extreme" by Schtuk, I use this now for most jobs that require sticking  in DIY jobs, its great for sticking things to walls, brick etc. Its done the job and stick the Closed Cell foam to the ply whilst keeping the foams charistics. I also use a super glue for some woodworking jobs, mitre bond. Excellent product  

Gordon

Thanks, looks like a goo idea, one of the issues is the paper holder in my cheap HP printer, if the guide is narrowed it prints off centre, plus one (long) border is nearly 1" wide. However cutting with a straight edge and scalpel is easy enough its just lining up the sheets on 2 axis I have issues with 

Plans which go on boards I use as rough guides, for building turnouts, crossings and formations I build them off board and take extra care when attaching pages together

When building I try and keep formations as small as I can. Its also easy to rearrange the pages within Templot to minimise the number of pages required for each formation. I also try where possible not to have page joins through crossings on the build templates etc

Gordon

I use a scalpel knife to trim the sheets, I do find it a bit hard keeping all the pages square though. The main platform bays will form the datum line, along with the roads to Wrenford and Bodmin Parkway lines. From these everything else will flow according to things like structures and baseboard joints.

I did think about swapping the crossover into the goods yard with the turnout into the engine shed, however not only keeping it truer to the subject it is based on, it will also add additional operational interest for instance engine shed to workshop 4 moves rather than two.

I am also considering adding one or two extra sidings in the goodsyard/workshop area, but will depend on how they look in relation to the existing track and buildings

As for my track building skills, thanks but its more down to the skills of Martin Wynne designing Templot and Len Newman and his skills in product design with C&L and Exactoscale. Not forgetting all the knowledge and help I have gleaned form members here, on Templot Club and demonstrators at shows.

Just spent an hour playing with a few ideas in Templot

Both exit routes have sidings as per the older track plan, but added the loco works (top middle) as it is now

As you sat, thanks to the skill of Martin Wynne using Templot now has become very easy for most things, and as it happens Bodmin fits into the space I have providing only one exit is used.

As for the station building it will be a very basic form of kit bash- owing to my limited imagination and building skills, Still with what has been used as my DIY workbench freeing up its been a welcome relief  to start it. The good thing is the delay has altered my mind to build it to EM gauge rather than 00SF

I re-found (in my blogs) a plan sent to me of the North London P4 Groups Bodmin which predates the plans for the extension to our house which were drawn up by our architect several months later without any reference to the North London Groups plan, give or take a few inches both in length and width it fits my work room. I will need to alter the radii  of the exit curves, and perhaps loose a few inches here and there, for instance model the station building as part relief and no forecourt, bring the bridges in a few inches and alter the curves etc

This morning through the letterbox arrived a Comet Coaches Schools chassis and some sprung hornblocks, just need to stock up with Em gauge spacers. To add to the preserved stock I also bought at the weekend a Comet Coaches LMS inspection Saloon, lovely looking coach and just what you would see on a preserved line, just could not resist it.

Martin

At the moment just the thread, In my mind it would be very wrong to call it either Bodmin or Bodmin General as I will be using the original and currant track plans as  a basis for my layout. So the working title is Bodmin General(ish)

Again I will use commercially available kits and parts for ny versions for the buildings and structures, but will alter the designs to adapt both to what I require and the limitations of whats available in kit and parts form

Stock is another issue, I like both LSWR and GWR stock, but also like some other things. The easiest solution would be to run it as a heritage railway, on the other hand I could run it as a GWR branch, a GWR branch with LSWR running rights, or a LSWR branch (taken over from the GWR) ?

In between the showers/rain as well a pruning a buddleia bush (green waste bin tomorrow) I cut down a piece of 9mm ply for the test plank. Also an eBay buy arrived with the post

In my view whilst not really any good for the layout (other than a heritage visitor) it was an opportunity I thought too good to miss, It had been advertised for two weeks on eBay starting at £40, confusion whether it was 00 or EM gauge, stated Airfix 5 pole motor not working, + a D11 motor. At the end of the first week I offered £30 too late in the day. Tried offering £30 during the second week but was below the start price, relisted again at the start of last week I cheekerly offered £30 again and it was accepted

I knew it was a Wills 4F, had a 5 pole motor, Romford wheels, hoped it was EM gauge and thought the motor should be easy to repair, if not I had a spare. If it was to 00 gauge I have a spare Wills 4F chassis to EM gauge or an unbuilt Wills etched chassis. 

The loco arrived, was to EM gauge + had a spare unused Anchorage D11 ( sold one at the weekend for £14). Took the motor out of the chassis , it worked and worked even better after a clean and an oil. The chassis looks like a Bristol Models chassis, built to EM gauge with etched brass brake gear. The chassis had a short and on close inspection one brake hanger had been resoldered too close to its wheel, a bab with a hot soldering iron solved the problem. Loco and tender now running nicely even without a full service. Plus I have a D11 motor to dispose off. So I guess the final net price will be around £20 ish 

Sometime ago I bought a Silver Fox Waggon & Machinebau rail bus

I unscrewed the chassis, with a wheel puller pulled out the wheels to EM gauge, now I have a Railbus for Bodmin

A blacksmith model I made many years ago, in fact the first etched model I built) Badly brushed painted and has never had any lettering. I still wonder if compensated underframes are worthwhile for most stock, locos yes for electrical continuity 

Thanks for the complement I am hoping the extra distance between the two tracks will be noticable, plus I need to find out who now sells the GEM stand pipes

9 hours ago, bcnPete said:

Assume this is a new layout as there is already a 4mm layout on the circuit called Bodmin General (ish) 

 

Looks to be an interesting project...

Pete

Bodmin General is one of my favorite stations and I have visited it quite a few times, often on the way further south its a great place to stop for lunch or coffee and cake as well as arranging a days visit. The layout may have a different name once building starts, I may look at a map of Cornwall and pick a name

The station area itself both fits a space on one side of my work room, plus being a heritage railway fits my eclectic stock of models, plus allows me to indulge in track making. However its not going to be a an exact model of Bodmin General.

The track plan will be similar, but may differ in certain aspects. The engine shed on the western side will be there, not decided what I will do with the goods yard

Same with the buildings, the station building will be a kit bashed Ratio station building, Wills and or Ratio parts will be used for the engine shed. What ever else I build will depend on the design I settle on with the goods yard.

Initially as I said it was going to be built to 00SF gauge, however as most of my stock is kit built and I had settled on flexitrack to 00 4mm scale with 1.5 mm thick sleepers only Exactoscale Fastrack bases fitted the bill. It slowly dawned on me it would look so much better if modelled to EM gauge standards. The main cost would be Markit EM gauge loco axles. Plus I have about a dozen etched brass chassis to upgrade older whitemetal kit built locos

Some years ago I converted a K's 57xx by adding 40 though plastic sides to the K's chassis and switching the Romford 00 axles to EM gauge ones. I am currently doing the same with a K's 14xx and a K's Adams Radial tank, this time using High Level slimline gear boxes. I am also building both a Southeastern Finecast and a Branchlines P class chassis The SEF chassis will have a standard SEF body, the Branchlines chassis will have a Wills body with a Branchlines etched brass body upgrade kit (I bought a Wills P class loco with both the chassis & upgrade kits included) both have Highlever Road Runner gearboxes and Mashima motors.

We moved house 3.5 years ago but there was no room for a model railway, we always intended building an extension to the house and rather than buying a largish shed we included its intended footprint into the extension design, we had hoped for the extension to be finished within 6 mths but like most had issues with the builder. 2 years later (I had a health issue which slowed things down for a bit) I have time to model in earnest again

Sorry if I have pinched a name or idea from anyone, was not intended, just a title which described my project

The test plank will be built this week, I have retrieved the track underlay from the loft along with some Peco platform edging as I want to test platform heights and clearances, plus have a test track  

Good luck with the project, dual gauge trackwork is something I would like to have a go at, but too many other interests. Been trying to follow the Templot design thread topic and am looking forward to see the progress

Nothing to do with JLRT or MMI models, over the past 30 years the cost of models, parts etc has just skyrocketed looking at price labels I have bought some years ago they have increased way above inflation. It might have been the case we were paying too less and that's why so many ranges disappeared/failed. & mm scale modelling has always been expensive, however there are some RTR locos under £200 as well as £800 + . Think the price rises became steeper when both business rates increased and the cost of employing staff increased substantially

As for ordering items which are out of stock, use a credit card if over £100, certainly when we ordered some furniture we paid the deposit by credit card, I think we also paid the balance that way just for the protection that comes with it.

The ombudsman will not look at a case until you have gone through the complaint process, or failed to receive an answer within a specified time

Keith

You say there is no reference date, now I have no legal training but if it is as described "statute of limitations in the UK is six years " I would go back to the credit card company. There is a date the credit card company has, the payment date. If they fail to comply with your request then go to the ombudsman. A couple of letters fired off may be worthwhile. 

People have had issues I guess for many years, back in the 60's when something went wrong people said I had a bit of bad luck, now folk just want to sue . On the other hand too many people avoid their responsibilities by shutting down one company and opening another, often with very similar names. On the other hand there are some companies that go bust through no fault of their own, other than doing work which was never paid for.

I have one distant relative and also a good friend, both who are professionals in the building industry, one had severe issues with a builder by paying up front, the second was only about a small drive where the quality of work was not checked prior to paying. Neither in their professional life would do as they did  at home.  They were too busy at work and put trust in someone else, which is the norm as far as domestic matters go

A quick update to say nothing has happened with Bodmin at the moment other than buying another K's autotamk to re-gauge to EM. £10 = £5 postage

Due to my wife getting a new job I have had to dig out a driveway extension (2 cars side by side rather than one behind the other), to date I have been parking on the grass, however this would get very messy in the winter, 18 sq meters of baked hard turf was a pain then about a cubic meter of stony clay'ish soil had to be removed so I had a nice level 75mm depth for the chippings.

Plus I am building a complex P4 formation which is taking a bit of time

Back to the motive power, a nicely built K's autotank without a motor. For once I was hoping for one of the newer chassis ones, but it was the older style with the decent pre-quartered wheels waiting for a Mk2 motor which I have and some pickups. The plan was (which I have successfully done to a 57xx was to stick 1 mm black plasticard to the sides, drill axle holes and fit Romfords and using an Anchorage motor, I may instead go into the loft to see if I can find another autotank (longer term I have a Comet chassis which can be used 

Steve

Sorry but not seen previous posts regarding the bricks, could you please give some details about them, thanks John

Depending on whether you decide to build the turnouts in copperclad or chaired construction method, I would guess that after building the curved turnouts unless you are very time poor the straight ones will be a doddle.

Buying components rather than kits is so much cheaper (often the price of a RTR product) and if you are designing the track plan in Templot then you can build then to fit the space available and follow the gentle curve of the prototype

Will keep a look out for further posts as this project looks very interesting

The 16xx is from the Cotswold range (should have read the flyer)

The trouble with moving is that you throw away all the small scraps of both wood and board, as I could do with a new sleeper cutting guide.

I find track building quite therapeutic, as you say you can just sit down and relax/wind down from a busy day or just pass the odd hour or so, even mundane things are enjoyable whilst watching the TV. So the timber cutting will be done perhaps whilst watching one of the BBC archives just listed in another thread

I am in a bit of a quandary about tiebars. Do I use the moving copperclad sleeper or go for the Masokits etched ones

Mikkel

Wilkins is the wrong side of the country, unless you get the GWR to buy out the GE !!

Super jam though, and can vouch for their tea rooms, don't know why they are still called tea rooms as coffee is as popular if not more so. I guess you can have coffee with afternoon tea

Plus I have other things building up in a queue all needing time, the Masokits turnout has been quite a lengthy build and a bit of an eye opener, I have a quickie of a copperclad Fox Henderson to build and some work on Ludgate Hill to do. I may have one day a week that is mine!! However the garden beckons, a flower bed to make/dig and a start on widening the drive. Oh and work to go to 

Stu

If I decide on this version then yes, if you look closely I have put in the two catch rails, however added an enlarged shot of the turnout where I have lengthened them. Just a quick lashup and I think this may be the route to go as its not as long or space hungry as the slip with the engine spur.

It will also be a bit different and perhaps a talking point, I guess I should make it functional while I am at it, one for the promise DCC point roding !.

I have been thinking about GWR slide chairs, my normal method is to use the outside of a 2 bolt and a normal 4 bolt slide plate, two thoughts either cut the 2 bolts off a normal slide chair, round it off with a file and a bit of microstrip for the bolt. Or cut the front off the slide plate and splice the bolt part of the discarded inside part of the chair, would be a lot easier with a plastic timber, but its ply for this build

Mikkel

Starting to look very good, as for jam I live near Tiptree where Wilkin's have a jam factory, have visited their cafe at Heybridge Basin several times

http://www.tiptree.com/goto.php?id=14&pg=Potted_History&sess=+A595541505B54+F1D42131744505D1D1D5A40591B165514+D455A465E534219+F56+F+C42

Mikkel

Thanks for the comments, I guess the best thing is to go back and have another look. You know this is all your fault after seeing your new layout.

Phase 1 will be building the turnout and slip/turnout with catch points

Phase 2 will be laying the turnouts and building the track up to the shed

Phase 3 adding a shed and making a cameo

Phase 4 making a layout which will depend on how big the modelling room becomes, at the moment it will be about 14' by 6.5'