railwayrod

Hey Chris. Did I really see Great Eastern and 4mm scale? Would you really wander off into those tiny far flung places on the east coast and dessert 0 gauge? Go GER if you wish but please stick with the larger scale. Your layouts have always been a source of inspiration to me and many others and I am certain that your efforts have encouraged many 4mm modellers to adopt the best of scales. Rod

Hi Peter. Nice bit of progress you have made this week. I think the "add on" bits of baseboard does improve the layout and gives you a little more scope for scenery when you get round to it. Next week lol!!!!! Rod

Hello Paul. Thanks for your kind comments. I will post another shot as soon as I can get around to taking some more photos. I have to repeat that the alterations that have been made are a massive improvement on what was there before. Watch this space. Rod

Hi Gismorail. As I have said on this thread many times if anyone is down Torquay way and would like to see Ramchester in the flesh they will be made most welcome. Just send me a PM in good time. Rod

Well Paul here it is. The mock up shown in the post above was not quite how Howard liked it. Earlier this week he turned up with a reprint and proceeded to paint over some of the foliage and today he actually glued it to the back scene. There is a little space to the left just behind the station and he plans to print and paste "The Railway Inn" another picture alongside the terraced row. He needed to alter the back scene slightly as it was not quite right and next time he comes round he will install the above mentioned Inn. I feel that the improvement that he has made is way and beyond what was there before but I am perhaps biased, I will rely on your judgement. Please note that the station has been more or less cleared of passenger, luggage and barrows, etc to make it easier for him to work on the backscene. These will be replaced when all is done. Rod

Looking good Rod, I await some pictures with them in place. Rod

Hi Peter. I think that the fiddle yard area as a station is a great idea. My lifelong friend Brian Harrap who models in P3.5 European and fine scale Z has advocated this approach for many years but I have not taken him up in it as yet. Good progress being made on your layout - keep it up. Looking forward to meeting you when you finally get to visit Ramchester. Rod

Chris. Apologies from me too. Rod

If you do a coal tank I will have three. One in LNWR livery, one in LMS livery and one in BR livery. So that is a start for your orders should you decide on this loco. Rod.

Hi Martyn. Yes we are fine so far. Have kept up my daily walk and just lately have been walking in small groups within the guidelines. Last Saturday we did a 15.6 mile walk to Berry Pomeroy castle. Great to be in the fresh air and to meet up with a few friends. Rod

RM dropped through my letterbox this morning. Had a quick glance through and saw your layout in all its glory. Nice work Andy and a good article to boot. Rod

Sorry to hear of your problems so lets hope that you will soon be back to normal. Garden is looking well though and once you are fit again I am sure your will enjoy running a train around. Rod

Hi Mike. It is coming along fine and it works, lol. Looking forward to seeing it develop. Rod

Looks really nice Chriss. The crew are very good and lifelike. Rod

Hi Peter. You certainly don't hang about do you! Looks like a first class job and all level - well done. Rod

Howards idea is brilliant. The backscene does need more dwellings of some sort to make Ramchester look more like a town. At present the station end looks as though it is way out in the country and a bit too rural to justify the intensive service that I have in mind. The next bit to be looked at will be rather difficult as the baseboard width makes it very hard to reach across. Still I have great faith in Howard's skills and I am sure he will overcome this problem in due course. Rod

No problem Peter just let me know. Rod

I still think that Minerva should do a LNWR coal tank. After all they did get into parts of Wales and all over the West Coast and they lasted until the mid 50's giving rise to several livery options. How about it Chris. Rod

He could have lifted it from a photo in a book! Rod

Glad you found all the bits Gismorail. I cannot understand how Dapol have let these pass their quality control. I am happy with my three banana vans and the coupling mis-assembly has been put right. Really speaking us customers should not have to put matters like this to rights. Rod

Somehow Steve I have overlooked your thread and so much seems to have happened to you in the meantime. However I have now caught up with you again and am looking forward to seeing the modified layout progress. Keep up the good work but do please keep us all posted with the layouts development. Rod

Hello again. Here is a quick preview of my latest project. The kit is again by Skytrex and looks very easy to put together. I would like to replace the handles with something finer but feel that my eyesight will not allow me to do so. Still on Ramchesters platform at the back of the layout such detail hopefully will not be too noticeable - I hope. Rod

Hi David. That Gronk looks so real are you sure it is a model and not a superimposed prototype picture on you photo plank background, lol. As usual fantastic work. Rod

Hi John. I think you mean Jack Nelson who did a far bit of work in 3.5mm/ft of LNWR scenes. I have used one of his books for details of LNWR buildings and fittings etc and have found this a very useful source of information. I agree wholeheartedly with you on backscenes which are notoriously difficult to get right. Ramchesters back scene looks OK when operating but when getting down to track level for photography it does not always look right. Still I am satisfied with it generally speaking but the white printed house and street just did not look right so it has gone......... Thanks for your comments above. Rod

Some of Ramchesters building are in low relief where we had space for them. This was disguised by view blockers and worked, I think, quite well. However because we wanted give the station an aire of spaciousness and to keep the baseboard width down the station building is right up to the back scene leaving no space at all for any sort of 3D buildings behind. This is what Howard was faced with and he came up with the idea of printing buildings on his computer and sticking them onto the pre painted back scene. To help fool the eye he then painted foliage overlapping the buildings and also in places sticking on greenery to blend the whole lot in. The one bit that neither of us were happy with was the building directly to the right of the station building and if I can find a picture of this in my collection I will post it so you can see what I mean. Work is currently going on in this area and pictures will appear in due course. The offending building is the white one tapering into the background on the extreme right of the picture. I hope this illustrates the problem but because I was always aware of the error I tended to avoid taking photographs Straight on or I edited the building out by cropping. Hence the above photo is about the only one I have showing this building. Rod