andyram

Thanks to Tony for all his help. I can confirm that Kings Morton has been purchased by a good friend and customer of mine who is the chair of the fledgling Matlock Bath model club. The club has had a traumatic recent history, being forced to leave their premises whilst the landlord undertakes some serious renovations to the building. After a year away they have been allowed to return and take on their old club rooms for a peppercorn rent in exchange for completing the internal restoration. Their plan is to open the rooms as a permanent exhibition similar to a mini-Wroxham. The exhibition is located next to my shop, in the old galleries above the cafe in the George Centre court yard. Prior to November lockdown things had been progressing with all display areas cleared and a ticket office, in the style of station booking office, being constructed. Work on a main display layout had begun but had not got far when lockdown hit. The resulting pause led to some members drifting away and now a very small team has been left to try and take the baton forward. Following discussions with Tony, and the chair of the group, I am pleased to confirm that the group have agreed to purchase Kings Moreton and their plan is to renovate it to become a centre piece of this new display and the club's main running layout. I have offered to assist with any scenic repairs etc. If Andy.p's permits, I will happily update the layout topic as often as possible with news of the layout's new life. The other members of the club are not computer savvy and are not members of RMWeb. On their behalf I would like to thank Tony for all his help with the saving and sale of Kings Moreton.

The notice on the front door of the village hermit states.

Held up with

Evening all. I hope that today finds you well, safe and sane. Not much to report today. Amber drifted back off to sleep just after midnight and I struggled to get to sleep after that. She was fine, but I think I had one ear on her room for the rest of the night so there was not much sleep. Both us were fairly bleary eyed this morning. She did get through her home schooling whilst I cleared today's marking work. This afternoon I headed up to the shop for another delivery from a certain manufacturer. Whilst there, I happened to see a friend from the model club next door. The news from Monday means they can begin to progress their plans to open their display for the summer. We were able to discuss some plans for this including a project that has emerged over the last couple of days. My layout challenge has made only small progress today. Hopefully more tomorrow. Stay safe. Andy

48 DAYS TO GO! The countdown has begun. Not too much progress to report on the first full day since I set myself the challenge. The one change has been adding the Peco wired rail joiners to the loop so I can add the second power feed to the layout. This will allow me to supply power to all three sidings and also run the loop independently if I so wish. The next task will be to glue the track down. Since the baseboard MDF I think PVA glue, rather than track pins, will be the best option.

It definitely is not impossible. It will be a challenge to fit it in around home commitments, but setting the target date has given me something to focus on. The plan is to use, where possible, off the shelf materials and showcase products I sell in the shop with the aim of possibly displaying it in the shop when I reopen.

This really is a very good little layout. I have enjoyed reading through the progress. The chain shunting adds something different and the use of the pins an ingenious way of including this element. I cannot wait to see more.

As someone who loves the Scottish region I will follow this with interest.

This is a stunning layout. I love it. You have produced a fantastic rural scene packed with detail. Very effective. Love to see more pics of it being operated.

This looks great. I have heard about the Scalescenes kit and it is fantastic to see a finished version. Great work.

The Only Way is Up - Yazz and the Plastic Population

Another check in. Currently sat up with Amber who has woken up feeling unwell. It is only about a week ago that we were here previously. She had a disturbed night so may be just over tiredness. The mood has been helped with a bottle of ale. I am trying to focus on the positive aspects I listed in the previous post. After all, the business has done fairly well during the previous lockdown and this one to date. The previous week was not great so I hope that it is a blip. Anyway, onto another positive post. During the past week I have been reviving / restarting a long dead layout project (see Skaleby East layout thread). I have worked out that I have 49 days until Boris suggests I can reopen. Therefore I am going to turn this extended lay off into a challenge and aim to complete the project in that time scale. The countdown starts now!

So just a quick post from me tonight. Thanks to the bumbling buffoon in number 10, I now have an increased break from the shop. Despite hope that I could reopen for the Easter weekend, I will now have to wait until April 12th before I can open for anything but click and collect. Angry? Yes. Frustrated? Completely. I admit that morale was very low earlier today. But tonight I have decided to try and turn it into a positive. Tonight’s announcement means I have another 7 weeks working from home. That must be enough time to get this layout completed? Challenge set. Challenge accepted. There are now 49 days left. This tape will self destruct in five seconds.

Evening all. I hope today finds you well. Not a good day today. I know that ER is supposed to be a politics free zone, however the news that emerged in parliament this afternoon has left me angry and frustrated. Throughout the early part of the year I have been holding onto the fact that I should be open for Easter. Now that hope has gone and it will be mid-April before I can finally open the doors to the shop again. Simply soul destroying! Oh..and to compound everything, we have to wait ten days until we get a sniff of any further financial support. My spirits are lower than a worm's belly right now. On the positive side (and I am desperately trying to find some). * Amber will get to return to school on March 8th and she needs that. This long spell of home schooling has not done her any good. That will give me three weeks at home to have some peace and quiet. That might provide some quality modelling time. * The road map should mean, finance permitting, that our planned holiday in the summer will take place so I can look forward to another week in Whitby and that is something which will do the spirits a world of good. * The ongoing marking job will at least mean we can eat and keep a roof over our head in the intervening time. Probably not all bad then, but still not feeling the best right now. Stay safe, keep sane. Andy

Received and replied Tony. Many thanks. Great to read the update.

Got some half priced cracked ice, Miles and miles of carpet tiles, tv’s, deep freeze, David Bowie Lp’s

Thanks Tony, please do not misinterpret the use of the word “claim”. I was not suggesting anything untrue on your part, I was just giving more information as part of the conversation. It was not intended to imply any dishonesty on your part and I thank you for the message. Incidentally I would like to chat to you regarding the layout because I know an interested party.

Really, you mean Dave.

Great to catch up on this layout Les and good to see you operating it again. I loved the detail you packed in here. Always good to see it at a show.

Today has seen some further testing (or should that be playing) on the layout. Although the planned station building is still residing in store at the back of the shop, I found an alternative temporary option. Whilst sorting some things out in the garage my eyes rested on the mothballed first layout which still had a medium sized building in-situ. I therefore "borrowed" it to test the size of the platform. This fits very well in the planned location and actually looks the part. I will test out the intended building once I have been to the shop tomorrow, but if it does not fit I know I have a viable alternative. The building, based on the one at Goathland, can be seen in the photos below placed on the temporary platform formed from scraps of balsa wood: You will note that the motive power on the layout may not be to everybody's taste. This is one of the new Bachmann made 00 gauge Thomas models which I am testing whilst producing a review film for the front page of the shop's website. This demonstration model will also run in the window display once I get to reopen. I have to say I am very impressed with the model. A step forward from the Hornby offering. Returning to more serious matters, I have been contemplating the name for the layout. This project began as "Skaleby North Yard" many years ago when a simple shunting yard was planned. It became "Skaleby East" when I added a station to that original plan. The latter would still work as a name. However, because I want this to be the starting point of the branch containing Skaleby West, I am not sure I am happy with it sharing the name. A different name will give a feeling of distance between the two locations. In some ways I would like it to represent the current situation and had considered names such as Covidgate (which sounds like a dodgy milk company) or Coronagate (likewise). Anything containing "Lockdown" feels too Scottish for an English branch so that is out. I had also wondered about Mooreton or Tomoore (in honour of Sir Tom). At the moment I don't think I have the correct one. I will keep thinking.

Evening all. Pleased to hear that @leopardml2341 is on the mend. I hope you find no problems on the commute to work and there are no travel disruptions caused by any blockages en-route. These hall ways can be just as disruptive as the average motorway. There are all kinds of lorries that seem capable of shedding cardboard boxes to disrupt travel (no wait..that is just my hall way!!) So today I have managed to taste fresh air during a walk out to deliver Sarah's Avon books. I am not saying I have not walked far recently, but my legs were feeling stiff just half way around the route! This afternoon there was some testing (playing) with the new layout. There was also some testing of one of the new shop products (a certain six wheeled blue tank engine with moving eyes). I do not dare post a picture of that on these pages!! Check out the "Skaleby East" thread if interested. Stay safe all. Andy

I messaged the seller to enquire about the station buildings. He does not have them (or so he claims).

It has been a while since I checked out this thread because I have not been on RMWeb as much. What impressive progress. Loved the pictures from the Wimrail exhibition.

This looks like an interesting project. I love a good shunting puzzle. Good luck with the build.

Just browsing through the micro layout thread as I begin my latest small project (4ft x 1ft baseboard). I love the detail in this model and how you have expanded it. Great work.