NeilHB

Thanks both, they're very interesting and I'd never seen them before! 

I'm going to stick with what I've built so far though, and hopefully I'll manage to get a bit more work done on it later. Not sure how wise that will be though given that I've been awake since 3am 😫

Making good progress on the goods shed. Last night I planked and framed the doors. 
 

This evening I started work on the livestock ramp (this is Mk3 as the first two went in the bin!) - better proportioned all round now I think:

I was going to clad it in timber planking to match the goods shed, but I’m feeling now that brick may be better - thoughts? 
 

Rapid progress on the goods shed this evening:

The last time I got this far with scratchbuilding a structure of any kind was when I was still living at my mums in pre-uni days - so 17 years ago! Rather pleased with how it’s turning out, and I’m really enjoying it so far. Let’s hope that continues as there’s a few other structures that need to be built! 

I think there's something incredibly relaxing about tramways, far less hustle and bustle than other railways, plus they usually had some delightful oddities which are always appealing. 

I'm fortunate in being able to have the layout set up on one wall of the spare room, though there's only just enough room for it to fit, and it's only 2.7m in length. Any future modules will need to adhere to the same space, as converting the garage (as my original plan was to put the layout out there) is a non-starter, plus keeping it small means I am more likely to get it finished...🤞

All these lovely photos of the Hopewood Tramway section Annie are giving me lots of ideas for Elsbridge, so many thanks ☺️

I'm going to need to build some more modules/buy a bigger house in the future though to fit in everything that I want to model! 😆

This evening has seen work commence on the goods shed for Elsbridge:

40thou plasticard shell, covered with Slaters embossed planking sheet. Pillars are the same, but with brick covering (I still need to make a couple more to go in the middle). Still lots to do but size wise I think it looks fine. Not bad for a couple of hours work. 
 

Thoughts? 

Thanks both, I'm not aiming for fresh ballast though, more the 'it's been down for a few years' approach with it, hence the weathering. The Selsey book is useful, and I'll dig my copy out later and have a look at the photos in it again for some more inspiration. 

Through the gate and into the yard:

End of the day and the gate is closed:

First coat of paint on the ballast yesterday, just enough to do everything bar the two sidings:

I’ve got a couple of different shades to try, so I’ll do a bit of mix and match so it’s not all one colour. 

8 hours ago, CKPR said:

 Fear warning, baking soil in the oven stinks to high heaven, so he'll twig you've been up to something in the kitchen !

I put the baked soil suggestion to him - from the look I got in return I would suggest that Nearholmer starts running now 😂

8 hours ago, Johnson044 said:

Often easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission! My wife once caught me trying to harden a section of steel rod from a Triumph gearbox by heating it up and dunking it in a pot of wee... The baked soil idea sounds worth pursuing. 

 

Yes- quite agree with Corbs - that view, partially framed by the water tower is very captivating. Can't quite work out what it reminds me of - I think it's a view of Pendre on the Talyllyn in early preservation days I have somewhere - but the view in your photo really convinces. 

It is, but I like my life as it is, and I'm not sure I want the lingering odour of baked soil in the kitchen/house either! 

Thanks, there will definitely be some more photos taken from that viewpoint. I'll think have to rig up a removable backscene for the front of the layout to hide the bookcase for when I'm taking photos at some point in the future. 

4 hours ago, Ruston said:

If you have a preserved railway near you, get some ash from a locomotive and grind it up with a pestle and mortar. I've used it on some of my layouts. What can look more like ash ballast than ash?

Thanks Dave, one I shall bear in mind for next time. I cracked on last night after work and got the ballasting done (having decided that the test section would do nicely). I reckon with a coat of track gunge and a judicious application of weeds it'll do nicely. 

Thanks Corbs, that's probably my favourite view as well. 

Nearholmer, that's an interesting one, and I'd not thought of it before! I think I'd probably get shot by the husband though if I baked soil in the oven 🤪

I am drying the contents of a few tea bags in a tub on the kitchen window for use though, as I had good success using this to represent soil/bare earth on my old 4mm layout when I still lived with my mum (so that's over 17 years now...😱)

Slow but steady progress adding the greenery to Elsbridge over the weekend, going over the initial base layer with the coarse turf mixture which I’d used along the embankment. It works quite well and gives some good texture I think:

Still working out what I’m doing in terms of the yard surface and what to then use for it (suggestions welcomed please), and I need to order some more of the wall sections from Skytrex so that I can sort out the greenery behind the water tower and yard hut. 
 

Every time I take a new photo I find more areas of DAS clay that I’ve missed with the paintbrush (Sod’s law), but I do like this view down the layout. I’ve found a packet of fine grey ballast that I’m trying in order to add some texture in and around the trackwork itself:

Shall see what it looks like once it’s dried and been subjected to a coating of track muck.  

58 minutes ago, Northroader said:

They do, they do... LSWR version. I really must fix that buffer and finish it off.....

Is that the Mannin Models 3-D print? They are rather nice and I'm becoming increasingly tempted to get one to run on Elsbridge in due course.

Re the PBV/Luggage Van design, I'd opt for the shorter springs, and agree with the other suggestions raised by Northroader. 

Monastic houses converted to country houses in Norfolk - the only one that sprang to my mind was Walsingham, like you note many of them in Norfolk are either ruins or converted into parish churches (or a combination of that - Binham Priory being a good example). 

More lunchtime modelling over the last couple of days - I’ve been slowly putting down the basic greenery layer:

Mostly Woodland Scenics stuff as I’ve got a load to hand. Fine Blended Turf as a base layer, and then along the embankment at the front I’m experimenting with a mix of Coarse Turf (Medium and Light Greens) to add some texture. I’ve got some grass clumps from Primo Models to use as well that I picked up from the Guild Spring Show at Kettering back in March, so I’ll dot a few of those in and around as well to add some height. 

Indeed it really does make a difference and certainly made me feel better today after a crappy meeting this morning! A quick coat of brown paint over the majority of the layout:

It took longer to clean the paint off the railheads than it did to apply the paint 😆

Just adding a bit of colour to it makes a big difference to how it all looks again, and helps to keep the mojo going. 
 

Need to repaint the backscene next I think (oh joy), and see if I can find the track paint to add a bit of colour to the rails. 

The test slats look very convincing Mike, I shall have to give that idea a go myself. 

Hurrah - the infilling is completed! 
 

Bar one or two small areas to tweak it’s all done, and it makes a massive difference to how it looks already. 
 

Now that’s done I can give it all a coat of paint when it’s dry, and then make a start on the buildings (trainshed, parcels lockup, goods shed, stables, and the seed & feed mill - just a few…). It’s starting to feel like a layout now, which is wonderful. 

These are rather nice and very tempting! 

Just out of curiosity does anyone know how far the LSWR liveried versions might have travelled off home metals please? 

10 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Not wishing to throw a spaniel in the works, but at the date you are representing had verdant weed-growth become a feature of rural tramways? My mental picture is that they could still just about support a staff of diligent old platelayers to tend the track, but that weed growth was looming on the horizon as the buses were beginning to cream-off custom.

True, I think I need to aim more for rails in the earth, as a reflection of the lines horse-drawn origins, with grass growing in and around the track rather than rails in a sea of grass approach that I was thinking of originally. Bus competition isn't too much of an issue here, as the tramway company owns and operates the bus to serve villages and areas not served by the tramway (hence why the bus carries ETCo loco colours).

1 hour ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

Hi Neil, once the track is infilled, how will it be finished off? Ash, weeds etc?

Cheers, Ade.

Hi Ade,

Yes that’s the plan, aiming for the rails in a sea of grass look (hopefully), with the odd sleeper showing here and there. 
 

6 hours ago, Andrew Young said:

Looking good Neil, you’ve been busy since I visited!

 

Andrew

Indeed I have - striking whilst the modelling mojo remains! 
 

The joys of working from home means that lunch breaks are for modelling:

I’ve run out of DAS now, so I’ll have to get some more tomorrow, but the outer edges of the track work on the other board are all done. It’s a rather therapeutic way to pass the time, and decidedly messy which I think makes it even more fun 😁

A very productive day today making a start on the scenic base layer. Cork tiles were chopped up and laid between all the tracks to bring the ground level with the top of the sleepers. 
 

This meant I could then start thinking about the section of road at the entrance to the layout:

Looks like ‘Godred’ has beaten the ‘bus to the crossing again! 
 

Never mind, once the trams out the way, the ‘bus can wend its way into Elsbridge. Good old Ikea packaging - nice and sturdy and just the right thickness for bringing the roadway just below the top of the rails. 
 

Having down that (although it’s not stuck down yet whilst I check clearances etc), I then made a start on a couple of jobs. Firstly was the creation of a low embankment (using the cork offcuts) along the front edge for most of the length of the layout, this helps to hide the point switches nicely:

 A rough coat of filler to start with, need to get some more though as this was the scrapings out the bottom of the tub. 
 

You’ll also see the second job - starting to infill the trackwork! Last time I used cork tiles between the sleepers, and I was never particularly happy with it. So this time it was out with the DAS clay, and I had a fun couple of hours squishing it all into place and making a start on smoothing it out. I’ll hopefully get the rest of the infill done over the course of this week. 
 

I’ve also started work on a new platform, much lower to the ground - cork tiles and cardboard again for the base, and I’ve got a sheet of Redutex cobbles which I’ll use for the platform surface (they’ll get stuck down once the rest of the messy work has been done):

Its a little over 4mm above rail height, so will help to keep this end of the layout fairly open once the trainshed has been built. I’ve left enough room for a low timber or stone front edge nearest the track, just to finish it off nicely.
 

What do you think please folks? 

41 minutes ago, CKPR said:

Check out "No. 1" of the  Bishop Castle Rly., which was an ex-GWR 517 and had a round top firebox.

Thanks. BCR No.1 is an interesting loco, but I’m aiming more for a standard 517 that was (hopefully) withdrawn in the mid-20’s-ish. I’ve got the Great Western Journal articles on the class which will hopefully provide me with the right candidate, I just need to remember where I put them first… 

34 minutes ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

Hi Neil, the 517 is interesting. Can you tell us more about it?

Cheers, Ade.

It’s the old Zero Zephyrs kit Ade, which passed to Adrian Swain (ABS/43two1 models), and is now being produced by CSP/Sanspareil Models. Resin bodywork with etched brass chassis, and a mix of brass and whitemetal detail castings. 

A catch up with Mr Young earlier this week resulted in a good suggestion for the layout, which was swiftly out into play.

The front siding has been shifted outwards towards the edge of the board, and now serves a seed and feed mill instead of being the loading dock siding:

Cunningly mocked up here using 43two1 kit boxes and oddments. It works rather nicely as a view blocker for the hole in the backscene into the fiddle yard. 
 

You’ll also notice the two building shells in the background, courtesy of Fair Price Models on eBay - less than £16 for the two kits including postage. Very nicely laser cut from MDF, plus laser cut card window and door frames, and a very nicely designed frontage for the shop. These help set the scene that the station is close to the town centre. 
 

The back siding has been adjusted slightly too, but that’s in terms of building placement, by swapping the coal merchants and goods shed over:

It also gives me room to have a livestock ramp (approximately where the dumb buffered open is). This works better visually now, and stops this area feeling quite so cramped.

I’ve drawn up the plan for it all, which may help readers of the thread to visualise it all:

The visit from Mr Young also allowed the newest acquisitions to join the fleet…

North Western Railway No.11 ‘Oliver’, in my version of reality an ex GW 517 acquired in the mid-1920s for suburban passenger services in and around Tidmouth (working in conjunction with NWR No.8), plus autocoach. I just now need to find a suitable prototype withdrawn in the right time period with round topped boiler and original bunker. 
 

To round it all off, a couple of black and white photos:

’Thorkell’ taking water from the tower during a pause in shunting. 

’Sigrid’ waiting to depart with a down mixed tram. 
 

Just a little note to confirm that after a bit of discussion over the weekend, we've decided to rebrand this as a modelling day, and that's not a 7mmNGA exclusive event, but is more encompassing. We're still supported by the 7mmNGA, but hopefully this may encourage more folks to come along.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

I suspect it may be somewhere in Burton on Trent, though that's purely from the Ind Coope and Allsopp sign painted on the end and the mention of Worthington's Ales.