chriscleveland

Thank you appreciate the feedback. plenty of learnings like any layout build main ones being not to build the next one in mdf and dcc would have been a better option. Must say trying a mega shunt at a show was interesting something we will try again soon Chris

From wagons to trees to wagons. At last I can tick one of these off the jobs list having remade over 50 trees to freshen up the layout a bit more and complete the overdue job I was meaning to do after its show to Alton last year. Hopefully will help make the layout look more colourful as I’ve also added in some tightly different colours too to mix it up a little also used some trees to try and help block out where the layout goes off scene on the point board made an additional 6 trees for when I get round to looking at the back boards and how to make the layout look more professional in due course. now back to wagons to see which ones would have been running in the time frame and decide if I really want to number them all to match like I did the coaches. also need to brave some other loco projects of weathering, coal loads, and other bits too.

When it’s not making trees it’s the start of research for the railways wagon fleet. All trees along the front are now complete so working along the back has begun. to break up just modelling trees I’ve been researching wagons the railway owns and what would have been in service in the time frame. Still unsure about numbering all to match the exact wagons on the railway but getting the correct wagons in models will be a start. Handy Bachmann have just announced the pal vans as my kit ones are a bit light and not much I can do about that now as they are all glued together. The railway owns x3 of these wagons is what I’ve found out so far. Here we have the mhr toad being made and I’ve done two versions for shows if we have Dave / Thomas out on the line to be accompanied by his mate toad. There will be a few posts on wagons as we continue to get the wagon fleet sorted. Feel it’s only fair as we did all this for the coaching stock. the Thomas toad needs its roof redoing to the darker colour to match how the railway currently have it.

Happy modeller today as the May addition of Railway Modeller has come out and feature’s Ropley Photographed last year at Alton model railway show when we had Ropley on show. I have looked forward to this coming out.

Thank you does help indeed I do like the idea of really worn and rusty or covered in grime. All locos usually get some sort of weathering but nothing as much like they would have looked back in steam days

I’ve run out of materials to finish the trees but definitely looking much better least I’m making treemendous progress

With a few days off it’s probably time to start a project that will take up that time. ages ago for Alton show I pushed myself to make all trees in time ready for the show however towards the end I tried another method which actually looks so much better which I did to the trees on the station boards now with a little bit of time having a long weekend I can go and update the trees on the embankment where the top car park is just off the board. this is how the trees currently look with woodland scenic poly fibre with scattter on top. This is the after look with replacing the fibre with foliage that you tease apart and tear apart to make the tree foliage. i also made a mistake in making the stumps with poly filler which has cracked on some so this will be removed and replaced with dad clay. hopefully will change this look a little for the better

I believe the coach is now back in passenger use? And was hard to tell as you can just see the lip on the windows just got to do the lettering and numbers at some point.

Whilst on the subject of roofs I’ve also tried something a little different modelling in preservation limits giving something a good weathering job. For the time frame I came across on YouTube a coach the railway used at the 2011 spring gala which they painted to be a support coach to the crane. Having too many brake coaches left over and one in the Bachmann dark green livery I decided to recreate this coach all windows are basically filled in and the roof is looking tired. Nice to sometimes have something on the layout that doesn’t look perfect and adds a bit of character. now back to shed roofs and working out what over projects I would like to complete before Ropleys next outing to Taunton show.

Bit more fun with roofs mainly now been repairing the strips on the front roof to get it ready for spraying and a edging to be made. Just the back roof to go. think this is what I’m looking to do once completed just temp fixing to be trialed now without the glazing adds a much better view into the sheds. Also I don’t think the back roof blocks the view as much as I have removed the front lip it used to have before the glazing so using the roof ridge as the top break gives another 2cm additional to the view in. I have also redone the lights inside which I hope will also help as they used to not help the issues of the reflection on the glazing. Now to find a spray colour I’m happy with to spray it up once the back roof has had repairs done and then we can look at securing sections and making access in easier going forward.

Another idea for this shed as this one to do maintenance the frame lifts out in full I could do this option as this is a different build to the others. I’ve cut the front roof to the board joint then I could stick this one down along with this one as the roof trusses could be used to hold it down. Then only the back would need magnets to hold it down and then can be stored in the boxing in of the fiddleyard when in transport? Then the other shed roofs could have the same build principle but potentially the backs could stay on in transport or again go into the fiddleyards?

Was thinking how well they would transport with magnets so that's handy to know. Maybe using the magnets to hold the big roofs down just for shows and not transporting being left in place might be an option

I’m thinking I may stick the opening roof to the shed roof girder edges as the girders in some come out and the solid roofs to be magnetically held down and worst case that side comes or to support maintenance. Also the fiddleyard straights could be used to keep them flat in transport but need to give it a go to see what happens

Now everything is out of the way for a while time to get going again.Following on from the show the biggest piece of feedback from a few people I know viewing the layout was the carriage and boiler shop shed. The glazing on the roof blocks a clear view into the shed but removing it will be a challenge as this shed isn’t as simple as meets the eye. So behind the scenes the roofs lift off to give access to do maintenance in the sheds. The shed is biggest building by far on the layout about 4 locos long and to make it worse Spans over a board joint oh and at an angle. As this photo shows the reflection off of the glazing now the fun begins to make something a little like this where there is no glazing like the roof shown on the front from the main shed, find a way to keep the strength, and a way to make them travel ok on the layout where I can to reduce damages as well as be able to remove to get in the sheds for any tidying and new additions. I’m also hoping having an edge left on will help for tidiness and looking like the viewing hole is deliberate as well as helping make it look like a full roof is in place when taking photos of locos in the headshunt line.

Over the moon with them gonna have to do a session with you to brave doing the dmu and 37905. was gutted I didn’t get any photos or videos of them when the layout was up and running. don’t worry they are written down all the correct ways on the stock boxes now to not get caught out haha

Thank you at the show there was lots of people from the railway there. A lot of good feedback of course the game of spot what’s there now to then hahaha. Wagon group have also given me a challenge to consider doing

Another nice surprise on the weekend other than good running was the return of some of the diesel home fleet having been away for a bit of weathering Thank you Ian for doing these for me really look the part and gave me an excuse to hold a diesel gala on the Sunday which annoyingly I got no photos or videos of. Must also say lion stole the show on Sunday too.

Cheers Andy and hopefully not too soon till you can see it. All went incredibly well other than a slow start on Saturday training everyone to ensure the layout ran well. Was really pleased it performed well and main issue was a traverser not working but easy to work around and it’s in the bench now to see why but at least scenic boards behaved for a change.

Well if it’s worse than me doing my laces whilst operating who knows what you have. Good thing you weren’t recording me like someone’s else hahaha

5224 on shed at Ropley

Ropley had a good weekend out at Basingstoke. Performed well all weekend with a bit of a bumpy start Saturday morning as we trained the team to understand the new electrics. Also as we kept Kevin away from the soldering iron. Sunday the layout preformed the best I think it ever has done so was over the moon and was all packed away in record time too couple of photos from the weekend although I was only able to take some first thing Sunday morning being the only one knowing how it all worked. through the trees 5224 sits in light steam with the 08 ready to send it over to the pit line as Nelson has already come off shed. The 9f sits behind a new place to take a photo from. standing on top of a container in the car park getting down some parts of locos for the sheds we see lion arrive with the breakdown crane. and lastly a full yard and the arrival of wadebridge on the first up trip to Alton

Ah got you good to be able to put a face to the name and meet you in person.

Thank you seemed to go down really well with people at the show over the weekend many being from the railway itself. unfortunately no plans to build any of the other stations with Ropley being 32ft creates a challenge already although a few years back we were thinking of linking with Alton station modelled by the Alton club. And medstead once came on the cards but never went any further. Ropley now has a new challenge coming up soon as I look for a new place to move to in due course. Big layout to accommodate but currently we get 8ft up at a time only which makes it tricky sometimes a bit more.

Hi Nick you should have said Hi always good to meet people who follow the page in person. There was nearly always someone from the railway in front of the layout yesterday l. Good to talk to a few of them and had a long discussion with the wagon group team who are at the show too as well as others who have helped get the layout into a good place. Hopefully some networking may help for some of the upcoming projects.

Ropley performed well today more operating errors than faults for a change. Expected as it’s all been re wired even I didn’t know every answer. First mega shunt completed at a show which was a challenge as as I started it seemed to get caught every 2 min by people asking questions which was nice plus had to answer a load of questions when the layout was being judged. Ropley was very well received. Let’s see how tomorrow goes but I hear it’s a diesel gala as we did a steam gala today. Hopefully I get some good photos tomorrow morning when we do a photoshoot with it as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but space as previous show issues have prevented us doing. One more show invite today hopefully some more tomorrow.