chriscleveland

A couple more photos I have been sent after a weekend out with the layout as I didn’t take any. Now it’s time to start looking at the issue we had with the fiddleyard at Alton not talking to the main panel on the over ride and tidy up some wiring as well as fix some bits that fell off on the weekend

A great weekend at Alton show where Ropley broke cover after a few years off the circuit. Think for me the thing that made the show was just how many people stopped took one glance and realised that it was Ropley as I forgot to make up some signage to say Ropley I think I only had a plant bed and station sign that did. Lots of learnings taken away from the weekend so plenty to start looking into to get it working more effectively which was slightly expected after not being out in full for nearly a year but always something to do including improving stock performance

If you do make it make sure you come and say hello

Hahaha how time flys hopefully we’re not too far apart at the show your have to come over and have a go I still need to fit the flashing light once I get the new forklift plus have a look at the shed doors (hint, hint)

Ropley was shown at Alton on its second ever outing and half the buildings were still cardboard shame this is the only photo I have of it but can definitely see the difference

We can’t wait although slightly nervous it’s not been up in full for a while

well it’s finally been announced Ropley is going back out to a few shows and it’s first appearance will be Febex at Alton model railway show in Feb

Ropley loco fleet has been getting final transfers to get them ticked off the to do list as the layout is down and won’t be up next in full till February. the last loco transfers are mainly on smoke box doors 76017 has been rebuilt with a metal chassis with the airfix 4mt kit so I can finally move it about the layout and uncouple it from its tender and shunt both separately something I would like to do with swanage once I can find a way to get it to move. Will probably need either a new chassis from the airfix one or a donor Hornby West Country not many locos left to finish all going well then it will be working on the car park and building site as I’m not sure what this area is missing but it’s defiantly something I’m not happy with! Then it will be into making a new boxing in system for transport and soon brand new backscene again I know really happy it’s progressing nicely again but could do with some inspiration to help push standards up before the layout came down I managed to do some touching up filling in areas missing ballast, areas in the yard that have been scuffed thought I was a good opportunity to take a photo with t he atlas crane.

As Cheltenham has just run out on its boiler ticket I thought it’s wise to post my finished model on it being modelled when it first arrived from overhaul

End of the day at Ropley

Evening at Ropley

Sorting out board joints today and thought some photos of a full headshunt wouldn’t go a miss. it’s nice to think I’ve nearly finished all the locos that are in this photo at last

Yes Cheltenham would have just arrived at the railway in the timescale crazy how times fly hopefully get to see both in steam again soon

Wow another project completed and I’m over the moon with it. Here we see lord Nelson and Cheltenham at Ropley. This wasn’t easy as both locos have had a respray and all transfers added as well as varnish coats. I can say I’ve surprised myself with how they have turned out. I also am extremely happy that the greens have turned out slightly differently by the ways I varnished them to make Cheltenham shine a little more to Nelson as Cheltenham entered service later on. I wasn’t a fan with Cheltenham to start with but after all this work out will make lots of appearances going forward. Nelson has always been a bit ambitious to my modelling skills and a Loco I really wanted to get right and looking at it now I can’t be happier as Nelson now gives me a full fleet of very nicely running engines for the operational fleet in the timeframe I’ve modelled the layout in. With the motivation on working on the layout at an all time high I better get a shopping list together for the next projects watch this space as my next orders are already in waiting for me really can’t wait to get Ropley up in full so some running and above all finally make some videos

Lord Nelson and Cheltenham arrive on shed at Ropley after terminating and leaving the coaches at Alresford station

As well as working on the hills on the layout my attention has also turned to finishing more of the loco fleet. This mainly consists of renaming and renumbering as all the locos I can get moving that are displayed as under overhaul or awaiting overhaul are done until I can find new chassis for them. gala visitor dominion of New Zealand is seen drying in its varnish coat after a rename and renumber from fellow classmate commonwealth of Australia

The hill continues I might be a bit ahead of the posts but thought I never really do mini updates as I do projects. First time Ropley has had a saw taken to it in years. This was to remove the roundness of the hill to make it look more natural. Definitely makes a big difference in my opinion

At last I feel like I’m getting somewhere again. I’ve found my modelling mojo and it’s time to really start pushing the layout forward again! I’m loving the idea of scenic blocks and the plan for redoing the water tower board is in full swing. Below shows some of the work progressing and a bonus is I’ve found more of my fencing. This means the first photo will be the last with the old fence on as I will remove a large part of it, not all of it and replace it as the second photo shows. I’ve also straightened out the path as I’m adding the new fencing as I’ve seen a drone video over Ropley and noticed I got it wrong by curving the path. The hardest thing is finding photos of the embankment area a lot has changed like kings cross footbridge, removal of trees, removal of woodland walk, car park being redone, relocation of miniature railway, signal boxes added, new park and the list goes on. even now the yard has changed massively this makes it so hard to model at times but I’m up for the challenge

I’ve been debating what to do with the front of the layout for a while and decided it’s time to take action. Been having another play with trees and decided that the whole front of the layout needs a change to give it the view you used to get when the woodland walk was there before the kings cross bridge and to sort out the area as a whole as this was done in my earlier days of modelling I’m already liking the idea of looking through the trees

Not much has been going on with Ropley as i need to work out what i need to get hold of for my next projects. I've mainly been working on stock as i tested every piece out last time the layout was out and to my disappointment some of the fleet are not fit for purpose mainly my locos under restoration so trying to find a way to get around this. Swanage seems to be the hardest as west country's are so expensive and i really don't fancy chopping up a new Hornby model and spares are just as bad 😐 trying to find a chassis has never been so tough as i think this is the only way around it to replace the airfix kit chassis. Luckily other engines are getting there and some are just a case of weight so i need to find a way to weigh them down. I've attached some of the photos from last time the layout was up as i don't seem to have many posted on here 😀

Another day another project. One thing I have learnt making Ropley is long have gone the days of just buying a train and putting it on the tack and playing with it. Although some start like this they eventually reach the workbench. Here mhr resident ivatt 41312 has reached that stage. Out of use in the timeframe means out will come the cutting tools to empty that coal bunker and build an empty one for the loco. As can be seen from the photo I’ve added it’s protective hat to the funnel which is common to see on out of use locos to stop the bad weather getting into the loco. Ivatt was also causing me issues at its last show so only being a static I have decided to remove its motor and wiring to clear that short and make shunting easier with the loco not fighting the shunters.

Another loco project completed ! Mid Hants railway resident loco Thomas has now been built. Thomas is my first loco I’ve cut up and made from plastic that is operational using a DJ models J94 as it’s chassis

A few photos from seeing the layout yesterday was great fun running trains

Ropley might have been quiet as of late but I can assure everyone lots of small projects are slowly coming together. Here we see a view through the trees on the hill down into the yard and an 08 arriving with a warwell wagon which will be part of another upcoming project.