number6

Sorted. I also had a little google and found the WHHR which is distinct from the WHR. Phew!

Me not understand either! Have I got this right: that the connection through Porthmadog [paid I think partly with public money] is therefore unlikely to be used? Or have I mixed up my geography?

I really like the FREMO concept - do your own thing then bring it together for a communal effort - I have also spotted a fair number of images of FREMO operators with lovely looking bottles of German beer to hand - [which is nice!].

I'm going to have to change gauge if you do.

Sounds interesting - you can do no harm having a look through these images on the Bluebell archive - annoyingly small with big copyright symbol on them but inexpensive to order and fast to arrive by post if any take your fancy. Definitely search for anywhere alone the Cuckoo Line as well as Polegate and Eastbourne. There are some super photos of a Terrier and LBSCR motor set working the line in the 50s: Terrier 32636 extraordinary as that is the same stock as 60 years before. You can also divert all those inter regional trains with foreign stock down the Ouse valley line. Bluebell archive Cuckoo Line images by date best Raphael

That Balloon idea is worth its weight in Static Grass Applicators! I wouldn't be surprised if Noch took a contract out on you - if the balloon thing takes off! Brilliant. Nice open spaces on your layout. Don't fill it up too much. cheers Raphael

Very nice. I've always been very fond of this building [unfashionable I know...] I prefer this architectural style over the 'Shard' glass and steel everywhere anyday. Amazing sounding project.

Bet you are glad you arent wandering around there today [in the rain]. My Uncle's train caught fire at Copyhold Junction many moons ago and I always think of his tale when passing here: As he and the guard fought it with all the fire extinguishers they could carry a lady with a very posh voice poked her head out of the 1st class window above the smoke and uttered: "Its terribly smoky!" - The sharp repost was "Shut the effin' window then!"

Nice! - the glazing even sort-of replicates those fogged windows you used to get in cold weather! I get that unintentioned effect with stray super glue...

Sliced a big piece of 5mm foamboard into a 90 degree curved board today. Used Evo-Stik wood glue - worked in the past - and small veneer pins to hold it together. I will remove the pins and encase the sides and ends in thin ply when its all set solid. This is to create low walls to stop things diving to the floor as well as to add to the stiffness. The track should probably go on an underlay of some sort. I'm thinking that the neoprene route is probably better than cork as the latter is quite heavy. It is remarkably light and level. If you hold one end [in one hand!] there is only a slight amount of twist - perhaps a couple of mm over the length. I think this half proves that with some proper support or legs it will be more than rigid enough. Will need to test that with the heaviest stock I can find!

If its good enough for Pempoul then its good enough for me! I hadn't thought of using a solid piece - I actually have lots of Celotex insulation board left over from some building work and might see if I can't use some of this. Also considering if its posible to hinge two sections together AND where I can use my trusty LEGO as well...

Intriguing. I had a ramble past the viaduct a few years ago - you could climb up into the central arches and look down the middle of the whole thing - its an incredible structure. The valley drops a great deal more than it does on your 'found' version but I think with the extra fiddly bits it should pass muster. Go south from here and you can make your fiddle yard entry look like the junction at Copyhold! If you are going for a site visit you must use the footpath over the line just south of Balcombe and if you walk north from the viaduct on the east side of the line [another footpath I believe] you can just make out an intermediate signal box or certainly the remains of from the first overbridge... Depending on the time of year you model it you may have to take shares out in etched bracken.

Did I hear someone say: no door hinges?! Do you think you can chop a HAP out of the same bits? I'm amazed that these MLV bits are available yet the RTR version never seems to ever appear. Or have I missed something?

Been working on the turnback at the south end today, drawing it up full-size and trying to get the right compromise between minimum radius and space used. I tested lots of my argumentative rolling stock and found that pretty much everything would go around an 800mm curve [just under 32in]. I've made this the inside radius and designed these boards to be three tracks wide - the actual width of the board is 165mm with 50mm track centres. These will not be scenic boards and removable when not running. I hope to build three sections to turn through 225 degrees. There is a convenient point to spring off the wall at the very end of the room, where one join can be, the second is above a big table so a short leg and foot can stand on this. The last section will have some conventional trestle legs or a single leg 'foot' before bridging back to the wall section in a long transition reverse curve. I want it to be as lightweight and unobtrusive as possible. I may have a go at building these in foamboard with thin ply outers as I was really impressed by Chris Nevard's use of this material for his baseboards. I've used it for small scenic sections and I can source lots of scrap material for free. If this doesn't work: conventional cut ply top with ply 'walls'. To trace the curves I drilled a few holes in a long piece of scrap ply and ran a bolt through a block with some double sided tape on the base. This was then easy to draw the arcs required by sticking a pencil through the hole and tracing a line. You can see some of my amateur trigomometry on the wallpaper... after three tries I never did get my O-Level maths.

Some more stuff on the history of this project. The previous Southerham thread and The one before that and The summary in the challenge competition Boy I enjoyed taking part in that!

Glad I can count on you three for support! Russ - I can hardly say I have persevered, I just find that my interest in this place remains. It is definitely also tied up with memories and family history too. I could paint my own house and my Grandparents old one on the backscene and locate endless rambles and picnics on the downs and river banks. Its all very misty eyed! Perhaps also because the more I research, learn and find out, the more it lives. I also love finding new images of the area - recently discovered loads in the JJ Smith archive at the Bluebell: gold mine! But what about that 2mm Woodhead route down this wall or the 7mm Newhaven Town idea I had...

2009 has been a rubbish year of modelling for me. I feel like I've tinkered with stuff rather than making any progress. But what I do think I have achieved is some progress on the planning of Southerham MkIII. The first was the RMweb challenge layout, II was the extended version that still operates and fustrates in equal measure and III would be a huge tail chaser with more of all the things I enjoyed from the first two. So with apologies to anyone who remembers me blathering on like this two years ago here is the next installment. I really enjoyed the constraints of the small space and packed as much as I could into the challenge layout. But my real hankering is for a big layout. Not just long sweeping curves and sidings you can lose a few wagons in but a recreation of the linear space the real railway has. I like the approach to a town and the junctions, sidings and yards you pass as the train slows for the stop. My home town of Lewes was blessed with a very complex and compact network where, until 1969, five routes converged [and a goods line avoided]. There were fairly extensive yards to the south of the town and a goods yard in the town itself. There was a mix of steam and electric services since the mid 1930s as well as great variety on the way to and from the port at Newhaven. The seaside resorts to the east also provide lots of variety during the summer months with workings from the north, even into the late 60s car sleepers worked to Newhaven and Eastbourne. Lastly the proximity of Brighton and the works meant that lots of running in and testing was also conducted through Lewes - my particular favourite being Bulleid's Leader. The everyday electrics were varied and often the East Coastway was the last resort of many elderly units: NOLs, CORs, BILs even the CIGs and VEPs running their final services here. There won't be a station except perhaps Southease and Rodmell - which is a classic SR Concrete halt with footbridge. The intention is to create a slice of Sussex chalk downland and floodplain down the side of the room. Make it long and narrow, lightweight and as unobtrusive as possible. Parts of it ought to be removable so I can use the space for other things. Even in this truncated state it will still be operable, with small focuses of interest: A new version of the exchange sidings at Southerham, The end of the yard at Lewes East, The up sidings alongside Lewes East box. There is still room in the plan for a minimal version of the Uckfield line but I think unlike earlier plans I'm going to leave it out, even though I love the sharp curves, bridges and viaducts of the line as it climbs away from the station. There are three sketches here of how I envisage the scenic sections - at the rear is a long staging area that stretches the length of the layout. This is much simpler and less complex than previous versions [believe it or not!]. More detail in a future post. Looking North. Station to left. Southerham Bridge on right. Storage board in background. Southerham Bridge top left, with junction and sidings in cutting, Eastbourne line off stage in centre, Glynde Reach bridge and Southease in foreground. Storage loops at back. Below: simple schematic. Looking South East. Lewes East box in centre where Goods avoiding line carries on straight. Mainline to station curves in centre. Southerham bridge to the south. Oh, its 4mm 00, probably a mix of Tillig and C&L, just like the Southerham MkI, with a sprinkling of handbuilt trackwork to recreate the junction at Lewes East correctly.

I think I'm here too. Feeling a bit grumpy, disorientated and wondering what happened there... Bit like after a Christmas do!