Annie

'Fly' about to leave Debton station (GNJt.R) for the return journey to Seaside Magna. Just as a by the way that leading coach is a litho and its sides are completely flat. All the apparent depth to the panelling you can see is done with shading and texture work and is entirely illusionary. Needless to say I'm rather proud of that coach and I regard it as being one of my better efforts. A snap I took of the river wharf at Debton. The coal barges beside the wharf are actually made for TTTE digital railways and are surprisingly good models. Across the river you can see the timber mill and wood products factory which is served by its own branchline.. And just to round off the snaps I took while doing some work on the layout here's the Treacle Works at Seaside Magna. The grim rusty looking buildings on a higher level above the Treacle factory are part of the steelmill, - which is huge and is just about an entire layout in itself.

Paul of Paulz Trainz has just revealed to me a web page of NER goods rolling stock that isn't on his usual shop website and I feel like a kiddie that's just been thrown into a sweet shop. Unfortunately it's a week where I have to be terribly adult and pay horrible nasty boring bills so I can't go mad and buy everything just yet. I may be able to afford some NER 20 ton coal hoppers this week though, but but I might have to scratch a little down the back of the couch cushions for odd stray coins though.

Pocket money spent on a NER Class '59' (J22) by McDonnell (built 1883-1885). I placed the order for one in NER livery. These particular locomotives were somewhat underwhelming and were scrapped in 1930. The design by McDonnell had several faults which Worsdell tried to remedy in later years without success. Underpowered compared with the locomotives they were supposed to replace their fate was pretty much written up large after the Grouping. Basically they are a mixed traffic 0-6-0 with a lighter axle loading so the way I see it the NER would have only been too pleased to palm one or two off on the GNJt.R. They certainly are light enough to cross the wooden river bridge safely and that has always been the yardstick by which GNJt.R locomotives tend to be measured. As far as the GNJt.R is concerned if a locomotive can cross the bridge without breaking it and it can move under its own steam they'll take it. (I have devised some operating rules for the wooden river bridge which are rigorously adhered to during running sessions). I might rework a Class '59' into GNJt.R livery, - a job which would mostly involve lettering work and putting in place the Grand Navigation anchor crest, - and perhaps keep the other in NER livery. I'm presently going over the GNJt.R's locomotive stud and some engines might get quietly retired. Others might appear in new liveries too so it's not going to be a major sell off of redundant engines by any means. The wandering twiglet of a branch to the timber sawmill is where most old engines end up so some will be going there; - and that reminds me that I've got a few jobs to do down that way.

Did they give you superheating and Joy valve motion to help things along a bit Gary?

Go for it Sem you won't regret it. I downloaded quite a few UK layouts from the DLS and looked them over before I settled on the HUGE UK layout and Valleyfields (I have a nice GWR one as well, but I'm deliberately ignoring that at the moment). Most of the rejected layouts have been deleted now, but the great thing about downloading a layout is that all the scenic stuff and buildings come along with it and once the base layout file is deleted all those assets remain. That helps a lot because it means you don'r have to spend ages searching for things when it comes to making a start on making a basic downloaded layout your own. I have done some digital layout building from bare baseboards, but I quite enjoy the challenge of having a layout's landscape as a given quality and then having to think like the railway builders of old had to do with building things up to fit into that landscape.

Thanks James. The 'E1' is actually a 'never-been-an-E1' J72, - one of the LNER built ones rather than a NER built one so it has a different cab, - but that's a small detail I overlook since this particular engine shouldn't have really been built yet. In my little world the GNJt.R rebuilt the cab on one of their second hand J72's around 1920 in that style and the LNER stole the idea. The blue livery was a complete happy accident as normally on the GNJt.R lined black is the passenger livery and grey is the goods livery. Somehow while working on modding the loco's original textures I ended up with that shade of blue so I decided to go with it. There are two other J72's in this blue livery, - 'Hornet' and 'Wasp' and they mostly work the local passenger, milk and parcel trains between Seaside Magna and Debton; - a distance of around 7 or 8 scale miles. This particular layout, - which I call the 'HUGE UK' layout is BIG with around 100 scale miles of trackwork. I originally downloaded the base layout I started with from Auran's Download Station and immediately saw that it had good 'bones' with regard to landscaping and especially the river and coastal areas. I've done a lot to it since with doing major rebuilding and detailing on towns, building up and improving the industries on the layout and largely totally rebuilding what is now the GNJt.R's Seaside branch as well as dozens and dozens of other things too numerous to mention. The lovely views are very much a part of this layout and I have done my best to enhance them without (hopefully) taking anything away from their visual delights. The layout is large enough to get lost in and I do that fairly often. It's my own little immersive world where I can go and play trains, plant trees, and generally detail everything to my heart's content and on those days when I'm not so well I can completely forget about being ill and being an invalid. (Warning computer Geek alert!)The one problem with doing that though is that the graphics and memory loading on my computer has now reached the point where I'm going to have to upgrade my graphics card again and increase the RAM in my computer from 6Gb to 8Gb. After that it will have to be a new computer as my present one has reached the limit of how far it can be hotrodded upgraded. Fortunately the local computer recycling/refinishing businesses are starting to get ex-lease quad core i5's in stock now so a 'new' computer won't be a too awful expense for me. I'm running a dual core 3Ghz processor in my present computer and while I can't remember the model number of the processor off the top of my head it's one of the really really good ones.

Terriers got everywhere. Here's one of the Terriers belonging to the GNJt.R. It actually started out as a 'Thomas' Stepney which I 'defaced' because it was a better base model to work on than the proper ones on the DLS. I mostly spent my modelling time today catching up with various jobs along the GNJt.R and one I've been meaning to do for a while was build the GNJt.R station at Debton so GNJt.R trains won't have to annoy the GWR anymore by using their station. After doing semi-serious stuff on the NER side of things it was nice to have a mess around with my imaginary railway company. Here's 'Fly' a very finely turned out J72 with the 'express' which is the all stations twice daily train from Seaside Magna to Debton. The coaches are my own litho style ones vaguely based on ancient GWR designs. A perfect example of the GNJt.R's inability to make up its mind about coaching stock liveries. The station building is based on Stromeferry with the addition of a small awning. The 'express' arriving at Debton station (GNJtR). A totally fudged up static posed screenie as I didn't want to quit the editor to do a 'in motion' screenie. The station staff are slightly overwhelmed with parcels and milk churns that need to be loaded into the 6 wheel birdcage road van. Some of it might have to be loaded into the ancient luggage 3rd. General view. It's a wee bit of a long walk along that footpath to get to the town.

Yay! a wild and elusive Pug has been captured! Well done, - and of course we shall await further developments with possibly bated breath and popcorn at the ready.

NER C1's waiting for signals. These are from Paulz Trainz, but with sight texture modding by me. Older models now, but still very nice.

Yes best of luck Gary and a speedy recovery.

I actually own a cutter Simon, but with the cognitive deficits I'm afflicted with due to narcolepsy I can't use it. Anyone want to buy a brand new hardly ever been used Silhouette cutter? - coz I've got one going cheap

Some folk won't have access to laser cutting machines though Simon. I live waaaaaaaay out in the rural countryside and I'm housebound as well so I would really need to have a proper kit.

Out and about on the Seaside branch with a J70 on a local train. Part of the route is roadside running so the J70's have been needed on the branch for a while now. There were a lot more screenies than that from this passenger run, but I think these ones are the best out of the collection.

I think initially Linny just the coach bodies in card would be fine; - or at least for me anyway as I have suitable coarse scale 'O' underframes to hand that could be adapted.

I know you've got your hands full at the moment Linny, but will there eventually be 7mm scale kits available too?

What lovely locomotives. Locomotive designers certainly knew about aesthetics back then. If I had to pick one it would be the 'Sharpie'.

That was indeed a good haul Sem. The clerestories and the Coal Tank would be considered good enough, but three baseboards for free really slathers the icing on the cake.

Once coal trains have crossed the river bridge they are handed over to the care of more serious and powerful 0-8-0's by various shunting and setting back manoeuvres into a long siding provided for the purpose. Once the NER T1's take over it's out on the mainline. Which as it happens is owned by the GWR, but by virtue of inexplicable running powers granted to the GNJt.R back in the dim mists of time the newly devised LNER are still able to use. On the climb up to Debton station (GWR) it became very plain the the lead T1 was neither producing any smoke from its chimney, nor was it actually doing anything to help and was in fact being pushed up the hill by the second T1 which was also having to struggle with the whole weight of the coal train. Sooooooo the leading engine got sent to the naughty chair of shame by being shunted into the GWR MPD at Debton until it could be fetched to be mended. I think the poor thing was ashamed to be still carrying a BR number on its cabside so I'll have to fix that. Fortunately there were no further problems for the rest of the journey. Which ended at my steampunk version of a gasworks which may or may not actually look like what a gasworks is supposed to look like. And that's all from my latest episode of playing with my trainset.

As the grouping begin to take hold the newly devised LNER has sent ex-NER J73's to work the coal trains over the slightly fragile wooden river bridge on the GNJt.R's Seaside branch. At least two young schoolboys (Their Mum supervising with a stern eye) seem pleased to see them even if the GNJt.R crews are still a bit doubtful. And the aforementioned bridge. Some strengthening work has been carried out, but heavier locomotives than the J73's are still banned. Earlier snaps taken with my virtual box Brownie of the coal train in transit. On the approach to the river bridge. The J73's are by Paulz Trainz and are older models from his stable, but are still very nice. The fate of the GNJt.R's second hand Wainwright R1's is at present uncertain. And ex-NER J72's in the livery of their new masters are also starting to appear on the GNJt.R's Seaside branch. Where will it all end?! (A small point of explanation: - The Grand Navigation Shipping & Railways Co's joint partner is or was the NER, - hence the GNJt.R or Grand Navigation Joint Railway.)

Personally I find that 'vague' is a good thing when it comes to the pre-group era.

Yes I thought it would be one of those nice little touches to add to the general village scene.

If you're going to have cyclists in and around Castle Aching the local hostelry might need one of these on an outside wall. http://www.wingedwheels.info

I've been looking at old photos of GCR 0-6-2 tank engines and this one doesn't seem to be lined out, but of course it's impossible to tell if it's black or bronze green. There seems to be a different colour toning between the smoke box and the boiler which makes me wonder if it's unlined bronze green, but it really is difficult to say if it is one way or the other.

Oh dear my mis-spent past finds me out Gosh, - that seems so long ago now. Life, bringing up two children, my marriage going down the tubes and then later on training as a social worker all conspired to take me away from railway modelling for quite a long time. When I started again it was in coarse scale 'O' gauge which was a lot of fun. And now I'm a digital railway modelling girl.

With their 7ft driving wheels GER 'Clauds' are just soooooooo much fun to drive. And on a more mundane level here's a GCR 9F (N5) 0-6-2 tank engine on a semi-fitted goods train. The GCR 9F tank engines were complete all rounders that could cope with shunting, trip freight working and working passenger trains as well. They were really useful engines. I think my one should be in lined bronze green, but I don't feel brave enough to try modding its textures yet. A lovely flexible digital model to drive with nicely done physics and engine spec. More then likely the GCR section on the Valleyfields layout is going to be largely worked by GCR 9F tank engines simply because they are so versatile.