jimbofin

You can still pick up the Prototype Models Kits, for instance from Antics https://anticsonline.uk/Category/Bilt-Eezi--Prototype-Card-Kits_N1940 I have a small stash from my own ideas for building an Em version of TAoC. However the printing, by modern standards, leaves a lot to be desired. I've even tried improving them in Photoshop with no success. So my suggestions. First of all you could buy the kits and use them as a template, perhaps using some Scalescenes textures to replace the originals. But on TAoC the buildings are very close to the viewer, so it might be worth using laser cut kits. York Model Rail do a suitable groundframe, though I would be tempted to put a signal cabin on the platform. Arch Laser do a Fairford Goods shed. Years ago, I got Lcut to produce a lasercut version of the platform building. Somewhere, in amongst packing cases, I still have the preproduction version. And Intentio do a GWR weighbridge. Hope this helps

First of all glad to see TAoC has gone to a good home. If you look at the prototype plan of South Leigh in the same issue TAoC appeared in I suspect it provides a clue as to what partly inpsired the track plan.

@railroadbill The gauge scale combination lets you get into a small space, especially with some deliberate visual trickery that is inspired by theater design. A critical decision was to put the long forge building at a slight angle . It also helps that three of the corners are hidden in plain sight to disguise how sharp they are.

@railroadbill 300mm x350mm

@james hilton Iwas just pleased it wasn't derailed, which is my normal trick in photos

I'm sure most of you have seen @James Hilton's locos before. The ones on Flemish Quay are both identical to his earlier builds. I was pleased to find a Modelu figure to suit the Ruston. It really is tiny.

@Ben B It is quite literally the trainset oval from the Busch HOf starter sets. It is quite depressing looking back on these early photos, it has come on a long way, I hope. I've tried to make it rather like a theatre set without being too "tricksy" . For instance the slow speed of the Busch loco means they go out of sight long enough to convince you they have been somewhere

Here is the model of Chain Bridge Forge out of the box. The chain bridge was a lifting bridge over the Welland that was hand worked by pulling on chains. I'm incorporating a hand worked lifting bridge into the model, but of a different design. The forge isn't a bad model, I suppose. There is a lot of bare resin around details. Oddly the use of unpainted yellow resin for mortar is less obvious than you would think. They have done something a little odd with the name board. On the real thing it hangs off a bracket. On the model they have modelled the bracket, but then put the name below it on the wall. The combination looks odd. Not important unless you know the protoype the windows are white, not brown. I'm slowly painting them brown and I think the reason for making them white is that they make the unpainted resin interior much less visible.

It is designed to sit in a photo display board from ScaleModelScenery that I had lying around. It is built on a sub base of foamboard and blue foam which enables me to slide it in and out. In this small gauge being able to get full access to clean the track is vital. I'm not a fan of resin buildings, but I really had to make use of the forge having bought it. Having made that choice it has forced me to go with comparable textures. Fortunately I had a large supply of Redutex sheets that matched, although I still had to invest in more. One vital lesson I learned is these are best used in slightly warmer temperatures than those in my studio in midwinter. Although not a fan of resin, in the interests of time I have used a few models from AnyScaleModels. I think these are really aimed at wargamers, but one or two of them can be useful. Here I've used the shed, the fuel tank, and a sunken boat in the basin masquerading as one of the distinctive fen-lighters that once traded here.

Inspired by @James Hilton I've been working on a small OOn6.5 layout. This is partly to show off the two locos he has built for me, partly to make use of a new Hornby Skaledale model that is based on a local prototype, and, finally, to try out some new to me techniques ahead of building one last 4mm layout. The Hornby building is based on a local working heritage forge that I have a peripheral involvement in from time to time. The real building sits on the banks of the River Welland in Spalding, and the layout is vaguely based on that area. It is set around the period when the Welland was at the end of its days as a tidal commercial waterway.

I would add in my little Tanat Valley based micro-layout http://apavalley.blogspot.co.uk/