Rich Papper

Hello Not sure which bit you mean, but hopefully some pics will answer. Lower wall is strips of plasticard with stones scribed and interspersed with balustrade from Langley Models (very glad someone made this!). The top edge is a strip of plastruct (cat: 90756). I needed this a bit thicker as the top of the wall has a slightly rounded profile as can be seen in earlier pictures of the real thing. I just stuck it on with mekpak and took a file to it. The top of the upper wall is slightly more complicated by the wider abutments. I capped this with a thinner strip of plastruct (cat: 90745) and then cut strips off a larger sheet to take into account the wider sections of wall on top of the abutments. Again, mekpak and then a file. Hope this helps. Rich PS, the next section is coming together - much blue styrofoam in evidence again. Thank you all for your kind words - baby 2 taking up quite a bit of time so progress even slower than usual.

Hi Richard, Only just seen the video about your big recycling task. Best of luck with it, I'm sure if it is half as good as this it will be better than anything I could manage! Never an easy decision, but I'm sure you'll give it your all. I used MDF on Oxford Road. No problems after 10 years with sagging (each board is only 1foot by 3), the only issue is my back - they weigh a ton! Looking forward to the next chapter. Rich

Hi Sam, Chanced upon your thread a few days ago and have spent a very pleasant few evenings reading through. Very impressed with your attention to detail - it looks fantastic. I'll keep following with interest, but better make a start on your workbench one next. Thanks Rich

Hi Alex, Good to meet you at the Cheltenham show earlier. Agree with the above, the extension looks great already. I particularly like your loco shed. I need to scratch build something similar for my home layout (in all the spare time that comes with having two children under two!). Only sorry that my son's attention didn't last long enough to see more of the stock. Keep up the good work. Rich

Hello Platform tunnel is about 10.5cm diameter, approach tunnels about 5cm in diameter. Lined with plasticard the approach tunnels are snug (but then should be), but I do worry if I ever do get some 1967/72 stock it might be a bit close. Both tubes were standard sizes sold in my local post office. Was a few years ago now but I can't think why they'd have changed them much. Hope this helps. Rich

Hello Just discovered this and loving it so far. Looking forward to seeing more, keep up the good work. Rich

Baby! Developments may slow down a tad. Rich

A quick update. I thought I'd done quite a lot: filling, priming, sanding, and repeat on the 115, but now I look at these pictures it doesn't look a lot different to those above. All filling now done, including some very narrow gaps in the cut and shut joins. Attention has now turned to the interiors - trying to match a colour to the formica used on refurbishment, bufferbeams and bogies. Latter will take some thinking as I need electrical pickup. Have managed to successfully stretch the chassis for the TS. Quite enjoying myself. Rich

SJP models do one through shapeways, but might work out a bit more than the Knightwing. I have the feeling postage costs a bit. Worth a rummage though, lots of other handy things. https://www.shapeways.com/product/BT67V66LJ/l-04-point-heating-transformers-pack-of-10?optionId=43864683 Rich

Hello All, An Underground update as a break to the many and varied DMUs (OK not that varied). Have been asked a couple of times recently about the platform surface for the Underground. It's about 10 years since I did this now and there may be something better commercially available, but at the time I couldn't find anything so i just knocked something up on Paint. Vaguely based on Oxford Circus or Charing Cross for colour, tactile strip, 'Mind the Gap' markings. Some have requested a print / copy. I just ran it off on photo quality paper on my home printer and it looked OK, same for the wall tiles to give that enameled effect. If it is of any use to anyone anywhere it is attached below. Please feel free to share at will, I'm not going to make my fortune this way! Rich Underground Platform Surface.doc

Latest DMU fiddling. Those grooves in the roof of the Lima bubblecar....... ...not the worst idea I've ever had. Close though. Rich

I've had the same problem. I fitted extra pickups following Temeraire's excellent advice, and all manner of bits pinged off the first one. I found all but one brakeshoe but it was a real fiddle getting them all back on. When I came to the second 73 I carefully went all over the joins of the detail bits on the bogie with a tiny paintbrush and some mekpak before I took it apart. So, far nothing missing. Rich

It won't last Mark - baby 2 imminent! But I knew this was going to take years. Rich

Only a small update as have realised I haven't included any NSE stock yet. Just not good enough is it? Courageous at signal with what on the timetable used to be known as a 'Network Express'. Rich

A small DMU update. 115 bodies nearly there. Large front window filled, much filling and filing, roof vents, lost the corridor connections, rebuild brake connections, building headcode box up a bit (looks straighter in real life I promise), more primer to come to see if more filler is needed. So half a 115? Good question. Inspired by a picture on Martin Loader's excellent site hondawanderer.com. You'll have to type it in to search, as you can't link to it. Do go and have a look if you've never seen it, it is fantastic but VERY addictive. Rich

There's a rather good picture of this section on P42-43 of the new Rail magazine (818). Might be useful. Loving your pictures. Rich

Iris waiting at signal at far right hand end of the section showing colouring so far. Needs a lot of greenery hanging all over it at some point. Waiting to have time to sort the removable bits behind so I can still access hidden sidings. Other end. I have done the iron footbridge in the middle. Appalling lighting. Garage conversion with one single energy save bulb in the middle of the ceiling. Will get a strip light one day. Rich

I think it was early in 2016 in Model Rail. I had a look at it, but had already done most of this. Besides lacking relief, it suffered the same problem as I had with the commercially available stone walling I had looked at. The first problem is the regularity of the blocks themselves. Bath stone (an oolitic limestone for those making notes), is very easy to shape into regular blocks, but as the pictures below show there is only need to make them regular in one dimension to make a wall. In short, all the rows are the same height, but the blocks themselves are irregular in length. The second issue is how closely they fit together - there is very little if any mortar between them. All of the available stone walling I could find was either completely irregular in block sizes, or regular in both dimensions so it looked like a breeze block wall. I'm certainly not a rivet counter, they could have been painted and weathered the right colour, but they wouldn't have looked right. Shows the regular rows, but irregular block lengths. Also heavy weathering. Trying to be accurate. My long suffering wife. 'We'll have a day out at the park my love, it's a lovely day...' I'm not a slave to this level of accuracy. I missed out some of the curved transitions to the bridges and shortened it considerably. It just seemed like the best way to do it. Of course if I'd known how long it was going to take! Rich

It's quite horrific isn't it? I know there have been all sorts of petitions by the local civic societies to get something done that is at least 'in keeping' with the area. They've got plenty of time to rally around - at current rates of electrification there won't be any wires there in the next 20 years. A few more pics below. This is the section next to the Sydney Gardens bit. Have been looking at ways of creating embankments and shaping the landscape that are a little more resilient and child friendly than wire mesh. This was various bits of styrofoam glued together with PVA. When all set it was attacked with a surform to get the rough shape. Then a layer of cheap B&Q polyfiller over the top, quick wash of brown emulsion and then hanging basket liner in the normal way. A bit messy getting the shape, but easy and quite satisfying. Polyfiller. Tried some of the fast drying stuff - wasn't as good - set too fast to get smooth layer so had to sand it a bit (our house walls are like swiss cheese!) Hanging basket liner. Still needs another haircut. You'll notice a prevalence of Humbrol 29 on the track Pete 75C! Rich

Hopefully it will look something like this one day. I chose the location as I liked it and seemed to have the fit space to give it a (compressed) go. Weirdly given the time scribing each individual stone it seems to be the most finished bit. Rich

https://youtu.be/ZsfNbgbtaQM Some camtruck footage taken last year. Sorry don't know how to embed it as a little window. Some changes since but a 1 year old helping is not conducive to rapid progress! Hopefully makes sense of some of the waffling above. Track plan attached below too. Rich

OK, first and most importantly: it's not Catford. It's nothing like Catford, in fact I don't think I've ever actually been to Catford. But my wife likes cats and when we moved into this house she gave me a whole room, so it works for me! What follows is a vague and rambling story of the home layout I have been tinkering with since moving house about four years ago (2012). I have an (accidental) exhibition layout called Oxford Road (link should be in signature below), but came into a bit more space when we moved and did the usual eyes bigger than my stomach thing. I went through various plans: different levels, exhibition layout, finding a way to incorporate Oxford Road, and most fell by the wayside. As usual the biggest problem was wanting too much from the available space and not being completely happy with settling on one particular location. Also in my mind were the job that steals about 15 hours of every day, my two nephews who live next door (3 and 5 years old - play value needed!) and our family expanding (my son is 1 and we have another baby due in February) - I realised this one would be a bit of a slow burner so I wanted there to be enough for me to be satisfied sorting little bits at a time, and keep me sane in my sleep deprivation My solution is a bit of a strange one: I decided to make four totally different layouts / areas / scenes in one layout so that I would be happy just operating or working on one bit at a time. Early days, but I hope this will keep me ticking along and let me keep working on stock for Oxford Road as well. First requirement was most ambitious: given the play value for small people, could I fit a twin track roundy-roundy in without it looking like a train set? Fitting it round (or mostly under) the other scenes should mean that when finished it shouldn't be too obvious how one area links to another. This will help run stock in (very useful given that Oxford Road is only 9ft long!), and mean that Thomas has somewhere to hide! Second: somewhere to photograph / work on stock that is easily accessible, takes up little space (as there is a hidden fiddle yard behind) and I can watch trains on the loop go by. Inspiration here comes from a well known park in Bath called Sydney Gardens. I have had to compress it a bit, and it isn't entirely NSE, but I have fond memories of the place before NR stuck up the awful palisade fencing. Third: I keep building DMUs. Not sure why, might be becoming a bit of an addiction. I wanted a DMU stabling point / depot - needed to be long and thin - just at the point of planning buildings at the moment. Fourth and final: I wanted a station, and in particular one with third rail to park up my growing collection of EMUs. I had it in mind that this would work best as a terminus, so inspired by a visit to Caterham I've started work on a small station which is accessed by a gradient at the far end of the room and sits over the main lines (haven't really finalised this bit yet) All of this should mean that when finished I will be able to leave two main lines running around (both have hidden passing loops to add variety / confusion at a later date), shunt to my heart's content in a DMU depot and run trains from the fiddle yard to the station at the higher level as well. Pictures below of progress (such as it is so far). Boards are built, all track is down, wired and working with an NCE ProCab. All point motors are in place and decoders present, some are connected. If I haven't added to this in the next ten years, it was still too ambitious. Rich A converted garage with some Ikea bits, and a lot of plywood. Preliminary fiddling with plasticard for retaining walls. Couldn't find anything like Bath stone, so scribed my own. Nearly killed me. Preliminary painting of walls. Trying to match Bath stone.

115 now together. I am only doing half of one at the moment - long story. Next stop primer and then we'll see how much more filler it needs. Then roof vents if I can figure out where they go. Rich

Hello All. After quite a big gap (baby and home layout development), I have at last got around to doing something towards Oxford Road, at least in terms of rolling stock. Still with the unshakable belief that you can never have too many DMUs, half a 115 is coming together from some Lima bits. I know there are a million things wrong with the Lima model, and that the new Bachmann 117 will undoubtedly be a better starting point - but I already had all the bits and I'm just really enjoying doing it. Some areas I will bother to correct (first window, headbox etc.) others I can live with on the grounds of either cost, uniformity with the rest of the fleet, or to avoid it being so fragile that my son destroys it! Hopefully more soon. Also working on: centre car for Kernow Thumper (+ full repaint) class 121DTS/101DTCL hybrid set (Lima bits again - spares allowed me to do Daisy DMU for the boy!) class 101 repaint into NSE (from Lima version of NSE) + chassis / motor upgrade class 121 repaint into NSE In all the spare time that comes with having a 1 year old and another one on the way! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and is planning a peaceful new year. Rich

Hello. Just stumbled across this and spent a happy hour reading through. Really liking the quality and attention to detail, thank you for sharing. Looking forward to the next bit. Rich