cgraham

On mine, I used Masonite (is that an international nomenclature?) on polystyrene extruded foam board insulated sheathing. Its the same stuff I use for a lot of my land contours as its very easy to work with. I cut the Masonite to overhang just a little, sanded the edge round and it produced a very satisfying effect. I tried a few different thicknesses of material until I found a combination that was perfect.

Ian, Artistic license goes a long way - like Goathland as Hogsmeade scrunched into 96" X 24".

"On the 11th of July 1861 the North Eastern Railway, formed by the amalgamation of the York and North Midland and three other Companies, obtained an Act of Parliament to build the deviation at a cost of £55,000, so that locomotives could haul goods and passengers up the hill, replacing the rope incline. The 4 1/2 mile route included seven new river bridges, one viaduct, four over-bridges and a new station called Goathland Mill. It was built adjacent to the mill which is just the other side of the access road bridge to the station. If you look over the road bridge at the station entrance towards the south, you can see where the river was diverted to build the new station and provide space for the goods yard. The deviation, over a mainly 1 in 49 gradient, opened on 1st July 1865. As time progressed the "Mill" part of the name was dropped and today it is simply known as Goathland. Much of the original 1836 track formation from Grosmont Tunnel to Fen Bog can still be seen from the train. There is a double footpath along most of the 1836 route between Goathland and Grosmont, including the infamous incline. This "Rail Trail" is well sign-posted and you can see the York and North Midland Railway and North Eastern Railway built cottages at the top and bottom of the incline, as well as some stone-built drainage channels beside the incline." -NYMR Goathland Station: A Brief History

Pelton Wheel and Stone Crusher The original power for the crusher was a stationary steam engine which was removed in 1900 when the boiler expired. Water power was harnessed as a cheaper option. A Pelton Wheel was supplied in 1936 to Mr. Sherratt at Goathland Whinstone Mine by Gilber Gilkes & Gordon of Kendal and replaced an earlier wheel which was worn out. It was used for driving the stone crusher and grader and also for hauling railway wagons up the quarry siding. The water supply came from a reservoir on the moor top above the station. The wheel remained in use until closure of the mine in 1951 and was then forgotten and buried. It was unearthed by the NYMR in 1969 and returned to use. It was used to drive a carriage dynamo which generated electric current for the original volunteers’ sleeping car for the first time on 26th October 1969. Nice collection of recent photos here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/17716-goathland-photos/

According to NYMR Goathland Station: A Brief History, a Levisham Station Group Publication (2010), "The only way between the two platforms was by the foot crossing. In 1984 the NYMR erected a standard NER cast iron footbridge to cope with the increasing passenger numbers. Recovered from Howden on North Tyneside, it became available due to the elctrification of the Tyneside Metro. It makes a high vantage point to view the trains arriving anbd departing the station. A similar foobrodge was erected at Pickering in 1996." http://www.nymr.co.uk/shop/Books.html

Hmph. 1969 - no point rodding...

Sasquatch, Re-worked my point rodding and made a number of other upgrades to Hogsmeade Station including flowering plants per Mrs. Sasquatch's inspiring artistry. I'll be showing it and the Hogwarts castle at the Mid-Eastern Region (MER) , National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Convention next week in Rockville, MD. http://home.comcast.net/~candp2013/ I also made some serious upgrades to Hogwarts boathouse - will post photos during/after the convention. Cheers, -Clay

Shaun wrote: "Couldn't live without mine! Its my first car BTW, having always been on 2 wheels in Europe!" While stationed at RAF Upper Heyford, I was a riding member of "Harley Davidson Riders of Great Briton" Bought the bike in Ogden, UT, shipped to the UK in my household goods, paid my road tax and sold it to a bike shop just before I left 2 years later for well more than I paid for it new. I miss that scoot. -Clay

I used Bragdon rock molds and resin products for the white portions in the shot below. Freaking scary process, especially wrangling the enormous mold used for the front of Mount Hogwarts, but I'm very happy with the results. The beige parts are cast in Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty - very tough, messy and heavy, but easy and reliable. I also used Durhams for blending/hand sculpting. After coating all with a flat white gesso, no discernible difference in how the surfaces took acrylic paint washes.

S'quatch, What 2-part casting plastic do you use - the stuff from Micro-Mark? http://www.micromark.com/cr-600-casting-resin-32-fl-oz,7879.html -Clay

Thanks Jaz - I sincerely appreciate your comments. I feel the same way you do about Sasquatch's work. I am also a great admirer of the detaled scenery he attributes to Mrs 'squatch.

Just found out that Neil Besougoloff, Editor of Model Railroader Magazine will be attending and presenting at the NMRA MER Conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Rockville, MD in October.

By the way, I married a native of Roseburg, OR in the 80's and lived in Coos Bay for a while where I owned a small hobby shop and I was a volunteer fireman with Hauser VFD. My daughter lives in Eugene now. -Clay

Thanks, Big. MARRS will be at the Mid Eastern Regional National Model Railroad Association convention October 10-13 in Rockville, MD USA I'll have Hogwarts and Hogsmeade Station spruced up and on display in the Hotel ballroom along with other club members' modules in a continuous loop operating display. http://home.comcast.net/~candp2013/

Mrs. S'quatch, Please share how you did the flowers - they add amazing realism to your scenery.

Fantastic. Your use of color in depicting flowering plants is brilliant, and I am resolved to take a lesson for my modules. The mix of landscaping foliage with structure realism and all your thoughtul details bind the layout seamlessly into a totally convincing world. I would love to see your layout in operation. Do you have any Youtube links to share? -Clay My topic: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66780-made-by-magic-the-hp-railway/

Thanks for your comment about Hogwarts, Jaz. My modules are like diorama vignettes compared to S'quatch's layout. The scope and level of effort in doing portable 4 foot by 2 foot pass-through modules is far less than what S'quatch has achieved. I wish I had his talent and wherewithal. Like dioramas, modules make for good single-scene photos though, so here are a couple more shots of my castle in context with my Station. BTW, Arboretum Valley is beautiful! ...and I ordered the pointing & rodding kit for my station.

That's so great! I have an Anglia in the Forbidden Forest- all the way on the left in the shot below:

Jaz, Some other modular railroad dude who is modeling Goathland as Hogsmeade Station made Hagrid - Dementors too. -Clay

I was originally inspired by digital artist Jared Reisweber's (Jaredr122) work as seen below and was trying to capture the feel of one of his matte paintings for viewers like the kids in the photos above.

Here are a couple of shots a buddy of mine took at the last show:

Here are a couple of videos from the April 2013 Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, MD

Adrian wrote: "There are a number of British prototype layouts around here, but they usually only come out for very specific shows. Ours only comes out every two years for the Great British Train Show. I did see a modular layout at Timonium (nr. Baltimore, MD) that had a Hogwarts Station and Hogwarts Castle modules - that was the closest anything came to British outline there." Adrian refers to my modules shown and discussed in their own RMWeb thread here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66780-made-by-magic-the-hp-railway/ OO Scale British rail has a home in Baltimore, MD with the Meade Area RailRoad Society (MARRS) Excellent work Ray; I admire your eye for detail and envy your talent. -Cgraham.

LIighing was terrible

Thanks!