Mike

Hookton Riverside Maltings all 3 feet (900mm). First waft of base colour on the Malting roof, or should that read roofs still need to paint the two wooden structures. Now the fun starts with guttering ,down pipes and weathering. Oh! forgot the door knobs.

Sorry no cupola as it would be too high and be well above the back board.

Tiles and more tiles and I'm not even half way through. Whose silly idea was it to have a structure that is 900mm long? Oh! it was mine. Dark room beckons no I'll stick to the G&T's.

I've started so I'll finish. I have started to tile the Maltings roof, well the added bits ,with Slaters plastic tile sheets. Perhaps not the best method but given the area that needs tiling the easiest, although it will take some time and maybe some choice Anglo Saxon expletives.

Changes are a foot, well to be more accurate almost 3 foot. I have started a new structure namely J Hawkins maltings, which has resulted in a remodelling of the first board. The building is far from finished the two halves are not joined nor is the linking arch fitted. The roof is purely temporary and the ground surface is just plonked for effect. Once some more materials arrive I will crack on and complete it.

Here is my take on the Scalescenes box file which I converted to 0 scale. Photos from Solihull Model Railway Circle exhibition.

A little bit of nonsense. Not so much a Galloping Goose more of a Waddling Duck. Royal Mail unit under construction, needs lots of tidying up and the painting finishing, but at least it runs well. Hacked about Corgi lorry with a bogie van fitted with an Athern diesel chassis.

Layout support base units almost complete. Paintwork needs to be sorted with cutting in and a general tidy up but they work. There is still an end panel to fit and 2 shelves to make which will act as front panel protectors to the 2 scenic boards during transit. and then slotted into place once the boards are on the base units. Presentation is important so no curtains which would have to fireproof and with ancillary's such as tool box coats etc can be safely stored and hidden from view. Now to complete the lighting rig and fiddle yard and the jobs a goodun.

Leg unit take 2 needs cleaning up and painting, just another 2 to complete the set.

With the demise of the original layout and bits and drabs posted on a mixed thread I thought it would make better sense to give Riverside its own thread. So as you may have read the original layout was ruined by water ingress and after much gnashing of teeth and several expletives was scrapped, although almost all the buildings were saved along with the hand built turnouts and their operating mechanisms. Riverside is longer and has much more operating potential with a tried and tested trackplan. As per usual I have tweaked history by using the characters from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in the late 1940s early 1950s. The Pub/Inn is the Admiral Benbow, the large Georgian house is aptly named Trelawney House, there is Benjamin Gunns cheese shop, L.J.Silver & Son the friendly butchers, not forgetting B.Pew the Grocers I had thought he might have traded as an optician. Doctor Livesey, Captain Smollett and several others. I really do need to get out more, although railway modelling has to be fun, with for me, the back story being just as important as the modelling. None of the buildings are finished and are just plonked in place plus the first bare bones of what will be three supports. Legs eleven. well not really just the supporting units for the layout. The photos show the construction not quite finished as there is some serious finishing needed and the front and one end panel to be fitted plus the fold down shelf . It means that drapes are not required and there is a place for storage of all the bits and bobs we take to shows of which I have 3 bookings in the last 3 months of the year.

I have mostly be bodging in the shed progressing some of the buildings although none of them are finished or fitted in place. Any road up,here is an update on the state of play. In the background there is Benjamin Gunns fine cheese shop. L J Silver Butchers keeping the Treasure Island characters theme.

Hookton and the Lipp vale harbour board has again succumbed to damp and has again despite my best efforts delaminated. So it will now be decommissioned polite way of saying scrapped and binned. Will save as much as possible but the baseboards are totally scrap. Hey-ho I'll just grin and bare it or just gin and bare it.

Will be there it's the place to be.

Finally started work on the river Lipp with the mud flats. The water will have to wait until the rest of the scenic work in this area is complete.

Just started a new shop B.Pews Opticians - watch this space. I have also added point pull rods to the front of the layout so I can play at home while I work on the layout. I really shouldn't put off starting to do work on the river but I keep finding other things to do. Sad or what.

Work in Progress. When I set out to build Hookton Riverside as with all my layouts I have to have a theme. I have always used my 7 w’s process with who being only one of them. So, who lives in the village and what do they do. As I had used somethings with permission from author Bernard Cornwell in Hookton, I’ve visited another authors tome Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Just for starters I have Trelawney House. The Admiral Benbow Inn and Benjamin Gunns cheese shop, perhaps I should get out more. Here are a couple or so of pics with said structures placed but not fitted as is the bridge All the buildings are unfinished requiring a lot more detailing. The granite sets are only placed for effect.

All now fully wired and working properly, so today I have mostly been playing trains. As they say the jobs a goodun☝️ No more workshop until after Boxing Day , well perhaps just a few hours before then.😊

Hi Jim, the baseboard stayed flat and twist free. The problem was the plywood separating in an important area. Carefully dried and sealed then glued together under heavy pressure. As they say the difference between the difficult and the impossible is that the latter just takes a little longer to do.

Hooray, Hookton is saved as I just couldn't send it to the breakers yard. It was just a touch difficult requiring some heavy engineering and lots of glue but saved it is. I do need to repair both of the boats and refit a couple of structures plus some of the smaller details but it works. I have also made a little progress on Riverside even with the temperature in Granddads shed where things are made and mended eventually being minus 9. Thank goodness for thermals and gloves. Photos show where I'm at with riverside (bridge not complete nor fixed in position) and the w.i.p buildings just trial fitted.

The time has come the Walrus said to talk of many things. To scrap or repair the dents and dings or do pigs have wings. I have made a really hard decision to scrap the layout but save the structures, figures and as much as I possibly can. The baseboard has delaminated in a couple of places so it would have to be replaced, Hookton Riverside will incorporate as much as possible, Feeling quite sad but I have a wonderful photographic record and the enjoyment of the build,

Just when you think life is just a bowl of Cherries, you find its a bowl of toenail clippings. Hookton has suffered some water damage and in my usual clumsy manner both boats suffered damage. It's all repairable (probably) but I have put in on the back burner to forge ahead with Hookton Riverside. Baseboards built (Grainge & Hodder) track laid, switch mechanisms fitted and track feeds installed. I have even built a wine merchants. I'll post some pics later.

0N30 arch bar trucks are listed $19.95 https://wisemanmodelservices.com/ They list a large range of 0N30 parts

Kadee arch bar trucks are available from the 7mm Narrow Gauge Sales Ltd. Might be worth a look.

Thanks to all. Two negative lateral flow tests hooray. A body that feels like its been used as a human punch bag and a very nasty rasping cough . Feeling very down although not quite out.

Thanks. Two negative lateral flow tests hooray. A body that feels like its been used as a human punch bag and a very nasty rasping cough . Feeling very down although not quite out.