Norwenglish

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. It really helps with the motivation to get on with the layout (although most of the recent work has been done by Dad). The ballast may get a bit more 'dirt' once we got an airbrush compressor, as doing it by hand doesn't sound so entertaining (especially after painting all the rails!). The Land Rover is just a temporary placement on the layout as we are hoping the layout can cover a few different time periods by switching the right vehicles in and out, as our collection of rolling stock covers everything from pre-grouping up until the BR blue period. Stuart

I'm having the same wallet related problem! Rather tempted by both the Southern and LMR versions. Stuart

Well today we have a shortish update, and a bit of exciting news! Firstly for the update, the lineside fencing is finished, and all the hedges, gates and stiles are now built and in place (I've taken some stage by stage pictures of the hedge process incase anyone would like to see) and ground up pastels have also been added to the roadways to weather them slightly. As for the news, we had a visit from some members of the local model railway club today, and after having a good chat and running a few trains, the layout is now booked to go to the Bergen Model Railway Exhibition (apparently the only one in the country) in the beginning of October! They seemed quite impressed with the layout and how fast it has come together. So we are quite excited, but also now have a time limit to get the layout upto a certain point and also to get a good amount of rolling stock running to a reliable standard. Whats next for the layout itself? To be honest we aren't quite sure, but we are thinking trees, a platform building and adding a pigstye to the farm. Stuart

Quite an interesting thought! Almost makes it a shame that the hedges and trees won't contain any tree based products! Stuart

Thanks for the kind comments! It's a real help to our inspiration and motivation to see people like our work so much. The platform was built using the scalescenes kit, and if I remember right we started by making the top layer using the flagstone printout stuck to 1mm thick card which we had made to size by roughly cutting it to shape, placing it between to tracks and running rolling stock along to check for clearance, although we have recently discovered that the Z Class does try to get onto the platform when it goes through the run-round loop! then the edging stones were glued along the length of the top piece and I marked along the underside where the brick walling pieces made from 2mm card would go (4-5mm from the edge if I remember right). As these were glued in with the help of a small square I measured the distance between each side and cut and glued in the bracing pieces (again 2mm thick) that go across between each wall. I also added more 2mm card behind any joins in the walls for extra support, and finally once this was done there are small strips of brick edging glued onto cereal box card that are put in along the top of the brick walls where they meet the platform. I hope this helps and makes some sense, and if needed I can take some pictures when I return home from the UK (with more goodies for our workbench thread). Stuart

Thanks Phil, we were worrying that the gardens of the cottages and farmhouse were too strong a green, so any opinions on them are more than welcome! Stuart

The plan to get all the brown undercoated areas covered was successful, although it took a little longer than the weekend. So as the weather is so good today, we have some pictures of progress. Here we have the farm area, and on the left hand side you can see the duck pond which now has 'water' added, and is ready for visits from feathered friends. The railway cottage/ allotment area. A close up of the shed made from the spare Cambrian brake van body. Also as you can see in the background, the sausages are in the process of being delivered ready for the grand opening! A view of the homemade hedges that I'm quite proud of, although we ran out of the materials to make them, so I only managed to make enough for this area. Finally an overall view. As you can see the line has been quite busy recently, as we are also working on improving running qualities on our r-t-r stock/ testing some of Dad's engines which are older than me! Next up will be building more hedges for the farm and fields, finishing the lineside fencing, adding various bushes and other bits of ground cover, and applying weathering powders and patches of grass/weeds to the road areas. Although progress might be a little slow seeing as hedges and lineside fences are my department, and I'm escaping to the UK tomorrow morning for just over a week Stuart

Well it's now my turn to once again add an update. The rolling stock pictured in my last post has now been identified thanks to the kind fellows over on A Nod to Brent. So I have given them a fresh coat of paint (or in the case of the Mogo a complete tear apart and rebuild), and some new transfers, although I won't add numbers, tare weights etc until I have sourced a good book on GW wagons. Here we have the Monster, which really lives up to it's name! The Mogo and Mink D. A Macaw G. This came with the wagons above, and just required a repaint and addition of chains. Finally I have some other wagons that have been seen or mentioned earlier in the thread that I have finished. The LSWR 8 plank which I was awaiting transfers for. The ferry service liveried 12T Van from the beginning of the thread. After reading through An Illustrated History of Wagons Vol.4 (fantastic series of books!), I realised this required some transfers on the ends, so these have now been added. Sorry for the pictures being quite dark, but decent daylight hasn't really been in abundant supply today. Stuart

I find it interesting that the subject of deceased modeller's collections have come up, as I have only recently returned from France where I spent a week sorting through my late grandfathers collection. Although it has made me realise and understand people's concern about their collections when the time comes! Unfortunatey the generation between him and me are quite the opposite of railway enthusiasts and just wanted to get it all sold off as quick as possible, which meant all I could do was label what each item was and pack it for shipping back to the UK to be sold, apart from the few things I could save for my collection with my 20kg luggage limit for the flight home to Norway. I also have to admit I felt quite sad that I had no opportunity to go through everything and check that they ran well and fix any problems should they arise, and seeing some of the items last week on ebay where the listing was a half hearted attempt at selling them only listing the name and gauge often not including information that I had written down for them, so I can imagine alot of things have ended up in the hands of 'dealers' who see an opportunity of putting a decent description on them and making better money. On the matter of what things are worth, they kept finding things that they thought were old, rare or valuable only to be disappointed when they were informed that it was worth alot less than they thought, could this be a common attitude among non-enthusiasts who are sorting through collections? They learnt quite fast that they can't slap the word 'vintage' or 'retro' on Tri-ang locomotives and expect to see the money flood in. I can imagine that my case isn't an isolated one though, and that there are many other collections that have just been sold off as quick as they can without proper care and attention being given to them, or where the help of those that know a thing or two has been offered, it has been refused or only partly made use of. Also on the subject of the things built by well known craftsmen being worth more than ones built by relative unknowns, is there a possibility that in decades to come that their names may fade into obscurity? Will there be other craftsmen who's names become as known and add value if the kitbuilding side of the hobby becomes as much of an obscurity as some predict? Stuart

You're indeed correct! The brown patch it's sitting on will be an allotment for the railway cottages, and the spare body will become a garden shed. Stuart

Thanks for the kind comments everyone! Even though it's raining (as usual), theres luckily enough light today to take the pictures that Dad mentioned yesterday. Firstly we have the fencing that we've been installing over the last week. Here we have the road down the side of the station building to the engine shed. The little piece of fencing laying down will be glued on in line with the gate once some groundwork has been done. Here we have the fencing and gates around the goods yard and cattle dock, and the fence that separates the yard area from the line along the platform. Last but not least, we have the pictures from nice angles Dad mentioned in his last post. I discovered last night that due to it's asymmetrical design, I can get the camera quite close to track level. The view down through the engine shed. Goods waiting to be distributed. Looking through the booking office at a GWR intruder waiting in the platform! Lastly, the signalman with nothing to do as he waits for a train to appear. Currently Dad is working on a crane for the goods yard (which can be seen in our workbench thread) and I'm working on renewing some old rolling stock. On the layout the farm buildings have been glued down and there has been talk of doing the railway boundary fence, which should be interesting, with all the posts that need gluing in and then threading all the wires through them! Stuart

Damn, seems I may have to attempt scratchbuilding then, as I didn't see anything like that while going through Grandpa's model railway collection and there was nothing like it on the Mink D itself. Although it's not surprising seeing as everything (00, TT and 0 Gauges) were spread between an old barn, cow shed and the main house. One of the most irritating things was we found etched name plates, wheels and tender axleboxes for an 0 Gauge Lord of the Isles, but nothing else! Stuart

A kind offer, but i think I'll just have to succumb to the dark side and spend some time fixing them up and run it all on the layout with Rule 1 fully enforced/when Dad's back is turned I was also wondering about the Mink D, the model seems to have louvres on the end, yet every picture I can find online seems to have covered vents. Is this another thing I need to correct? Stuart

We thought there was something peculiar about the Mogo, also that would explain why I couldn't find anything at all like it when searching the web. Looks like I have a bit of rebuilding and painting to do! Might even have to start sneaking some GWR books into our mainly Southern library as my collection has become around 50/50 GWR and Southern with these and the other things I have aquired recently. I will also have to try and find a reason for these, some clerestories, a pannier tank, dean goods and GWR liveried Terrier to be appearing on our layout fictionally based in the Rother Valley on the East Sussex/Kent border. Stuart

Thanks for the help! Should the Monster have the GW in white or yellow? Stuart

With Rob's permission to post this picture here I was wondering if any of you can identify the stock in the picture below. I'm guessing it's all GWR, as it's inherited from my Grandpa who modelled the GWR in 00 and had started on an 0 gauge layout as well (wish my suitcase had been big enough to bring all that back with me!). What I'm wondering is what they are, what they were used for and if the liveries are correct, and if they are incorrect then what I need to do to correct them. Thanks in advance from an uneducated Southern fan! Stuart

Good to see more progress Phil! Unfortunately things have rather slowed down here recently. Your mention of theatre backstage activities reminded me of a time when me and Dad were backstage crew for a local panto group, some of which claimed that backstage crew are soulless beings! Stuart

Long time since we've had an update on here, most of our modelling time has been spent on the layout and hopefully we will have an update on it's thread by the end of the week. A little stock building has been done though, Dad has made quite a few items of stock in the past few months, and I have built a Tar Wagon kit from SE Finecast (picture below), all it now awaits is some transfers to be ordered from POWsides for it to be completed. I was also wondering if anyone could help me identify the wagons pictured below. I'm guessing they are all GWR, as they have been inherited from my Grandpa who was a GWR follower, but I have no idea if the liveries are correct or what they are for. The biggest one seems to have alot of underframe similarities to some Ian Kirk kits dad has and dwarfs the rest of our stock, the middle one shares alot of common underframe features that are on Parkside kits I've built and the box van is made by ratio, but I can't find anything on their site that looks like it. Thanks in advance for any help. Stuart

Sorry, I was just making a direct translation from Norwegian (Rødsprit over here), I wasn't aware such a thing doesn't exist over there. From what I can find, it would seem to be methylated spirits/ denatured alcohol. I also forgot to add in my earlier post that my experiences have only been with acrylics. Stuart

In my days of painting and repainting wargaming miniatures, I always found red spirit to be quite effective when stripping plastics and resin. I just filled a plastic tub with it and submerged the item in there for a few days, then gave it a scrub with a nail brush or toothbrush before washing it in water. We actually found a tub recently with some miniatures and red spirit still in it, and they must have been put in for stripping a good 5 years ago! Stuart

So time to reveal the 'surprise'. Dad decided we should start on the boards for the fiddle yard, so today we took a trip to the local timber merchants and picked up the wood and made a start, I also took a few pictures of the progress. The baseboard method we use is the one shown in the Right Tracks DVD. Unfortunately we had to rag the table saw out of the workshop due to there not being enough space inside to make the cuts we wanted, and being Norway it was a balmy -6℃ with a nice chilly wind to make sure we didn't overheat due to working hard. After the cutting work then moved rapily to the cellar with the wood fire being lit. The ply strips get placed in a homemade jig which helps us locate where the spacing pieces of wood go. These get glued in and stapled. Another strip of ply is then stapled to the other side an all staples then given a tap with the hammer to make sure they sit flush with the face of the wood. After being left for the glue to cure the 'girders' are then screwed and glued together into frames, the square will have 90 degree curve from the tunnel connecting to the rectangle which we hope to fit a 6 road fiddle yard onto. Finally here is how far we got today with the ply top glued, screwed and clamped onto the corner piece, once this is done on both of them we will the add cross bracing and legs. Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but the whole layout has been built so that it can be easily taken down and transported as we are hoping we can get it finished in time for the local exhibition in september time (if they will have us of course). Stuart

This is all coming together nicely Phil! Really looking forward to seeing trains entering and exiting the hungry caterpillar in time. Although we might have to 'borrow' your screenshots, as they are nice referances for lineside detail. Stuart

Thanks Phil. Quite fantastic and inspiring for us to hear we're an inspiration to someone on here, especially with this being our first layout...we must be doing something right! I have to admit that I do find myself wishing we were close enough to invite people over to 'play trains' and let them see it in the flesh. Also Dad came home today and made a surprising suggestion that we start on something for the layout this weekend that came as quite a surprise, so we might have an interesting update on Sunday evening or thereabouts. Stuart

While I had the camera out to take pictures for our Workbench thread, I thought I would quickly nip down to the cellar and snap some pictures of progress on the farm area. Unfortunately the flash from the camera makes things look a little starker and brighter than they are, but the pictures at least give an idea of what we have been upto. Also the largest of the barns hasn't been finished yet, as I have to wire it up for lighting inside and then it needs to be stuck down and have interior details added before the roof can be glued on. Also as can be seen in the bottom left hand corner, there are the beginnings of a duck pond. Stuart

Speaking of wagons, here's what I've been upto over christmas and can be seen applying transfers to in Dad's picture. SR D1316 8 Plank Open Two of the 20T Minerals that we have been discussing. Lastly, I have done one of the SR Match Trucks with Load kits produced by SE Finecast, which I have to say was also a very nice kit to build. The solebars almost lock into the bufferbeams which makes it another kit that could just hold itself together! All the above need now to finish them is the couplings added. I also have another D1316 8 Plank, which I am doing in LSWR livery, although it is currently waiting for a transfer sheet to arrive so that the last touches can be added. Stuart