Dannyboy2891

That's Great Paul. Did you enter for the exhibition or were you invited?.. Either way it's Awesome. Regards Dan

Hi Paul, Nothing wrong with a good heavy night, hope was a good one. I have found that sometimes a little distraction from a project can be a good thing .. Gives new insight and different perspectives. Great that you got a research trip in and at same time got an valuable & great back scene too, awesome. Good to hear that you have been running trains, bet it was great to see .. Especially after all hard work with the project so far?. Regards Dan

Hi Naturol Making some fab progress, layout looks Great. Am sorry to hear that things had not quite turned out as planned.. But Top results on the compromise. Just had more of the same trouble myself with shunting puzzle project I am working on (joint father&Son venture) like you.. Shuffle round and end result actually turns out better. Any trains running/testing yet?. Regards Dan

Hi James, please forgive my intrusion.. never thought one of my little ideas/passions would cause such a warming interest. Thank you So much for your advice .. in one of my Oakwood press books it actually gives drawings and measurements of mostly all Wisbech & Upwell locomotives, coaches and small coverage of freight wagons.. a very handy thing to have in the treasured and ever growing train book library. I too own a Bachmann Toby .. could not resist especially as I already purchased Henrietta. I had used the Bachmann Toby as my guide to scratch building my small fleet of steam trams, as I too thought that the Hornby Toby was oversized. I have kind of gone the more expensive route for my chassis under my trams.. I have used Bachmann class 04 chassis and I have fitted them with lenz dcc decoders in to them .. they run fantastically slowly and reliably. The beauty of using these chassis is that they already have moulded side frames and have the sloping cowcatchers on the front and slight one on rear .. for a basic skilled modeller (myself) it suited the purpose perfectly.. and got to spend more valuable time on making the challenging and tricky wooden bodies to fit the chassis. More recently I have been making my own 3 link couplings and hopefully hope to fit them to the trams. Regards Dan

Hi Kevin, That is fab news and I am So pleased to hear that more steam trams have survived .. Thank you

Hi Northroader, This is very true .. and considering the Model rail magazine have a fab range of little sentinels to which they have commissioned at very reasonable price .. very worthy choice. Thank you for the idea

Hi James, yeh there is a certain romance to the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway and especially lovely how the canal played a good part as well. But the main reason i chose to model it was one day i was researching the different liveries of the Y4 & Y6 trams and a fab picture of the different trams on Wisbech came to light. So after 2 oakwood press and 1 middleton press books and lots and lots of research .. got me started on building my small fleet of trams. I did buy a Bachmann Henrietta, but to my discovery .. they are Ho scale. So my next thoughts turned to heavily modifying Ratio 4 wheel coaches, but after seeing your coaches.. they were just ideal. I must confess that my kit brass works have all been terrible, so on the air of caution i have tried to avoid all brass kits since.. saved alot of monies too. The GER tram with its blue livery on the side plates, was by far thee most attractive of the trams of its time.. but isn't it a shame that there are only 2 steam trams left in existence in the uk today, both being of the same Y6 LNER type . Thanks for the advice on the coaches.. will do. Many thanks & Kindest regards Dan

Hi I am very sure whichever exhibition you attend .. your layout will be popular and you will receive many kind comments. A great idea, fab concept and very much look forward to seeing your progress. As for the tricky little crossover, if you don't mind my saying .. lay the track without pinning it down and test,test and more test running to make sure its working at its best.. but still test the life out of it after pinning it down.. may I also ask is it a live frog crossover and are you thinking of Dcc operation?. Regards Dan

Hi James, My apologies for my delay in reply too, have been busy in very demanding job. Many thanks for your reply.. My living on the Isle of Wight .. well I have lived here most of my life, I had moved off for around 6 years and lived and explored the delightful sunny and wet Devon & Cornwall. But there is just something magical that grips you about the island. So much so I returned again, It's just a beautiful island and having a fab historically rich steam railway here on my very doorstep .. well that's just the cherry on the cake. Your railway project is just Fab, now having been awoken to the Isle of Eldernell and the West Norfolk Railways .. I shall certainly look into that great railway, especially being so similar to the island, thank you. May I ask what make are your coaches or did you scratchbuild them?. I only ask as my next layout project is going to be my own little interpretation of a scenic BLT based on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway .. ever since I saw Toby the tram as a small boy .. I was totally hooked and in ore of that tram engine and someday .. I am going to get one of them I told my father and grandfather. Well some years on and Not such a small boy anymore .. just last week I have completed building (scratch built tops on Bachmann chassis) my 5th tram .. so what better reason do I need to build a place to run my little creations. And having seen your coaches there are almost identical to those that were running on the Wisbech.. hence my keen interest. Bembridge's turnplate at the end of the station loop was indeed clever and creative idea, I was under thee impression that it was thee only one of its kind, so pleased to find out it wasn't. Many Thanks & Kindest Regards Dan

Hi Noctilux2, What a great idea and concept for your layout, I too certainly look forward to following your progress. I am currently building a 4'x1' Dcc shunting puzzle for my teenage son, we both enjoying the project. I must say it is great to see other modellers taking up the challenge of building small functional layouts. Jerry's project is a fantastic one and well worth a look, Thus showing that small layouts don't always have to be overlooked. Best wishes Dan

Hi Naturol, what a fantastic idea and a full 360 degrees layout to show off the fruits of your hard work, just brilliant. Cant go wrong with Walthers kits top quality and worth every penny. I very much look forward to following your progression with this fab layout. Hope you don't mind me asking, but had you thought of exhibiting the layout? .. not many circular layouts out on exhibition circuit these days, so think this layout would be just the ticket (pardon the pun) and inspire other modellers too. Kind regards Dan

Hi I think that china clay layout was modelled by Iain Rice.. a fantastic layout. Regards Dan

Hi, Just found this wonderful thread and i would like to say .. I am so Very glad I have. You have a fantastic talent in creating some of thee most delightful & nostalgic buildings. May i please ask.. Do i detect a colonel Stephens flavour to this railway project?. I myself am a huge fan of light railways and just couldn't help myself in asking the question. No matter whether it is or is not, i certainly look forward to seeing more of your modelling adventure unfold. Kindest Regards Dan

Hi Andy, Nothing short of pure brilliance, the attention to detail.. Just a true modelling craftsman.

Hi Col_Kilgore Top Quality modelling, have you thought of putting this layout into any of the railway modelling magazine's?. This is a fabulous layout, with plenty of running potential and great inspirational layout for modellers who don't have much space available. Kind regards Dan

Superb layout and looks better & better every time I see it. Always look forward to seeing your progression. Regards Dan

Hi Andy, Nothing short of brilliant, words fail to describe your talent sir. If I had a hat, I would take it off to you. Always great to see your progress Regards Dan

Hi Just found this wonderful blog about your ongoing project. What a fantastic concept for a small layout and some Great modelling too. I will certainly follow this blog with keen interest. Regards Dan

Hi These look great, fantastic baseboards and great quality back scene. Please forgive my asking, But is Holland park going to be a Tmd or a diesel operated type of shunting layout?. Looks Great, look forward to seeing more of your project progressions. Regards Dan

Hi Andy, Layout looks Awesome, loving the progress and gets better and better everytime I visit. Always look forward to seeing/reading more. Kind regards Dan

Hi tjf4375 No worries about kind comments, credit where credit is certainly due. I could not agree more with NSE being more of place now days as it was back then, It boggles me why in oo gauge there is loads of coaching stock, but so very little of locomotive and emu/dmu stocks. I had heard that there was a company offering different resin castings of Nse units, but whether that company still trading I do not know. The kits were unpainted, I am sure an internet search will come up trumps. I do tend to favour Bachmann in my modelling in N gauge as there motors have always been fab, but like most things in N gauge .. you get a wonderful catalogue with promise of new items that you long for, then when you go to Ally Pally or Warley exhibitions.. they pull the rug from under us and say they wont be doing that.. but they may come back to it in the future. My question to them was .. how was it they went over the top with jumping on the South West Trains liveries 158, 159 and 170 .. but the more popular and more profitable option being NSE .. to which each time meets no reply. Wish you all the best with your conversion projects, sometimes the best option really and the satisfaction of say " I did that" do hope that you will keep posting pictures up of your progressions? Kind Regards Dan

Hi tjf4375 May I say this looks to be a superb layout with lots of potential. I am definitely in agreement over the blue/grey Bachmann 4-cep, they are just brilliant. It's lovely and refreshing to see not only more 3rd rail layouts being created.. But a treat to see the fab Network South East. This livery has always been a firm favourite of mine, but as I choose to model in N gauge.. Still waiting on Farish by Bachmann or Dapol to fulfil this gap in the market (here's hoping sometime soon). I would also like to say, of what pictures you have shared, layout looks awesome. I shall follow with much interest, thank you (big thumbs up). Kind regards Dan