steve22

I'm just picking up on this blog. Ballasting looks very neat and I do like the station on the curve. Must delve into the rest of your postings.

I'm always glad to learn about good service anyway but as this shop is not all that far from me I'll have to drop in sometime and meanwhile mention it to 'me mates'.

Quite excellent!

An informative article that will be of use to others, no doubt. Good close up photography too. Thanks for this.

It looks very good purched on the embankment. I can remember 41304 running light through Meole Brace towards Shrewsbury c1964, maybe 1965 on the Welshpool line as we called it back then. That's as Cambrian as I can get and running light suggests it had only gone as far as Hook-a-Gate depot? My model, 41313, ran very slowly and sweetly until a front driver parted with its axle.

Ah, at last - a chance to come on RMWeb and get away from all that football my wife watches continually on the tele...

I've taken heart seeing this. I belong to only a very small club but several members are electronically minded and even on our 00 Test track (very simple oval with passing loop and train detection to switch the points) there is a veritable spagetti underneath - admittedly now very neatly clipped. As an electronic layman, maybe I needn't have pondered why so much wire was involved. I'm tempted to tease and say I'd show you my 'control panel' but I've lost it at the moment; then again, one clockwork key looks the same as any other...

Alan, I've often wondered about those cottages, and the pub, occasionally we get the faintest glimpse of them. What make are they, are they the ready painted / unpainted models at one time advertised in RM? The ones I always promised myself I'd buy and try, but sadly never did? I also want to say how much I really enjoy all the subtle and not so subtle changes in levels on your layout so we rarely look along a flat. The land behind the cottages rolling down to the line, that stream trickling down, so gently but surely that I'm convinced it's actually flowing on my computer screen! The other thing is seeing the images of the station without any trains reminded me of the photos I first saw of a certain Grandborough Junction in all it's realistic open spaciousness. Some excellent stuff here that never fails to please us fellow modellers. Steve.

Looking very good Redgate. I've just made my first two 4' x 2' boards a'la Barry Norman; ply with pine squares sandwiched in between. 4mm ply though and a slight warp or bend as not all my cuts are quite square, sadly. I'm going to replace the ends of the ply frames with solid, accurately cut 3" x 1" and see what happens then. Yours are lovely and substantial - giving me inspiration to keep persevering.

I had the same idea in my mind a couple of years ago for my shed layout. I even built a bit of baseboard with a slope down to where the cassettee array would be. This may sound mundane to many - it was quite an achievement for me, I mean to actually get round to doing it! I then realised that where I might place the up and down cassettes would be very difficult to access - and, quite simply, I couldn't visualise how to construct it anyway. NowI have seen what just might be... Thanks very much for showing us this, I really like it.

Thanks for so much pleasure this railway gives to so many of us around the world. Thank you too for the very moving visual and modelling tribute to your friends, the rest of the crew and those whom they set out to save; it reminds us all just how much some people give up for others, regardless of the great and obvious risk to themselves. Best wishes to you, Rick, for 2012. Steve.

I've just spent a very happy half hour or so catching up on Wencombe for somewhere around Page 6. Alan, your work never fails to impress me, but mostly I simply gaze and smile. And to catch sight of a Western purring through as well as a Hall! Happy me. Steve.

The colour tones, the weathering and the general open spaciousness of it all; simply lovely and very convincing. Steve.

The engine shed looks very realistic, a good use of space. In the photos of the water crane and the two railwaymen standing by the end shed you can sense the dampness on the ground and in the air - quite literally a very atmospheric series of photographs. Steve.

I actually live in a very long bungalow but this makes it look like a shed. Impressive work and glad you're next tackling a viaduct. That'll be worth seeing - more power to your scribing! Steve.

Well that's it, Mickey. No excuse now - get planning and building. And just think of all the relief in letting go what you've bottled up for so long! Steve.

Thanks drflocoman for the info and for posting the photograph. I'm enjoying the present re-run of the series, I'm sure there'll be many of us watching in January, especially when it features the Forest of Dean Railway. Steve.

Captain, are you thinking of 'Dean Forest Footplate Memories' and 'More Memories of a Dean Forest Railwayman' both by Bob Barnett? I have the second book, published by Silver Link in The Nostalgia Collection. A very interesting read, as you'll well imagine. I've yet to read the first book. There's also 'GWR Steam My Personal Encounter' by Douglas A. Trigg who was based at Gloucester Horton Road. I think this might feature some F of D memories, although it's more far-ranging. Published by Pathfinder 1992. My copy is acquired from a late friend's collection so not sure if still in print. Steve.

Hi Alan, thanks for all these recent pictures. Great to see yet more of your work and I did like seeing behind the scenes in the fiddle yard as well as out on the mainline. Mention of Ben Alder makes me quite sure that there's quite a few of us on RMWEB who switch back and forth between Wencombe and Ben Alder's work (and others) for our regular 'fix' of delightful modelling to appreciate. That 'atmosphere' of times gone seems to simply seep out of your pictures. I'll echo other postings to say keep 'em coming! Steve.

Hi Chinahand, I've wondered myself about this material. Instead though, I decided to try 3mm Depron sheet bought in large packs at Focus. I've laid down a section through the station but won't be wiring the layout up for running till probably the spring so can't say much about it yet. Like others no doubt, I'll be interested to see your further reports on this foam. Thanks for the description and the pics - very helpful. Steve.

Thanks for repeating the process again, it reminds me of why I put a sheet of embossed plastic card on my desk a couple of months back! Must clear the desk, unearth said card and have a go if I get some time after Christmas. All very inspirational, as ever. Steve.

Hi Doug, first time I've looked at your work. You obviously enjoy working in plastic sheet. Nice stuff so far; the rear of those terraced houses has plenty of character, they immediately reminded me of one I lived in, in Lincoln for a couple of years, some while ago. Nice subtle weathering on the water tower too. Steve.

Hi Taz, in further reply to Westerner's query, this looks just like the stuff I'm experimenting with as underlay in the same way as you are. Its that wonderful (to my mind) stuff called Depron. Its used by modellers as baseboard when thick enough and with some support, track underlay and is also excellent material to score to readily form brickwork and stonework. It retains any indents. Examples of its use for stonework etc, in Nov 2007 BRM (Heyside layout) and a very recent article in Model Rail - sorry, I can't recall which one, I've lent it out. Glues well with Deluxe Materials 'Foam to Foam', you only need to use sparingly. You can use PVA, cheaper but it takes quite a while to get a grip. As well as Screwfix try Focus. My local Focus store has stocks in, trading as 'Westco Flooring Insulation Foam Underlay'. Seventeen sheets of 1200 x 500 x 3mm. Quite a bundle for £23-39 and dead light to carry. Save your plastic containers once you've eaten your chips, its the same material. Think of it as a free model kit with every carton of chips! Steve

Thanks for this series of pics. Its always helpful to see how someone builds their baseboards, lays the cork, and spaces out the sleepers - looks good but a fair bit of work, no doubt. I accept that you're using multiple droppers and a control panel but the photo of the underside with all the wiring in place will be of use to people who don't always realise just how much wiring might be required, whether DCC or 12V DC. I include myself in that comment - I've wired up several layouts and never really thought about just how much cable is actually involved, I just get on with it. Then I saw the underside of my local club 10' x 4' 12V DC layout wired for sections and electric points. I thought it was overkill but realised soon afterwards that it wasn't. Your pictures help clarify the situation. Steve.

Hi there, until I took a quick peep at one of your other postings I thought the road was a stream flowing through the village. What took my eye was the small white 'waves' as I thought they were; when they came into view I felt a real sense of movement in the picture. Looking at your other postings I like the way you've placed all the shrubs on the small hill beyond the woodmill; quite a few without looking overdone and spread out far enough to look convincing. That's the art I've yet to master. Steve.