SRfanJV

Christmas goodies. My other half very kindly bought me some bits for the layout for Christmas. These included some Peco cows and sheep. They have been temporarily fitted to the cattle dock and embankment this morning (there will be fencing to represent the field eventually. The cows will be toned down using some dirty thinners to represent mud etc. I was also very lucky to receive two DCC concepts levers which I am going to use as part of a new control panel when it moves from the front of the layout to the back. I'll eventually need 9 levers, but as they are expensive, ill pick those up slowly. The start of the new panel is seen below as well. I'll need to build a birch ply frame to fit the the panel on including the Digitrax Zephyr controller, a new handheld controller levers and the main panel. So much work to do in this area. Im hoping that 2022 will see Ashlands 'completed' and made ready for the exhibition circuit.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. The past few weeks have been hectic post Covid, but I have still been able to make progress on the layout and some big changes/ progress have taken place. The first of which has been the weathering of my model of Manston. This loco is a particular favourite of mine, being the Bulleid that I partly passed my firing exam on 4 years ago and it also goes like hell. The real loco has also just returned to Swanage for the final part of its overhaul. As part of its return, rumour has it that it is not going to be repainted when it returns, and therefore will be in a work worn state. This I felt was the perfect opportunity to get my model of it weathered. I hope you like the results below. Before weathering: After Weathering: The next part of the layout improvements centred around the creation of a proper lighting gantry and backscene. I decided to go for a picture frame look because it tends to draw the eye in without it getting distracted. I used two bits of metal square for the centre post which were kindly welded together for me by a good friend of mine from the Railway. I then cut out and fixed to the front 6.5mm birch ply to act as the presentation boards and support for the end of the lighting gantry. Once fitted, I then focused on the LH side backscene.I curved these at the corners so that there are no coarse right angles which I never like on layouts. This was done by scoring the back at one inch intervals and then pouring hot water over that section. I also built a frame using metal right angle to act as the supports for the backscene. Once complete, I repeated the procedure on the RH side and the finished results are seen below. Finally, I have added the screens to the fiddle yard and trial fitted the fill in sections for the base of the fiddle yard, below the traverser. This will eventually be repeated on the opposite end fiddle yard once I have built it.

Nearly a month since the last post, so a timely update. Whats been happening you may ask? Covid happened sadly, so I had 10 days sat at home, luckily although unpleasant i got through it. I'm still waiting for my sense of taste and smell to return mind. To modelling, whilst off, i took the opportunity to do some work on the signal box. It is a proprietary Kernow LSWR type 4 signal box built using resin. Its a lovely box except that it came with the layout slightly damaged and with no interior. I decided that this needed to change so I purchased a ratio signal box interior kit and made a start. The resin floor had to be drilled out using a dremel and once cleaned up I made a box out of plasticard to represent the new floor at the correct height. This was then followed by making up the kit. Research showed me that typical signal boxes on the North Cornwall line had 17 levers in the frame so I went with that and cut plastic frame to the correct number. I then made up the block shelf and cut and shut this to the appropriate length. Having a good friend as a heritage and mainline signaller really helped here to advise me what should and should not be on the shelf. I have removed some bits that would have represented a double track mainline and added other bits. You'll see the changes in the photos later. The process of painting the block shelf and levers then began. I used Precision Paints enamels. There was some debate about the colour of the block shelf, varnished wood or green. I have found examples of both, so I went with the green. you'll also see the removal of 2 machines for the shelf for the above mentioned reasons. These are being replaced with 2 Tyers token machines from the excellent range that Modelu sell. I also purchased a register desk and signalman from them, which look excellent. Now, the tricky bit, as I want the option of running the layout as part of a night time scene I needed to add lights. I found a Chinese company on Ebay that did suitable examples. The best way was to use the flue of the stove as the wiring channel. I made up a brass flue with 2 arms for the 2 lights, one over the desk and one for the track diagram. These will then be fed into the wiring for the other lights underneath. So overall, there is still work to do and hopefully I can show you the finished product soon. Finally, a Beattie Well Tank which has just been fitted with sound running past the box. It needs the chuff rate adjusting, but its a lovely file from Locoman, using the terrier file.

More progress has been made this week with the purchase of a 2 traintech modules that play out station ambience sounds etc. They are fully programmable within a DCC system which has made it even better to play the correct sounds as the right time. An example of this is the video below. (Ignore the 'dead' tree)

The lorry... Many hours of work and thought have gone into the construction of a working RC lorry in 1:76 4mm scale. I had seen it done on a couple of layouts before and had always aspired to do the same myself. A good friend of mine Ash was the brains behind the project after we had experimented with other projects using RC prior to this one. The first part of the process was to find an appropriate lorry to use. After some research a BT models British Railways Leyland Beaver flatbed was choosen, especially as it was assigned to the southern region. Thought then went into how it could be motorised and steered using RC. Research by Ash worked out that Faller 163703 car system chassis kit would work for the drive and the steering arm provided could be modified for use with a servo instead of following a magnetic track underneath. A 1.7g gram servo was then found to be the perfect size to go inbetween the metal chassis to act as the steering mechanism drive. With everything now arrived, I set to it! Being a vertical motor something would have to cover the fact that it would protrude through the flatbed surface. I chose a BR container for this as it would allow me to put the battery and receiver in there, instead of taking up the cab space. The chassis required extensive cutting and milling to get bits to fit, but we got there in the end. The front end of the lorry chassis, underneath the cab was dremelled off, followed by the cutting out of the section for the servo. At the back end, the top of the chassis had to be lowered slightly so that the motor and drive axle sat low enough to stop the wheels from fouling on the arches. After this was completed, attention turned to the steering and wiring of the vehicle. The servo was mounted and more research showed that a paperclip, bent in the correct shape was perfect to control the steering. As you can see in the photo above, the faller front axle was also used and mounted onto the front of the pcb that came with the Faller lorry kit. This was super glued on to the chassis with a couple of shims to gain the correct height and also cut in length so that the length of the vehicle was still accurate. Everything was then painted. Finally, before wiring, brass section was added to the front end for 2 reasons. One for weight as it was a little back end heavy and two, it was used to get the height of the cab right so that the wheels when being turned did not foul the wheel arches. A little cutting of the arches was also required to achieve a good fit. Wiring then started by attaching a YouChoos connector to the chassis to act as a battery charging connector, the on/off/charging switch was also added. It was then a case of soldering up the receiver, battery, motor controller and switches. The final piece of the jigsaw was to bind the receiver to the Flysky FS i6 transmitter. A battery charger was also purchased and then modified you connect with the small socket underneath. Handily, 4 batteries came with it, so plenty of scope for more vehicles in the future. The finished article is shown below in both photographic and video form. The control of the vehicle is what pleases me the most, it's slow and very maneuverable. I also finished the vehicle and container off with some subtle weathering, I'll be adding a little more to it soon as well. Ash also completed his lorry, but used a small containerand a tarpaulined set of crates to cover the motor, battery, receiver and servo. He also went one step further and put a cab light in. Next up, we're both thinking a coal lorry would be a good addition and have found a horizontal motor, so hopefully we won't have to take up so much of the flatbed above the surface of the vehicle. I'm also hoping to get my yard crane on the layout working so that there is some potential with the lorry trailer to have loads moved from the lorry to a wagon and vice versa. However, that will take a while. Watch this space.

Again, there was nothing like the 'pressure' of friends visiting for another evening using the layout to spur me into life. That and the half term break also helped. As stated previously, a friend of mine, plus myself have been working on getting a 4mm leyland flatbed to work using Radio control. Which im pleased to say has been successful. I will do a post on how this was achieved shortly. However, in order to use it on the layout, I needed to create a smooth road surface for the vehicle to drive over. For this DAS clay was used, my wonderful other half did this for me as being an Art teacher, she is more than used to working with DAS. Once completed, I then added a yard lamp and a Railroom Electronics swan neck lamp to the end of the provender store. Finally, you can see the finished lorry with a container on top, I used MIG weathering powders and some thinneds acrylic paints to create a distressed look. More will follow shortly on the construction of the RC lorry and the lighting gantry for the layout.

Things are really starting to take shape in the fiddle yard now with the first coats of paint going on. A sand down, second coat and then a varnish will complete the look. Hopefully the next couple of weeks should see it close to being finished. Once complete we can then move on to the scenic side of board 2 followed by work to board 3, the start of the up end station throat.

We are now pretty much up to date as through the summer very little happened to the layout as I was busy down at Swanage or enjoying my summer break. I thought i would show a few photos of the layout and some of the visiting/ home traction. Now that modelling season is back in full swing. I have moved the layout to the centre of the garage and a start has been made on the lighting gantry, so more progress will follow shortly.

With the visit of a few friends looming (Mid July), the time had come to build the new fiddle yard. This was needed so that the headshunt of the goods yard could be extended to enable longer rakes to run in. One of my main criticisms of the layout in its previous incarnation was the headshunt because you could only fit a mogul and 2 vans in it. Orginal track plan above. The frame luckily had already been made up as it was originally destined to be used for a now defunct N gauge project. This was made out of 4mm plywood and a light construction was used for weight and strength reasons. I cut some 6.5mm birch ply for the draw runners that I had bought and decided that a traverser was the ideal fiddle yard system to serve both the mainline and the headshunt. 4 draw runners were used in the end so that the traverser stayed nice and level. Next, I cut out the birch ply for the traverser and then glued down the 1/16th cork to act as the trackbed. the last job of this section was to screw the traverser to the runners and make sure that it was aligned and running true. To secure and align the track I super glued on strips of copper clad and then the track was glued down. Time was then against me before the visit of a few friends and about half an hour before their arrival I was still soldering up the track to the copper clad and wiring it all in for DCC operation. This meant that every track had to have a permanent feed so that the sound equipped locos did not turn off. Luckily the test using my sound fitted Class 08 proved successful. Brass tube and rod was used to align and secure the rails. Im glad to say that everyone enjoyed their evening and first go on Ashlands so the effort was worthwhile. After the event, I then took the time to finish laying the 6th road and tidy up some other bits. There is still a lot of work to do on the fiddle yard including: Laying the base in so that no stock can fall through, creation of the front and side display pieces, painting and varnishing, overall though, I am happy with how it is coming together.

Having seen the quality of Mike's work on the O2. I felt it was time to bite the bullet and have a go myself. I chose a Dapol mineral wagon as a test subject. Dapol wagons are fairly basic and have a poor coupling system which makes them a pain when running with Bachmann or other stock, therefore, it was a suitable choice I started by looking at photo's of mineral wagons, as I was taught that the best way of weathering was to use a prototype. Once I had found a suitable example, I proceeded by giving the side being worked on a dirty wash using a MIG wash. I then started to pick out various bits of rust using a mix of MIG rust/dirt powders and a combination of MIG and Vallejo paints. I felt that got better at it, the more I practiced and I was very pleased with the end of the wagon. Still lots more practice to improve, but its all a learning curve. If you have any comments, then please let me know. I always love to learn. Another example of heavier weathering shown below. The chassis needs doing next. I then did some research as I wasn't happy with the distance between coaches using tension lock couplings. I was advised to try out some Hunt magnetic couplings for fixed rakes. The short ones are definitely the best and I will be getting some more shortly. I would highly recommend them for your fixed rake sets.

Disaster! In the process of investigating sound for my Kernow O2, a substance (still unknown to me) that was on my hands damaged the lining and paintwork when handling the locomotive. I was extremely cross at this stage and took a little time to think about what could be done. It then came to me that perhaps I could hide this mess by getting the loco weathered. Luckily for me, a friend of mine who is a member of the Sarum Finescale Group is a master at weathering. At the next meeting I told him the situation and asked if he would be prepared to give the weathering to hide it a go. He was more than happy to and I am eternally grateful to Mike for the quality of work that he has produced on my O2 as can be seen below. I think it looks stunning and has gone right to the top of my list of locos to use of the layout. I finished of the Job by installing two of Modelu's fabulous figures which really enhances the look of the engine. One accident that has had a very happy ending.

By this stage of the improvements to the layout, it had now reached late June. A busy period meant that little was completed on the layout for a while. However, the impending visit of a few friends from Swanage to 'play' on the layout forced me back into life. The first change I wanted to make was to re-align the track on siding 2 of the goods yard. This was to allow more room for road vehicles to get around the back of the Provender store at the far end of the layout. I gently lifted the track and then sanded the cork surface flat before sticking the track back down with pva in its new position. (Photo below pre re-alignment) This has given enough room for road vehicles to pass by. An exciting project we are now working on is experimenting with the use of radio controlled 1:76 road vehicles for use on the layout. As part of this, I needed to cut a hole in the embankment for road vehicles to exit and enter the layout from the fiddle yard. I also took the opportunity to extend siding 1 so that it did not end so abruptly after the Provender store. Finally, I had some fun with a line up of my Bulleids, even though 2 of them will never be seen on the layout once it is exhibited. Another update will follow shortly.

Some of the less exciting, but necessary parts of building an exhibition layout have seen progress recently. This mainly stems around the fiddle yard. A new roof section has been constructed for board 2, this will then be painted black and varnished. Progress has also been made on the hinged sections on the roof of the main fiddle yard with securing pins being made to keep both parts in line with each other. Finally, Keith has been working on some of the points on the first couple of boards. The alignment and gauging on a couple have been tweaked to ensure good running quality.

I have also recently renumbered a Graham Farish Bulleid Pacific to No. 34072 257 Squadron. A regular down the North Cornwall and Wadebridge. Fox transfers plates and transfers were used to complete this job and very smart they are too. A Faber-Castell pencil was used to gently rub out the old numbers. Little and large, a 4mm pair also await a 00 bulleid pacific. This is a small tribute to the late Tony Hallworth, a former Wadebridge engineman and volunteer at the Bodmin & Wenford and Swanage Railways. 257 Squadron had a very special place in Tony's memory. I had the absolute honour of sharing footplate with Tony on a couple of occasions, his wisdom is sorely missed.

Once the new goods yard platform and cattle dock were in position, I then trial fitted some barrow crossing timbers using costa coffee stirrers. These, once stained will give a much more realistic effect in comparison to the ratio crossing material. This was the last piece of work I did on the layout for quite sometime as I needed a break from it, so I turned my attention to loco number changes and detailing. Although 34028 being a rebuilt would not have worked along the North Cornwall line. Being freshly returned to traffic at Swanage, I couldn't resist the temptation to renumber one. I initially went for red plates as this was how I remembered it from its previous spell in traffic up to August 2014. However, when it returned with black plates, I thought it looked so good that I had to change them. Here is the real locomotive waiting at Harmans Cross. She is an absolute monster! I also took the opportunity to renumber a T9 to 30120. Also a Swanage resident, however, she was also a regular visitor to the North Cornwall line back in BR days, so it was very apt to change the number. I took the opportunity to repair the damage to the tender, replace the missing cabside support, instal the coal barge board, add real coal, a bucket and fire irons whilst I was at it. The final addition once painted will be a modelu crew.

After taking a break to complete a couple of Peco projects just prior to Christmas, i got back to work on the layout by starting the construction of the goods yard platform and cattle dock. I used the ratio stonewalling and then normal plasticard to make the subframe. I then put it into the space to test fit. It has been quite tricky to build it on a bend where it is not a consistent curve. At this stage, I had a change of plan and decided to extend the platform to include the cattle dock. I initially wanted to use the ratio cattle dock, but upon reflection I decided to build my own that was more inkeeping of an SR style. I used bullhead rail and then microstrip as wooden rail. After a short break, I then completed the cattle dock construction bar some detailing. Which I am still yet to complete.

Last night saw the trial fitting of the new taller backscenes for Wadebridge. I hope this will give a bit more depth to the layout once it is painted. The curve was created by scoring the area every 1 inch and then gently pouring hot water onto it to help form the shape. Work has also been taking place on contouring the land, as per normal polystyrene flew everywhere. You can also see the old backscene in this photo. We are now working on the layout every Tuesday and a new 2mm member Richard has joined the project. This is really helping to motivate Keith and I to get cracking with the layout, plus the extra person helps with progress. There will be more progress to show shortly.

Hi Graham, Many thanks for sending those photos of the layout in its SR guise, its lovely to see the layout as it used to be. I will do my upmost to do justice to the work that you all put in when the layout was built.

Hi There, Thanks for the follow. With all the associated DCC control system, I paid £300. I thought that was very good for an 18ft layout (9ft of scenery).

In the lead up to Christmas of 2020, most work on the layout ceased due to other commitments, either volunteering at the Swanage Railway for their Steam and Lights event or doing a project for Peco TV which involved kit bashing an existing peco product to make it look more representative of the down waiting shelter at Harmans Cross. This was a fun, but tricky side project to complete, but I think it was worth the effort in the end. Modifications were made by adding in stone courses around the base, and other small, but important features. And this is the finished product. The other big commitment. It was great fun though. Please note: this was taken with permission, whilst not undertaking safety critical duties.

After detailing and sound fitting the Bulleid, my attention turned to some layout detailing and ballasting. My first task was to solder up an etched brass SR luggage trolley. The main body was folded up and then soldered in the relevant places. The tricky part was getting the wheels to fit and this was where disaster struck. When putting the second wheel on, the wheels managed to fly out of the pliers, hit the wall and then disappear. Sadly, I could not find it, so i have had to buy another etch to finish it. In the photo above you can I see that I have made a start on installing the brass fence posts on the platform. Ballasting had also started. I then started adding some foliage and static grass. These were a mix of Greenscenes static grass and Diarama Presepe. After this, I glued on a Bachmann station staff figure. Hopefully this gives a nice mini scene within the layout. The start of the goods platform wall using Ratio stone walling can also be seen.

As can be seen in the last photo of my previous post, I also took the opportunity to build a Peco lineside hut. These are very similar to the ones seen on the North Cornwall, so I felt these would look more than acceptable. This will be painted and installed in due course. I then turned my attention to some locomotive detailing. It would not be the North Cornwall without having a Bulleid Pacific on the 'Atlantic Coast Express'. I purchased an etched set of boards from Fox Transfers and then modified them to hold the route discs that were actually held on the side of the board due to the brackets taking up space on the lamp irons. In order to achieve this, I cut out some surplus brass from an etch that I had lying around. I then soldered it onto to the side of the board which was a bit of a faff to get it positioned right so that it looked level. Once achieved, I then sprayed the route discs with Halfords primer and then gloss white. These were then glued on to the board brackets. Finally, I stuck the whole board on to the front of one of my original Bulleid Pacifics. I think it gives the right effect. This Bulleid was then finished off with real coal and a crew. Ill add the rest of the detailing at a later date.

After playing with the design a little in terms of alignment. The whole area was cleaned and sanded. Once complete, the track was stuck down again. In the process I tweaked the loading dock spur a little more by bringing it away from the platform as well as shortening it. After this was stuck down, I then turned my attention to the new double track bridge. This is one of the Peco bridges that I have double sided in case I decide to expand the layout in the future.

Here comes the big changes. Having extensively looked at literature and diagrams of various North Cornwall stations over the years, I was not convinced by the 3 way point and just how short the headshunt was which severely restricted the use of the goods area. I therefore decided to remove it and make the headshunt longer. This entailed removing the single arch bridge and replace it with another one.

An episode of fencing. The fencing on Ashland was originally all ratio spear fencing. For Ashlands i wanted a little more variety. Therefore, I purchased some ration concrete fencing for use down the side of station building. I also purchased some scale model scenery post and wire fencing for one end of the platform. Having looked at a number of photos of the North Cornwall line over the year, I noted that there were many examples of spear fencing with bullhead rail as a post between each section. There is nothing proprietary that I could get so I decided to make it using a length of bullhead rail and the ratio spear fencing. I then airbrushed them using railmatch BR (s) green. Since installing the post and wiring fencing, I have become increasingly disappointed with it so I am now going to make concrete post and wire fencing.