awoodford

Thanks goldngreen. You can find some pictures of the completed modules in previous blog posts.

Thanks Mikkel.  A good idea about the hoe - I think I have one in the spares box. If I just prop it up prominently beside the steps perhaps he'll take the hint. 
 

Tartaruga, thanks for your comment.

ian, True there is a longer walk now, but at least the short cut across the stile is still there. Unfortunately the boozy excursions have now been discontinued, due to rowdiness, and replaced by a regular and respectable passenger service. No more communal singing on the way home, by order.

Irish Padre, thank you. The hills were simply painted on thin card with 2 shades of grey emulsion, then 'colour tinted' (like old Victorian postcards) with thin watercolour washes, before being cut out and stuck onto the sky.

NeilHB, thanks. I'm pleased with the way its progressing at the moment, and feeling more motivated which is a good sign.
 

Mikkel, thanks for your comment. From the start of the old project I had a nagging doubt as to whether I was taking on too much, so perhaps it was already pre-doomed back then. At least I'm feeling more confident in the new direction its taking.
 

Thanks Corbs. The blog output was pretty sparse last year. I'll try and do better this year.

Mikkel, thanks for your comment. The single industry seems to work alright, though wagons do also get dropped off to the far left and right of the scene on days when there is no coal traffic.
 

Hi Corbs,
I've had a break away from modelling over the winter, but I'm getting back into it again now, and trying to finish off the Docks Branch module. There should be an update in the next couple of weeks. Alan.

Hi Corbs. '...crack on with scenery'. That made me smile.  I always considered myself to be quite slow. I suppose it helped that the area was quite small and stuff could be re-used from the earlier version.

BlackRat, thanks for the comment.
 

Thanks Don.

Hi Don, thanks for your input. The minimal scenery was not such a smart idea in hindsight. Unfortunately it was one of the foundations of the layout concept and the main strategy for reducing the build time. In fact I've been seriously thinking of going back to windowed scenes, but it would mean a pretty drastic upheaval, if not completely restarting from scratch. Operating interest is more important to me now than the looks. That wasn't always the case, just something that has grown in recent years.

Thank you mpeffers. Its always nice to plan layouts, even if you know they'll never get built. I sometimes think there ought to be a repository for all the 'brilliant' but unfulfilled layout ideas folk dream up, so even if the originator takes them no furthur, someone else may find an idea there that is worth pursuing. 
 

Thanks Rivercider. Your comments got me thinking that seasonal variations might be easily incorporated into the scheme described above, by simply biasing the initial counter positions above or below the centre line at the start of a month - a few rows above during the winter, a few rows below in the summer. Something else to try.

David, thanks for your comments. I wouldn't know where to start getting this to work on a speadsheet! As to the other, it's true I've had some lengthy breaks away from the hobby in the past, but I reckon I'm pretty well glued in place now.

Thanks Mikkel. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the effect that the plain building shapes at the back had on the look. Perhaps something like that is really all it needs. The stylised look doesn't bother me, and they do give an impression of industrial surroundings, but without having to build fully detailed models! 
 

Thanks Jeff. The buildings on Tweedale tend to be built smaller than they should be, but if the standard man can (in principle) get through a door and wander around a room without cracking his head then as far as I'm concerned its fine.

Thanks Northroader. I guess it's all relative. The rolling stock is restricted to short wheelbase wagons and small shunting locos, and the rest is built to a size that still seems in keeping with the stock (to my eyes at least). If I was rash enough to undertake a reality check it would soon reveal that the platform is about the length of a mark1 coach, and a class 66 by itself would probably fill one of the marshalling yard sidings.

Thanks CK. It is fun, both to build and operate. I reckon the best decision I ever made in this model railway lark was to stop taking it too seriously.

Thank you Neil. Other worldly I can live with. Tweedale was never intended as an exercise in miniature realism. It is very much a Rule 1 layout. I do try to build it to a consistent style, and it is operated to a set of rules, but within limits I'm happy to incorporate any quirks and whims that take my fancy.

Thanks for your comments folks.

Quote Corbs: "I know I bang on about RC a lot, but such an idea would be ideally suited to battery power, radio control as it would not require any track wiring."

That would certainly help. The simpler the system is for connecting up the better.

Quote Gordon A: "Could the baseboards be made wider to include trackside buildings such as a goods shed, warehouse, factory or other industry?"

The boards I'm using here will eventually be expanded out to contain scenery. I've just temporarily attached some edging to the bare track boards here to tidy them up for the photos.

Quote Northroader: "Dunno about the showmanship and pizzazz, blondes in short skirts might distract the punters too much."

Personally I think there's not enough showmanship at shows, but yes within limits.

Quote FraserClarke: "I would have thought there is also a family of configurations with the loop in the middle?"

Yes you're right. I don't know how I missed those. It looks like they would add another 6 variations to the collection.

Quote Neil: "My own taste would be to include some scenery but I know that this would make the joins between models harder to manage unless there was a standard scenic end as well as a standard track end. Maybe each section could bulge out in the middle for the sscenic bit and narrow to just the trackbed for the join?"

I agree. I've not really gone into the details but there are quite a few things that would need to be considered for the flexible table-top system. As well as matching scenery at the ends (maybe just a short areas of scrub?), a more robust method of track alignment than the rail joiners I'm using here would also be advisable, also the wiring and electrical connections would need thought, if not going for the RC suggested by Corbs above.

OK, as I'm just about to lose my Internet access for the duration, I'll leave you here now and wish you all good health. I'll catch up with you again whenever.

Alan.

Thanks John.

Hi Ben B, thanks for your comments. I found that adding the extra contact definately improved the electrical pickup. The chassis is rather zippy though. I use a Gaugemaster feedback type of controller but it needs a gentle touch.

Hi Northroader, that's useful advice, thanks. It's not something that had occured to me before but it does make sense. As to the Slaghill siding, the capacity would indeed be increased by taking it off the main line, but unfortunately that would open out the curve to the steel works too much, which needs to be kept at the minimum 21 inch radius in order for it to fit.

Thanks for your comment Scott. Yes, it is a 1 foot grid.

Corbs, thank you. I'm not thinking of cannibalising the original Tweedale. I'm quite fond of that old layout and will probably hang on to it while I have the space.

Thanks Wenlock. I'm interested to see how this develops myself. Things don't often turn out as I first visualise them, so what I'll end up with is anyone's guess.

Thanks for your comment John. I guess things will carry on as usual.

Hi Corbs, thanks for your comment. I did get 2 years of operation out of the extension, but it never really seemed to gel with the rest of the layout. If it wasn't for the commitment to show it at the exhibition it might well have been abandonned earlier.

Thanks Wenlock. The new layout will follow more or less the same theme, but with longer runs between stations and a different style of presentation. I'll fill in the details in the next blog.

Just a quick update. The railbus had a few issues with intermittant electrical pickup. The 4-wheel Model Power chassis on which it runs has a traction tyre on one wheel which only gave reliable pickup from 3 wheels. To get round the problem, an extra contact direct to the track was added on the side of the chassis with the traction tyre. This simply consists of a piece of brass rod with a short length of brass tube on the end that rolls along the rail - a great improvement. As this is on the side of the vehicle away from the viewer, it's not normally visible.

Thanks Ed. For a layout with number of different locations where the shunting is more important than watching the trains moving from place to place, I think it works very well. I was surprised at how well the rabbit warren aspect of the layout went down with the public too, not only the children, trying to guess where the train was going to appear next.

Thank you John. The next phase will involve a major upheaval of the system, which is why I want to wait awhile before making a start. At least that way I might catch some of the problems beforehand.

Well it might not be that easy to get rid of them. These are tough old birds, going around in gangs and into heavy metal (they are Dart Castings after all). Any urban fox who encounters this hen party and thinks its his lucky day, will soon find itself scuttling away with its tail between its legs and a mouthful of broken teeth.

Mike Storey - Thanks for your comment. I also use the same method for glazing card buildings - bonding a paper or thin card frame to the plastic glazing with solvent, then gluing the frame inside the window opening with PVA.

Mikkel - Thanks. The scene didn't come out quite as I'd envisioned it, but I'm happy enough with the result. As to the chickens, they were added partly as a strand linking the opening waffle with the rest, and partly out of devilment. Whether they'll stay around for the exhibition, or range freely to some other part of the works off scene, is anyone's guess.

Thanks Marlyn.

Thank you Wenlock. If Filey was a bit closer to Cardiff I'd get to see Sherton Abbas!

Hi Marlyn, thanks for your comment. I think the biggest mistake was agreeing to exhibit before the layout was actually finished. I know some people do this deliberately to provide the motivation to get on, but for me I suspect the pressure is just going to make the modelling process a chore rather than a pleasure. I'm sure it'll all work out OK in the end though.