Northroader

what’s this, then? You’re looking at 0 gauge? What? What? What?

Totally enamelled with the train standing at the platform, very best wishes to yourself and Stationmaster Price.

What is he up to now, I thought, and not disappointed, gently swinging away to the music. Quite a lot happened in your year, too. Have a happy time with all the family, and hope for a good new year. Best wishes, Bob.

well, best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to everyone, many thanks for your interest and help during a difficult time. I’m looking forward to a new year when we can venture out again Beyond Dover….

You can get away with 10mm foamboard, although I’ve found this time of year PVA glue doesn’t like cold weather. Roll on the spring…

Well, there’s two tankcars having their undercarts renewed in plywood (what!!???) and there’s a layout going forward to run American trains on bullhead rail (gasp! Shock!! Horror!!!) so this year I’d best confine my Christmas greetings to a nice sunny picture, (well, it’s the coast in California) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!! God Bless Us, Everyone.

I’ve now got the loco together to work on the layout, such as it is. There’s just some brass rod of the right size needed to finish it off. The premise was “what would the Highland Railway look like if it was narrow gauge?”, or, “what would have happened if Rowland Emett had been in charge of Lochgorm Works?” Here it is on my “Kawaii” layout, just a load more scenery to finish. Its the smallest of my layouts, but I’m afraid it seems to get pushed to the back in the priority list. A Very Happy Christmas and a Good New Year to Everyone!

Just a couple of shots to show how the main unit is looking now. Some old furniture has been slung out, and in the process I’ve gained some ply to do the facing strips, and some thick cardboard to do a scenic background support. Usually I do this in hardboard, but having two layers of cardboard stuck together seems to offer just as good a job for what’s wanted. It’s all pretty basic, but I’m hopeful it will be sufficient for my needs. we’re into the festive season, with Christmas approaching fast, so I’d like to wish everyone who’s been looking in, a very happy time, with a good new year to come. For me 2023 has been quite an upheaval, and I’m grateful to a lot of kind people who’ve been very helpful, especially in aiding with the down-sizing project. Many thanks for that.

That is a really lovely little model, looks great, and very neat lining out.

Thank you, Leslie, this sort of thing is what you’re thinking of? Its a bit too big and modern for my simple tastes, and not really the sort of thing for a microlayout. I think the “Third Man” film does stick quite closely to actual locations, if you were coming to Vienna from the West in the late 1940s, it would have to be by train into Westbahnhof, using the old Kaiserin Elisabets Bahn, the KEB, which spanned West from Vienna to the German border, and became an early component of the State system, the kkStB. (Actually the Kaiserin is the person for whom the MGWR loco “Empress of Austria” was named. She was quite keen on hunting on horseback, and did several visits to Ireland, where she was a popular figure) There's a rather temporary look in the film to the glimpses of the accomodation at the station, it was hit by a stick of bombs in spring 1945, and the overall roof collapsed. It had a total rebuild in the 1950s into a modern structure. So return to earlier times, the station was like the other Viennese termini, an imposing piece of architecture, with just an arrival platform and a departure platform inside, also a carriage siding or two. If you’ve got the length, there’s plenty to go at. (Edit: looking at the engraving again, I think the narrow platforms were also used for arrivals and departures, rather than carriage stabling)

“Gosser Bier” sticks in my mind from the “Third Man” (my all time favourite film), 1947 Vienna at night, somewhere beyond the bomb rubble, a freight train starts off…..

Pssttt,!! It’s a vibrator, put it away right now.

Not just GER, surely? (And you’ve got a “Lion) p.s. and “dahn sarf” (well, nearly)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBK6n607zDM

TOWARDS AN AUSTRIAN SETTING. Besides the “Western Fringe” layout in 37mm broad gauge and 7mm scale, with foamboard bases, the other main layout is taking shape across the room. This is intended as a one size fits all layout, done in 32mm standard gauge for 7mm scale, encompassing various other interests. Here is the roughed out main board, trying in this case to look like Old Austria. The station building is from elsewhere, and included to give a better sense of the proportions. Even keeping it simple, I’m would like a few more goods wagons and motive power, although what’s shown would give a sufficiently workable line.

Oh,yess,yesss,yesssss!!!! http://locomotivehorns.info/leslie/ns_010915_1.wav (a mile away)

When it was just Buildwas A, you used to get block trains of tipplers like this: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/cegbtippler They’d start from Wednesbury, where I think they’d been interchanged with the LMR from the Cannock coal field, then along the main line to Madeley Junction, then down through Lightmoor. There was just a single 57xx 0-6-0PT on the train, and the gradient on the branch must have made handling them difficult. I’ve seen them rolling down over the Albert Edward bridge with the loco’s wheels locked solid, and just the empties going back could bring the loco to a near standstill around Greenbank Halt.

Using two in multiple would have exceeded the limit for screw coupling strength.

There’s a person called Peter Smith, who runs Kirtley Models, and does contract modelling. A few years back he did a set of computer design printed panels which he stuck on his 7mm model locos. for his layout Saltdean, in full Stroudley livery. Reference to this was in the LBSC Digest, and I think he did publish a booklet on this. The covid outbreak did alter trading patterns for a lot of the small traders, he used to do some really good brick papers before then, for instance. He’s also created the very useful Station Colours website.

Cheer up picture?

Coffee stirrers.

The ply is good for being dimensionally stable, and it takes the wood glue very well. I think in our lifetime we’ve got used to seeing wood buildings painted cream, and it would give a much lighter appearance to the model, so I suppose having the darker appearance might help in dating it.

Been watching this develop, and just become aware of the name change, which threw me. It’s looking good, and I hope the 7mm side of the job isn’t getting neglected.

The Longmorn station building is now finished, insofar as all the bits have been prised out of the ply sheets and stuck together, but there’s still more needed to do. The interior glazing was done with clear plastic sheet, and a 12mm ply floor fitted, which allowed the roof be progressed. The roof panels are all square cut, rather than chamfered, so there is an appreciable gap above where the panels touch, so quite a lot of filler will be needed. I found the chimney assemblies needed packing adding before they were fixed to the roof. The locating tabs have been smoothed down flush, and now I want to add card strips to represent slates and give a better texture to the roof, as the etched courses on the roof will vanish when the roof is painted. Then the chimneys will need some brick paper, and I’m thinking of replacing the ply extensions representing chimney pots with some white metal castings. I’m quite pleased with how it’s turned out, it is a necessary component for the layout that’s forming, but it’s giving me a much better idea of how the proportions will look on the arrangement.