Dragonboy

I’ve just had an incredibly relaxing 20 mins or so over lunch watching a video of Modbury that popped up on YouTube.

Your layout is absolutely exquisite Ian and the video is just the sort of calm and measured “action” I love to see on a model. 
 

I’m not convinced action is the right word because it tends to suggest the breakneck harem scarum activity more associated with gaudy boxes hurtling round a round roundy layout at impossible speeds on minimal radius curves but, as they say, each to their own. 

Now that I’ve found this thread I can imagine I’ve several enjoyable days reading to come. 
 

Brian

So sorry to hear this news. Fingers crossed that Gordon rallies and thinking of his family and friends. 
 

Brian

Maybe just a hedge alone would be enough?

18 hours ago, bgman said:

 

Tried that......Didn't work for me ! 

 

Looks like the resident photographer has been photo bombed by the village idiot 

As I model in N I’ve struggled to achieve decent yard cover and no matter what scatter I’ve tried the surface always looks like walking over a shingle beach. 
 

For me the best effect I’ve manage has been using Greenscenes textured paint and for yards I use a mix of 2 or 3 different ones and when dry I sand over to remove any high peaks. If not enough texture then I repeat process until I’m happy. 
 

Brian

12 hours ago, Alister_G said:

 

He was manufactured...

 

Al.

Don’t you mean scratchbuilt?

Yes me to. I was pondering over another building in my yard and I think the decision has now been made.

Some really good observations coming out here but at the end of the day everyone will need to make the call as they see fit at the time.

Despite being fully jabbed I’m more reluctant to go to an exhibition today than I was on Monday because of the comments about the rise in cases allegedly attributable to the England V Scotland football spectators.

The question of venue is a little more tricky. Biggest space Warley but there can be crushes by the club only purchasing part of the hall. Whole hall and basic individual safety precautions then it’s a possibility however the cost of Warley for me is frankly becoming way out of my reach. 
 

Over the years I’ve attended exhibitions in Milton Keynes at schools or similar. I’m guessing these would be a no no for me as they are usually far to cramped and maybe these venues might no longer be in the mix anyway.

This would leave East of England Showground TINGS & Stoke Mandeville as the 3 venues I’d probably feel most comfortable to visit as they are usually well spaced out.

The other venue I went to in 2019 was MK Stadium and I am on the fence there as it was a bit crosses for me even being a Sunday attendee. 

Fantastic news and great to hear Gordon is back using his iPad.  Just a thought though ……… does Templot work on iPad?

From the single set of tracks it looks like that’s the first time the tractors come through the gate so someone’s getting a shellacking for mucking up the nice clean gravel

Very nice indeed +1 more now following

17 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Prepare to receive 13 envelopes of hair from a well-meaning band of RM webbers.

Only 13?  I’d hazard a guess Kevin would need a lot more contributors than 13.

Surely if there’s a cunning plan about buses in the making then it’s bound to look like a turnip

13 hours ago, Physicsman said:

Maybe after GH I'll build that small diorama and build the track as it would be a fun thing to do.

 

As I model in N I have the luxury of being able to have a few different layouts and when I had the idea of building one last layout I decided to go the full hog and step out of my comfort zone with DCC Sound, Blue Diesel but more importantly hand made code 40 British Finescale track.

 

There was much cursing and cussing initially with sleepers pinging off every which way never to be seen again, but I’m glad to say I stuck at it and I derived much pleasure at doing it and knowing that I had every time I look at it, so I would encourage you to do it Jeff because in 20 years or whatever you don’t want to look back and say “ I really wish I had”

 

Brian

13 hours ago, Physicsman said:

 

 

21 hours ago, KNP said:

Want to do something that is fiddly but well worth the effort try fixing some decorative spars to a thatched ridge.

Started on the back slope so if it went wrong I could remove and no one would be any the wiser!!!

About an hours work there!!!

 

 

Ordinary thread used in Smokey grey but will over paint to weather.

 

 

Just a suggestion but maybe the chimney pots would benefit from bedding in with a bit of plastic putty idc 

Brian

Lovely layout and choice of period. 

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

There is certainly a big difference between operating to please a viewer and operating to keep the operator interested.

 

I have always believed that the best layouts satisfy both requirements.

 

It is possible, even with a tiny branch terminus, if you put some thought into it.

 

Train arrives, loco runs round, train leaves is easy but a bit dull.

 

Train arrives, loco runs round, detaches van from rear and puts it in the yard, then picks up horse box from dock and puts it on the front. Then the goods arrives in the loop, clearing the single track section for the passenger to depart.

 

It is those sorts of moves that make even little Leighton Buzzard a joy to watch or to operate. When we took it to shows, when I wasn't operating I would often just watch it to see how the person on the controls did the shunting. When I was operating, I didn't feel that I needed a break but came off so somebody else could have a turn. I never got bored for one moment and I enjoyed exhibiting it probably more than any other layout. Some people would watch it for an hour or more and then come back for a second look.

 

When I went out a few times with Gresley Beat, we had huge crowds round and it was a real show stopper but I found it boring to operate. Send one round. Send another one round. Repeat.

 

It is up to each of us to decide what gives us pleasure in the hobby and the variety is what makes it so fascinating to me. What people have chosen to build and why can be just as interesting as what techniques they have used.

 

 

 

 

I have to say that I was at the Warley show a few years ago purely to see Leighton Buzzard, and was unashamedly parked for a long time first thing in the morning, and I was back for second helpings before I left for home.

I was most certainly entertained, and mesmerised trying to predict in my head what the next move would be. I was a miserable failure there but importantly everything seemed to flow seamlessly.

I saw LB again the next year and I think it was possibly at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, and was again transfixed at the seemingly effortless way the layout performed, which given its great age is a fitting tribute to Reverend Denny, and more recently to t-b-g in keeping LB going which I’d guess can be “challenging” at times.

Brian

Interesting how people’s reactions to building wagon kits varies. With me it’s my go to job for when my mojo has gone so a rummage in the kit draw will usually bring a kit or two to the surface that I fancy getting on with. 
 

Downside of that is sometimes I wander of track and then realise I’ve several unfinished wagons sitting on the workbench.

Hey ho. It’s all part of the journey and the enjoyment it gives at the time.

Brian

15 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Yes Rich, I would also need to cut out the swearing, the bits where I stick bits on the wrong way round, and the bits where I stick my fingers together, so that alone would save a few hours of the final cut.

Ooooooh that sounds like fodder for the blooper cut. 
 

Brian

1 hour ago, aardvark said:

 

A squabble?

A Handbag

18 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Caveat to that is if you're using wide cylindered GWR locos or wide diesels, such as an 08 with outside rods, you might need a slightly bigger gap.

Yes the method is foolproof until you test a Bachman Farish 08 down your GWR BLT.

Not bought for that layout but was convenient for a quick turn. Coupling rods bend very easily in N but I’ve now got the same lack of clearance problem with a Union Mills Dukedog. 
 

Best wishes for your recovery Gordon and like many have already said I too am missing my morning fix of updates from Eastwood Town. 
 

I just hope that while you have time on your hands that you are not planning a major revamp. 
 

Brian

I have to say Mike when I watched the video I thought the diesel depot jarred and just didn’t look realistic. It also seemed to sabotage the effect you’d otherwise created with shed and coal hole. 
 

Leicester South solved the shed issue by having a line running off scene to an off scene shed the other side of a bridge and wonder if this would work for you?

Brian 

How long will it be before plans for the new summerhouse railway are shared?

Brian

Being a member of the great unwashed and never exhibited anything in my life I had already got to the point where I was pruning the number of exhibitions which I was going to on the grounds that I was finding so many exhibitions I attended around the Midlands area were offering very little different to the show I attended the previous week. 
 

Too many shows? Possibly but at least if there were then I had the choice of going and was striking a balance by making choices. Most show organisers were very good at publishing lists of attendees be they layouts or traders so I could usually plan well for what I saw or who I bought from and which shows I targeted in my diary.

As an N gauge modeller I’ve always found being able to inspect the smaller items before buying invaluable, and this has been of greater importance to me over the last few fees now that I’m retired. Clearly this was only achievable by going to shows.  I dread to think how much tat I bought Mail order over the years dating back to the 70’s by post based on a printed WH catalogue so internet and internet trading has been a godsend over the last year, but I do feel that whilst most charges for post and packaging from most suppliers are reasonable there are one or two suppliers that to me are pure rip offs in this respect and unfortunately I’ve yet to source the required items anywhere else.

As for the future? I am likely to be even more selective as to future exhibitions I attend. I’ve only been to Warley once in the last 5 years because of the cost, and crush, and that visit was purely to see Leighton Buzzard again having seen it from a distance at Westminster in the 70’s. Other venues which I had previously culled were a couple of school shows in Milton Keynes were there was so little room to move around comfortably they were usually very unpleasant days out. 
 

I am fortunate that I enjoy good health, and have been fully jabbed, but I suspect I will be reluctant to get up close and personal with crowds for some time yet having assiduously been avoiding people for over a year now - some would say most of my life - and I think a lot of what’s been said already about show costs and organisers needs are very valid but for me it’s going to be safety so a very very cautious re-entry, despite the fact that I’m truly missing the overall show experience.