boxerbayrailway

It's been along time since my last post. I've been busy with many different projects over the last 4 months, and I'll be posting some updates soon of major developments on the railway. I've also been working on my first coach, a Slaters 4 wheel 3rd class GWR kit, which will be painted in our own BBR livery of dark blue / black, very close to the S&D colours. Chassis is basically complete and awaiting the paint shop, body construction is next. Overall enjoyable kit even if a bit fiddly, glad I only need 3 coaches altogether. Weather is improving (Finally ! ) so painting will commence soon. Cheers, Felix

According to the article, apart from 2 locos, all were home made from drawings which appeared in MRN over the years, and his goods stock was also home made from glider three-ply. I do agree that those Marklin / Bassett Lowke coaches must have cost a bit Wheels were coarse scale turned down, and coach wheels turned up out of bronze bar on a borrowed capstan !

I have a large collection of old Model Railway News magazines, and love looking through all the O scale layouts and models that were built back in the day. Although I model "finescale", I do appreciate the "Old Fashioned" world of O scale. I often wonder where these models are today, if they still exist, I hope so. Thought I'd share a couple photos from J.F. Vaux's Caledonian layout, from 1960. Some of his models where under construction in 1920 ! I believe he stated that his coaches were adapted from Marklin tinplate, with new roofs and details made from scratch, a lot of skill and persistence was needed when not much was available.

Very nice layout Gerry, lots of detail and atmosphere. I like the GER G40 Coffee Pot loco. The consistent weathered appearance of the stock and railway is most realistic.

I'll second that question Just about to start ballasting my railway and trying to decide which size is best. Studying the photos yours looks just about right. Great looking Iron Mink by the way, I'm trying to be as patient as possible awaiting mine with the shipment of the riveted pannier Spring can't come soon enough !

Sample looks great Chris, no problem on the delay Well worth the wait - gives me time to get around to detailing / weathering my Peckett.

A cheap project completed for my dock, buffer stops. Got these off of ebay, made by Lima decades ago. Thought they'd be okay after a bit of modification, I removed the modernish European buffers, sanding and fitting a solid wood beam. Also a repaint with acrylics, and some weathering with washes / powders made an improvement. Final touch was a new top layer of ballast. Overall very happy with them and the total cost, for 2 including shipping was $6 USD ! Woodland Scenics ballast has been ordered so ballasting the track will begin soon

Well the last Goods service has departed Windrush Junction for Boxer Bay in 1917. Got the camera out tonight and couldn't resist a quick shot. Lots of projects planned for 1918 (I mean 2018 ), I'll be happy if I can get to half of them ! Happy New Year Everyone

Happy Holidays David ~ Beautiful shot !

Thanks Chris, I must admit it is very nice to have the option to just run trains when the mood strikes, and then switch over to more serious operation which I'm looking forward to developing overtime, once I get more stock and the scenic side progresses a bit more. 4ft radius does limit the stock a bit but luckily I prefer the smaller & ancient Victorian locos the best - any chance of a Dean Goods from Minerva wink wink nudge nudge I really enjoyed your recent article in the Gazette on Cwm Bach, such a level of detail you've put into it, I'm hoping to get to do a bit of that in '18 Looking forward to that riveted Pannier tank Cheers Felix

Just a bit of fun quickly filmed video featuring a " special " delivery to Windrush Junction. Work on the railway for 2017 is about finished for the year. A lot has been accomplished considering the limited time I've had to work on it. All track / electrical work complete, control panels finished, extension to fiddle / storage sidings in closet finished (* topic of future post), track painted, platforms built, main station building, loco shed, and water tower all built and mostly finished say a little weathering / detailing. Fortunately a lot more modelling to look forward to in 2018, so much to do From the staff of the B.B.R. ~ We Wish Everyone a Happy Holiday Season, and a Super Healthy Fun Productive 2018 ! Cheers, Felix

I like your plan. Nothing wrong with single track, in fact I find them more interesting to operate. My railway is 9.5 x 14 ft. I find it a nice size and I doubt I'd want anything larger, even if I had the money and space, there is never enough time. Plus when you start getting too big, then space tends to be wasted. When I was a kid I'd love to look through all the magazine layout articles and go straight to the track plan / diagram to see what the builder's idea for his railway was, I still find this to be the case. I've gotten more then a few good tips from looking at other modellers plans. Felix

Some progress on the station. Still lots to do and many details to add. I must get around to painting some proper figures.

Thought I'd share this bit of fun, though not O it's still in the "Old Fashion" some beautifully filmed sequences in the evening. They've made a few of them, usually with a fun plot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQtZP3RC50

Yes, I'll be putting in a wooden make shift buffer stop, the area back there is meant to be a place of storage for random parts and rubbish, probably some form of storage shed or work area. Still lots to do and nothing even close to being finished, still have detailing to add to the loco shed and water tower. One of the best things about O scale for me is there will always be something to add or do, I imagine I'll be working on this layout 20 years from now (if I'm lucky which is why it's built to be moved easily just incase of a house move.

"Col. ~ The Water's Arrived !" There was much rejoicing in Boxer Bay, another important structure is now complete (at least for now). A very nice resin kit by Skytrex (originally by NMB models I believe). It looks very impressive and definitely demonstrates the awesome size of O scale structures. I'm happy that I didn't try to jam in more track then I'd originally wanted to ! With the position of the loco shed and tower, it frames the view of passing trains through the station nicely. Who am I kidding, building these structures is just delaying the unavoidable track ballasting, guess I'd better start soon, maybe tomorrow, or next week, it'll kill a few cold dark Winter hours I'm sure. Cheers !

Looks very nice, will definitely be getting one, or two, or three Seems a much needed wagon, with no kit being available from the big kit makers. Any little detail differences I can overlook, as long as the overall impression and major details are correct. I try and not take things too far - accuracy wise, it takes a bit of the fun away (for me). I was hoping for a Andrew Barclay loco, but perhaps in 2018

Thanks for posting these John, couldn't make it there this year so the videos are nice to see, sadly the Bridgewater video isn't available on my computer, says "Private Video", perhaps Youtube has messed up at the controls again ! Anyone take any photos of the Broad Gauge layout that was there, "Gold Corner" ?

Where does the time go ? Summer almost over, Only a day before Telford ! Hope everyone who is lucky enough to attend has a great time, and perhaps a little video for us who can't make it will appear on Utube ? A quick update on a newly finished project for Boxer Bay Jct. I haven't had as much time as I'd hoped this Summer, but I did manage to finish my first major structure, the loco shed, kit by LCut, it seemed just right for my Col. Stephens line, and a good fit for my small station at Boxer Bay Jct. Overall I was very happy with the kit, everything fit pretty good, and was easy to build with simple wood glue. Instructions could have been better - what else is new ! Painting and weathering was easy, with chalk powders giving the final touch. I'm still learning and think my weathering is getting better, but I also build within my limits, so I maintain a consistent level throughout my modelling. Here is a few photos of how the scene now looks, starting to look more like a Railway. Hope Everyone has a Great Time @ Telford Guildex Cheers, Felix

Thanks Chris for the tip, I'll add a bracing rod today, and a bit more weathering I think. Your stop looks great. Then onto the ballasting ! I actually don't mind it too much, I think the trick is try to not do too much at a time, little by little. Of course I've only ballasted a layout in TT scale before, so in 7mm I anticipate a whole new set of challenges to get it to look right.

It's been a little while since the last update on the BBR. Nice weather, busy with work, garden etc... have left limited time for the railway. However I've managed to get a couple things done lately, including painting the rails / track. This was done with a spray can, I know I took the easy way out ! But I will go back and brush paint in some effects in certain areas like the loco shed to add a bit of variety in rail colours, and I'll weather the sleepers in due course. What a difference it makes once you paint the rails, night and day ! I've also managed to install my first buffer stop, built and modified from the Peco rail type, I used a wood beam instead of the supplied rail one, and installed a lantern taken from the original. The next step will be continuing with weathering the track, and then comes the Super Joyful task of ballasting. The Colonel is busy recruiting inmates at the local prison, and looking for volunteers to get this stage of development moving forward

Interesting thread. Well for me, a large reason I model in 7mm and have any interest in English Steam, indeed even trains overall, is due to a hobby shop from my youth. I'm 32, and our yearly Summer family vacations took us to Beautiful British Columbia, chasing SD40-2 diesels through the Thompson canyon, followed by a visit to Vancouver. Always a must visit for Dad & I was a special little shop called "Railway World", in Gastown. Owner & Proprietor was Mr. Arthur Darlington, who was from Cardiff. That Hobby Shop (1973-2004) was where I was introduced to a whole new world, looking through all the British magazines including Steam Days, Back Track, Railway Modeller, Railway Bylines, Continental Modeller, to name a few. Display cases filled with Hornby Dublo, and Arthur with his stories of the "Good Old'ays !" of GWR steam, while he was living in Newton Abbot. Who needed the Internet ! Sadly Arthur was forced to close his shop in '04, as the city wanted a parking lot ! I stayed close friends with Arthur until his passing last year. So sad to think that shops such as these are almost completely extinct (from N. America anyways), and future generations will never know the joys of visiting them, just click click click and that's it.

I agree, but I'm not too sure what can be done about the corners, it's the way the kit is designed. My plan is to disguise them once it's installed on the layout with a down spout, or a strategically placed figure.

I was looking for any excuse to delay painting the rails and ballasting the track, and I found it ! A very inexpensive and fun side project, a weight bridge from Lcut. Kit # B 70-14, cost is only £10, or $12 USD. The kit is laser cut and is very high quality, everything fit together perfectly and the whole thing was built, painted and weathered in about 2 hours. I chose to prime it with Humbrol acrylic, then brush paint it with Tamiya acrylics and used chalk powders for weathering. The model takes up about 114 x 132mm, including the base. Photos show a little gap between building and base, that will disappear when building is glued to the base, and I do need to finish it with window glazing. I hope to improve my painting skills in this area but I think it turned out pretty good. Now sadly onto the ballasting Please note Renault (Heller kit) will not be featured on the 1920s era railway, just shown for fun

Thanks Pete, well the "River Barge" is actually a Verlinden 1/35 scale resin model, a very high quality casting that I thought might pass for 1/43. The tug boat is a 1/48 resin kit from "Frenchman River", it's a small 24' steam tug built at the turn of the century, I can highly recommend this kit, very high quality castings with little cleanup, all parts fit perfectly and have great detail. You can find them on ebay for about $50 USD. It seems we are limited in maritime models for 7mm, so it's either make do with what's around and convert it, or scratch build ! I'll need to scratch build my main coastal freighter ship, but that is probably a few years away. As for the couplings Northroader, I would definitely think about it. While filming this little test of the layout, I had 3 wagons equipped with the OO TLs, and the rest with the 3 links, and it was a real pain dealing with the chains, even with a little hand tool I made up. The TLs worked perfectly, and that part of the operating was very enjoyable. I know the TLs aren't as pleasing to look at when viewing close up photos of equipment, but I can overlook it as my main interest is smooth and enjoyable operation of the railway.