Signalman Rich

Nick, Thank you very much for the reference to Anderson and Fox and their information and the window / door dimensions particularly. I have been thinking about a small halt with one siding as an extension of my Cameo layout and your info is invaluable. Reminder to self - "another must have book to source!" Jol, Regarding my post about the Red Wharf Bay branch and its buildings. I found the British Railway Journal (issue Number 1 October 1983) with the article with lots of photos, including each of the stations that have the garden shed type of building. My Memory! The size of the buildings were 15' x 7' according to Roger Carpenter not 16' x 8'. I must admit that seeing one of the modules listed by Nick was 15' 7" long did give me pause. There is a couple of photos on Google images for Pentraeth station. One is this photo if the link works: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/8153 That shows clearly the collection of smaller buildings on the platform. Ceint halt also had one of the darker painted 'huts.' Mike, Hoping that my comments and the ensuing extras from Jol and Nick have only helped if you do decide to go down the country station route. Best wishes Rich

Jol Thanks for your detailed reply. I too have Jack Nelson's book but have never taken a ruler to the drawings to gauge the exact scale. They are wonderful drawings. I only wish that my drawing efforts were anything approaching the quality of his precise work. However, in my comment on buildings for Mike's intended layout I had in mind the 'garden shed' types, that form a collection of buildings on lesser used lines like the Red Wharf Bay branch. (There may be some photos on the closed station website - I must have a look) I have the BRJ stashed away and will look for it later. The photo I am thinking of is of a 2-4-2 tank with the two converted trailers used on the branch at Pentraeth on opening day. I am sure it is in one of my LNWR books, but have not been able to find it yet. It shows the collection of sheds, some sideways on, some end on to the platform. That would explain why I wrote about the 16' x 8' dimension. I will have a look for both later when my wife gets up. Sue has to rest her spine in the afternoon after all her surgeries and my magazine collection is in a cupboard in the bedroom. Mike, Thanks for your kind comments about my little cameo layout. I understand why you are working on stone walls for your prospective layout if it is to be based on the Cromford and High Peak. I am sure you will sort out a technique based on your samples. They look very good to me. Of course if you decide to go with an industrial scene then brick paper / plastikard bricks / embossed card bricks may well be your new best friends! My favourite industrial view is of 'Chopper' tank number 2250 with a train of early four wheeled stock passing some old industrial buildings in Birmingham. You probably have seen it already. ( page 29 in LNWR - Pre-grouping Railway Scene No 3 Edited by O S Nock, published by Ian Allan 1980). Leeds MRS made a model of the buildings and there were some drawings they produced in (I think) an old RM from the 1960s. I hope you have wonderful time with your family in Australia and enjoy the relaxing cycle rides. Best wishes Rich

Mike, sorry if my comment has inadvertently taken attention away from your excellent thread., However..... Jol Wilkinson, Thank you for your comments and expertise. I am sure that I remember reading that they were designed by FWW but cannot remember where. Perhaps it was in that early British Railway Journal article on the Red Wharf Bay branch. I will see if I can find it again. The origins you write about re: Earlestown and Wolverton are interesting. Perhaps some drawings may yet surface in an archive with FWW in the corner? I also remember reading that at least some of them were 16' by 8'. Am I dreaming that? It is surprising that one has to question concepts that one takes mentally as gospel and that are firmly fixed in mind, but when asked for chapter and verse are difficult to confirm by references. Am I right about the sizes? With your comprehensive knowledge of things LNWR could you confirm, please? Best wishes Rich

Mike, Don't beat yourself up over the painting of buildings issue. Your superb modelling of wagons (and the ability to delicately weather them) shows that you are a good way there already. (If at first you don't succeed...... etc) Besides, if you go for the country station approach on your layout you can make some of Mr Webb's series of 'pre-fab' wooden buildings like they had on the Red Wharf Bay branch on Anglesey. They will just require painting in the standard LNWR colours, just as you do with your rolling stock. After making vans, like your superb L&Y one, making the little wooden buildings will be like making another, only without the underframes ! Your work is an inspiration to me and to many others too. Please keep posting your step-by-step descriptions with the crystal clear photos and explanations of your work. Your work graces the Forum and helps us to aspire to quality in our own work. Best wishes Rich

Mike, I hope you will not mind if I post one photo of my little layout to show how compact it is - the idea may be useful for your planned layout ? The buildings are almost all painted with watercolours. It is the first time I had tried using them on buildings and am so pleased with the subtle effects that I could never manage with oil paints that I suppose I am a little evangelistic about them! Marlyn, here is a photo, inspired by Jim Read's layouts. The 'blurb' explaining about the layout is on the left and the shunting board that shows how trains are being marshalled is on the right. This is my first attempt at posting a photo on this forum so I hope I can achieve it. Best wishes Rich

Thank you for providing so much inspirational work for me/us to see through all your posts. Just a little comment on your potential layout in Scale 7. I have found Jim Read's little layouts provided me with a track plan that I could live with for my little cameo layout Alma Street Quay. Muckton has just one point and a traverser to save from building another point. His blog is at : https://ogaugemicro.blogspot.com/p/pdfs.html My little layout is 4' 8 1/2" by 21" with the front occupied by an inlaid broad gauge track let into the quay road, with the standard gauge behind that. (if you still are a member of the 'O' ther site look on the 'My layout' feed for some photos of my little effort if you think it worthwhile). I have experimented with watercolour for painting my buildings after reading a little booklet published by Pendon. Perhaps an undercoat of pale hue for the mortar colour over the beautifully carved stonework in your model hut would allow you to try it out. I just use a small pocket size painting outfit (second hand from my wife) as well as a 'freebie' with just a few basic colours I was given when at work. Not quite up to the archive quality of paint used by the Pendon team, but useful enough. Watercolour is quite forgiving and if you use a matt undercoat in oil or acrylic (or emulsion) watercolour is easy enough to wipe off if it all goes pear shaped.. Might be worth a try? You can produce superb rolling stock and locos so I am confident that you will succeed with your buildings and your layout. Mine took less than a year to be more or less completed, because it is so small. Keep up the good work. Best wishes Rich

Thanks for posting the video. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, there was a lot to enjoy and, as ever, some useful bargains and bits and pieces to buy. I was/am grateful for the opportunity to give my little 0-4-0 tank and short train a chance to 'stretch its legs' on the test track. (about 1 minute in). My cameo layout is only 4 feet 8 1/2" long so it doesn't normally get the chance to go that far! Best wishes Rich

Hello William, Given that you have a Midland van on display you may have access to Midland wagons volumes 1 and 2 by RJ Essery. In the background to Vol 1 plate 227 there is a small embankment topped by a substantial wooden fence. In volume 2 plate 340 shows what I think is the same fence but more visible behind the low 30 ton trolley. (A few telegraph poles break up the monotony of the long fence) Earlier photos from the 1870s and 80s in the books show another fence (or maybe the same one) with trees beyond the fence. There were obviously regular places where the MR photographers wanted a 'neutral' background to their photos of new stock. Three feet of fence should be more easily modelled than large warehouses. The trees could provide an exercise in tree construction using wire or some of the other techniques available on the RMweb etc. I hope this may provide some food for thought. Best wishes Rich

Thanks for taking the time from exhibiting your layout to take and edit your video. As you show there were lots of layouts and demonstrations to inspire us, including your Amiens portrayal. Excellent modelling from behind the lines in 1918. Best wishes Rich

Hello Martin I bought a 'Fred' figure from Andy Duncan's stand at the show at STEAM in Swindon Railway Museum yesterday. Needs painting of course, but Mr Duncan does some superb traction engine kits to go with the figure. Hope this is helpful. Best wishes Rich

Hello Richard, Lovely to see the progress on your layout. It is inspirational modelling of the highest calibre. Thanks for taking the time to detail your work on boxes, crates, barrels, packages etc in MRJ too. Extremely useful. Best wishes Rich

Just checked Jim Read's latest post under Boxfiles and Micro layouts. "Muckton - micro terminus conversion + 4W NSR coach." It also includes some details on his current project making a 4 wheel North Staffordshire coach. Worth a look. Best wishes Rich

Sorry to hear about your health issues Vaughan45. It must have been a blow to have to sell a layout just when it was all coming together so well. Just a thought that you might like to try. If you use card for modelling it can be glued using Gum Arabic (from art shops) which has virtually no smell. It does dry fairly slowly but one can use brick papers on buildings. It is economic to buy sheets of mounting card from art shops and thin card can be bought from stationers for very little money. Jim Read who posts here on RMweb has made locos and rolling stock from card. I have as well. Look for his layouts in the Micro layouts section - Muckton is the latest reworking of his layout and Jim kindly offers to send pdf files on loco and stock building, and all for the sake of a polite e-mail asking for his help. I have found using artists watercolours to paint buildings to be very economical as well. It gives a rather muted look that, compared to when I used oil and acrylic colours I could not achieve. Watercolour and card are used extensively on the Pendon models - not that mine are up to that standard, but it does show what can be accomplished using what may be considered 'old fashioned' methods It might be worth trying so that you can continue modelling. I have used card extensively in my recent modelling and find a great deal of satisfaction in using recycled card from packaging, as well as developing new techniques that I had not tried before. I hope this may be useful and that your health issues become more manageable. Best wishes Rich

Hello all, Jim Read's thread has some practical tips on point making, mainly using code 100 rail from OO gauge flexitrack like Peco's rail (other makes are available). It can be bought secondhand for perhaps £1 per length and provides two 36" lengths of rail to use in point making. Jim also offers to send out a pdf on point making as well as a Barry slip plan, just for the sake of a polite e-mail, asking for the help. Try this : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/123732-muckton-single-slip-to-barry-slip-make-your-own-points-pdf/page-2 He also has pdf s on making wagons and locos from card, as well as an economical controller. O gauge can be much cheaper if you make a lot of stock yourself. That way you get to make things that are what you want rather than what the manufacturers consider suitable for the market. Hope this helps. Best wishes Rich

Marc - It was good to meet you and your Dad at the Bristol show and chat over the barriers about Lowick, birdsong, Gosport, D&T etc.. I look forward to seeing further progress with Eskdale Green (must be a candidate for some atmospheric background birdsong) as well as the completed new and very smart locos on Lowick. Best wishes Rich

Hello Bertiedog. Thanks for posting progress on your build. I look forward to seeing photos in due course. You are probably well past the boiler manufacture so you may not need to have the information - copper heating pipe as used in central heating is available in 28mm diameter. Your neighbourhood plumber probably has some offcuts. On uniforms : my first edition of Great western Way by Jack Slinn suggests that station staff were in "blue serge jackets and trousers by 1902." Prior to that, from my observation, it was not unusual to see the older drivers still wearing white fustian jackets. I model Broad Gauge pre 1892 so am more familiar with earlier uniforms, but there always did seem to be considerable variety in the uniforms of footplate staff, some of the early ones wearing fustian jackets and trousers, or even green corduroy like the porters, not to mention a variety of headgear, partly following the civilian fashions of the time. Modelu produce some very fine figures of footplate staff which can be modified to an earlier appearance without too much trouble. Hoping the above may be of some help. Best wishes Rich

Hello Greg Glad you have used the Peco templates. I have found them useful too whilst planning. Just to add to the mix you might like to look at Jim Read's layouts. He has some inventive small layouts that are simple to build and operate. Try www.jasread.com as a start. I think that is the correct address. His three small layouts are inspirational I find. If you are serious about making in Gauge O might I suggest joining the Gauge O Guild? The starter pack is very helpful and you get several good quality magazines each year as well, full of suppliers as well as helpful articles and reviews. Really good value for money. The GOG Forum is full of practical articles and gives you access to the past 60 years of the Gazette in the Archive. I have had a number of useful tips by reading past articles and also by listening to comments by very capable O gauge modellers on the Forum. Inspirational. Some of the articles are way beyond my current skill set but give me something to aspire to. Hope this is helpful. Best wishes Rich

While not directly related to the previous comments I would like to offer some information on "Bristol." In my reprint of the Chronicles (David & Charles 1971) on page 154 there is rear threequarter view of the loco in a line of others along with the drawing on page 213. In "Somerset and Dorset Locomotive History" by Bradley and Milton (David & Charles 1973 edition) on page 191 there is photo of the right side view (looking forward) of "Bristol" and the note that it was the first loco used for shunting at Radstock in place of horses for shunting. I did start making a tinplate model of the loco in 7mm scale about thirty years ago, but sadly never completed it. Perhaps now is the time for me to re-start it now I have developed a few more skills? Best wishes Rich

Dava - Thanks for posting your photo and impressions of the Alphagraphix kits. I have just received my Great Southern & Western Railway 1851 Fairbairn 2-2-2 ST from Roger. A bargain at £75.00. The etchings are delight to behold and the castings are beautifully crisp and neat. The instructions are really helpful and there are two fine photos of the original locos (one on the box cover) and two of a well completed model as well as a very neat CAD drawing of the loco. (Useful as the little locos seemed to be camera shy). I picked up a catalogue from Roger at Telford and when we had an unexpected windfall it seemed as if the little engine would be just right for passenger workings on the mineral line part of my Broad Gauge / standard gauge cameo layout Alma Street Quay. I still have to buy the wheels from Slater's and handrail knobs and bearings from Roger's suggested Premier Components (which are considerably cheaper than other suppliers that I have checked). I suspect that I will be buying them on a trip to the Guildford O gauge trade show on December 2nd. The kit includes a fold-up gearbox etch and I already have an 1833 motor from Dragon Models, so I should be all ready for an enjoyable few hours work. I think the card kits are very well designed and they provide a really good introduction to scratch building structures, trams, coaches and wagons. The card locos provide an ideal introduction to scratchbuilding as the parts are all drawn out, ready to be converted to plastic card, brass or even tin ( a good use for those tins of biscuits that you salted away thinking they were too good to bin). I used the card building kits in school to introduce the boys to three dimensional modelling when I was teaching D&T. They managed them very well. I look forward to seeing the NLR brake when it is completed. Hopefully I will post photos of my build when I can get my mind around the photo posting process. Best wishes Rich

Hello folks. Visiting Railwells couple of weeks ago I bought a Mashima 1227 with 2mm pole pieces for £16.00 ( to go in my Roxey 7mm scale Neilson Crane tank kit) from the helpful new owners (Julian and Susan). I had a very interesting demonstration of the torque available from this seemingly small motor. Amazing. They also had Mashima 1833 lookalikes on the stand for £7.00. It seemed too good a bargain to pass up! I don't know if the Mashima lookalikes are only available at exhibitions. Might be worth a phone call or e-mail if you are in the market for a motor for a future build. Best wishes Rich PS Have any of you seen a workshop build history/ review of the Roxey crane tank? I am looking for any extra advice on the build before plunging in. Sorry if this is the wrong place to mention this.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make the show such an enjoyable one. Those who travelled from afar to trade or show a layout deserve all the plaudits being showered above. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of layouts including the diesels, although I model in an earlier century! I love the friendly atmosphere and the venue. As I like a walk I parked on the outskirts of Wells and walked in, coming round two sides of the cathedral and into the square and all the delightful aromas of the cooking food stalls. What more could a body want? A great show as always. Looking forward to next year already! Best wishes Rich PS Thanks for the enjoyable video SDJR88. Worth a replay from time to time to enjoy it all again!

Captain Kernow. Thanks for the tip off re: Western Thunder. Sorry that I did not recognize you from your avatar. Perhaps we may meet at another show. Railwells, maybe? Certainly next year at Larkrail or perhaps Swindon in September? I shall be taking my Alma Street Quay cameo layout there and wearing my uniform again. It seems appropriate, given the location of the exhibition at the remains of the works. Please come and say hello if you are able to be there. Best wishes Rich

Thanks to all who made the show such an enjoyable day. Whatever the scale the exhibitors and demonstrators were so helpful and interesting to talk to, not to mention free with advice and expertise. I even had myself scanned wearing my GWR signalman/policeman's uniform! Looking forward to seeing myself in 7mm scale ready to patrol Alma Street Quay. I only hope my painting will be up to the standard of Modelu's productions! Best wishes Rich

I really like the concept that you are pursuing. On searching the net I found a very large US Gauge O layout that inspires me, based on the Federal lines around Aquia Creek. The owner is a manufacturer as well as having a group of friends who work on the large layout. I personally find the layout and his construction accounts inspiring. Might be worth a look. The link is:http://usmrr.blogspot.co.uk/ The whole site is very large but the menu on the left of the page will take you to the Civil War parts. Hope this is useful. Best wishes Rich

I hope this is the appropriate place to comment on the show. Great to see Trerice with some of the historical North Cornwall Mineral Railway stock as well as some other Cameo-presentation layouts at the show. Arun Quay's painted backscene was/is amazing and sets the standard for me to aim for. Horselunges is superb. Now that is theatrical presentation! Shelfie is a real eye-opener and should set minds ticking over. I could go on about the superb layouts on show - each had their high points for me and were a total inspiration. The willingness of all the exhibitors in the various scales to share techniques and practical advice was particularly good. I really enjoyed the show and appreciate all the work (and distances travelled) by all the exhibitors and those working hard serving refreshments. I truly look forward to the next one - it will be worth waiting for. I particularly appreciated the Bring and buy/Shelf queen stall - having it right next to the ticket office was perfect. Didn't have to put my money away before I saw the first of several bargains! The show has helped me to focus on progressing my work on my own offering for the Cameo competition. Thanks to all who worked at making it such a memorable show. The Mendip Model Railway group did us proud! Best wishes Rich