Sophia NSE

I was thinking of some kind of steam railmotor for passenger services on a light railway

Oh I do like that a lot!

And now this has just arrived!

Well, that went surprisingly well! Now just need to wait for it all to bond together nicely and a bit of filling in the obvious gaps. Patience is clearly very important in such undertakings

Oh, dear sir, you overestimate my skills!

It already looks more Southern to me. I'm thinking maybe an 0-4-2, though not sure on inside or outside cylinders

The first cut in this case might not be the deepest, but it is the bravest. No turning back now!

I agree with the outside cylinders, they would make it look beefier too

I'd forgotten about my minor contribution to this thread. The J72 has made its way to the Weald of Kent Railway's Tovil works ready to be shortened. I also found four of these in a box of random stuff and thought they could be used as short tenders for a future bash...

I just wish I had a quarter of your building speed. My layout is coming along as slow as molasses as they say in the deep south and I don't mean Hastings

Turn your back for 5 minutes and its running and sold!

Progress so far on the station building and platform steps. A fence will run from the steps alongside the track to create the car park. At the other end of the building will be a ticket office and the entrance to the shopping centre.

Ahhhhh gotcha!

I did notice that the Mainline sides are somewhat chunky while I was cutting.

Removable sides you say? That could make life a bit easier. I think I might have a pair of Triang mk1 chassis knocking about somewhere that I could do something with too...

Weirdly I found the roof quite recently. By this time the GLV had lost its cab front in preparation for the SK bodge

The GLV has been sacrificed for the greater good, otherwise known as an attempt at building a rule 1 EMU... Start with an innocent Mainline mk1 SK, an EPB style cab and the cab windows and doors from the GLV. Hack for a while and get to this point... Finally attach the sides and end up with this... There's a buffet restaurant car on its way from the Bay of E to bung into this little lot. Just need another cab and sides to attack the other SK and then work on paint and the interior

There's a platform. And the beginnings of a station building/footbridge. Whatever next??!!?? I also picked up some led lights for buildings and for under the platform canopy. Anyone want to have a guess at where I got them from and their cost?

Thanks! I know how I want it to look, but whether my limited modelling skills allows this remains to be seen

So today I attempted to wire the layout up. I forgot to mention previously that its code 100 track with insulfrog points running on DC. After a while and a few very unladylike words it was time for the test mule to sit on the track and.... A tiny jerk forward and the sound of a motor wanting to work. Then suddenly, actual forward motion!!! With my lack of wiring skills!!! The test loco then negotiated 3 points and went in reverse too, from platform 1 to platform 2 and then off towards the stabling point. First time wiring a layout and it actually works. Quite a big victory for me!

Having lurked on here for quite some time I thought I should actually try to build something. I'm definitely not a chippy or a sparky so construction will be *ahem* basic at best, so I did what shouldn't be done and used a pasting table (I know, I know...) I strengthened (haha) it with some ply and it hasn't fallen apart so far! This will be the station end and the mk2s are sitting on platform 2. They are also a dead giveaway for the timeframe I'll be modelling. Wickham Brook is a ficticious area of Kent with a railway link into Bromley, through services to London having been cut in the 70s and was becoming run down until the construction of a new shopping centre. The station was partly incorporated into this monument to consumerism replacing the original building. Platform 2 will end at the fold. Platform 1 might have the narrow concrete extension that the Southern rather liked. The far track is the line to the fiddle yard (when it gets bodged, I mean built!). The short headshunt may well feature an homage to the wagon that was sitting in the up bay at Maidstone West since the 60s I think. The track at the front will lead to a basic stabling area in front of a large retaining wall. The backscene will mostly be a newly built shopping centre (how very 80s!) and there will be access from it to the platforms as well as from a building on a road bridge. Another bridge will sit at the other end to hide the fiddle yard with a road covering the yard. The front will most likely be a car park with a dirt road through to the stabling area. Initial building works have been taken on by the notorious company of Bodgit & Leggit! Overall view.

Absolutely love your work. How do you create such a precise curve on the NSE upsweeps?

About as well as I can model railways with mine!

Ooooooh that 08 looks fabulous in NSE

Heavyboye!