Tricky

Hmm. I wasn't sure either. Some photos I've seen show a slight variation on style of dray with a seat. Frank will be shown standing by and holding the reins, thereby fudging the issue...

No, Ned's very well behaved and has been at this game for years so he knows the drill. Frank will be out soon to lead away. Out of shot a dog is trying to cause a bit of grief but Ned's not phased by that either.

Ned has something to pull at long last...loaded and ready to go, bless him.

I have to confess there are some very similar-looking tea chests in the Farthing goods shed, so many thanks for the inspiration Mikkel!!

My son, who is training to be an architect, introduced me to the technique as he was using it to produce some artwork for his portfolio. His was slightly larger of course but he was transferring text onto a book cover and it gave a beautiful 'faded' look. I did try hand-lettering some crates but it didn't look consistent enough, so it occurred to me to try this out. Hope that helps...!

I've done a bit of work on the walls at the end of the loco road which will represent the entrance to the yard. The walls are laminated mount board, glued into the curve. The first photo shows the component parts of the walls and the coping stones to go on the top of the wall. So here we have a straight length of wood (maple) planed to profile with 2 chamfered edges. The ring is turned to the same profile and will be cut into a small section to go round the curved bit of wall. The 5 blocks are the coping stones to cap the piers and have had 4 chamfers cut on each edge. The next photo shows them cut and glued onto the wall. The third photo is of the parts glued onto the other section of wall but I will have to wait for these to go off before fitting the last piece. The last photo is of the component parts to form a low row of stones with a curved right hand end which will go in front of the wall and which will have railings put around on top. These sections just have a simple rounded top.

Hi John, Thank you for your kind comments. To be honest, I have surprised myself as to what is possible to achieve in about 8' x 18". I think a couple of things I have learnt as I have gone along are that planning the main structures is important with card mock-ups as it quickly became apparent that some of my original intentions would have been too busy and over-crowded. Having said that, I don't think I set out with a clear intention of every detail from the start, it has evolved as it's gone along. In fact there are still a few areas where I'm still not sure what will happen, and I will await either an idea or come across suitable prototype photos which might inspire me. Don't be fooled by draft plans looking sparse on paper. The interest is held by the detail to scenes within the overall. The scale of buildings is also intentionally reduced, if you were to scale them against prototype comparisons they would look dwarfed but in this setting I think look ok. The other thing is to not take second best. If you're not happy with something, do it again. Taking photos of your work as it progresses is vital, as the naked eye seems to make allowances whereas photos don't lie and cruel enlargements hide nothing! ATB, Richard

Well....first I prepped the 'crates', these are little blocks of maple. I am fortunate in having a reasonably well-equipped woodworking workshop so I am able to produce these fairly accurately (+/- 0.25mm). I am also fortunate in having access to AutoCAD which I use to design and produce the text to scale. I guess you could use Word but I prefer AutoCAD. Once the artwork is done, print it back to front onto ordinary paper but you MUST use a laser printer not an inkjet. Then cut the artwork into individual pieces, lay onto the face of the maple block face down and apply nail varnish remover with a cotton bud. Whilst wet, immediately press down hard with a thumb or finger, remove the paper and the ink has magically transferred itself onto the wood, and hey presto! Hours of fun! Richard

Looks like the goods depot has taken delivery of some interesting items: Booth's finest Dry Gin, Hall's Coca Wine (a marvellous restorative, owing to its main ingredient of cocain) and last but not least Cocaine Toothache Drops. All genuine Victorian/Edwardian commodities...!

So, my first attempt at hand-writing my wagon is now lightly weathered and loaded. I'm quite pleased really, just don't zoom in too closely.

Yes, they are the same make. Mine claim to be 0.5mm but in truth draw a bit fatter than that. You can get close to 0.5mm with a very light touch. They cover reasonably well but sometimes need going over again. I don't bother with varnish, but will gently weather over and allow handling etc to mellow. They seem quite durable without it.

Yep, that's the one! I set the lettering out by drawing the wagon side and lettering to scale which I then used as a template. I made a simple model rest which means I can hold the wagon captive and use a square to draw in all upright strokes. The photo below shows the rest and also white and black pens I found in the local art shop. After painting the main body colour, I draw the white in first, having done all the uprights with a square, the remainder is put in free-hand. After that, the black shading is put in. Then follows touching up with white, black and the wagon body colour until I'm happy. Some judicious weathering will cover some of the dodgy bits! I'm quite happy with it as a first excercise. Hope that helps.

I take all my photos on my iPhone and post on my phone too. It's highly likely I'm missing something but it looks like the ability to organise photos in this format is very limited. I am, of course, only too willing to be pointed in the right direction...!

Thanks mullie, how did you do that...??!!

My latest offering: a structure based on Walworth Road Coal Depot, constructed to fill an awkward area to the left of the office building. I've tried to give it the impression of depth even though in reality there really isn't any. I hope you agree...

Based loosely on Walworth Road Coal Depot, see Midland Record No 14.

I've also had a go at hand-lettering a wagon...

So, over the past few days I have been working on a structure (of unknown usage...!) to fill in the awkward gap to the left of the office building. I think this gives the area a bit of interest and visual depth.

Why did that come out so small...!!

Personally I quite like the drumming sound the stock makes as it trundles its way across rail joints and turnouts...

Some wicker packing cases have appeared- guess whose are 'his' and whose are 'hers'...

Thanks for turning my photo round...!

Is anyone interested in copies of 'Midland Record' from the Preview issue through to issue 21?

Hi Mike, I can thoroughly recommend the series of magazine-style books 'Midland Record' for all things Midland. Sadly out of print I think but available through Titfield Thunderbolt or eBay from time to time. I was lucky enough to find the whole set recently so am selling my duplicates if anyone is interested, from the Preview issue through to about number 21 I think. Richard

Hi all, I have been posting over on the 7mm section on my thread 'Midland in London' but it has been suggested I post some pics here and see if they pass muster...so here goes. Thanks, Richard