Owd Bob

Cheers CME, my car resto' days are very nearly behind me, we've just one more old banger to finish off over the next few years at the rate we can both now go and afford to go at and i'm in no hurry to have another heart attack! But don't be surprised if it do's finish me off The laser cut posts and chain link fence was an ideal find and will cover/fill a lot of gaps for me, the firm is as on the label in the pic'

I went to the locally held 'O' gauge North show yesterday and picked up a few much needed ready made detailing bits, last weeks evenings i made up some tree trunks out of 'Wilko' garden wire, i copied them from an article i saw in the Sept' 2017 edition' of the 'Model Rail' mag' so i've got plenty more stuff to do and finish off this coming week!

Thanks! I think i had a JCB digger type cab in mind when i did that one.

A few of my imaginary loco' builds on my 32mm N.G. garden railway

I love this layout which is local to me, i've seen it a few times at the local shows. It takes me back to being a kid and messing about down Bolton House Rd. and Plank Ln. and in the fields beside the colliery lines at Bickershaw and watching those lovely filthy saddle tanks.

Don't it make my Brown Eyes Blue. Crystal Gayle.

I was lucky enough to attend the 'Prisoner' convention at Portmerion Village N. Wales last Sat' whilst away on a short break, and one of the original Mini-Mokes was in attendance. I was told it was found in Holland. The only reason it was identified as an original was that in one scene in the filming of the cult series the number plate was left exposed when the 'Taxi' plate was accidently left off. Interesting that the wood effect was done by using 1960's kitchen Lino', the owner had saved a small piece of the original and showed it to me which he kept in a folder with all his excellent resto' pics'

Nice to see the very tall slim Church spire in the far background Apollo, think i remember it being knocked down in the late 60's early '70's? It looks like the pic' was taken by your Dad from the signal box?

This is great news for 'The Branch' and its future but as usual Wigan MBC jump straight on the band wagon as if it was something they alone did or had owt to do with, i think any new jobs are always great news but i doubt if any locals will get them. I'll probably see you down there Apollo as the work progresses, i wonder if the the new Trans Pennine loco'/trains be looked after here?

I have a soft spot for Moggies as well Marc, i had two in the '80's that i restored.

CME, i use pound shop matt Black or Blackboard paint, 50/50 mix with Turps' or White spirit for the track & Ballast, and a weaker 70/30 mix to get the Grey effect, it go's on Black and it only looks Grey when it's dried

Dog Hill, Oldham 1989-ish.

Station finished and track painted up.

I always liked the Hornby Class 25, one which i converted to a class 24 and one into a class25/3. with the help of car filler and plastic card. I never had room for a layout and so i bought my loco' collection and kept them in drawers. All bought second hand and mainly un-boxed from the then new fangled idea called 'car boot sales' many a bargain was had, some for just a quid each. Some bad scanned pics' of 'em i recently found of my '00' diesel loco' collection, pics' taken in the 1984-85 era from memory.

said never mind

Moonlight Shadow. Mike Oldfield.

I've got a lot done over the last week or so during the evenings and the very wet spells. I started by making & fixing the ply made backboard and end, i finally painted up my home made car filler tunnel mouth and then cast some more car filler walling to include some steps going down behind the shed area to break up the flat boring end/wall. Some more brick paper walling has been glued into place on the banking, a short stretch of wooden fencing made from off-cuts of 2-3 mm thin ply and MDF which was given to me by a friend who makes NG 16mm scale garden rail wagons, and was made to fill the short fall/lack of brick walling paper. I made a start on the concrete fly-over at the other end as well by using 5mm thick foam board to form the basic shape. A full tube of flexible gap/crack filler was used to smooth out the track bed sides and shape/level off a few areas......Phew! I'm now going away for a week from this Friday to recover ...only joking as it was pre-booked last year and it now interferes with my modeling......Yeh right! Porthmadoc here i come The steps will be loosely based on these at Bury Bolton street Station.

up the rear

It was busy on the Sunday when we arrived at just short of 9.00 am and they were queuing out the station door at Bury Bolton St. it was standing room on the first train up to Rawtenstall, full of balding or Grey haired, beer bellied Men, all at a certain age which i'd guess was between 45 & 60,

Too much Too Young. The Specials

Looking a bit cooler the further North you go O.R. We should get 20c. around here on Weds & Thurs' We've got an old camper van body to hand paint whilst it lasts ...just a tart up with a couple of rollers, more importantly though the re-laid track & ballast bed needs painting up matt Black as well. ...the new Grass already needs cutting

Thanks Ian, always great to have a visit by a like minded person to keep me going and give me the verbal kick up the rear i need to carry on at times, although i said i was'nt doing much this week Ian i started on the 'Hoghton Chapel' station re-build whilst it's been dry and warm this morning. Only half a barrow mix of granite chippings and cement mixed 50-50 was enough to get a two inch thick bed down to form the platform into which i then pressed bits of my home made broken walling for the platform edging, the old fences were also pushed into the wet mix, enough mix was left to form the road way behind the station. A couple of rolls of turf were laid last week, although it can be a pain to look after you can't beat the look and smell and feel of freshly cut Grass on a warm Summer day.

Had a really grand day out with my old '70's spotting mate yesterday, it brought all the sights, smells and sounds rushing back, due to health issues i could only manage half a day of being pulled up and down the line by these great machines, thanks and all credit to everyone who is involved in their preservation and for organising such a great get together, my membership renewal is in the post! my pics are'nt the best but here they are anyway.

Going underground. The Jam.

A few from the Bury do over the weekend.