Marly51

A close up shot of the boat man and his horse making their way up the wynd and over the track to the other side of the canal tunnel. Hope to fit some lights into three buildings this weekend, before fixing them to the model.

This made me smile!

Oldies like me have happy memories of Hornby 0 Gauge. As a youngster, it was not not the done thing for us girls to be interested in trains, but some of us still got involved with either our dad’s or brothers layouts, even if it it was only to focus on the buildings and scenery. :)

Another fascinating piece of Scottish Railway History, Dava! Look forward to seeing your plans for this. Marlyn

I am waiting for some old Hornby track to arrive before I draw/mock-up my plan for this Cake Box Challenge. I have found a couple of Dinky Toys figures which were produced as accessories for Hornby 0 Gauge. They are detailed as white metal unpainted, I am wondering if these might be reproductions? For the little diorama I am planning, it will incorporate: - Hornby buffer stop - section of Hornby 0 Gauge track - Hornby tinplate open wagon with a ‘drop in ‘ coal load - platform made from card with paper textures to emulate Hornby tinplate buildings - Dinky Toys Fordson flatbed lorry - backscene in the style of Hornby tinplate buildings - low relief lineside hut, scratchbuilt in the style of Hornby tinplate buildings (if there is space) I do have these lovely white metal 7mm scale figures from ‘S&D Models Phoenix 43, which I could attach to small bases to fit in with the toy like nature of the scenario!

Steampunking a Dapol railwayman! Tissue paper stained with a permanent marker - now that the coat is in place, will give it a coat of black paint to make the tissue opaque.

Hi Clive, Are these kits still available from R.Parker? I am looking for some 1930s N scale vehicles - I already have a few from the Oxford diecast range, but lorries are proving to be a bit elusive. Another Forum member sent me details about R. Parker N scale vehicles from a different post, but when I do a search online there was only one stockist mentioned, which has now closed? Marlyn

Lovely period scenario, Job! I love all your projects!! I am modelling a coal merchant scene on an N Gauge layout and will be looking for a flatbed coal lorry suitable for the 1930s in the Northern Highlands.. I have also found an old ‘Dinky’ flatbed Fordson lorry for my 0 Gauge CakeBox diorama based on the Hornby Clockwork models of the 1940s/1950s. Now I need to model some coal sacks in 7mm scale? Marlyn

For years I have meant to photograph what remains of this old Highland Rail carriage, by the Far North Line, south of Helmsdale. I read an article online, some time ago, about its last use being as a chicken coop on the croft.

A while ago I came across a website for a company which produces model railway backscenes, including some naive interpretations for 0 gauge tinplate and ‘Thomas’ layouts. I hope to produce something like this for the Cake Box model. https://www.qualitybackscenes.co.uk/the_gallery.html

Found this lovely video on YouTube:

Hehe - Thanks Kevin! As if I don’t have enough projects!

Thanks BrianUSA and Dickon - I am reading a bit about the history of Hornby and tinplate trains just now. This New English Library large format book, ‘Model and Miniature Railways’ by Patrick B. Whitehouse and John Adams, cost me £6.95 in 1976! Some useful information and photographs of the trains and accessories. Marlyn

Hi Nigel, You can just see the present oil depot tanks behind the wire mesh fence in my last photo. Still one of the main employers in the village. Marlyn

In the 1950s we travelled everywhere by train. Our longest journey was to the Highlands for the entire school summer holiday. My first encounter with model railways was when my cousin set up his Hornby 0 Gauge train on my grandmother’s kitchen floor. The tinplate station and all its accessories fascinated the four year old me, as my older cousin focussed on running operations! While on holiday a fortnight night ago I found some odd model railway items, as well as a great range of railway books, in a secondhand bookshop in Chorley. One of them was the Hornby 0 Gauge No. 1 Buffer Stop. Here was the start of my next CakeBox! A new beginning for that first model railway inspiration. WizardTrains here on the Forum has created building designs in the same style as the tinplate models. I would like to create a little scenario - a section of siding with a wagon, accessories and backdrop emulating the bright colours of those early tinplate models. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135983-Hornby-tinplate-looks-using-corel-draw

What a great layout and thank you for sharing the coal yard details. I have a coal depot on the model I am currently working on. I know one of our former local coalmen, so I’ll show him this post and get a bit more of the history for my particular location.

Yes Nearholmer, I found the archive on that French website, as well. We inherited some of my cousin’s collection of these MM. I loved the Dinky Toys dioramas as well as the model railway articles. It was through MM that my brother and I discovered the wonderful world of model railways. For a few stamps, Beatties in London sent out reams of printed sheets on the products of nearly every manufacturer, whose items they stocked. Meccano Magazine was also where I discovered articles about scratchbuilding locomotives and rolling stock from paper and card.

Some more shots at the old Lairg Station sidings. View north to the old oil depot. Livestock platform on right was a busy place during the Lairg Sheep Auctions. Lineside hut by siding which led to the old goods shed. The station house is just behind. View south. One of the three old buffer stops. Livestock platform on the left. There was also a second oil depot by this platform, but the main building is now used as a garage repair workshop. The current oil depot is behind the mesh fencing at the far end of the platform.

Hi Argos and SteamySandy, I was one of the pupils on a TV Train in 1961. We boarded at Balgreen Halt, Edinburgh, which was right by our primary school, and travelled to Glasgow where a boat trip took us ‘Doon the Watter’ (River Clyde) to Dunoon then returned from Glasgow by TV train. Our teacher was a retired missionary, who disapproved of Cliff Richard, who was singing on the TV, and insisted we sang our own Scottish songs to drown out the pop music!! We were totally embarrassed, but the trip was a great adventure! Sorry I had no knowledge of locomotives back then, but most of the boys spent their lunchtimes with their Iain Allan trainspotter books at the Haymarket depot.

We have a small ‘tin tabernacle’ in Lairg, Edwardian. It was built by the United Free Church early 1900s. This group was one of two which had broken away from the established Church of Scotland, later reunited with the C of S in 1929. The building was then used as a church hall until it was sold to the Freemasons in 1939. During WW2 it was used as a mosque by the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. It was quite an experience in a small Highland village to hear the soldiers being called to prayer. Local children enjoyed tasting chapatis and turban cloths were often seen drying along the fences by a small burn which runs through the village.

We have had a lot of maintenance work here on the Far North Line. Lairg Station had ballast and track equipment there for a few months. Now the yard is being tidied up and I have taken a few shots for future reference. (Will upload more tomorrow as these two are just under 10mb!) View south. Lineside hut by goods shed siding.

Thanks Dickon, I am writing something for both of my, as yet unfinished, CakeBoxes Enjoying checking out everyone else”s work!

Here are my two ‘Rocket’ men! Some final tweaks to the main model and I shall post the final images soon!! At least that will be one CakeBox completed with the second one to follow.

Both ramp walls completed, but unpainted, with two taxis primed and awaiting their gloss coat with final details.

After laying the small amount of track and ballast, the next job was to model the wall detail on both sides of the taxi ramp. I decided the easiest technique for me was to build up layers using double thickness cereal box card. The most recent photographs of Waverley Station interior show the walls in their pristine ‘cleaned’ light coloured Craigleith quarried stone - back in the 1950s they were as black as most of Edinburgh’s buildings from the smoke and soot of ‘Auld Reekie’!