Martin S-C

Indeed - an excuse to not have to remove any of the plastic coal, and just glue a layer of the real stuff on top.

Thanks... I am however both still puzzled and impressed because the two wagons in your picture both have so much interesting variation in the basic covering that I was sure you'd applied some drybrushing or some such. There is so much variance in the planks and in shading between the planks that I must remain somewhat in awe at your explanation that this is merely the base coat/general colour but with varied paint mixes! Thank you very much for your comments about my own painting and weathering but I consider myself to still be blundering about trying to find what works and the results so far (while I was happy with them at the time) now seem quite crude to me, just a handful of months - or even weeks - later.

Over the years (I had the Mainline model of the Dean Goods in the late 80s) no RTR Dean Goods has quite got the smoke box door right. It was a very peculiar and special dished shape at the rim with a small concave line inside the edge leading to a very gentle concave main door curve. Quite distinctive. As I said no RTR manufacturer has ever got this quite right and that's a pity as its a characterful feature. Even the new Hornby and Oxford Rail ones fail in this regard. I think there are some white metal (or 3D print?) replacements around and I know there is a very nice 3D printed tender filler cap and dome available. It depends how much a modeller wants to do. I believe later locomotives had a more conventional smoke box door: It just doesn't have that same pretty, more delicate look as the "flanged" or "rimmed" door: EDIT: I may have got this wrong and it may be a difference between Wolverhampton and Swindon builds - I am sure someone with more correct information than I have at hand right now can clarify.

Superb painting - what is your recipe?

Are the smokebox door handles a solid plastic moulding?

Hi Coronach, I've followed you here from your pictures posted on the FB model railways group. Its great to see some proper old school scenery being built from card formers, chicken wire, pasted newspaper and plaster surface. You can't beat the old methods! I especially like your weathering, some of it is very subtle and not everything is heavy-handed like some professional weathering people do. One question - what do you use to get the torn/worn paper notices pasted onto the van sides - e.g. last photo in post #212? Are they just painted on?

I expect there will be a full open frame baseboard at datum level (46 ins) with the raised sections under the stations on sub boards with small legs. Much of the trackage between stations, it turns out, will be going up or down inclines and these will be supported by that new funky compressed plastic foam material whose name escapes me at the moment but of which our American cousins are inordinately fond. I like the idea of easily liftable or removable sections or modules. This not only aids technical fault finding and such but can greatly help modelling work by detaching a module from the main boards (see KNPs Little Muddle thread). The current plan (see P.1) has red lines denoting baseboard breaks but some of these boards are pretty chunky so I may break these down into smaller sections. Lifting sections means more rail joins though and there's going to be stacks of them already. I'll probably put power points at about 24" to 36" height - it depends what IKEA(?) storage units I settle on to fit under the railway. It may transpire that the whole layout rests on various cupboards and whatever sections I exhibit will be fitted with temporary legs. Okay - I'll go with the original 8 double powerpoints. I was thinking of clustering them around the mid-point of the two long walls as that is where the main stations will be and where the main DCC power unit will (probably) be. I could have a couple at one end for the heater/air-con unit and a fridge.

Absolutely! Maintaining a minimum internal width of 7ft 6ins is a very high priority, and I'd like to get 7ft 8ins if possible. Every inch of width impacts my minimum radius curve. That gives me only 2ins or at most 3ins per wall depth for the battening and plasterboard. Given ~30mm battens and plasterboard of ~1/2 ins thickness I still get ~2 1/2 to 3 ins depth of insulating material because the concrete panels are shaped with ribs and recesses, a bit like an egg box. The battens will be secured against the ribs and thus the recess is deeper. I am happy to have thicker insulation on the 2 end walls however. No, I don't need water and a sink, or even workbench space - that all happens in the house. The garage is 100% model railway space, plus storage under it. I have asked for 8x double power points. I could probably cut that down to 4. I need to consider where the main DCC controller box(es) will be sited. Yes, I could deepen the insulation lower down but this will impact the layout support legs which will have to be moved inboard from the baseboard edge. Given that most heat loss happens upwards I am not entirely convinced that adding several inches to the lowest 36" of the walls will have much effect. I could increase insulation depth of the top 12" of the walls but this would look a little strange.

My daughter is now 23 and when she is my age (say 35 years time) I do ponder over what kind of world she will be living in. I have sweats over whether it will be a utopia, or a post-apocalyptic desert... With globalisation making everyone's economies more intertwined the potential backlash from financial collapse does not bear thinking about, yet the awesome technology and medical advances we'll enjoy make me consider if almost-immortality might not be a reality by then. Who will pay the costs for old folks homes? 75% of us will be pensioners. I expect heritage railways will still be a thing however, as will industrial archaeology and history. I don't see anything eradicating those. Little children will still gawp and wonder at steam engines, I am sure.

My spelling and grammar is improving on this forum faster than it did at school. You people are merciless!

30 years might be pushing it... but I'd like to think 20 to 25 is do-able. I wonder what the model railway industry will be like in 2043?

Reading the last 3 or 4 pages I am so delighted that I chose to place my railway in the Forest of Dean. Literally dozens of industries there jump up and slap you in the face each time you turn the page of pretty much any Lightmoor book you care to mention. Presumably there were breweries in Norfolk? That would grant you a couple of opens and van types without further ado.

Presumably LWB bolster wagons, LWB flats or pairs of the shorter ones. From what I've seen, rail is pretty flexible if you lay it on its side so if it sags a bit in transit for a day or so, no harm is done. I would have thought though that any railway contractor building a line would source rail from as close as possible. Ditto a railway engineers dept. S Wales to Norfolk seems unnecessarily far (aka unnecessarily expensive).

Very pretty. I just find myself mesmerised by your potatoes and undergrowth. I hardly see the locos. The figures are just perfect too.

Cheers, appreciate the feedback. I got hold of some very fine stiff cardstock today so will see how sheets made of folded card work out. I expect to have to score it almost through with the back of a scalpel blade or similar. Trick is not to cut too far. Watch this space.

I still have the two old modellers 2nd and 3rd from the left. The tall bald one with glasses 4th from right I have a tolerable photocopy version of. I have only digital copies of the two right at the back which isn't my preference as I'd rather relax in a comfy chair and have old modellers in my lap and get my hands on them... properly. All the others I am missing, so please send any that you have spare. If they can do baseboards and know anything about DCC, all the better. A newly insulated dry garage will shortly be available (they need only bring sleeping bags) and I can supply Worcestershire Sauce and proper sausages in exchange for layout building services.

It all really went pear-shaped when they threw the tea in the harbour. That's a really bad start for founding any nation.

I am going to stuff in whatever can be stuffed in. There is a pretty big ceiling void and he can fill that - most heat loss goes that way of course. The new side door and 2 windows will be double glazed and he'll use foam to fill all the gaps under the eaves. Walls will have the minimum because of space considerations, but the budget includes an air con/heater unit to keep temperatures within habitable limits, and keep moisture down. In very cold weather I intend to have this running at a trickle setting to keep the air moving and slightly warm. Vents will go in as part of the windows. Apart from space left after the walls have been internally clad, temperature ranges are my biggest concern. The guy has been in the business 35 years and runs a medium sized company with about 30 employees so I am confident he knows what's what. ...but...yeah... the last thing I want is to spend this much money and still end up with a cold damp shed.

Oh, its chocolate? I wondered what it was. I thought it really was soap. I thought it was odd that some of our guests ate it off the bathroom sink.

Thanks. I was very pleased with the builders attitude. I was clear to him that I wanted a "practical space that would be dry and able to be temperature and humidity controlled - something basic that does the job I need and no need to go for design or architectural awards". He was completely with me on the hobby room concept and understood my need for the two shallow cut outs in the raised floor to assist the duck-under issue. He also responded quickly and positively to my preference to reduce the width of the space as little as practical. He suggested quite narrow battens and plasterboard covering that would only lose me about 2 ins on each wall, giving me a 7 ft 8 ins width (my plan was based on getting 7 ft 6 ins, so that's promising). He has on his site a store of second hand concrete panels of exactly the type my garage is made from, so he can re-use those to close off the double doors end, saving a few £££s. I'm feeling very fortunate that I have bumped into a guy who seems completely switched on to his customers needs. The price is a little higher than I'd hoped for but I think I can trim the electrics back a bit and save a few hundred there. I do at least have the luxury of being able to budget for all this, a planned (if big) chunk out of the funds set aside for the project. I'm feeling very buoyed up about the whole deal now that today's meeting went so well. Can't wait for things to start happening.

Jeremy and his colleagues have recently fitted several sound decoders, stay alives, and repaired for me some intermittently functioning decoders fitted by others, in both steam and diesel locos. Prices are very fair and friendly service is outstanding. Work quality is exceptionally high. Jeremy will always be honest and decline a job he will not do and say exactly why. I have found Digitrains sound projects to be some of the best available as well. Its a 90 minute drive from my place to Lincoln but I am always happy to make the journey to deliver and collect models by hand and enjoy some banter when the finished work is displayed for me on their test track. Disclaimer - no shares owned or other interest in Digitrains other than as a very satisfied customer.

I bought some small items from them via e-Bay a week or two back - no problems and quick delivery.

EDIT - I have received 2 or 3 very generous offers already, so thanks to all but I think I now have this covered. Everyone's generosity who replied is incredible. A big thanks. Hi all I used to have a huge collection of these but all were destroyed in heavy rainfall while stored in a (low-lying) garage where I used to live. I especially miss the early issues - 1950s, 1960s, 1970s - and would love to begin a full collection again. If anyone has a collection of old RMs I would be happy to drive over and collect and pass across a fair monetary sum to add to your beer/fine wine/modelling fund.

They banned "udders"? Most curious.

This'll upset the Trevithick party!