Keith Addenbrooke

I’m with @Woody C - loved it. Bit concerned it’s the third time this week I’ve been enthralled by European Overhead Electrics though...

With a busy week ahead, I’ve done a bit more over the weekend. Some photos to show how the car sides are assembled: I found when building my Depot model that cereal packet card will cut OK into 1mm thicknesses, just right for some window frames. These are then push-fit and glued into the thicker card inner wall. I don’t know if this would be a recommended technique, but it seems to look OK to me when the layers are assembled and glued. This will left to dry for a few days now - looks like there’s a bit of tidying up to do with the end door windows before glazing, but I’m happy with the rest of it (especially for zero-cost modelling!). Have a good week, Keith.

I’ve been following this part of the conversation with interest (elsewhere I’ve been following a thread about ‘freelancing’). But it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve tried saying it to myself: I just can’t convince myself that “The Withered Leg” could ever sound quite right. A North Cornwall setting could be great though - certainly interested to see how this develops, Keith.

Onwards and upwards with the Mk3 - there is more than an element of repetition practice here: This is just the ‘outer skin’ of cereal packet card - I’ve only painted one side of the sub-frame trusses, so I’m not surprised they’ve curled! If I had to caption this photo it’d probably just say: “nothing to see here” at this point. The point of interest is that I find I can put components “back-to-back” when using thinner card, so one straight cut then produces two edges.

Definitely interested in following this one. Look forward to seeing more.

Yes - they look really great. I have heard of Mount Blue (but didn’t k ow of anyone over here who’d used their kits). I think they’re a small business but have some really good models of authentic Maine 2’ rolling stock as well as the New England buildings.

Very nice! I’ve not heard of them before, thank you. One reason it’d be good to try some rolling stock modelling is to help set a loading gauge that will work for HOn30 as well as small (short wheelbase) European H0e - noting the overhang for 9” curves in proposed end tunnels in particular.

The Mk2 doesn’t work. Although the design is improved at 40’ and the mountboard takes paint very easily (I already know my thick card doesn’t), cutting and bending it has been disappointing: It may just be the particular product I have, but the composite nature of the board means the top layer of some of the 1mm scored ‘planks’ peels off when cut - especially at the edges or short lengths (above the baggage doors). Cutting sharper corners for the windows has also proved more difficult, while gently bending the roof didn’t work. As this was just an experiment with a spare offcut it’s not a problem - I just share it as a lesson learned. I have two options to try next (it’s fun and free, so why not): 1. Mk3 - an outer skin of thin (cereal packet) card on a thick card inner: as per the Depot I recently finished. 2. Mk4 - try wooden planking using coffee stirrers on a card inner (I’ve actually bought them for buildings). I’d like to try a fully-painted 40’ version with the leftovers I have before buying plasticard - it’s all good practice.

Iain Rice made a China clay micro “Trerice” - just to note.

It’s an interesting question for discussion and well asked. There’ll be as many answers as there are modellers (if not more). I agree with the observations above - a couple perhaps to add: 1. We can be influenced / inspired by what we see others doing - it’s natural to follow a popular trend. Some early inspirational NG layouts were freelance (Craig and Mertonford in the UK, Carabassett and Dead River in the US), so can set the trend. (I think John Ahern’s Madder Valley was technically standard gauge, but managed to appear Narrow Gauge - I stand to be corrected by those who know more here). 2. Maybe there’s something in the fact it simply isn’t ‘standard’ to start with - if I start by colouring outside the lines, perhaps I’m less likely to try and get inside them? Keith.

Good point - the score lines I used on parts of the passenger car to suggest planking are at about 1mm intervals (3.4” in HO scale), while the stirrers are each 5mm wide (17.1”). For Home Depot I spaced 1mm wide battens at approx 4mm (14”) apart along the walls, but the station was a ‘board and frame’ design rather than wooden planks. For a building model, stirrers could be overlapped, but with 1000 to play with and at the minimal price I’ve paid I can try a few ideas to see what looks right.

...I thought I’d post this here as I’ve noted the encouragement to stay connected with the Cakebox modelling Forum. It probably won’t be another cakebox model, but coffee stirrers seem to be an effective way of modelling wooden structures - for one very obvious reason - and a lot cheaper than kits, so I thought I’d give it a go. (The idea seems to be: build an inner structure of card, with an outer layer of wooden ‘planks’). As for card modelling, it seems the same techniques used for Home Depot can be used elsewhere - this photo is from my Narrow Gauge thread: ...and the layout is progressing too (the dip in the weather has just meant a pause as I need to do some painting outside). Stay safe and enjoy modelling, Keith.

Thank you. I’ve decided to give it a go - as I’m attempting to build some (narrow gauge) rolling stock out of cardboard I might as well try some buildings out of wood. Only problem is the coffee stirrers we found come either in bundles of 100 (which may not be enough)...or 1000. Looks like I’m going to have to do quite a bit of building! Still cheaper than kits though .

Hi Jonny. Thank you for this. I was wondering if you’ve ever come across the work of E.L. Moore? It’s going back a way now (1960s / 1970s) but he had a lot of articles published in the American Model Railroad magazines describing a variety of backwoods / short line structures he built. His style seems quite similar to your Apocrypha layout. I can’t put his drawings up here due to copyright, but I’ve got a set of designs that were in Model Railroader in 1967 that I’m thinking would look suitable for a narrow gauge layout. One advantage of going back so far is that the only materials available then were the kind of simple ones I’m testing ideas with, so the designs were intended to be built in this way. Keith.

Just a placeholder for future reference really: with the weather today even worse than last weekend, I’ve used my modelling time to draw up a Mk2* passenger car “kit”: I had a couple of sheets of 1mm A4 mountboard to use up, so I’ve redrawn the Combine as a more realistic 40’ car and - if I’m happy with this, I can add a second car (hence the need to make a note of the dimensions). I’ll also try painting this one - I’ll cut out the windows and doors first so I can paint the card edges. It’s not been the most exciting modelling day, but worth the practise if I’m going to scratchbuild more rolling stock in future. Stay safe, Keith. (* as in second attempt, not a Mk2 coach )

All these are really good - nothing is better than wood for wooden structures (!) but these are so well made too. Forgive me if this has been covered before, but can I ask what glue you use for the coffee stirrers? It looks like you glue them to the card inner structures, so I’m guessing a card glue rather than superglue or woodglue, but just wondered (I realise brand is probably going to be different in France). Thanks, Keith.

Stupid question for clarity - is the little van (the SR one on the right) a 4mm or 2mm scale wagon? Gauge III is big either way!

Thank you too to @Phil Parker for organising the challenge for us - I’m sure I read previously that this kind of thing is an extra, and I’ll bet there’s more work involved in setting up webpages and voting systems than many of us realise (I know I wouldn’t know where to start). I can only speak for myself, but I know I make more progress on all my modelling projects as a result of the stimulus and encouragement that comes with cakeboxing. Maybe the next one should be a Garden Rail competition (dimensions of a seed tray?). Also to acknowledge @jrb as sponsor with a very generous and totally appropriate prize offering. Thank you.

Well done @Ben B - made excellent use of the vertical space from turning the cakebox on its edge, and some truly fantastic photography once the model was finished that really showcased such a detailed diorama very well indeed. Do check out the full portfolio of photos at the end of the build thread if you’ve not seen them. Worthy winner.

Great fun to watch - definitely takes me back to childhood dreams: the thread title certainly seems justified to me .

With heavy rain and foul weather for the Bank Holiday today, painting baseboards has been ruled out (it’s an outside activity here). Instead I thought I’d have a go at a test scratchbuild HOn30 passenger car. I’ve never tried anything like this before, so I thought it worth having a trial run to see how I get on building a 2’ Gauge Combine (Maine-inspired freelance); Step 1: I’m using an A4 sheet of 1mm packing card - if it works out OK I can think about buying plasticard for more serious builds. As I don’t have any HOn30 rolling stock, my reference vehicle for dimensions is an H0e coach (weight 30gm): Step 2: I’ve used Roket Card Glue for speed - it’s a very effective contact adhesive. The main mistake I’ve made is to have the freight / baggage doors at the end (sliding forwards). It’s more likely they would be designed to slide backwards from a more forward position: Step 3: Glazing is left over from a Walthers’ Cornerstone Building kit - it’s thicker (so heavier) than with most British kits. Window detail is from cereal packet card: Step 4: The roof is just gently curved. I’ve not stuck it down yet: Step 5: Key to an ‘American look’ is the clerestory, but didn’t attempt to glaze it: Step 6: I don’t have any bogies or wheels yet, so the underframe is minimal. I’ve been advised that the Peco 009 bogies just need a 4mm hole set about 20mm in from the end, so I’ve worked on that assumption (they come with H0e compatible couplings that are what I’ll need). Fitting steps to finish the model will be trickier - with truck mounted couplings and Setrack 9” curves they’ll probably need to stick out quite a way, so I’ve left them off for now: Finished: I decided it was more important to complete this test piece today, so haven’t tried painting the sub-assemblies, or adding an outer layer to the side with scribed planking, but for half a day’s work guessing what to do I’m more than happy: Weight (without trucks / bogies) is a respectable 15gms. Needless to say I’m rather stunned by how well this has turned out. Compared to a card building, there are fewer parts, but more care is needed with the measuring and cutting. Keith.

Hi Justin, a ‘pizza’ layout with all the toppings! It’s an interesting proposition with some very impressive woodwork on display! Could I ask some questions which might help*: 1. Could you give the overall dimensions of the layout (including height) to help anyone interested: both for transportation and storage. A rough indication of the weight might also be useful if possible. 2. Do you know what the minimum radius is? (I’ll guess it might be the Setrack, but Peco do 4 different ones these days of course). 3. Can the example train in the video manage the gradients in an anti-clockwise direction, or is it one way running (purely for interest for anyone thinking about designing scenery). (* To avoid misunderstanding, I’m not in a position to express an interest personally - but it’d be interesting to see what someone with time and creativity could do). Hope that’s OK, Keith.

Thank you for the encouragement. There is a very long way to go with this project though - I’m thinking 3 to 5 years if I can keep going at a reasonable pace, and as I’ve never got very far before I’m sure I’ll be overtaken! One thing which may be worth sharing is that I try to break projects down into small steps. As I don’t have a dedicated modelling space, I have to get everything out and put it all away again each time, so I only get out what I need. I’ve been working on the baseboards at the weekends (my day off is Saturday), so I also have time between sessions to build up my appetite for the next bit. I’ve found this goes down well with the family too - they can see I’m making progress, but the layout isn’t taking over. So...where am I up to now? I’ve managed to do the final two boards. The end board (nearer) weighs in at 2.1kg, while the other one, which is a bit smaller, is the lightest at 1.8kg. Total weight for the four boards is 11.7kg. I didn’t weigh the 4’x2’ flat top 12mm plywood boards I had for my planned OO layout a year ago, but I estimate each one would have weighed about 7.75kg (31kg total), so the weight saving is considerable. By opting for a scenic run rather than a second station or a fiddle yard I have a 50:50 balance between scenic and station areas, which I’m more than happy with for a small layout. The hardest bit of the final two boards was cutting the inside edge of the trackbed on the end board - I don’t have a jigsaw (or a handheld padsaw) so I drilled a series of No. 8 holes and joined them up. Fortunately I didn’t need to be too accurate as it will blend into the scenery (one day), and I’ve given myself some extra width for the gentler part of the curve (left side in the first photo) to make it easier to align Flex-track when I get there. My next stage will be painting these boards, then covering the roadbed with cork. This will take a while, so there may be a gap before the next update. Take care and stay safe, Keith.

Hi Phil, I think you’ve got me here - May 1st is tomorrow (Saturday), but the Bank Holiday is on Monday 3rd May? Bit confused, sorry. I do know International Star Wars Day is on Tuesday, Keith.

Apparently, the Bangor and Aroostock had a seasonal arrangement with Pacific Fruit Express to supply extra reefers to each other as the potato and fruit harvests came at different times. If I’ve got this right, is it possible that BAR #5226 and PFE #460135 could also have met?