Keith Addenbrooke

Hi Marlyn, if I remember correctly, one of yours was a Barry Scrapyard diorama - with a mock-up of very good track made from corrugated cardboard? If you still have it, that would fit the criteria for this competition perfectly (in several ways).* Keith (* Railway enthusiasts would dispute the notion that the Barry Scrapyard was ever home to ‘rubbish’ as such, but I’m sure you get the point).

Day 33 (part 3) - And finally for now: touching base Before I pack everything away (I don’t have a dedicated hobby space), I thought it’d be nice to see how it might all come together. The walls are just held in place on the base with some Blutack for these photos. The loading platform (not shown) will be to the right: 1. Sam inspects the track (the gauge is correct but the sleepers are too far apart for American HO and should be spiked): 2. The train arrives. The 40’ stock car is one I’ve been given - the livery is freelance. It’s interesting to see how big the freight car is next to the Depot - it does rather dominate though, so I don’t expect I’ll leave it there in the finished model (there isn’t a train showing in my original design): I’m going to lay it all flat and weigh down the sides while the glue holding the outer walls to the thicker inner walls sets. Some of the pieces are showing signs of warping, so better to address this now before gluing them together in a future work session. If I have any more hobby time this weekend I’m needing to replan my layout projects again: we’ve reviewed how we use the rooms around the house and are making some changes - I think I’ll still have room for a cakebox model. Keith.

Thankyou @Huw Griffiths for the encouragement - fortunately for me the bay windows should be the last ones I have to do: to fit the cakebox dimensions this is the smallest of the standard Santa Fe designs (#1). I must admit I’m having second thoughts about my original plan to follow this build with another one (using plastic add / styrene) for a much larger #4 version, for exactly that reason! Good to hear you’ve started a build - I hope you’re enjoying it despite the snags. Another group of modellers this exercise has made me think about are those wonderful souls able to produce some of the fantastic models we see in 2mm scale! My first railway was in N Gauge 40+ years ago, but I don’t think I could go back there now. I’ve had some more time to make a bit more progress this morning: Day 33 (part 2) - Match of the Day: With the main sub-assemblies coming nearly done, my thoughts have turned to assembling them (this is where the gaps in my modelling will start to show - literally!). I’ve added some used matchsticks to strengthen the corners: The middle inner wall has additional matches to brace both sides.

Day 33 - The last of the Yule Log I’ve fallen a bit behind my (informal) schedule, but have finished the bay windows with the last of a Yule log box this morning: This will now be left to dry for the rest of the day (glue and touch up paint). There are over 40 individual ‘components’ including the windows!

My HO-Scale people would have to work 14% harder to cover the same area: then there's the $ exchange rate and the time difference (etc...). No wonder I've fallen behind with the project! At least it's the weekend soon.

One of my layout ideas is for a US Prairie Town - looking at photos and track layouts, flat earth and a station laid out in a straight line (shocking!) seems to be a good way to capture the essence of this particular prototype. A long way from mid-Cornwall though.

While I agree roofwalks were to be outlawed in the early 1970s, I believe the date shifted, so while 1974 can (I think) be quoted, I also understand there was an extension until 1983 for their final removal. In this case I don’t think it changes the plan - just a bit more background (assuming my research is correct). Keith.

My apologies if this is explained earlier in the thread, but could I just ask how wide the baseboard is at this point, and how high the scenic bank at the front is: the proportions work really well so I just wondered. Thanks, Keith.

Hi Chris, I do rather like that Silverado Depot - nice touch to top it off with some spare Metcalfe Ridge tiles (the sort of thing I would never think of). It’s interesting seeing both the card and plastic kits as alternatives in the same setting - makes for an informative comparison. Enjoying following your progress - you’re getting on with it a lot faster than I am with mine, Keith.

As someone just getting started, I do find these really inspirational - I doubt I’ll ever get anywhere near this standard when it comes to trackwork, scenery or weathering, but it does encourage me to press on with layout plans for what I can do. Thank you.

Looks excellent to me - both the track work (it is still a dummy point, or is it?) and the rock face. Great use of the space.

Day 26 - A visit to the bay US lineside Depots typically had a bay window trackside for the Station Agent’s Office. Agents would pass on written telegraph train orders from centrally located Dispatchers to the Train crews. Bay windows gave Agents a better view of approaching trains. Santa Fe Depots had a standard diagonally sided Bay Window - other railroads often used square sided bays. It’s the most detailed part of the model: the sub-assembly in this photo already has 21 separate pieces of card in it, with more shown waiting for the paint to dry! This doesn’t include the windows themselves of course, which I’m hoping to tackle tomorrow: I don’t need the whole of the outer layer in the piece top right - it was my first attempt and the sides needed to be a bit longer to cover the joint with the wall. It is an advantage of using rubbish card as a building material that I could just make another one! As it will actually be a dummy bay window on my model, I’ve painted that section of wall dark grey to block any light: There’s along way still to go, but bit by bit I think I’m still on course, Keith.

If I’m following this correctly (your daughter is way ahead of me), then this sounds a bit like something I tried and got away with a couple of years ago on a 2019 cakebox diorama: I had windows made from thin sheets of clear plastic sandwiched between the brickpaper used for the wall and the actual window frame, which is also printed on paper (with solid black window panes). The ‘glass’ is in front of the window frame. I was happy with the overall effect.

Agreed - although I don’t pretend to understand the electrics / electronics, the good St does keep everything clean and well ordered, setting a standard for us all to aspire to (it can be done!) and it is a pleasure to follow progress.

Thank you - really helpful. Keith.

Q: Station Track Layouts I was happy with the final schematic for my proposed layout. Once the switchback had been engineered out, the design looked reasonable and not over-complicated, yet at the same time would be interesting to switch due to the locations of the spur tracks. I'm having to look at a re-plan however as we've been talking about swapping over some of our bedrooms, and the layout idea won't fit any more. I have a file of ideas for a UK layout, and a good selection of US track plan books I can refer to when a new space is finalised, but I'm left with a question on prototype practice I'd appreciate some advice on: What I'm wanting to check is if there was a recommended / standard / preferred practice for siting spur tracks at the kind of stations in the Oklahoma / Kansas / New Mexico areas I'm looking at: I've had a look at some Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and taken some Google Earth tours, but the maps don't always extend far enough out from the centre of towns to show which direction turnouts faced, and a lot of spurs have now been lifted or lines abandoned. Logic suggests the arrangement I've drawn above would be the better way to access the two rail-served industries, but in modelling terms this would need more space either side of the station for switching moves. A more compact way to fit the track into the kind of compact spaces I'm looking at is as follows: This places the rail-served industry a bit further from the Depot, but switching interferes with the Team Track. If I assume my staging is to the West, I don't need to extend the tracks very far East of my station. But would the additional moving and re-spotting of cars on the Team Track be designed out in reality? I won't have the kind of space these diagrams infer, but am interested to see how close I can get. Thanks, Keith.

Thanks for posting this. I probably missed something obvious but I couldn’t see which time zone the schedule is in to calculate the UK time difference?

I’d agree with @MrWolf that the photo of 5532 looks great - to me I think it looks authentic, not just stunning modelling well captured on camera (the only thing my brain is struggling with is seeing this in colour, not black and white - which is a compliment on the quality of course). Comparing the photos of 5532 and 9759 above, I wonder if the ‘secret’ with getting people in sharp focus is to have them conveniently placed alongside one of the points of focus for the shot? It’s not something I’ve thought of before.

I was talking with a local model shop owner before lockdown and he referred to a brand of “slow drying” acrylics that behaved more like enamels. I’m afraid I can’t remember the name and obviously can’t check at the moment (I think they were German?) but I thought it worth sharing that model paint technology now offers us a wider range of alternatives than the simple enamel / acrylic choice I was used to. The shop only has a tiny range of railway stuff, which may be relevant - it’s mainly ship and plane modelling.

A Postscript I find it interesting reading "what happened next" updates on ideas discussed in this Forum. Noting the three episodes of my planning saga would add up to one of the longest non-Minories threads in the Forum if put together, I'd like to share an update on both progress and necessary changes: [full disclosure - some of these photos have already appeared elsewhere on RMweb] First - the progress: I'd prepared some baseboards suitable for the original 8' x 4' continuous run layout ideas. These were easily remodelled for the revised final design: the 'crawl under' would be at bottom left. This is not the bedroom location - I was able to clear enough space in the study for a quick 'trial fitting.' The previous 'colour scheme' had been light green on top and white underneath with cream sides. I found a large tin of a good quality paint in an unloved colour (mango green) being sold off cheaply, so repainted them all before it got too cold to work in the outhouse / workshop: As the tops are 12mm ply, I've found I don't need cross-bracing (I've had them for 20+ years). I also bought some DCC Concepts Alignment Dowels for the next stage, but this was as far as I got last year. I couldn't do any more until essential Covid-delayed roof repairs above the layout space were done. This happened in October, after which the bedroom was redecorated (during half-term). In more goods news for layout building a light blue sky colour was chosen for the walls: I had no input - honest! I'm not a great decorator, so I used my half-term to build a kit for an HO-scale Diorama I'd started in 2019: Second - A bonus idea The US influence behind all my layout ideas is obvious. With progress on my GW Branch Line paused for the winter, I decided to explore my parallel US interest by looking into a long-term idea for a US-based layout too. This has rather taken off, and the thought struck me that the genius of @Harlequin's idea for a separate trestle / i-beam subframe (described on page 5 of this thread) is that I could build more than one portable modular layout for the sub-frame. The advantage is the modules don't have to be the same size: This flexibility wasn't planned, but is a benefit worth sharing, for which I take no credit myself. Some American outline rolling stock I have needs a minimum 24" radius. This rules out a continuous run layout in the space I have (I did try of course), but the ideas discussed in this thread are still valid, and an "American Branch Line-U-Cassette" arrangement could work well, applying the same lessons learned here. With this bonus idea in mind I built a low-relief industry over Christmas, which turned out quite nicely. It may not look Great Western, but if you look closely the roll-shutters are painted in spare GW Coach Chocolate. Third - 2021 Long-term increased home working put paid to the original plans last summer, and the extended lockdown has now brought about further changes, as we're planning to swap some of the bedrooms around. It will make life a bit easier, and help with other welcome changes now we're spending so much time at home. It does mean I'm having to look around again for a layout space: the room that becomes available is a different shape and requires access to the airing cupboard and a fitted wardrobe on the far wall of the room. Of course, it's a tiny price to pay in the context of the pandemic, and it will help the family. A new space for a layout is part of the conversation. Finally* - next steps I have a number of building kits waiting their turn, and I'm already busy working on a 2021 Cakebox diorama, trying my hand at scratchbuilding for the first time (which I'm really enjoying - far more than I expected to): I also have other projects to keep me busy. But the aim remains a layout with trains running on it. I don't expect I'll start another planning thread (relief all round ). But this is for the best of reasons - my ideas file is already full of great concepts and good advice, and I have more than enough to help me sort something out. So I'm sure this isn't the end of the story... Take care and stay safe, Keith. ______________________________________ (* I know this is the most overused word in my planning, for which I can only apologise again)

I’ve not made the Fordhampton (ex-Hornby) kit but I think it does have a window round the back at one end if needed - reference recent discussions. I made the Metcalfe card kit GWR signal box as a standalone model a couple of years ago: it’s quite nice, but I don’t think it looks particularly Cornish though.

Quite normal. Plenty of prototypes to follow - historians of the big railways just call them “might have been” schemes . (PS: I think this definitely looks like one worth following through with though).

Day 20 - while it snows outside The Study is needed for other things this afternoon, so there’ll be no painting or gluing after lunch, so here’s the rest of my progress this weekend: The sliding baggage room door on the front of the depot is different to the one on the side, so is made a bit differently: The pencil-drawn lights in the windows are just to check the proportions look OK. I then made a double layer frame: I also made a start on the bay window, marking out some internal bracing / formers. By marking them at regular intervals, I ended up with five, so could pick the three that were most accurate: It all comes together (so far) like this: Although each window / door is taking some time, I only need a handful for this small depot - it would be a different proposition if I were making a bigger model, like the 71 windows I counted when I made a Metcalfe Brewery a couple of years ago! I’m not sure I’d have the patience to build so many layered window frames - hats off (once again) to those who do scratchbuild such structures, Keith.

I’ve been doing some reading around the idea of ‘achievable layout design’ - I think this scores highly on that front. There may be a few tweaks (as suggested already), but basically I’d say: “Go for it!” Keith.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well. I should first of all acknowledge the very generous prize offered by @jrb’s JSModels for the competition element of the Cakeboxing: worth more than £1 per square inch of modelling! (and do check out the Haigh Sidings micro layout thread here on RMweb too, it’s very impressive). Back at my end of the scale... Day 19 - Trying mature modelling My search for plastic packaging to use for windows in the doors ended in the kitchen after a cheeseburger meal served with mature cheese slices that had come with some clear plastic packaging - I’ve been eating mature cheese for years...but it hasn’t worked yet! Anyway, once washed, the rear of this is flat enough (and not too clear). Glue takes a bit longer to stick, but I only need some small slices for the door lights (Step 5). Progress this morning meant continuing Step 3 Walls and Step 6 Loading Dock. I decided not to try fitting each batten to length on the end walls - it’ll be easier to cut them to size when the walls are finished. This photo also shows my low-tech painting kit: The magnifying glass is very useful. I’ve left the left hand end of the front wall until the bay window has been sorted. Glueing the top layer onto the loading dock reveals the well-known problem with card modelling - white edges (I include the photo as this is often referred to as an issue with card kits - it’s not the kit, it’s the card): To weather the top of the loading dock I gently sanded the surface (to show wear), then dabbed some grey acrylic paint onto some areas using a scourer that had been headed for the bin (to add a hint of colour variation): There’s nothing new or sophisticated in this - but it’s my first attempt, and so far it’s going better than I expected.