Geordie Exile

It was good to catch up with FCAG stalwarts (and hobnob with the Chairman himself) at Perth Model Railway Show a couple of weeks back. Bits of Fenwick Pit were dusted off and were seen lurking on the 2mmSA stand. Not just dusted, actually. Soon after filling a couple of the wagons with faux-coal using a water-based glue, they got boxed up for a couple of years. On re-opening the box, something with tendrils (and possibly sentience) had grown out them. Took a bit of cleaning off, and I swear I heard it complain as I did. A particularly pleasing moment was coupling up the steel hopper in the foreground (a Bob Jones etch) with one of James Batchelor's wagons, and seeing the DGs actually work, including uncoupling. First time they'd been over a magnet, and it was very gratifying. I'd been havering about sticking with DGs having seen Electras in action at the FCAG mini-meet a couple of months ago, but I'm happy to use the DGs now I know mine actually do what they're supposed to do. And it's time to bite the bullet, and start to build an actual locomotive chassis. I've had the lack of a working loco nagging at me since the nascent Fenwick Pit went into boxes two years ago. I'm sure there's a thread in this forum that'll tell me where to start. Probably...

Not retired yet Ray - a couple of years to go at least. But no longer having a croft gives us both a huge amount more spare time. Move date set for two weeks from today. Unboxing of toys will be some time after that, as the room itself needs a fair bit of prep, and I imagine the rest of the house will take at least some of my time!

@drmditch @nick_bastable Well spotted, both. Its the first thing on my to-do list (but I might make it a flat cover that slots in, to make it easier to get bulky stuff up there).

Wise words, Jim. I have promised myself that it'll start out as little more than a shunting plank with room for growth.

Fenwick Pit will be coming out of enforced hibernation this year. We've sold the croft, and bought a new train room that also comes with a house, which is handy. I guess it'll be another couple of months before I unbox everything, but in the meantime, I can plan. And it is the perfect train room.

This one was still in its box when I was there: it's a thing of beauty. It does encourage me to make a much smaller layout than I originally planned before moving on to bigger things. If I remember rightly this was in the same room as CF, although my aspirations are more towards this end of the spectrum.

Excellent event. Thank you to the organisers and exhibitors. Not sure what Derby Conference Centre has against traditional DC, though...

Gosh, I hadn't realised how long it is since I packed up the nascent Fenwick Pit as we put the house/croft on the market. And in those boxes it still lies, along with my modelling mojo. Seriously considering a visit to Derby to see if I can regain said mojo by osmosis. And there are so many RMWeb things to catch up on too. Well, it's officially summer in the Highlands, so that'll guarantee rain for some time, which'll give me the opportunity I crave...

Looking fab, Jim. And you don't have to cross out "play"

Hi Ray I'm afraid the demands of the 12-inches-to-the-foot life have got in the way over the summer. Things should quieten down soon (not much crofting gets done in the dark) so I'm hoping to get back into the 2mm-to-the-foot stuff soon! Richard

Hi Ray. The last remaining building is the winding house (or winder house, depends who you ask!). It forms the central feature of an 'executive development' that's in the pipeline.

This is the 15.4m of 2x1 that I bought to start framing up a baseboard... This is what I used it for... And these are the red deer that were watching me do it! No wonder I'm not making any progress.

Hi Ray Progress has stuttered to a halt as real life intervenes. I've now got plenty of wagons, enough buildings to form the core of the colliery element of the layout, and a couple of turnouts built, but I'm at the stage where I have to draw everything together and actually make some decisions. Specifically: track plan, turnout operation, baseboard construction and overall layout 'geography'. I've also got to make the amendments to the RCH hopper, and I think I've decided to redo the coal processing plant (the tall 'office-block' building) after finding a side view that shows I've got the dimensions all wrong. It's a frustration after the hours spent building the first one. So, lots of stuff to make decisions on, and I'm happy to let my subconscious mull them over while the rest of me gets on with 12-inches-to-the-foot stuff! Richard

Do you want to borrow a 2mmSA quartering tool? And I understand there's a pretty good detailing etch available too

Cheers, David. It's quite sad to see her in bits like that, especially the rusting hulk outdoors, but at least she's getting some attention.

Nice first attempt, Andreas, and certainly better than my first! I 'invested' (although I can't see me ever getting my money back!) in an ultrasonic bath, and I pop the etch in for its default three minutes every time I switch off the soldering iron (so bearings, clean, laminating solebars, clean, adding solebars, clean etc) then a longer zap at the end of a session. It has made an immeasurable difference, and it's much easier to find the wee bits that fall off

But you'll know it's there!

They were originally numbered 1400-1600 according to Elliott & Charlton, but the three I can make out in the photo above say "1174", "1226" & "1527". The two photos I've seen of them in original Backworth livery show "1101" & "1417" so it could be - dare I suggest it - that E&C are mistaken! I've just gone for a 4-digit number, to be honest. And as you can see from the picture, some but not all have "Backworth Colliery" (Not "Collieries", my mistake), some but not all have a tare, and all have "Internal Use Only". Take your pick!

And no doubt I'll have posted this view of Fenwick before, but it does show how busy the site was. A fairly eclectic mix of wagons, but the majority are the Chas Roberts 15 tonners, which is why I couldn't leave them out!

Just realised I haven't put up any pics of the painted wagon. Can't say I'm a massive fan of the asymmetric lettering, but it's prototypical so who am I to argue? Lots of the wagons also have "Backworth Collieries" on their sides. I don't think I'll attempt to replicate that!

Hi Ray I'll message you once I'm happy that the next test etch works (which I haven't sent yet, because I haven't drawn it yet!) R

Yeah, yeah, I know! I'll correct (well, amend!) the hopper artwork and resubmit, so some replacement railings may well be added! The washery has similar railings which I might replace too. Mick's after some sheaves, so they'll be on the next one as well. Oh, and there's no access from ground level to the first set of ladders on the headstock... I'm going to end up with an A3 sheet just full of stuff to improve what I've already built. As for the origami, I'm pretty happy with how tightly one hopper's squeezed now, so working out the final (ha!) production run is just a question of tesselating rectangles. R

Gosh, I got me a rake. There's no escaping it, I need to start laying track.

As part of the hopper test etch, I added some sheaves and walkways to enhance (I hoped) the heapstead. The previous sheaves were 3D-printed from Shapeways which were certainly finer than anything I could manage, but the etched versions are much more delicate again. The spindle needs a lick of paint, and I'll add some spacers between the sheaves: I also etched some safety rails for the steps up to the sheaves, and a ladder and roof walkway to access those steps. Possible the most delicate thing I've ever had to solder, and I'm now terrified that I'll squish them, but they've come out quite nicely: ...and once again the close-up shows the worst as well as the best! A squirt of matt varnish should take the shine off that rendered wall. Richard

Fiddly maybe, but it brings the building to life.