MoonMonkey

And finally, some gargoyles painted by my lad and one done a bit more with weathering powder afterwards by me, plus the Ghostbusters!

And a few more... my lad painted the zombie and the scarecrow thing...

Also, some better photos of the Finescale Figures people, Halloween themed! 

I've got a slightly better camera (in other words, a slightly better phone!) .  Better ghost train pics attached.  If anyone wants to provide some light entertainment for kids (or whoever) next Halloween... these were inherited Hornby Railroad models, dismantled and bodies sprayed with primer and a coat of white spray (Humbrol spray acrylics), and then a liberal thick coat of Revell 'night color' (sic) 39802 was applied (without watering down).  I'd masked the insides and interestingly it left a weird 'ectoplasm'-like irregular finish to the window corners once the masking tape was peeled away.  I left the black plastic parts as black so it wasn't too over-the-top.   It needs charging, I use the torch on my phone, and then it glows a spooky green.  The glow does wear off relatively quickly, but it's fun while it lasts.  I also had a spare figure I painted with the 'night color' and put against a window in a coach corridor, which looks spooky too... a ghostly figure staring out from the window of the ghost train.  I also popped a little of the night color on the loco wheels, very carefully.  All good fun!  The photos show the effect just after charging with the torch light. 

And for something on a similar track... the ghost train!!!  I did do a video but you can't embed clips into posts and it's not that good to bother Youtube!  So photos it is.  Focussing was tricky as it was quite dark to capture the luminous ghostly glow! 

Well, it's a year later and Halloween has come to the layout again!  Figures are from Finescale Figures (which seem to have started with the same figures as a previous business called PMMStudio).  Some Halloweeny figures, and some ghost busters. Poor old Venkman (Bill Murray) got the rough end of the ghosty stick as the face and hairline painting didn't quite go to plan, but hey ho!  My little lad did the zombie rising from the earth and the scarecrow.  The figures are nice to paint and an entertaining and fun range (no connection, just a happy customer!).  

Really nice to see how that addition at the back improves the whole 'look and feel' - thanks for sharing @Mikkel!  That certainly provides inspiration for a future modular layout that could fit in storage tubs - the layout length would always have been a moveable feast and could have been extended, but when I read about the storage tub layout concept I always envisaged a layout that had a narrow width governed by tub dimensions.  In theory, the layout could be variably wide as well as long, as there is presumably no reason (other than how it is supported) why more than 2 modules could not be connected front to back! 

I meant to upload this photo too - shows the sign better! 

On 24/08/2021 at 16:09, JimC said:

No such luck, however: 
https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/lx237-oo-engines-must-not-pass-this-arch-sign-gwr-pack-of-2-oo4mm176-8029-p.asp

Thanks for the pointer to these signs.  I ordered some and finally got them onto the bridge!... Nice products, and even better - they come ready coloured.  This was great as they are delivered better than I could paint them.  I also got a pack of 'beware of the trains' signs which are also ready-finished, one of which is just inside the arch.   I did give them a bit of weathering powder/spray varnish.  No link to supplier (Scale Model Scenery), just a happy customer!  (ps, yes, I know it isn't a GWR loco, it was just here when I took the photo!!!)    

10 hours ago, JimC said:

Which, for those who are into such things, gives the idea of a little cameo with every rule in the book being broken, horse in the middle of the track, horseman riding on the buffer, etc etc...  Or, for those of a macabre bent, the consequence of breaking all the rules... 

Hmmm, I haven't seen anything about the use of rasberry jam and ketchup on model railway scenes.  Perhaps Woodland Scenics are missing a product range... general gore, and a set of people staged to look like they are running around with their arms in the air, flapping like gooduns!  

9 hours ago, JimC said:

While we're on the subject of signs, presumably this is a private siding. Should there be a sign or other demarcation of where the GWR responsibility ends and the private siding begins?

It's a GWR yard initially as traffic comes in from the mainline.  It's a small rural yard off the main line, and nominally it is associated with a minor station on the mainline which is not modelled due to space constraints.  Then, based on the potentially rather dubious back story to justify the model layout set up!, the extension through the arch is to another part of the yard.  I hadn't considered really whether it was to be a GWR or private land beyond that arch.  For ease, I guess I'd go with GWR.  But I see that if it were to be a private siding then some sort of demarkation would be required.  

20 hours ago, Dave John said:

Most of the rule books and safety books show the horse to the side of the track, with a chain attached to the horse shunting loop on the side of the wagon. Often the rules have a direct prohibition on the use of the main coupling for horse shunting. 

 

That said, as JimC suggests, there are many photos showing the horse in the 4 foot with the chain attached to the main coupling. Not wise, if there is a bit of a slope to the track it is lasagne for tea..... 

 

Now , If I was a Board of trade inspector, with a suitable military title and a large moustache I would create a set of rules for horse working that bridge.  The horse must be out of the four foot and attached to the wagon with a chain long enough for the horse on one side and the wagon on the other side to be clear of the restriction when the move is started. So , 4 yards horse, 10 yards bridge, 5 yards wagon hook. Say 20 yards. The horse can then pull the wagon with a slightly dragging brake through the bridge  without danger of men or horse being caught in the narrow bit. 

 

The same idea could apply for captan working. This is a working set, one day I will find a use for them .  

 

Something like this: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Dave.  I think that's the way I'd play it too, if I had to.  

I shall leave the capstans and pulleys for another layout (?!?!?!?), but I like the look of your working ones.  That must have taken some doing.  

Thanks JimC, thats useful.  Sounds ike going for an ash ballast effect using DAS clay might be on the cards! 

Just picking up on this notion of a yard featuring an arch with no engines... lovely signs by the way, JimC, thanks for the link!  

I am working on the assumption that the bit of the yard beyond the narrow arch would be worked by horse.  Thus, there would be a need for the horse to drag the wagons along the track through the arch, in both directions.  

Would this have been done by a rope/line tied directly to the horse on one end, and the wagon on the other, and the horse trudges along the track?  In this case, the horse would need to be either in the middle of the track or to one side where there was clearance (but not through the arch where it would need to be between the tracks)?

Or would a capstan and pulleys be used?  There is a nice looking set from Lanarkshire Models and Supplies, one large one and 4 smaller ones.  

If the capstan and pulleys are appropriate, how would they be placed?  

I'm thinking of just one, maybe two, to give the notion of a horse-worked yard.  However, I'd like to get them located about right, rather than having them in totally the wrong place.  

Many thanks!

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

The Burry Port and Gwendreath Valley was well known for its restrictive loading gauge; many will have heard of the cut-down cabs of the Class 03 and 08s that worked the line in BR days. Less well known were the width limits, which meant a pool of brake vans were specifically allocated. They had narrow step boards, with the edges used by the guard picked out in white paint. One or two also had 'Caution; narrow foot-boards' painted on the body-sides.

Many thanks, Fat Controller.  If I interpret things as having the line heading through the arch, I think I'll go for the 'no engines'/limited clearance approach.  Modified rolling stock could, however,  make for an interesting conversion in future, although I think the small rural yard off a GWR mainline wouldn't have had that luxury. 

1 hour ago, Dickon said:

And/or limited clearance signs on both sides of the arch?

 

Likewise, many thanks Dickon.  That looks like a more 'infrastructure' sign that I amagine was commonplace across the  network.  Do you have dimensions for it, even approximate?  And do you know if that pattern of sign was used in the mid-1940s?

1 hour ago, JimC said:

How about an "engines must not pass this arch" sign?
 

 

Beyond it you can imagine an industrial line with its own shunter, a horse, or even just men with pinch bars...

Many thanks, JimC.  That would be a nice idea on the layout, I haven't seen that before.  I guess the same wording could have been applied to a wooden sign in a rural branchline, rather than trying to replicate the cast plaque.  If so, that could be a nice way ahead for me.  

Just out of interest, do you have the dimensions of the sign?  

52 minutes ago, Alex TM said:

Hi,

 

Have a search online for images of the 'Auchmuty' branch in Fife.  One of the bridges was so tight that it was possible to see score marks in the stone, caused by the passing locos and stock.

 

Hope that's of use.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

Wow, that looks worse than mine!  Remarkable really. Thanks for the insight. 

56 minutes ago, mike morley said:

Severely cramped bridges were usually low rather than narrow.  A major problem with what you are proposing is what might happen if there was an accident or breakdown while the loco was under the bridge.  How would the crew get out? 

If there was a real bridge that narrow it would probably be worked by horses.

 

Thanks Mike, i might have to pretend (in my own mind at least) that its worked by horses.  That, and applying Rule 1!

9 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I think that whilst there may well have been official minimum sizes, many bridges were built before they were introduced, so basically anything goes. Witness the several low bridges on goods lines such as Par Harbour or Radstock. So whilst your bridge is very narrow, it is completely plausible. 

Many thanks ikcdab, thoughts much appreciated.  Maybe I'll go for the illusion!

Just in case anyone stumbles across this blog item looking for thoughts on Lifecolor paint and/or Modelu figures, I've posted a few things on the following thread, so just to close the loop and for the sake of completion (etc, etc) here is the link, I think I started posting around page 25:  

Night time, and the undead walk again (even in 4mm scale!!)

Another platform shot with the new figures, this time at dusk. Red dress still present. 

I forgot about this Modelu chap, the guard (with Tommy and Tony in the background)...

The guard was about the first one I tried to do a face.  

And the boy figure is a classic 'fugly' character.  They also were about  the first I tried.  Too much paint (which was a mix of Humbrol acrylic paints, not actually lifecolor), too thick, and not letting layers dry.