ManofKent

At least it's low tide still.

A week of frustrations. The caboose throws arrived, and seem to work well enough, but the bars are longer than I'd realised so are going to take up more room than I hoped for. I'm also going to have to come up with a more solid fixing - they're presumably designed to be screwed into wood - foam and cork won't do. I think a piece of thin ply inlay is required. I had planned on having a saw next to the timber store and found Woodland Scenics did a kit that looked good - it assembled into two parts the saw bench and a steam powered generator. The steam bit was too 19thC America but I thought I could use the bench part and connect the band to something more suitable, or through hole in shed wall to hide power source. Kit arrived and let's just say I have never come across a worse kit. My guess is the moulds needed retiring a few years ago. The flash made the Dapol re-issues seem positively clean and it was impossible to tell what was detail and what was flash metal. After an hour with needle files it looked bad but possibly usable under paint, but then I tried assembly an realised the main frame wasn't just bent out of alignment in one direction, it was three. I eventually gave it up as a bad job. So I moved onto constructing buildings and structures. The Cambrian SECR van went together smoothly(irons and buffers removed), The Will's weighbridge fine, along with the roof of the timberstore. I then started on converting an mdf engiine shed into a workshop when I was faced with what I sort of guessed. I haven't got the physical space to get everything I'd planned in and create a convincing composition. I'm now slimming down what I'm going to include, and actually thinking properly about height/size balance. I'm also planning vehicle access, complete with areas big enough to turn likely vehicles! I should have knocked up card mockups in advance...

There is some colour footage of the 50s around - it tends to be a bit faded but might give you an idea e.g.

Setts engraved and given an initial coat of black, followed by grey acrylic. I think by the time I've picked out a few individual stones in a couple of colours (won't go mad as they're generally pretty even in life), added a wash and powders for mortar the regularity of the Wills sheet won't standout too much against the hand-carved, particularly with a crane on top...

I like the idea of the mini-moke style makeover of the VW. Be Seeing You...

Does anyone recall Inn Sign cocktail sticks? I think they were made in the 50's and 60's. No idea whether The Unicorn was covered, and they're probably a little over scale...

They're about the right size for wind ravaged Hawthorns. I like them - I'd probably move the central one further to the right (It's a little central) or add an additional one, but that's a minor point.

Useful to know. I imagine the only real issue is more careful positioning when shunting. I was thinking of cutting one down and disguising it as a barrow crossing - I tried a few different neodymium blutacked in place and couldn't get the level of consistency I wanted (others appear to have used them successfully). What did you use to cut the magnet down?

Yes great first issue. Interesting question on whether scale impacts the area that can be considered a micro layout. I've always considered micro layouts really need to be under 4 square feet, but that is very much with a 3.5/4mm hat on (I've seen some people describe 4x2 as micro, whereas to me that's 'small' rather than 'micro'.). Should it be straight physical dimensions or should it be 2sq foot for N and 7sq ft for O?

I say the day started well, but in between and after work I started on the check rails for the inlaid track. My initial plan was to use code 75 laid on the edge of the chairs, but I thought the flangeway looked a little large. I puled it up and tried something different - laying the code 75 horizontally on its side pushing the rail top underneath the vertical rail top of the main code 100. It looked quite good, although curves were a pain, giving a relatively narrow U channel. Testing a couple of wagons the modern flanges seemed okay so pleased with myself I was about to stop when I thought I'd better test a loco. Failure - it just wasn't deep enough to ensure reliable traction and jumped on the curves. So I ripped it up and went back to code 75 vertically next to the code 100. Works well and where the infill and check rails will be fractionally lower than the code 100 top should make track cleaning reasonably easy... DAS clay here we come...

Today started well with an early morning trip into town to take a few reference photos of setts. We're luck in that there's a large expanse in the town centre and a few scattered pockets elsewhere. Thinking I'll adopt the more mortared look for the raised area, and the mossier look for the sidings - hopefully they'll visually blend rather looking too disparate.

A little track work, and finally a start on the scenics... I lifted the track at the rear and using sheets of cork glued together and sanded created a slight gradient - only around 2% to about 7mm high. It's a tiny layout but I don't want the scenics pancake flat and if I'm adding a very slight rise to the landscape at the rear it would have looked odd to have the track completely flat. The main activity though was at the front. I cut back the front edge with a foam cutter ready to put in the quay wall. Having walked along Faversham's Wharf and Quays I counted six types of edging (brick, wooden planks, concrete, stacked 'telegraph poles', old sleepers, and steel retaining walling). I such a small length I possibly should have stuck with one, but decided on two - brick walling for one end (and probably a short section at the other, with wooden planks for the majority. Walnut strips ordered (grain is nice and fine compared to softwoods and it won't need a base dye). The crane is going on a raised platform at the end of the two front sidings (wooden buffer beams will be fixed to this saving track length). I've used Wills Sheet (English bond, although both English and Flemish bond appear to have been used in Faversham for different sections!). I had planned on giving it a base coat of light red, but experiments on scrap showed the sheet raw is pretty good once mortared (cheap filler, applied then wiped off). It's going to be so covered in mud and algae for much of the height the base probably won't be that visible anyway). Wills Setts for the top (still undecided on 'mortar' or just letting the washes and powder fill). The sidings will be inlaid with setts carved into DAS that will hopefully match the Wills one's reasonably closely! I still need to add coping stones (probably DAS again if I can get it thin enough, if not scribed/cut plastic angle will do). Wooden posts to be added, along with silt etc. at the base (it's modelled at low tide!).

Lovely work on that wood and metal

Thank you - I moved to Faversham in 1999 so the site was pretty much all closed off and about to go under development at that point. I dimly remember the bridge across Whitstable road from childhood visits to the town (i think it was removed mid-late 80's) but that's all. The bridge embankment on the park side is still obvious (now planted as a mini- wildflower bank and quite attractive). Nothing remains of the Quay branchline on the other side of the road but that went in the mid 60's. I've searche high and low for photos of the goods yard or the quay end, but apart from a few in the Middlleton Press book drawn a blank.

Not much progress on the modelling side, but I've got a few bits to assemble including a Langley crane. Socket installed in side of base and wiring all joined up (easier than the holding bare wires together for testing ). I like these new slimline WAGOs, but found crimping a 'bootlace' ferrule on the wire end the only way of ensuring a good connection. I played around with a couple of lengths of stiff wire for point rodding, but decided it's silly on a layout of this size with the points being just a few inches from where the rod control would go. Instead I've ordered Caboose levers from the US. Still going with Kadees for coupling.

That makes sense - the transport depot then is long one. Looking at them again, the roof is quite different to the wagon depot (still standing, but behind the railway fence (although viewable from the long footbridge), and despite being a listed building now in a perilous state). We're lucky the Goods Shed was preserved and restored. You can just see the roof through the trees a little above the Engine Shed (slightly less perilous state): https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Goods+Shed/@51.3101943,0.8978011,67m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x96e53f85a0989564!8m2!3d51.3120427!4d0.8993132

Are you planning on infilling the points - I played around with an old set and couldn't find a neat solution for the blades area. I've not found photos of a great example from other modellers either using standard commercial points.

Fascinating - nothing remains of the corrugated sheds. So the top picture is the Goods Shed, then are the middle pictures the old wagon works? I can't place the very bottom picture.

Apologies - built circa 1858 so probably just EKR before they changed name to LCDR.

Was up this way over the weekend and thought the photos might be of use to someone. The interior is now offices but the exterior is pretty much preserved as was. Built by the East Kent Railway around the time they became the London Chatham & Dover Railway and in use through SR and into early BR days. Situated at the start of the Faversham Quay Branchline near the Wagon Works (now in a very sad state). Much longer than most kits of Goods Sheds. If anyone does want measurements give me a shout and a week or two's notice...

Might be useful as a painting guide - I find London yellow stock hard to get right (obviously these have been repointed!):

More yellow brick than red, largely from Faversham's brickfields for South London, but you'd have red brick buildings mixed in. You'd often half a course or two of red brick as a decoration, even on warehouses.

They make pretty decent birch saplings

The only thing to be wary of with coffee stirrers is plank scale - I've been guilty of planks that are over 12" wide when scaled up... 12" wide planks are rare enough in real life, but the stirrers are easy to cut down.

Looking great - the fencing really adds to it. Unless you've got non-oxford wagons, or your locos have NEM sockets very far forward I'd forget the 18s - you can't physically couple two 18s with oxford wagons unless you remove the buffers. With one 18 and one 19 you can connect but the buffers almost touch and I found you could only use this combination on straights. 19s still give a very close couple.