Captain Kernow

If whitemetal, this can only be an advantage if modelling in P4.

Double-headed heavy goods, please Robin. Can you dub some real sound effects onto your footage?

Sehr interessant, Herr Maurice, ausgezeichnet!

Super job here, Andrew, very neat work, crisply executed!

Colliery loco uncouples from minerals in loop (where they are in the photos) and shunts to sidings. BR loco shunts van to end of rake, and then shunts rake plus van to other loop line. BR loco then runs round and hauls to Westerleigh Yard (across level crossing). Colliery loco then returns light to Frog Lane....

One of my little 'conceits' with Callow Lane, in terms of it's putative location, is that the link to the old Coalpit Heath area collieries was re-orientated to run directly into Callow Lane, enabling a colliery tripper to run. The Coalpit Heath pits were all closed by shortly after the second world war, but in my world, one of them - Frog Lane Colliery - was modernised after new deposits of good coal were found. The NCB is now in charge, of course, and their locos are authorised to run onto BR metals as far as Callow Lane, in order to bring loaded coal wagons out of the colliery and to collect empties. Typically, a BR loco and brake van would be diagrammed to wait at Callow Lane for the colliery trip to arrive, and to then work the wagons forward to Westerleigh Yard and beyond... Here we see a view circa 1960, with 8701 and brake van sitting in the old platform, whilst RSH 'Thunderbolt' from Frog Lane arrives with some 16 tonners: We now fast-forward to circa 1970, and we see the same workings taking place, only now we have D7042 waiting for the colliery tripper, with the colliery's new Sentinel arriving with the wagons: And now, in a bizarre twist of fate, we see the same scene, in the unlikely event that Sentinel locos have taken over the world... I would point out that neither Sentinel is yet converted to P4, alas, and the red one isn't even mine, it was the result of a successful 'proxy shopping' trip on behalf of Re6/6!

In the previous blog entry, I described the construction of a card 'very low relief' factory fascia, to go immediately in front of the backscene. There were a number of unresolved issues with this, not least the fact that the 'northlight' appearance end-on to the viewer, somehow didn't satisfy, as it would only really be convincing if viewed directly 'head on' from 90 degrees. There was also the question of how to merge the road ('Callow Lane') into the backscene, once it had crossed the private siding into the chocolate factory, that runs behind the row of four cottages. Following various discussions with friends, I have now modified the factory structure, and constructed some additional 'very low relief backscene components' to complete the scene. To begin with, I replaced the 'northlight' ends with a similation of a simple, sloping roof on the computer, using 'Paint' (just about as advanced as I can get in that regard!). This was what it would look like: I decided that changing the 'northlights' was a good move, but somehow the length of the factory unit dominated the scene, and there was still the issue of how to merge the lane into the backscene. In the end, I concocted another 'Paint' simulation, showing a set of factory gates immediately across the private siding. I also shortened the factory unit by one 'window bay' length, which I felt gave a more interesting visual appearance: Having now finished the alterations to the main factory structure, and built the new factory gates and some lengths of brick wall (again using Scalescenes brick paper for the walls), I had a play around with the positioning of the left-hand rear factory building (the one that is behind the end of the row of cottages as you view the scene in these photos), to see whether it looked better closer to the gates or a bit further away. I've now boiled this down to three options...! Option 'A' Option 'B' Option 'C' Some more general views of this part of the layout (not all the final structures are in place in these photos): The plasticard structure in this view is part of a disused platform, where only the rear wall remains, the visible section will be filled in with scenery and general overgrowth, where the old platform has been gradually dug away over the years, leaving little left: This looks like one of the scratchbuilt nickel silver buffer stops you could buy, ready assembled, from Puffers in Kenton years ago. I bought the last three remaining ones he had in OO at the time, and used them on 'Engine Wood' and 'Bleakhouse Road'. This P4 one came to me courtesy of that fine fellow, Re6/6. I've now soldered it to some copper clad sleepers, which have been 'distressed' and cosmetic chairs added: This is a Lanarkshire Models Midland Railway buffer stop kit from Dave Franks, and very nice it is too. I've cut some thin copper clad sleepers from some 0.6mm sheet (the end of this siding is laid using C&L flexitrack, which has thinner sleepers than the P4 Track Co stuff in the other view), and soldered the assembled buffer stop to them. Cosmetic chairs have still to be added. Assembly was pretty straightforward using low-melt solder from Carrs. I don't now have a dedicated low-temperature iron, but use a mains variable temperature Antex one. Even at the lowest setting, I still didn't trust the whitemetal not to simply melt when the iron touched the castings (they are essentially cast sections of Code 75 rail!), so I brought the iron up to temperature (lowest setting), turned it off again, and then used it to solder the pieces together. I'd personally recommend soldering these buffer stops, but you can use glue:

And a very Happy New Year to you too, Robin (from a rather damp South Brent!)..

Basta*ds!! She wasn't covered in mindless graffiti earlier this year...

Very nice too, just right for 'Engine Wood'...! (are these still available, does anyone know, please?). Thanks.

Yes, but I only answer calls from CTMK's mobile....

No buses pass over that bridge these days, despite it's solid appearance and stout construction, the only roads beyond the immediate residential area are country lanes that lead to more countryside and little habitation...

But not without first passing that other establishment 'The Royal Oak' (as it would have been known in those days, now, for some unknown reason, it's just called 'The Oak')...

I was wondering that as well, but it doesn't look like a quick conversion...

I wonder if I may trespass on Robin's thread for a brief moment, and include some local views, to add to the feeling of a real place that Robin's layout already imparts. These were taken on a walk around the district this afternoon, and whilst these are not the shots/views planned for the new backscene (later in the Spring), they do perhaps give an impression of the area, for those not already familiar with it. Looking east, from Aish Lane (Brent Hill in the background). The railway is to the right and lower down the hill at this point: Turning almost 180 degrees, the railway is just visible at the bottom of the field, looking towards Plymouth and the west: A view of the River Avon in full flow, tumbling down the rocks from Lydia Bridge, just outside the village: Robin should be warned never to take any of his locomotives across Lydia Bridge, should he ever be tempted to! A rear view through the trees of the manor house (could this be Finching Manor, perchance?! ): More views near the manor, the railway is behind the camera at this point: Moving slightly further along the lane, back towards the village, and the front of the manor house comes into view: We are now in Station Road, on the Up side, and looking towards London. The main station building would have been just opposite the temporary Winter duckpond on the left (this was right across the road on Christmas Eve...!): The contemporary view of the station area from the main road bridge at the London-end of the station. Sadly, the signalbox is now due to be demolished. Views like this serve to show, in my view, just how good Robin's layout is, and what a useful historical record it is of the place:

Leading the sheltered life that I do, I've only just found this - how's the build gone, Stu?

Why haven't I seen this one before, it's only been four years or so!!! How did the build go, Stu?!

I have a theory about the Finching sisters... I think they are really half-sisters, same mother,different fathers. One of them is clearly the love child of Algernon Cuthbertson... The other, well, I'm not so sure, but her Teutonic features may be marking her out as the product of an insane night of South Hams passion between their mother and that Prussian on the run, Horst Arschenbaum....