SteveBedding

Thank you ...

Another slight diversion (or perhaps more procrastination…)

Since I could see the layout in its entirety (almost), this seemed an appropriate time to have a little play around and look at how the rolling stock would/could look…

...just a selection of the various passenger combinations that will be running:

These are straight out of the box and will need a lot of work to bring up to standard - there's enough to keep me going for a while yet!

The signal box and goods shed are correctly modelled for Calne; I was fortunate to have them made by David McDonald several years ago (when considering the layout in N); some of his other models can be in detail here.

...it's good to have a standard to aspire to...

Now that normality has been resumed (half term is over), I have been able to get back to the layout. I had (sort of) anticipated moving towards track laying, but as I looked afresh at where things were, I realised that there were still quite a number of little jobs that needed to be done first! So, before the fun - the 'floor' for the cassette's on board 3 (along with the cross braces) was finished and the scenic divide fitted. A couple of quick coats of primer and varnish and job's a good 'un...

Having previously worked out how to stick down the track plan (thanks again to all who contributed their wisdom and experiences), it was a simple, albeit time consuming, task to carry out. With the track plan fixed to boards 1 & 2, key features have been highlighted / marked-up...

...whilst most of the track-work is comprised of bullhead rail, one of the sidings (cattle / loading dock - black outlined area) remained using flat-bottom rails - this is indicated by the yellow highlighted section...

...and finally a close-up of the end of the loading dock. The flat-bottom rail can be seen, along with the placement of the 'track' across to the southern sidings (see the discussion in posts #48-#56); the blue highlighted section represents the area where the additional guard rails will need to be fitted. Finally, I have highlighted the locations of each of the tie-bar in red as a reminder - it also allowed a simple check of the fitting/spacing for the Tortoise motors.

I have to admit that as work on the actual track approaches, I am becoming increasingly apprehensive; although this is one of the main reasons why I chose 2mmFS over N, I am most definitely about to leave my comfort zone and jump into the deep end . The decision has been made - next week I'll start on the track for board 3; two curved points and simple track work - should be a reasonable starting point...

With this week being half-term, I was invaded by a swarm of locusts (translates to 2 growing teenagers...); whilst escaping to the garage to avoid the sounds of the X-box, guitars, Hi-Fi etc was a frequently used option, occasionally I had to prise them away from the electronic paradise they call their room! After several days of excessive feeding - my definition, but not necessarily theirs - it felt that they needed to get out and have some exercise... ...a perfect excuse for a walk around the old railway .

I have this recollection that when I was (age unknown) approximately 3ft tall, my Dad would schedule the family holidays near some railway landmarks that he needed pictures of... ... good idea methinks, so having measured the appropriate son, off we went to 'shoot' the landscape... Looking specifically at the gully and culverts (on board 3 - which has the easiest scenic profile):

First task, north side - one son to take the picture (well it was down a steep slope into a stream...), second son as the measure...

...with a known height of 5"9' I can now scale the culvert where the stream exits,

Second task - south side entry culvert...

...at which point No2 son started to question why he seemed to be the one always standing in the stream...

This was actually a repeat of a series of photos that I had taken back in July, but following a minor technical hitch (OK I was having a stupid moment) I managed to delete the folder of pictures, and the backup... . There is very little (nothing really) left of the Station, but regular visits (before the developers put another housing estate on the site) have given me a good mental picture of the topology of the surrounds; this gives a basis to understand the landscape that pictures of the station depict.

Thanks for the suggestion Kris

Watching with baited breath.

 

Looking at your diagram I have a suggestion to make. From the experience I had with the sculptamold and sanding it down I would suggest that this would have been easier to do before laying the track. Obviously this would have made the laying of the track a little more awkward but in hindsight I feel it was the way that I should have gone especially on the flatter sections.

I had considered this, but shelved the idea. I want to get the track and basic electrics sorted before the landscaping; also, the details of the landscape (especially around the private sidings area) are going to be dependent on the buildings (Harris' hangar and the 3 factory buildings etc) and I haven't got beyond the concept stage for these . The gross shaping of the build-up of the foam base can be done (but not necessarily fixed) in parallel with the track work but not the final skimming with sculptamold. That said, I am aware that I'll have to be careful when mixing 'wet' activities with the electrics....

...lastly, and possibly more most importantly, SWMBO wants to get involved in the scenic work so I don't dare get too far into it without her involvement...

Progress - of a sort... Lots of little tasks in getting the track-bed to a final condition ready for... ...wait for it (drum roll in the back ground!) ... ...actually laying some track

It may seem a simple question, but I had concerns over how to fix the printed track plan to the baseboards; PVA is the immediate answer that came to mind but I was uncertain on how this may cause the paper to stretch/distort when wet - there had to be some alternatives?

[Rewind a bit for some background. The intention for the layout track-work is use the 2mm Association Easitrack which can be likened to a form of 'self-assembly' flexitrack. The pointwork is to be built using the Easitrac which entails individual chairs being stuck to ABS sleepers to get the required geometry. I had made the decision to use individual sleepers rather than the milled sleeper base for reasons of economy but recognised that this would be a bit more complex! However the up-side of this was that since curved points had to be built this way, I would develop a consistent construction approach... ...Whilst this may not be a robust as the method of directly soldering the rail to copper clad sleepers, it has the benefit of having the chairs incorporated thus improving the detail. Some soldered track would be needed for power provision and the concreted-in flat bottom rail on one of the siding but this is minimal.]

Having sought the experience and knowledge of both RMweb and the 2mm virtual group, I was astounded by the amount of response and the diversity of suggested solutions - many thanks to all who contributed ; I now have a way forward which included many good tips...

• Sand and smooth the baseboard surface - ensure that all 'gradients' are removed.
• Fix the 3mm ply 'track-bed/underlay'.
  • Sand smooth then wet down and sand again (cabinet makers trick to smooth the grain).
  • Seal / prime and sand again.
  • Recheck level / flatness.

  [*]When printing final Templot plan, use 'draft mode' to minimise amount of ink on the paper.

  • If not needed, don't print sleeper numbers or timber in-fill.

  [*]Stick the track-plan down with spray-mount.

  • Choose a permanent type - 3M spray mount is permanent but is initially re-positionable... (spray adhesives).

  [*]When mounted paper template is dry, fix with 1 or 2 coats of artists acrylic varnish.[*]Finally when all is dried, lightly sand the varnished surface to aid the adhesion for glueing down the sleepers.

The illustration below shows the build-up of layers...

Now that's the theory - I just have to put it into practice! Be back shortly.....

...I decided to try out an applicator I found on ebay.

It's just £12.50 incl P&P!!!! ...

 

Cheers

 

Marc

Marc,

Could you point me in the direction of this seller? Looks like it may be quick way forward at that price

Cheers

If you're having to put babies into wagons, you need to get some more coaches

? it seems to me that screaming babies in the wagons, and passengers in a soundproof coach, could be an eminently sensible way to travel... (sorry, I don't do PC!) - even better if the wagons and coaches are on different trains...

I guess it improved traction and prevented the wagons derailing too?...

Yes, another added bonus!

...Mind you I am surprised that the jelly babies even made it to the wagons knowing how you like to eat them!!!:rolleyes: ...

The half dozen in the wagons were the last 'survivors' at the end of the day

I had the 'experience' of living in Hilmarton (a couple of miles north or Calne) in the early '70s, and whilst I don't actually remember the smell precisely, I do remember that it was not nice when the wind was in the 'wrong' direction...

Another day out playing trains, thanks to Mark and Witney Euston at Didcot yesterday - although not actually directly relevant to the progress of Smokey Bacon, it does serve as useful experience in a) transportability of the layout, b ) operating the layout, c) spares & tools needed (what can go wrong - will...), and d) listen to the experience of others... (see below)

...and lastly...

 

• Red Bull and Jelly Babies seem like an effective way to kick-start the day .

Definitely a big thanks to Mark for allowing me the pleasure of a days playing trains - now looking forward to Didcot even more

Suitably equipped we faced the day of serious railway operation...

Over and above the obvious uses for these essential items, we did find that unopened packets of Jelly Babies make excellent 'buffer stops' for running in/testing loco's off the layout following any changes to their programming...

...but again, another lesson learnt was that as you eat the Jelly Babies, there comes a critical point where the power/traction of the loco overcomes the stopping effect of the packet... ...oops, just caught that one in time !

And, lastly, one final use for the Jelly babies...

...they made excellent 'loads' for setting random shunting puzzles to amuse the children (operators!) and the young people who came to see the exhibition , but I'll let Mark explain about the Jelly Baby Express later....

those boards are looking grand, excellent work

Thank you. They're getting there, but there have been moments when I wished I'd chosen to model somewhere in the Fens or the Somerset levels - that would have been a damn sight easier, but ho hum...

The upside of a slack period at work (though that'll probably change in the next week or so), is that I have been able to 'abuse' the training budgets - of course it is all in the name of professional development and for the benefit of the organisation... ...but if it is of 'personal' gain, then so much the better.... Concurrently studying Service Management, Integrated Logistic Support, and a Project Management qualification has left me with a head that is full of conflicting (and some may say meaningless) jargon - and seriously reduced time for the important things in life - ie the layout . However some progress has been made this weekend, though even this has been limited by the running of all 10 Star Trek films on Film 4... .

Board Joints

Following from my previous post, with the three boards now mainly complete, the track-beds have to be levelled/sanded across the joints and the end panels need to be profiled.

The joints between boards 1 & 2 was the simplest, the high ground to the south (front of layout) had been roughed out previously and only needed minor smoothing, and at the far side, the platform, buildings (water tower etc), and station forecourt run close to the rear edge.

Between boards 2 & 3 the profile needs to be more accurately shaped. The ground level slopes down south to north following the stream bed that leads down to the river. The track bed is on an embankment with the stream passing through a culvert at the edge of board 3.

The picture also shows the first part of the scenic back-scene structure (temporarily fitted). Having looked closely at a number of layouts and especially how the back-scene has been implemented, I have decided to go for a fixed scene set approximately 300mm above the track bed datum. This was chosen as a balance between having a good depth, but not being too high for the operator to reach over (when working from behind the layout) - being a 'shorty' I may still need a footstool . I have still to cut the access hole through to the fiddle yard/cassette store, but this will have to wait until the track plan is stuck down and the exact position known.

The last picture shows the detail of one of the end panels - in addition to the bolts used to connect the boards, I have fitted brass Cabinet Makers Dowels to be more precise in the accurate alignment. These were chosen as I had a small stock available; they have a clearance of 0.2mm - 0.3mm which may be good enough...

...so far, I'm quite happy with the way these are working, but until I've got to actually laying some track over the joint, then I'll be more convinced. If necessary I can either replace or augment them with Pattern Makers Dowels (clearance 0.05mm).

The next steps are to mark up, cut, and lay down the high grade 3mm ply that will act as the 'underlay' for the track - Ooh - the excitement is starting to build as I can foresee actual laying of track starting soon... :D

...I assume that the end pieces of each board are going to be cut to match the landscape profile at a later date.

At the moment, the boards are only connected by the bolts, I'll be fitting the locating dowels when all the ends have been finished (varnished) and that's when I'll do the 'landscaping' of the profiles and the final sanding of the trackbed to ensure that the levels are continuous. The picture below shows the rough outlines of the required profiles to suit the landscape - its not something that is easy to draw/plan but is better suited to actually 'doing' (but I do need to have a rough idea first )

As expected the past week or so has had too many distractions and too much fun which has got in the way of quality modelling time (oh, and that work thing gets in way as well... ). Last weekend I was able to get to the Chippenham Model Railway Show - was made very welcome by Neal and the other members of the BMRG - many thanks indeed . The layouts were most impressive, but my particular interest there was to see Black Dog Halt; as this was part of the Calne Branch, it has an especial attraction - many photos taken for future reference, but these two pictures (travelling from Stanley Bridge towards Calne) give a feel for the simplicity and clean lines of the station.

It does show that (for a future project ), it is very straight forward for Smokey Bacon to be developed further along the line of the Calne Branch... ...though a 20ft L-shaped layout has not been given design approval by SWMBO!

This weekend got even better as I was allowed out to go to the Farnham & District MRC show at Aldershot on Saturday. I went as an 'apprentice driver' with Mark Cox who was exhibiting his layout Witney Euston for the first time (it has been 'out' before at the 2mm Association Expo earlier this year, but that was a mainly in-house event and not fully exposed to the harsh realities of public scrutiny...)

It was a highly enjoyable day - spent most of it laughing! But more importantly, it was very useful in getting an appreciation of working the exhibition circuit. Also, it was a valuable experience in gaining some 'best practice' pointers:

• If possible, set up the night before - allows the layout to 'settle' and 'acclimatise' in the room/hall,
• Loco's need to be kept warm overnight - minimises 'running-in' time first thing in the morning,
• Keep cassettes to a manageable length!
• DG couplings work best if there is only one 'loop' in operation - make rolling stock single-ended,

...and lastly...

• Red Bull and Jelly Babies seem like an effective way to kick-start the day .

Definitely a big thanks to Mark for allowing me the pleasure of a days playing trains - now looking forward to Didcot even more

Despite these distractions, some progress has been made on the layout, though sometimes not always goings as well as hoped - thanks Kris for the moral support and words of encouragement...

The minor snafu on the trackbed for board 3 was straightforward to recover and allowed work on the bard to continue - the cross beams and scenic support have now been fitted. I had noticed that the vertical pillars on the legs were a bit of a tight fit and needed to be sanded to ease placing the boards; after an initial sanding, all 3 boards were assembled on their legs and the 'fit' checked.

(it was difficult finding a bit of path flat/level enough to complete the assembly - I would have used the kitchen (nice level floor...) but I think SWMBO would have been mightily unimpressed if I fired up the belt-sander there )

It all fits level and true; some further thinning of the legs is still required and the floor to the cassette area needs to be fitted, but this will have to wait until the scenic divide is put in - I did spend a fair bit of time at the two exhibitions looking at other peoples back drops and have now got a way forward for mine. The two clamps visible are there to hold board 3 at the right height on the legs, these have since been replaced by softwood strips and bracing blocks to support the cassette area.

This still leaves lots of little jobs that need to be completed before I get to the exciting stage of laying some track, but on the whole, things are still progressing rather nicely.

Well its definitely a Oh buggrit !!! day today ; with various tasks at work and exhibitions to attend, I knew that any progress on the layout was going to be in small doses - but what the heck, that merely extends the enjoyment....

One simple task was to put the 'mirrored' track plan on the underside of the board 3 track-bed; a simple task, I've done the 2 difficult ones and this one is only 1 1/2 sheets - what could go wrong? So...

...Looking good so far... ...the paper templates stuck perfectly, no bubbles or ink runs

Not looking quite right? Hmmm, datum lines OK?, right side of plank (sounds daft but looked anyway)?, Ah, lined up wrong Templot grid line with datum . Oh well, as previously noted, most things can be solved with a belt-sander .

What this has reminded me, is that I have been lucky so far with no major blunders (well none that I've noticed), and I have to expect that just when you think everything is going smoothly, Murphy will strike with a vengeance

Then gardener's hut is simply outstanding, you have captured the essence of the building and period delightfully , this is a joy to follow... ...a matter of interest, just how long did you/will you take to paint the figures - it looks like a serious undertaking in its own right?

Please keep the pictures coming - especially those illustrating the construction - it shows us novices how things can be achieved

The board joints that you have been milling so carefully. Is there a reason why you have made your own? The association do the same thing (1-060) I can't remember how many sleepers that it comprises of, but it looks very similar to yours.

Combination of sheer 'bloody-mindedness' combined with the fact that I thought I had ordered a couple and they seem to have fallen off the bottom of the last order...

...more simply, I have the mill (ostensibly for doing chassis frames) but even though I have an engineering background, I'm not that confident in using it yet. Making the sleeper strips seemed like a nice and simple way of getting it out of the box and actually using it - rather than just having 'plans' for a future date...

Things are progressing at a fair rate now - the Easitrac arrived this week; but without the ABS sleeper strips - not in stock - hopefully someone will be able to get some at the AGM tomorrow from the central shop. Also my local model store got the 3mm ply for me today so the 'track-bed/underlay' can be worked on... ...this is just as I'm going into a busy period with reduced free time

Kris

Thanks for you answers - I'll look forward to seeing you progress with the Toplights Could I ask you to update your B-Set bashing blog with some pictures of the fitting of the new bogies - with details on how/where they needed to be fettled to fit the exiting Dapol mounts? Cheers

Track Board Joints - PCB Milled Sleeper Strips

At last – something other than woodwork ! (Though I still have got some more work to do there… )

In previous efforts in building model railways, I had not addressed the issue of how to ‘properly’ lay track over board joints – in not expecting the layouts to be ‘mobile’, I had adopted the approach of move first => repair later … … However, over the years I had started to notice different (and far better!) methods on layouts at exhibitions, such as using PCB sleepers or soldering the rails to small screw heads.

OK, what good idea’s could I steal for Smokey Bacon… … the common practice for many of the members of the Oxford 2mm Group (Highclere, Witney Euston, & WSI) is to use sheet PCB, cut and milled to represent a number of sleepers – a strip of between 6 & 10 sleepers is laid across the joint and recessed into the track-bed/’underlay’ at a height matching the normal ‘single’ PCB sleepers. Sounds simple, but something I have never tried before. New skill needed here – how to mill PCBs…

The 2mm Association very conveniently publish the sizes and spacing for sleepers in their member’s handbook, which was essential to getting the sleeper strips right – I originally fought shy of finescale modelling due to fears about lack of knowledge (and, more honestly skill), but I have been very pleasantly surprised by how easy the track aspects are! With very limited knowledge (and abilities) it is relatively straightforward to produce your own track work; there are simple jigs available or by using Templot it has been reduced to a modest level of ability – and this was even before Easitrac was developed!

2mm Milled Sleeper Strip – Basic Dimensions

Having got the outline size of each strip, I could work out how many I could reasonable produce in a ‘block’. I am fortunate to have a (very) small milling machine which is ideal for this task – however its working area is limited to about 135mm x 60mm. Allowing for a small oversize for clamping, it is possible to work on a panel of 140mm x 50mm which can produce 6 sleeper strips at a time.

Now faced with a 3 axis set of movements and some fairly precise measurements I thought I’d better work out exactly what the cutting path would be – I could just see myself blissfully bodging away and producing something which spectacularly failed to be what I wanted !

Two very useful bits of advice were given:

With the planning done (and the coffee drunk) there was no excuse to delay attempting this further. My learning points here were to take it slowly – remember which way to turn the handle – and keep the Hoover going!

Much to my surprise, it actually was far easier than I had feared – like many of the modelling I have tried over the past year, it was the unknown anticipation that was the hurdle to overcome, rather than the actual difficulty of the task!

A finished sleeper strip (one down 10 more to go…); once milled and cut down to size, all it took was a quick once over with an old file to tidy it up AND a scoring down the middle of the copper to isolate the two sides electrically (I used single sided PCB for simplicity here). One last tip on this – after lightly scoring with a sharp knife, carefully run the edge of a triangular needle file along the score line to ‘break’ the copper (don’t file too deeply).

Final observations - cheap (?) PCB sheets (from a well known high-street electronic component chain) do contain air-pockets in the base material and this can lead to holes in the sleeper strip. Also, having done one side, the strip has a tendency to curl up slightly which leads to cutting 'deeper' than expected - easy to address if you are aware of it.

Well now I better go and hoover the carpet to get rid of all the PCB swarf...

The B sets and Auto coach will need new bogies as replacement wheelsets are not available for these. In some ways this is most likely the better way to go. I have rebogied one of my B set coaches and really should get round to doing the other one. If you do this it is easy to open up the new bogies attachment hole to accept the original Dapol pin. If you do this then it is easy to replace the original bogies should this be required.

Hi Kris,

Thanks for your comment - I'd been considering replacing the complete bogies and wheels and your timely observation has reinforced that idea for me. I've looked at your blog and your "B-Set bodging" does give some good pointers on changing the bogies and the effects on couplings - the height difference is quite noticeable - I'll need to get the books out to see what the correct height should be to set any spacers on the bearings... ... that said, if I do the same 'bogey mod' to the B-Set, Autocoach, and Collet's, then they will all be about the same height and any differences wont be noticeable...

...I take it you've seen the article by Maurice Pearce on gwr.org.uk (Detailing the Dapol B-Set coaches in "N") where he addresses the improvements that could be made to the shell-vents on the roof, the 'outer-end' buffers, and the missing dynamo... ...I can't comment at this time on the issue with the window, I need to look up the differences between the B-sets to diagrams E.140 and E.147 - that's another little task to keep me occupied in the evenings (I reckon an hour or so with a ruler and Russell's GW Coaches should resolve the question... )

One quick question, which bogey etch did you choose to use (are they complete etches, or mixed etch and cast sides) - I can't tell from your pictures?

Rolling Stock – Initial Thoughts

Too cold, wet, and dark to get out into the garage, so I thought I’d look at some of the other aspects of Smokey Bacon; there are three main threads to the project:

…and lastly, but equally important, maintaining the thread on RMweb…

Whilst work on the layout is progressing steadily, little or no work has been done on the rolling stock! Over the past few years we have ‘accumulated’ a fair amount of N gauge RTR stock that can be adapted to suit 2mm finescale – some to be fair cannot !

The actual need (as opposed to the wish-list…) in terms of rolling stock falls out of the timetable and operating schedule and as much as possible I intend to replicate the real schedule of the prototype as far as possible. There are two very good books, both titled “The Calne Branch†(G Tanner and Colin Maggs) which are absolutely essential to researching this line; these along with Jack Slinn’s “Siphons†give enough information to reconstruct the ‘normal’ working schedule of the line in the late 1930’s and 1940’s.

In addition to the GWR’s scheduled passenger and goods services, the products of the C&T Harris factory were worked to a regular schedule of their own as they covered almost all of the country - destinations ranging from Penzance, Portsmouth, and Paddington, to Cardiff, Manchester, and Glasgow…

Just to support the ‘normal’ scheduled workings, the basic rolling stock roster will have to include:

Added to this, the ‘unscheduled’ movements such as engineering works trains (Collett 2251 and PW wagons) and WD movements (troop trains and ‘leave specials’, war materials and equipment - Dean Goods & Q1?) further increase the rolling stock requirements. Finally, whilst the majority of the stock would be in the 1942-47 livery (unlined green or black with GWR), there will be some instances where the pre-’42 livery (with the ‘Shirtbutton’ monogram) was still present, and increasingly, the wartime ‘austerity’ livery caused by shortages of paint would be present.

(…and then there will be those models that are just too nice not have and will have to be justified somehow… )

This just scratches the surface of the diversity of rolling stock that will eventually be needed. Some will be available from RTR models, with additional detailing and re-wheeling (ie Autocoach and B-Set), however, much (ie Siphons and Minks) will have to be scratch-built or constructed from a range of plastic and etched brass kits. There is still a considerable amount of work to be done in identifying the loco running numbers and allocations etc that would be appropriate (I’ll admit here I am not going to be a perfectionist and firmly believe in the 80% solution…) but this will be for another day..

Hmmm, looking back at this, am I really going to be ready by 2020?

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement, it both extremely useful to discuss issues as the arrive and entertaining at the same time ; especially thanks to Geoff for giving SWMBO the dates for CMRS 11 - if she goes it means I can - without having to forfeit some form of penance...

Track-Bed (Continued 2)

Work on the boards has been progressing steadily with board 1 now structurally complete and matched with board 2. I had hoped to get a bit further but was diverted by having 2 growing teenagers home from school for the weekend. The boys (aka the Two Jimmy's - they think they are the the cultural descendants of Messrs Paige & Hendrix) set up their 'studio' upstairs which gave me the perfect excuse to hide in the garage... (actually they're were not too bad, but I had hoped that they would try a bit of Sabbath or AC/DC rather than Metalica which I don't know ) Anyway, it was not the music/noise (delete as appropriate) that caused the interruptions, rather the constant need to keep them fed - five loaves and three fishes wouldn't cut the mustard for that pair...

...Anyway, the progress...

The underside of the track-bed for board was was treated exactly the same as for board 2; the mirror image of the Templot plan was fixed and varnished and copper tape applied before the track-bed was fixed to the rest of the frame...

...this time it was easier as I had 'discovered' how to move the point of origin for printing the track plan and was able to produce the output as a single run A3 wide - so much better than trying to join up 2 alternating rows...

...Joining boards 1 and 2 turned out to be extremely easy. As I had planned (hoped) the assembly jig allowed for the two board to aligned together and I was able to fix the track-bed using board 2 as a reference...

...the top surface still needs its final sanding, but that'll wait until board 3 is in the same condition and they are all mounted on their legs.

A quick check of the underside gave reassurance that I had managed to mark the alignments correctly; the track plan on board 1 lined up perfectly with that of board 2 - and the straight lines still looked straight over the joint!

And lastly for those who may have noticed that the car in the background is different to normal, here's a bit of culture...

... unfortunately its not mine, but it does bring back fond memories of my Father's Moggies and Woodies.

Sadly, I expect progress to slow down over the next few weeks, finishing board 3 could take almost as long as 1 & 2 put together ; another training course next week, and railway shows at Chippenham, followed by Aldershot and Didcot (helping Mitzblue with Witney Euston) will limit my time available to get in the garage... ..oh well, I'll have to find some 'indoor' modelling to do in its place

Nice one Simon - reminds me of a 'not the 9:00 oclock news' sketch...when they were negotiating a deal 'use of the swivel chair'

Why am I not surprised that you are a fan of such erudite entertainment! I'm now waiting for cries of "oh no not the comfy chair..."

Simon, more seriously, that's some quite impressive detailing at that scale - what's next - Newtons Cradle on the desk or even a Pirelli calendar on the wall?

Claggy

This is an absolute joy to follow . The detail of both the scenery and the rolling stock make it an impressive layout with a stunning visual impact, but what is making it so special is the narrative describing the movements... I wouldn't know if you were 'working' a real timetable or not, but the way 'story' is sequenced it gives it a real credibility and puts this forward as spectacular model :clapping_mini: .

Yo tambien

¿Qué?

Steve,

 

Well actually Black Dog Halt will be at the Chippenham Show at Sheldon next Saturday, http://www.chippenhammrs.org.uk/ as well as Hedges Hill Cutting, even though I'll be on Ashton Depot, (which is 'Orribly Oversize) do pop along, make yourself known and say hello.

 

Regards

 

Neal.

Neal,

I'm supposed to be going away for the weekend... ...however, if SWMBO permits , I'll swing by the show first thing Saturday morning before heading off and say Hi. (note to self - don't forget camera! )

Steve,

 

The way you're cracking on with this, when do you want our Exhibitions Manager (Geoff Endacott) to pencil this in for its debut at the Calne Show/Trainwest 2013 or 2014 or should we be really mean and say 2012

 

Actually you're fortunate, I think Trainwest 2012 is full already.

 

Many regards

 

Neal

Chairman

Bentley Model Railway Group.

Neal,

Thanks for the optimistic encouragement, I'm only cracking on with the bits I'm comfortable with so far - I suspect I'll drop back to a snails pace when I start getting to the difficult bits ie all the work that changes a few bits of wood to a model railway... ... The target I've actually set myself is for the 2mmm Associations 60th Anniversary in 2020

As it happens, I'm looking forward to CMRS 11 so that I can get to see Chris Hewitt's EM version of Calne - I'm sure that he will have included some superb details that I can imitate. Also with Chris Leigh's Black Dog there it will be nice to see the next stage of the line - all it needs is for someone to have done Stanley Bridge Halt and the whole of the Calne Branch would have been represented.

Witnessed as requested

 

On another point, I know you asked on the VAG but for easy track lengths, 500mm is no problem at all. I have made lengths of just over 1200mm using bullhead rail. This length suited the lenght of the board I was using, So far no issues with this. length. I would not want to go much longer as it becomes very unwieldy and frankly a right pain to make.

Thanks Kris, now I just have to get SWMBO to accept the fait accompli...

Following observations by Andy earlier, I have been reconsidering the issue with cork underlay and practical lengths for laying Easitrac; I know the purists/rivet counters may say 60ft/120mm, but that would negate the benefits of Easitrac. From what was been said, I think I have a way forward:

I now have to wait for the Easitrac to arrive, but I have a mental appreciation of how to proceed.

As a recent ie only 10 years ago incomer to Calne this is fascinating !

 

Now I know where things were rather than where I guessed they were

 

Colin

Colin,

Nice to know its providing local interest . I'm 'semi' local myself, Hilmarton in the early '70s, Compton Bassett, Calne, Colerne '00-'08, and just moved back to Lyneham about 4 months ago. I just can't seem to keep away...

So is that a suggest of what SWMBO can get 'Smokey Bacon' for christmas then!!!!!

Well dear, if you're offering in open forum (somebody witness this please ) then half a dozen BR Diag 1/353 standard 8 ton cattle wagons wouldn't go amiss... :clapping_mini: