backofanenvelope

Thanks Don, I am looking forward to it even though it is a bit of a mad dash.. Yes one things for sure I am not going to rush this.. just hope to finish it! Tom

.. a month goes by and nothing been achieved! well work and life has been busy so not had much time for modelling.. although have been to a couple of shows Railex being the best. I got to see Missy's little Nn3 Shunter and chatted to her near the end of the show, came away with some ideas and then the 2011 Challenge pops up! hmmmm even more distraction(s) I am also going on a mad dash to the 2mm Expo oop north on Saturday with 8 hours on the train and around 4 hours at the show, but looking forward to it though hopefully will remember to charge the camera etc as its a 05:30am start. Waiting for a package to arrive with wheels and gear 'n' stuff so I can start my Fencehouses J72 although the longer time goes on the more apprehensive I become to my skills and abilities to complete said kit.

Glad the wagons are rolling again and the mojo is back.. but I can't wait to see the pizza layout Tom

Truly amazing!!! now if I win the lottery..... Tom

Glad to hear the red mists have risen and Highclere is not consigned to the tip! Having seen it at the 50th I think you should definitely persevere All of us go through droughts every now and then.. Tom

I would like to add my voice to all the positive comments and also say that I love the 1:7 scale model.. I have made numerous ones that have never been built.. I shall be looking forward to the layouts progress. Tom

Shame its not going to be at Expo Tony.. well next time.. I do like the backscene though..<br>Tom<br>

Nice work Tom, looking forward to seeing this in the future.. finished..

Thanks a lot for that, just what I needed <br>

Pixie You must have the patience of jobe and zen and the art of wagon building all in one!! How did you go about etching the buffer beams? Regards Tom

Going to be a good one! am loving the curvedness.. t'other Tom

To keep the momentum going as things at work are rather irksome and sucking up way to much time from modelling I recieved my 1911 map of Leyburn. It shows the station plan almost fully but misses a bit off the eastern approach which is a bit annoying.. but it does show some interesting features that I wasn't aware of before, one being the long headshunts at both ends of the station. I think a trip to the records office at Northallerton is needed or a day out at NRM but it is a start and I can get it into Templot and have an idea what the full sized layout would be like. Roll on the weekend when I can get back to more track building..

I continually seem to be missing out on your threads and am always amazed at your ability to make such exquisite models and look forward to seeing your developments. I have brought a little 2FS SA NG bits but this is a long way off for me! Tom

Nice work Ian, like the station canopy effect. Tom

I am just catching up on your blog and some really nice work and great ideas! Is that Dexion your using for the bench? I remember my Dad was always using it in the 60's and 70's Tom

Hi Lisa, What is the make of your soldering iron? as I would like to get one with a readout. Regards Tom

Really fascinating.. I really like this and your use of space saving. Looking forward to seeing how this develops. Tom

Ian, thanks very much for that as I did not know it. I will investigate the aerial maps too. What I need to find is the 40ft Railway maps if they exist for Leyburn. looks like a day out in York at the NRM Regards Tom

Really nice work Andy, were you working alongside Mick? I think I saw you building the bogie..

Hi Pete, Actually it fits in with the original one which I am edging back towards as I think it is more manageable! and also I like the cut of it although it needs some work still Having grown up nearby it's funny to uncover all sorts of information that was there that I never knew about and broadens and thickens the palette of the potential model.. hmmm 2 bottles of red wine and I am gushing.. well it was shared with family! but I can see in my mind what I want to achieve and looking around and taking pictures is building up the patina and if I can get a tenth of the quality I want I will be happy!! Tom

Ok so slow news day and as I am away from my workbench and not able to build stuff, knew I should have brought soldering stuff with me I have started reading my books and am starting to get into the research of my future 'big' layout. That being Leyburn Station on the NER Wensleydale Branch. Having picked up one CD in a collection of 3 of images of the branch line, some if not most are images in books I already have but the bonus of these pics are that they are high-ish resolution TIFF files and can be zoomed in on. This has brought some interesting facts that I didn't know or proved some facts I read to be wrong. The Station its self was the biggest apart from Northallerton and has a lot of scope for operations and includes a turntable so with more research I hope to find out the uses for this having already read that it was for turning the locos that were stabled and the shed overnight before taking the first train back to Northallerton. The more I dig the more I am uncovering detail that I can use in the planning of this layout, Using the modern tools at our services the and wonder of Google distance tool I can see that the area I am planning to use is around 1660ft so a scale size of around 10ft give or take. Also I have been trying to see if I can find anything on the NRM site and may have to go there so see if I can uncover some 40ft maps of the location and any more images I can find. The research bug is catching If anyone wants to comment or give advice about researching it would be greatly received.

Thanks Simon, sounds all good to me and looking forward to more pics Tom

Simon, nice work and this has given me some inspiration just curious to know the inside radius? Regards Tom

Hi Missy, What are the overall dimensions for this little loco as looking at the first posting with the ruler next to the milled PCB it looks about 4inches long? I am guessing that I am wrong as the times I have seen Nn3 it has been tiny! Regards Tom

With York show over for another year for me time to reflect on what I saw and learned probably more importantly. The show in my mind was a very good one and had some really nice layouts I would have like to be there longer but started the day a bit late so have to be content with 4 hours of viewing and shopping although the last 10mins of the show at Squires stand was a bit tense. I think my favourite layout was the Greek one as its buildings and structures had to be seen, it was like being there. I joined The North Eastern Railway Association and I also brought a shed loads of tools that most I needed and some I just thought ooooh but I now have every imaginable tool for, well at least track building. However, the high light was getting to talk to Mick Simpson about what else than points.. actually also the Fence House kit I have too. But learned alot as you would expect and didnt want to take up too much of his time. Today was spent at the Wensleydale Railway riding behind the Deltic. What a piece of luck we had gone there purely to take some pix of the station building and what remains of the yard and as we were about to leave I heard the unmissable sound of the Napier engined Deltic in the distance so shot round and asked if we could get tickets on board, the very helpful guard said he would keep train until we had purchased tickets and were safely on the train, to out great relief. I was a beautiful day and the ride up to Redmire was pretty quick in my mind. Once back at Leyburn spent some time in the shop where I brought some books on Wensleydale Branch and loco building that was 12s 6d! for £2.50 and then chased off down to Leeming Bar to see the setup there as I have never been. All in all a great couple of days.