buffalo

Very neat work and impressive progress. You mentioned changing some parts from foamboard to card. Which pieces, and what was the thinking behind the change? Nick

Here's a taste of things to come, a Bavarian BBII 0-4-4-0 Mallet built by Maffei in about 1903 brings a short test train around the curve before entering Nirgendwo station. Meanwhile, a Krauss U class heads up the bank into the narrow gauge station which is at a slightly higher level than the 'main' line. A photo taken whilst testing the clearances on the proposed line layout. This area will be in a deep cutting, perhaps with a short tunnel. I don't know about GWR-ish, but the BBII is green and the date matches our other interests You're wise to be wary of buying stock New and used prices are so much higher than UK RTR and once you start it is a really slippery slope.

Thanks, Mikkel. Not sure I would claim it is a 'proper' layout but I've taken the opportunity to experiment with building a light weight wooden base using 4mm birch ply. I've used a method that I've seen mentioned several times in which the bracing along the edges and underneath is made up of beams using softwood blocks sandwiched between two layers of ply. I'm quite pleased with the result as the two boards are very light whilst still reasonably stiff. As to the stock, it is a collection Austrian/German/Italian RTR mostly acquired in the last few months since I started on this layout. Most of it has come from ebay. It is very much a collection of things I like the look of rather than anything that might be expected to be seen together. Though, looking at the photos in the recent thread on the 175 year Dampspektakal, maybe it won't be too unrealistic Nick

Most of my modelling activity in the last month has been on odds and ends that, in themselves, are too insignificant to post anything about, but will eventually find their way into blog pages in some form or other. On the workbench, I've been servicing motors and chassis, and fitting DCC decoders to some of the recently acquired HO and HOe stock for the Nowhere layout. After a couple of weeks away, I've managed to finish the second, and larger, board for Nowhere. This has now been brought indoors from the garage and joined up with the first board. With the boards together, I hope to make progress with the basic landscaping, tracklaying and wiring in odd hours during the evenings. Hopefully soon there will be something to show that looks more like a mountain railway setting that a large wooden 3D jigsaw puzzle Nick

That really is a great improvement on the original. Well done! I'm not so sure about the bucket on the footplate, though, as the cabs of GWR tanks were notoriously crowded. Maybe on top of the bunker or hanging on one of the fire iron loops behind the bunker? Not sure about the bucket colour either. The crew might be in trouble for pinching a fire bucket from somewhere IIRC it was David who also once reminded me that the tops of the splashers should be black. Nick

I was always under the impression that Peco track is very close to scale. Unfortunately for 00 folks, the scale of the track is H0, i.e.3.5mm to the foot. Hence not only is the spacing a bit narrow, but the sleepers are shorter than they should be as well. This also explains why the proportions look quite good, especially when there is no 4mm model in sight. Nick

Interesting. Is the problem with other gauges that they often end up measuring b2b between the plastic centres of the wheels whereas this one is actually measuring between the backs of the flanges? Nick

That looks much better :icon_thumbsup2: Glad it worked! Nick

Compared with some other classes, this is a fairly straightforward question All 58XX were built in a very short period. 5800-5808 in January 1933, 5809 in February and the remainder, 5810-19 in August, so all would have been very similar and all would have carried the GREAT WESTERN lettering on the tanks. You'll need photos to find any that may have been repainted with the shirtbutton from 1934, but my guess would be that few would have had a major repaint before the war. Bunker side steps and roof handrails, and the larger whistle shield, began to be fitted to new 48XX in 1936 but many existing ones did not receive them until ten years later. Again, dated photos of individuals are needed if aiming for a late pre-war date. None of the 58XX were built with auto gear or ATC. ATC was fitted to 5801/3/9-13/5/6/9 in 1936-8. Fitting of top feeds started in 1944. The upper front lamp iron of 5814 was apparently at some time on the smokebox door (no information about when). All this from the RCTS four-coupled tanks volume. Nick

That looks a neat piece of work. I'll be interested to see how you get on with the narrow gauge version. Looking at the photo of the underside, I wonder if the problem with the pickups on the undriven axle is not the phosphor bronze (which should be more springy than brass), but that the distance from the anchor point on the copper-clad to the wheel rim is too short to allow light but effective springing? Longer pickup wires should be able to do their job whilst applying less force to the wheel rim. Nick

Very impressive, Missy :icon_thumbsup2: I never cease to be amazed at what some of you 2mm folk can achieve. The wagons appear on my screen about twice life size and could easily be mistaken for a larger scale. Nick

For the moment I'll just think about it and keep watching you and others for ideas while I try to finish some other projects but, in the end you're right, there is only one way to find out. Nick

That is a nice piece of work :icon_thumbsup2: It's making me wonder whether my skills are up to scratchbuilding one of the Radstock 'Dazzlers' (albeit in 4mm). Nick

Hi Mikkel, The bridge is not affected because the track is laid directly on the foam board. Underneath are Evergreen plastic linear and cross girders, so it is very stiffly braced. I'm not worried about sound deadening so I was thinking of laying the track directly on the foam board on the other modules, though foam underlay might be worth considering. Would it be easy to cut out a V shape for the linear drainage channel usually associated with broad gauge track? How are you fixing it to the foam board base? Now that you've hinted at some progress on "The Depot", when are we going to see it?

Little to report on Loose Ends other than problems. The warping that was apparent when track laying began on the embankment module has become worse, so I will have to cut out the trackbed and replace it. Looking at the station yard module, which has sat on the shelf since the cork trackbed was glued down, reveals the source of the problem: Cork + PVA + foam board doesn't work. Though all appeared well after initial drying of the PVA, subsequent curing of the glue and/or contraction of the cork has had disastrous results. Both of the affected boards will need the cork section cutting out so I'm leaving this until I feel brave enough and have worked out how to ensure that the two modules will line up correctly with the bridge section. Without the cork they will be 3mm lower. Do I raise the bed on these two modules or lower the bridge by 3mm? It may just be easier to lower the bridge.

Me too Better still, as this progresses I'll get to see all those parts that we never got to before we were spotted Nick

I'm glad you included the portrait of Mr Woodcourt in his uniform. When I saw the first photo, I thought it was Brian Blessed standing there and was beginning to think this was a spoof with actors and models but the final portrait has convinced me. As to Mad Charlie, he appears to have his jacket buttoned in the style that I associate with drivers. Perhaps the flapping jacket tails caught on something as he was furiously shovelling, and pitched him off the footplate?

Hi Mikkel, it's good to see what can be done with the IKB figures as I have some, as yet unpainted, waiting to crew my Buffalo and Dean Goods when they finally emerge from the paint shop. I know what you mean about the variety of dress at this time. There was a discussion about the colour of blue overalls last April, but that only addressed more recent times and, when Hayfield asked about the big four era and I asked about pre-grouping, it mysteriously dried up As far as I can see, the white fustian jacket was standard, at least for drivers, up to the 1870s, but can still be seen in photos up to the turn of the century. As you say, in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods almost anything is possible. What's not at all clear is when the standard blue colour appeared, but my impression (on virtually no evidence) is that it's probably later. For that reason I wonder about both of your crew having blue jackets... Nick

Close, Miss P. I hope I haven't confused you by suggesting that the girder bridge has a real prototype. A slip of the fingers in this entry referred to 'the bridge' whereas the question about the prototype in a previous entry was really about the cattle creep or farm access tunnel beneath the embankment. The original is near Bath and the clue is in the gothic arches that Brunel adopted for a particular stretch of the main line. As to the girder bridge, that doesn't have a single prototype but is more inspired by an amalgam of originals in the Bath area, though mostly on the Midland rather than GWR line. The closest prototype for the general layout of bridge, river and station is really Green Park, though that bridge was (and part of it still is) a lattice girder. Of course, it never carried broad gauge, though I have been tempted by the RMweb tradition of rewriting Somerset & Dorset history by invoking the original Somerset Central broad gauge...

As others have said, that's some very neat wiring. Any chance of some more details on how you are operating the turnouts? I think I can spot MERG Servo4 units and servos attached to something by rods, but that something at the turnout end isn't too clear. Nick

A little over a week ago I posted an update to the introduction entry of this blog to announce Nowhere, Nirgendwo or Nessun Luogo as my new layout set in a wholly imaginary location somewhere between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Unlike my other layouts, adherance to specific prototypes and prototypical operation are the last thing that comes to mind when thinking about Nowhere. As much as is possible, it will be based entirely on RTR stock and the main aim is simply to have fun playing trains as an alternative to the ever growing pile of almost complete projects on my more 'serious' modelling side. That said, I have the greatest respect for those who take their continental modelling seriously, it's just that Nowhere is for me just about having fun and doing it in an environment that is completely different from my normal (GWR and S&DJR) modelling territory. It probably won't stop me trying to get some details right, but hopefully I won't be sidetracked into too much kit or scratch building At the time of that update I had a rough Templot plan and had been to the local timber merchant to buy some 4mm birch plywood with which to begin work on the baseboards. the plan for the 'North Eastern' end with links to Germany and Austria was now fixed, whilst the 'South Western' end is still in the planning stage. Once I had convinced myself that this part of the plan could be realised using Peco Streamline, both 00/HO and HOe gauges, work began on constructing the first baseboard. Within the week, I had this: A few days later, and some track had been layed, at least on the lower standard gauge part. This will eventually represent a small passing loop and minor station. The station is mostly used by walkers setting off and returning from a day in the mountains. It is situated at the entrance to a deep rock cutting which leads to a tunnel entrance. Beyond the tunnel, we imagine the main rail connection to Germany. Above the station, following a narrow ledge and occasionally disappearing through tunnels and emerging to cross the main line will be the narrow gauge railway which itself provides the direct link into Austria. Initial wiring has been done this weekend. All went well apart from a minor c*ck up where I fitted a turnout to the board on which I had not yet snipped the frog links (that reminds me, the kittens need to go to the vets soon ) thus causing a short when power was first applied. So, although there is still much detail to be decided at the other end, we were ready to receive our first train into the valley from Germany. A class V100 or 212 in DB Cargo livery arrives with a mineral wagon on a driver training run. There is still some work to be done before they will be able to travel all the way to the mine and return with a load. Indeed it looks like it will not be possible to run around the wagon, so it will have to pushed all the way home again So, we await completion of the track plan and the installation of full DCC control. Still, no harm in being well prepared

Excellent news, Mikkel :icon_thumbsup2: Good luck to Russ and long may it continue to inspire GWR modellers. Nick

There probably are several other ways of doing it, of which the most realistic might be to drill and spike the flanges of the bridge rail with fine brass wire The copper-clad baulks are the standard BGS offering, but the timber is from Exactoscale (via Wizard Models). It is, in fact, their 14 inch turnout timbering which is sold in packs of 50 pieces, 375mm long. As with their other wooden timbers, it is 1.6mm three-ply. I haven't made up my mind what to use for the transoms yet. More on Nowhere, where tracklaying has also begun, when I get a chance to photograph the latest state -- maybe at the weekend.

Although baseboard construction for Nowhere has been progressing rapidly, I've managed some progress on the embankment, bridge and station yard modules for Loose Ends. The basic form of the bridge module is now complete with the bridge itself, the river banks and the stone piers in place. Though I've yet to consider the river water or the backscene, and a central pier is yet to be built, possibly with Brunellian cylindrical supports. I'm still experimenting with different ways of painting the stonework to try to represent something like Bath or Cotswold stone. I'm not there yet, but its much closer than my first attempts. Meanwhile, the track components have arrived and I've started laying track on the embankment and bridge. At this point, I have to reveal a hitherto closely guarded secret about Loose Ends. It is to have GWR mixed gauge track so that I can run both narrow and broad gauge stock. At the moment, the latter is limited to a single, almost complete, tilt wagon shown in the photos, but I have several BGS kits sitting at the end of the bench awaiting my attention. In line with my intention to use Loose Ends as a way of experimenting with different modelling techniques, I am trying two different methods of track construction. The rail is BGS bridge rail and is being laid on timber baulks on the embankment and copper clad on the bridge and into the station yard. On the timber baulks, the rail is soldered to brass pins which pass through the baulks. So far, this method seems a bit more fiddly, though this is probably made worse by the need to level the baulk surface by sanding and with packing pieces because the surface of the underlying cork is aomewhat undulating Bearing in mind that Loose Ends is intended to sit on a shelf near eye level and that one of its purposes is to give me somewhere to photograph stock, I'm hoping that the nature of the track will only be apparent when viewed from above. It should be quite possible to photograph my Edwardian and later stock from a lower angle without it being apparent that they are sitting on track that should have been lifted at least 10-12 years earlier. If not, then we'll just have to invent a fiction that the broad gauge survived a little longer in this alternative universe There will be very little pointwork and all of it will be on modules that could be removed from the layout, leaving a simple traverser at each end. Standard gauge EM stock should therefore run happily on the P4 gauge rails as they will not have any flangeway gaps to deal with. By the way, I'm surprised that no one has yet managed to identify the prototype for the bridge cattle creep on the embankment section. My wife (who knows her architecture) recognised it straight away!

Introduction I first created this blog back in early November but only now am beginning to populate it with information about the development of my layouts. Such is the rate of development of this side of my modelling activities Now, I say layouts, but this is really just an account of work in progress that I hope will one day lead to two three, perhaps three four*, working layouts. * update 8th Feb 2010: Despite appearances, this is not intended to become a new version of the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition sketch. Details of the new layout, provisionally called 'Nowhere', have been added at the end of this entry. This is not the previously hinted at third (but now fourth) layout. That idea still bounces around in my mind and will hopefully one day appear in the form of a small P4 layout based somewhat to the south of Camerton and featuring a different railway company. Camerton The first is Camerton or, at least, a small GWR branch line layout loosely based on the station of that name on the Cam Valley line between Hallatrow and Limpley Stoke in North Somerset. I started planning and building this back in 2007 when I returned to modelling after a layoff of around 25 years. Since then, it has been a case of ten steps forward and nine backwards. Several different track plans have been prepared, mostly using Templot, and some of the track has been layed, only to be ripped up when I started to have problems such as the fit of the boards in the room or the operational potential of the plan. So, at the moment, only part of the layout is operational and then, only just. Camerton is being build in 4mm EM gauge. When I returned to modelling, I had a handful of wagons, Ratio 4-wheel coaches, a converted Hornby/Wrenn loco and a miserable failure of a K's GWR 14XX kit. All of these were equipped with EM wheels so, naturally, I felt committed to the gauge and resumed my modelling efforts to these standards. Although I had a growing desire to dabble with P4, at that stage I suffered from the widespread belief that P4 was difficult. As a result, most of my stock building since 2007 has been to EM standards and the increasing investment in this gauge has limited my forays into P4. Rather than make more mistakes with Camerton's development, I have recently decided not to lay any more track until I have a plan that I am really satisfied with. I think I know what this will look like, but it may be some time (read as 'endless fun and amusement with Templot') before it is finalised. I'm even reconciled to the idea that I might start again on wider baseboards. Loose Ends With Camerton on hold, I've really needed to have something much simpler on which to play trains and do other things. This has led to starting a new layout which, as of a few hours ago, has been named 'Loose Ends'. The name arose in an PM conversation with Mikkel which touched on the number of loose ends in our modelling activities. At this point, Mikkel suggested that it would be a great name for a layout and, although it has probably been used before, I immediately pounced upon the idea for my previously unnamed project. So, thanks to Mikkel for the inspiration The thinking behind Loose Ends comes from many influences gained from RMweb. The requirements were loosely as follows: I wanted to do something in P4 Somewhere to run trains up and down for testing and maybe do a bit of shunting. Somewhere that stock could be photographed -- inspired, amongst others, by Chris Nevard's little embankment on which he has shown a number of items of stock. Something compact that would sit on a shelf and could be moved around easily -- the outbreak of boxfile layouts, especially those of Stubby47, Mason and a few others has provided ideas of what can be achieved using this simple starting point. Unlike most boxfile setups where the layout is contained within the boxes, this should be mult-level with the track level either in or on a box as appropriate. Again the inspiration here comes from a prototypical layout idea on the old RMweb (apologies to the author, the name escapes me for the moment) involving an embankment, swingbridge and yards. If I remember correctly, it was located in Lincolnshire or North Norfolk. It would also be useful to be able to try out a range of different landscape and building modelling techniques in a limited area without fear of doing too much damage. Thus was born the idea of a modular boxfile system where multiple boxfiles could be combined in different ways, and where each one, or maybe a group of two or three, could be treated as a small diorama in themselves. With this arrangement, the name Loose Ends becomes even more appropriate as the units can be re-arranged so that almost any one can form the ends. The photo below shows the current rather bare landscape of Camerton and, on the shelf above, the first three units of Loose Ends. These consist of a short embankment section, a girder bridge crossing a river, and what will become the beginnings of a station yard. Subsequent entries in this blog will focus on one or other of these layouts though, initially, I'll be concentrating on Loose Ends. Update 8th Feb 2010: the third layout, 'Nowhere' There has been a little progress on Camerton and rather more on Loose Ends since the above was written though, in neither case is there sufficient to make new blog entries worthwhile. However, a few weeks ago, I realised that most of my modelling effort goes into producing locomotives and rolling stock so producing layouts is always going to be a slow business. Now I enjoy what I do immensely but every so often I get the urge just to play trains. Camerton won't satisfy this for a long time and Loose Ends isn't really intended to offer operational variety. It slowly dawned on me that the solution was to build something quickly using mostly RTR and RTP components. So that I could stick with this RTR approach, and not be tempted to start kit building or swapping stock between them, it also had to be located somewhere completely different from any of my existing or projected layouts. Thus was the genesis of Nowhere. Imagine, if you will, a minor corruption of currently acknowledged geography in which the countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy all meet at one place somewhere in the Alps. This place is a small independent republic which, because the population are bilingual, is variously known as Nirgendwo or Nessun Luogo. Most English speakers, of course, cannot handle these strange local names and so always refer to it as just Nowhere. Situated in the upper part of a single, glacially formed, valley it is easily accessible by rail from each of the surrounding countries and thrives on tourism and a small mining industry. Rail connections with the outside world are important for export of material from the mine, whilst the importance of tourism to the local economy has led to development of the heritage aspects of both its standard and narrow gauge lines. Indeed, stock from heritage lines in adjacent countries are frequent visitors throughout the year. As intended, development of the Nowhere layout is progressing rapidly and a first report will appear soon on this blog...