wiggoforgold

Hi Mark I used the GW 9' bogies from an Airfix/GMR (now Hornby) outside framed Siphon G on mine. They certainly look the part and were an easy replacement. I'll be watching yours with interest to see if I can pick up any tips for finishing mine.

In Gordon Gravett's "Modelling Grassland" he makes ripples using Tamiya clear acrylic lacquer. I haven't tried it myself yet but plan to give it ago. I don't think the surface of the water in Coombe Crrek is ever completely smooth.

Thanks Chris, but can you clarify. Does 68225 have the cow catchers as per the photograph?

I've just seen this. I want one. Where do I sign up? Of course it's got something to pull. Train of fruit vans. Much more typical.

Thanks Colin. Ther's a bit more about how I did the water earlier in this thread and in my blog. It"s essentially lots of coats of varnish over a painted base, and can be periodically refurbished. It was originally laid down about 20 years ago. I've got an idea for doing ripples, so there might be a bit of experimentation later this year with the river on the"Middle Fen" section.

As a change from the usual Kettering-Cambridge trains at Diddington, here's something with an M&GN flavour for a change. The Ivatt 4mt is Bachmann, weathered with weathering powders and was my first attempt on a Bachmann model. The Gresley brake is from Ian Kirk, with MJT bogies. The bridge is scratchbuilt from my own plans, and plans for the pillbox were in an issue of Airfix magazine in about 1972. A K1 leaves Diddington on a local freight, while a J15 waits in the head shunt. Jonty Chambers can be seen watching the trains from by the crossing keeper's hut. The K1 was converted from a Replica B1, the J15 is Hornby. Finally, coming forward 10 years or so, heres a Brush type 2 crossing the bridge at Diddington with a train of mark 1's which is rather how I remember them. There's various refurbishment works going on down by the river at the moment, and details of what I've done will follow soon. There are currently various items on the work bench awaiting placement.

With all the photo editing going on the other evening, I forgot to post this one. The erstwhile Jonty Chambers went looking for J15s, and set himself up on the embankment by the bridge. He had to park his car by the boathouse, and while it was there, I took a quick photo.

Thanks Stewart. I've been offered an Airfix body, which is ideal, and I'd graft it on to a Hornby chassis, like with D5579 in my blog. I'm looking to source a Hornby chassis - one of the ones with chassis rot would do I think, as I don't need the bits that are falling off.

Hi Neil. Thank you for the offer. I shall take you up on that. Imminent vegetation activities are the production of waterside plants - reeds bulrushes and lilies for the river. Then there's some work behind the station, but when the new extension sees the light of day there will have to be a grassing fest....

65461 will be welcome. A second j15 would be nice, but I am rather hankering after a couple more Brush type 2s, green with head codes and train heating boilers, one clean and one dirty

Right ho. Here's the J15 on a local freight leaving Diddington with some wagons from the coal yard and a couple of vans from the mill.

I’ve been thinking for a while that the river at Diddington was in need of some refurbishment. Over the years that surface had acquired some scratches, where tools had been put down, and cats had walked on it. At some point (I don’t know when) a splash of bauxite coloured paint had appeared. I’ve described the method of making the river before in this thread, and in my blog. Essentially, it’s just multiple coats of varnish over painted ply. I think it last received some varnish about 4 years ago, before it’s appearance at the RM web members day in 2013. It was originally built about 20 years ago. The surface can be restored by further coats of varnish, and I am taking pictures of the work as I go along. The first step was to remove the adjacent buildings, and removable items on the scenery. This meant removal of the boat house, which fits in a hole in the scenery, like most of the buildings on Diddington. This revealed the construction of the scenery surrounding the boat house, and following picture shows this. The foundation of the scenery is a piece of 4mm ply, which also forms the support for the river bed. The river bed itself is more 4mm ply, cut to form the front part of the slot for the boat house, including the water in the punt store at the end of the boat house. The other edges of the hold are formed from pieces of card, cut to make profiles for the land form. They are stuck in place using a hot glue gun. Behind the boat house is a row of cottages, built from a couple of Scalescenes kits. These need some additional work, which will be described in this thread later. Once the area was cleared, I rubbed down the surface of the water using wet and dry paper, to remove any marks, and smooth out imperfections. I found that over the years the varnish layer has started to lift from the base in the area of the boathouse front. Iran dilute PVA into the gap, and left it over night with a sheet of glass and a weight on it to stick it back in place. Once rubbed down, the surface was restored by more coats of varnish. I have found Hempel (formerly Blake’s) yacht varnish to be the best. It requires multiple coats, the more the better. I dilute the varnish about 50-50 with white spirit for the first coats, and reduce the amount of white spirit as I go on. Rather than being brushed on, it is wiped on with a folded kitchen towel which is cheaper than a varnish brush, and doesn’t need cleaning. The next stage is to restore and upgrade the vegetation along the river bank, and then I am going to add a few indications of animal and human activity.

A recent project on Diddington has been some refurbishment of Diddington Mill, The basic structure is or card, with Exactoscale brickwork. It was build by Dave Measey, who made the buildings for Lakebank, described in MRJ last year. I've added some bits and pieces over the year. The most recent change, and the subject of the refurbishment, is the chimney. The old chimney was a bit short, in that the top of the chimney was lower than the top floor windows, which meant that smoke from the chimney would be blown in the upper story windows - not the object of a chimney stack I felt! So it needed a taller chiney, and the recent Scalescenes kit prodded me into repalcing it. The new chiney is the Scalescenes chimney, fitted to the base of the old chimney. Its taller and slimmer, and has the bonus of adding some vertical interest to the layout. I'm in the process of adding new down pipes from brass wire, to replace the original ones from Plastic rod, which have not withstood handling over the years. Years ago I made a dummy wagon turntable for the mill siding. I rather like the 3D printed ones I've seen, and that might be something for the future. First here is an overall shot of the Mill. Those familiar with the area may recognize the Mills at St Ives and Godmanchester. It's not really an accurate model of either, but distills the features of both into a single model. Here is the boiler house and chimney base. The roof of the boiller house, unlike the other roofs which are slate, is made from Wills corrugated sheets. Next the loading platform. This was made from off cuts of Wills sheets, and the crates are from the wagon loads sprue. The mill makes woollen goods, so here is a picture of D2201 (an 04 tram) shunting vans in to the loading bay.

For me, this is the modelling close season - the time when other activities take over for the summer months. The fact that summer is currently a bit of a hit and miss affair doesn't necessarily mean more time for modelling; rather it makes me even more desperate to get out when I can. Anyway, there have been some modelling activities going on, so I've taken a few photographs this morning. I hope they are a bit better than recent effort of mine, I've paid a bit more attention to camera settings. First up is a picture of a class 24. It was the first diesel on Diddington, and the first I had owned for a number of years, so I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this model. The body isn't quite right I know, and I've looked with interest at the cut and shut ones done by grafting Hornby ends on to the Bachman body shell, but I haven't plucked up the courage to have a go myself yet. Second are a couple of pics of the class 105 DMU, class 31 and 08 in Diddington Station. Mine is a 1960's green one, so I think that makes it a Sulzer type 2, rather than a class 24. Second are a couple of pics of the class 105 DMU, class 31 and 08 in Diddington Station. The DMU and 08 are Bachmann, the class 31 is an Airfix body on a Hornby chassis. The weathering on the class 31 isn't OTT, it's done from a photograph, albeit probably of the experimental livery in a state of final deterioration, before March cracked and repainted it Green. The water crane by the loco release is to set the period of the layout. It's set in the mid 1960s. The line has been dieselised, but a lot of the infrastructure of the steam railway has remained, and will do so until the line is closed in the early 1970's. The water crane is a Mikes Models cast one. I know it's a Midland version, but I can't get a GE one, and I had the Midland one to hand. Finally, a picture of the excursion train departing from Diddington, and meeting an EE type 3 arriving with a parcels train. The construction of both the class 31 and the class 37 are described in more detail in my blog. The class 37 needs the cab front widows redoing. I've got the parts, but haven't got round to fitting them yet. Maybe this winter will see a class 37 refurbishing session. That's all for now. A bit more on my recent modelling activities will follow later.

I like it too, but you are right Alan, the last few pictures have been a bit dark. I tried to lighten them up this morning before I posted. My poor photograpy I'm afraid - I need to work on the camera settings a bit more.

Thanks Rob. Norman Lockhart's mission sounds like some of my cycling trips, particularly the bit about seeking out new cafes.

It was Jonty's birthday today, 19 March 1964, so he decided to forsake his usual Juniper Hill haunts, and go down to Diddington to look at the trains. he was rewarded with a hive of activity An excursion hauled by March based golden ochre D5579 was just arriving, while the yard was being shunted by a 350 hp diesel shunter (08 for the younger generation), and the DMU for the regular passenger service was relegated to the bay. When Jonty had finished, I though it might be interesting to take a few pictures around Diddington with out any trains in them. First up is a picture of Diddington taken from above Cow Lane Cossing, showing the crossing hut (Oakington), the stables (Ely) and part of the turntable pit (inspired by childhood memories of playing in the old one at Huntingdon East) The buildings are from card, with Scalescenes brick paper. Construction of them was described in the card modelling forum a while back. Next is a view of the beginning of Church Walk, which is a foot path which runs alongside the river to the (off scene) church. The boathouse is scratchbuilt, being a model of the one that stood at Hemingford Grey and which was demolished in the mid 1970's. There's a cottage on the site now. The row of cottages opposite are from Scalescenes kits, which were ideal for the site. Again, all the buildings are card, except for part of the pantile roof on the boathouse, which is from Wills sheets. That's all for now. I'm currently working on the legs for the extension, and refurbishing the Mill.

I started writing this piece a few weeks ago, while suffering from the cold/cough that has been circulating these parts. Bored and listless, I fiddled with the broadband, and lost my internet connection. Hence no posts for a while. I’m sorted now. Here is a series of pictures of a typical pick up freight from the 1950’s entering Diddington station. In the first picture the train is seen approaching Diddington over the wooden bridge over the river Ouse. The train is then seen entering the goods arrival road at Diddington station, before commencing shunting operations to dispose of the train. The J 15 is from Hornby, and the wagons come from various sources. I think these days wagons give the greatest scope for modelling, and I get great satisfaction seeing what can be made from existing parts, rather than using the latest state of the art productions – some of which exert a strong temptation, and appear at Diddington from time to time. I like to think that they fit in well and compliment my own efforts. The different wagons in the train are indicative of this approach. The conflat B with container is an old Airfix model, the container having been completely repainted, and the wagon having had additional detailing to the underframe in the form of a new vacuum cylinder (a Kenline casting I think) and new tie bars from brass strip. The LNER steel open started out as an Ian Kirk model. It’s got a Ratio underframe, and has been backdated by the replacement of the steel doors with wooden ones. The cable drum load is from the set of cable drums, packing cases etc that has been produced by various manufacturers over the years. It was Knightwing when I got mine. The 5 plank open is an old Airfix one. I was particularly pleased with this one, as it illustrates my approach to things. The basic Airfix wagon (in ICI livery) was obtained in a damaged state for 50p from a trade stand at a show. One of the sides was damaged, and it had been fitted with a gravel load on a cardboard base. It was stripped down, and the moulded brake rigging was removed and replaced with cast parts. The buffers, one of which was broken, were also replaced. Brake safety loops were added from bent staples. The damaged side was disguised by the addition of the wagon sheet, which came from the Smith’s printed sheet. I distress these before installation, by screwing them into a ball and making them wet, before unfolding them. Once dry, they are fitted to the wagon and dry brushed with grey or dark earth to bring out the texture. Lengths of cotton, painted dark earth, are glued to the corners and in the centre of the sides as tie ropes. The NE open with timber load is an old 3H model, and the BR 20 ton brake van is from Airfix. I think this is one of the best wagon models around. The moulds must be 50 years old, and it has really never been bettered. The roof is a bit thick, and the chimney and ventilators are the wrong way round. I believe the ducket height may be slightly wrong, but not enough to make a change essential, and plenty of people (including me) leave it as is.

This reminds me so much of Ken Payne's Castle Coombe and Tyling. Great looking layout.

I started sketching out my plan for the extension today, and the first draft is attached. The aim of the extension is threefold - To give a better arrangement for the storage/fiddle sidings - To give a longer scenic run - To provide an additional source of traffic in the from of a line side industry. Extension plan 1.1.17#2.pdf

As predicted, roving photographer Jonty Chambers has been busy at Diddington. He drove over from Juniper Hill. Alighting from his car, the first thing he saw was a class 15 drifting down the yard to pick up wagons in the van road. The class 15 is a Heljan model, lightly weathered, but otherwise out of the box Further down the line he came across a Sulzer type 2 (class 24) waiting in the shed road. This is a Bachmann model, weathered and with new couplings, but otherwise as out of the box. I have read a number of articles which refer to the shortcomings of the ends, and describing a cut and shut operation to fit Hornby ends to the Bachman body. The results look very effective, but I haven't been tempted to try it on mine yet. Waiting by the Signal Box, Jonty was able to capture the arrival of an EE type 3 (class37) with a parcels train. The class 37 is a heavily modified Lima body, on a Bachmann chassis. The first van is a modified Lima Siphon G, running on GWR bogies from a Mainline (formerly Airfix) Siphon G. The second van in the train is the Airfix Siphon G, detailed and fitted with MJT bogies. after the parcels train has passed, a Brush type 2 (Class 31) appeared with a train of vans for the Mill at Diddington. This model is a Hornby one, I've also go another one in Golden Ochre livery, made from an Airfix body on a Hornby chassis, the ends on the Airfix body being better than those on the Hornby body I think. Walking back to his car, Jonty found a 350hp diesel shunter (class 08) on the loco release. This model is a heavily weathered Bachmann model, which was described in more detail earlier in this thread.