wiggoforgold

I did a few photographs of Diddington last night. First up, here's some pictures of some of Juniper Hill's stock in Diddington yard. Juniper Hill is living with me at the moment, and is in service as the terminus of the agricultural tramway from Diddington. There's a bit of a geographical jump from the fens to the East Midlands, but we are ignoring that. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of "Cranford" and some wagons in Diddington yard, about to travel down the tramway to Juniper Hill. "Twywell" also came out for a run (she's going well Mark), and here's a picture in Diddington yard. A little while ago we discussed doing some shed scenes with the J15, I took some last night, but this rather turned in to a portrait session for the J15. I brought a Gibson kit for this years ago, and had every intention of making it. Then Hornby brought out thiers. Mine has been weathered, had real coal in the tender, and a crew fitted. It still needs couplings. First picture is with a weathered Bachmann Ivatt in Diddington headshunt. Typical Kettering-Cambridge motive power. Finally, a couple of portraits of the J15 on shed.

It is and it isn,t Chris. The mill is a hybrid of the ones at Huntingon/ Godmanchester and St Ives. The access/loading arrangements are from Huntingdon/Godmanchester. The picture reminds me I need to refit the canopy over the loading bay!

Mark (46444) came round on Friday and we had a chat about Diddington's latest aquisitions, and about the proposed extension. The design is taking shape in my minds eye, and I'll try and get something on paper this week. I've done a bit more measuring of the site and can get about a 3'10" radius curve in past the old fiddle yard area. It's gong to pass through open country, although one of the new Ratio Nissen huts might be included for a bit of interest. PCB based points for the new fiddle yard have been salvaged from an old layout, so there wont be much to build in the way of point work. In the meantime, some of 46444's locos paid a visit, and here are some pics of his Heljan W&M rail bus at Diddington.

I understand that MRJ 250 includes a bit about "Lakebank", a 3mm 14.2mm gauge created by Iain Rice and a number of others. I was one of those others, "Diddington" is in many ways the heir to "Lakebank". As I haven't yet had a chance to see the article, I.m going to do something I should never do, and comment on an article I haven't read. I thought there may be some interest in the connections between "Diddington" and "Lakebank". Construction of "Diddington" started while "Lakebank" was under construction, and many of the ideas and techniques tried on that layout, were used on "Diddington". One example is the high back scene at the rear of the layout, made from thin MDF. Diddington's back scene is a direct crib. They both use similar methods of baseboard construction, because I learned the techniques while working on "Lakebank". Both have an Iain Rice track plan - "Diddington" is based on "Downingham" in issue No1 of the now defunct "Modelling Railways Illustrated". There are other connections - the large hotel at the front of "Lakebank" was the work of Dave Measey, who also built the mill for "Diddington". The scenery construction methods I used on "Diddington" were first used on "Lakebank". I've developed the ideas since, but "Lakebank" gave me the confidence to try the ideas on a larger scale. The thing that wasn't around back then, was static grass, which would have greatly enhanced the scenic treatment of "Lakebank". I think I can safely say that without the experience of working on "Lakebank" "Diddington " wouldn't exist in the from it does today.

I can just about get a 4' radius curve on the curved section. I could make it tighter at the ends, and ease it in the middle, or vice versa. .I'm not sure which would look better. What ever I do, the intention would be to make a "less is more" approach to the scenery, to keep the open nature of the layout.

Its been a while since I updated this thread, I,ve been off cycling round the countryside, but is getting a bit cold for that now. I have been doing some modelling though,and some pictures of the latest bits will follow when the camera is up and running, and i get round to taking some photographs. The next job (not a photogenic one) is to replace some of the wiring at the base board connectors to the Middle Fen section, where there has been a breakdown of electrical continuity. I'm hoping to resume normal service there by the end of the week. I'm planning an extension to Diddington. The storage section would be replaced by a curved scenic section with the line coming on scene under a bridge. passing along an embankment before exiting the scene under another bridge. I want to keep the scenery fairly simple, with little more than a single line of track passing along a grassy embankment. There may be a few bushes, but not a lot in the way of trees, as I want to keep the open nature of the existing scenery. I may put yet another river bridge at one end. I like river bridges, and i can justify several on the basis that there is a myriad of backwaters running in to the main river. This time I'm thinking of a plate girder, and where the line exits the scenic section for the storage sidings, I'm thinking of running it across a shortened Dapol box girder bridge, so the bridge itself acts as a scenic break. The line will then enter a fan of storage sidings. In front of the storage sidings there will be a a small yard along the lines of Welney depot in this month's Railway Modeller, possibly serving a mill (an excuse to run some grain hoppers) or a fen drainage engine like the one at Stretham. I've sketched out some ideas which I'll put on here a couple of days.

Good morning all! Its been a while since I posted her - its the time of year when other activities start to intervene. There has been some modelling going on though, and I've got some ideas for developments, more of which will follow in a later post. In the meantime I've been experimenting with my layout photography to try and improve the depth of field in some atf the pictures. Here, a recent effort, which shows the 350hp shunter (08 to the younger generation) shunting some wagons in Diddington yard. It gives an overall clear view of the station which I have been trying to set up for a while.

This looks interesting. Skarloey seems to have a lot of potential

This looks interesting. Skarloey seems to have a lot of potential

...or an industrialised Hornby Terrier.....?

Food for thought - have a look at this: What about 4mm ironstone, or 7mm NG on the East Midlands Ironstone lines?

I've been having some problems uploading from the camera, so I haven't been able to post any pictures for a few days. While experimenting with camera settings, I took a few pictures of the K1 shunting, inspired by a picture of a K1 shunting at Chatteris in EH Sawford's book "The last days of Steam in Cambridgeshire". The K1 model is from a Replica B1 body on a Bachmann K3 chassis. The brake van started out as a Parkside kit, and has scratchbuilt sides with duckets from a Dapol BR 16t brake van kit.

Happy Christmas everyone. I trust Santa will be good to you all. The picture's an old one, but worth another outing I hope. Alex

It didn't have the bloom problem when it was newer. Personally, I found it a bit thick and difficult to use, so I would be disinclined to use it again. I think perhaps the problem for me is that I find the spraycan difficult to control and would prefer the airbrush.

I've been following this thread since it started, and thought I should add a comment. Rob asked what we thought was Hornby's best ever model, and many of their post 2001 offerings have been praised, either for their fidelity to prototype or their running quality. Over this period I have liked the Rebuilt MN (not the best by present standards, but the one that really set the ball rolling); the Gresley pacifics and the 08. However, I suggest that we should go back much further to find Hornby's best ever model. It was nowhere near present standards of accuracy or running quality, but it showed what might be possible in an era of steamroller wheels and X04 motors. when Hornby Dublo was held up as the running standard to aspire to. I'm thinking of the original "Evening Star" model, with its pancake tender drive motor, built to show that the haulage and running qualities of the Fleishmann BR52 were possible in a British outline model. It showed the then Triang-Hornby what might be possible, and, although there were retrograde steps and times when they rested on their laurels, the breed started to improve over the years. The standards of today seemed unobtainable back then.

Cambridge allocated J15's regularly used on the Cambridge-Kettering Line included: 65390; 65451; 65474; 65475. 65474 and 65451 definitely had the Westinghouse brake. I'm not sure about the other two. I suspect 65390 did. Alex

Thanks for posting the picture. It gives another take on the scenes a Diddington. I really like seeing other people's interpretation of the layout, such as the different pictures taken at last year's RM web members day. It's always exciting to see what others see in the layout, sometime things I miss through familiarity. It's always nice to see a small horde of the same class too. Next time we must do some J15 pics.

Sometimes, the construction of models doesn’t go quite as planned. In a recent experience, at every stage in the construction of a model building for Diddington, something felt “not right”. I tweaked it to try and improve things, hoping it would be all right in the end, but as construction progressed things clearly weren’t to be, and I scrapped it. I’m currently thinking about starting it again. Sometimes however, the accident can be turned to advantage, and as a result I discovered some techniques that I can hopefully use again in the future. I’d like to share a couple of my favourites. I made a “Terrier” for Diddington, by modifying the old Hornby model. I was inspired by some pictures of the abandoned Terriers on the Edge Hill railway, and I thought an apple green industrial loco with red wheels would make a change from my usual BR black. When I came to paint the model, the body was sprayed with grey aerosol primer. Once this dried, the body colour was sprayed with a Humbrol Acrylic LNER green. This is where things didn’t go quite as intended. Because I hadn’t used the Humbrol acrylic before, and because I was concerned about it drying too quickly and clogging the airbrush, I over thinned it. This meant that when it was sprayed on the coverage was poor. To avoid too much of a pain build up, and runs, I stopped. When the over thinned coat dried, I was left with a faded top coat with the undercoat showing through, which gave a fine impression of faded, weathered paint. Exactly what I wanted, though not what I expected. I left well alone, and carried on with the weathering. Recently I made a 350hp diesel shunter (08 to the younger generation), from an old Bachmann model. The finished article was to be heavily weathered, so to get the effect of grime in the gaps between the panels, I started by spraying the entire body with a mix of Humbrol Gunmetal, Matt Black and Dark Earth. Once dry, this was oversprayed with Railmatch BR Green and transfers applied. At this stage the model looked rather nice, and I was almost tempted to leave well alone and proceed no further, but I did, and this was when things started to go slightly wrong. To seal in the transfers I sprayed it with matt varnish from a spray can. I used a spray can of Vallejo matt varnish which I had to hand, but which in retrospect was a bit old. When it dried, it had a white powdery crust in places, which spoilt the overall finish. The effect was reduced by working over the model with a stiff brush, so I proceeded to the next stage of the weathering. This was to coat the body with a heavily thinned mix of Tamiya NATO black, Dark Gray and Matt Earth, much of which was immediately wiped off from the centre of the bodyside panels. When dry, this again reduced the white bloom, but not quite enough, and it was still in the centre of the panels where I didn’t want it. I put a bit of T-cut on a cotton bud, and used this to restore some shine to the centre of the panels, and remove some of the thinned Tamiya mix and the faulty matt varnish. The result was body panels that looked like they had been cleaned in the middle, with a grimy faded appearance to the edge of the panel which I wouldn’t have achieved if the varnishing hadn’t gone wrong in the first place. Overall, I’m very pleased with the way both these models have turned out, and present them as examples of how setbacks can sometimes be turned to advantage, and how they may provide an opportunity to discover new techniques.

46444 visited yesterday, so we took a few photographs of Diddington back in the 1950,s. First up a picture of a B17 on a passenger train preparing to leave Diddington. The formation is supposed to be typical of March/St Ives/Cambridge trains in the 1950’s. Moving into the yard gave the opportunity of another shot of the B17, this time from the rear. The locomotive, by 46444, is a detailed Hornby model, and more about it can be found in his blog. The horse box is from Parkside, and the Gresley coaches are from Ian Kirk. Diddington in the 1950’s was a bit of a haunt for Ivatt class 2s, often having a day off from duties on the Kettering – Cambridge line. Today, 46444 was shunting in Diddington yard, where she was briefly joined by another Ivatt. An unusually busy day! After the Ivatts had finished shunting, a glimpse of the future was afforded by the sight of a 350hp diesel shunter, pushing some wagons into place for onward travel on the agricultural tramway crossing the fens from Diddington. The trains having all departed gave an opportunity for an overall shot of Diddington yard. Although the space for the station model is relatively large, I’ve tried to keep the track plan simple, and the buildings small, to give an impression of space. I replaced the original brick goods shed with a couple of smaller sheds, a goods shed from Wills, and a Ratio provender store. The station building behind is a model of Thaxted, and the open bicycle shed stood at St Ives. The porters hut is typical GE, built from plans published in Railway Modeller in about 1968 or so. The grounded van body is from Ian Kirk.

The adventures of Jonty Chambers – Part 2 When Jonty left us yesterday, he was making his way back to his lodgings from Diddington, having decided to visit the station again the following day. He drove there, and parked his car by the crossing at Cow Lane. As he got out of his car he heard what he thought was a familiar sound, but not in a place he expected to find it. Pushing through the gap in the hedge he came face to face (or, more precisely, nose to coupling rod) with Juniper Hill’s J94 Cranford, which had just brought a freight along the tramway from Juniper Hill, and was now resting in the Diddington headshunt. Jonty got busy with his camera. This unexpected appearance of an old friend caused him to think about what other delights he might find in the area, and he resolved to make the line one of his regular haunts. “Cranford” is a J94, built by 46444 of this parish from the Hornby/Dapol model. More details of how it was done can be found in his blog. What will Jonty find next?

The Adventures of Jonty Chambers, Part 1 Jonty had a win on the pools last week. To celebrate, he decided to spend his winnings by having a few days away, photographing trains. He found a room in a pub near St Ives. Last night, he sampled a few pints of Greene King’s finest in the Axe and Compass, and next morning decided to take a trip to Diddington to see what was there. Walking up the lane he heard a sound unfamiliar to Diddington regulars. He pushed through a hole in the hedge by the headshunt, and found this. A photograph was called for. It appeared that March depot, in their quest to find appropriate motive power for the Diddington branch, were experimenting with a diesel shunter. From the external appearance of the locomotive, Jonty concluded that March had not rushed to provide one of their newest examples. Anyway, it appeared to work, and rumbled away quite happily while Jonty took a picture. The model: The model is a Bachman 08. It’s one of the first examples, which has the wrong combination of cab door, window and bodyside hinges. I started modifying it many years ago, and it sat on a shelf for many years while I was busy with other activities. I always liked Tim Shackleton’s 08 in the Model Railways Illustrated preview issue, and started to modify an old Hornby Dublo 08 to look like his. When the Bachmann model came out I studied the review in MRJ124, and made a few small modifications to my model. I replaced the lifting eyes on the roof, with etched eyes from the PC models screw coupling etch. I made up new, more substantial air cylinders under the front bufferbeam from brass tube, leaving a cut out in the base to give access to the front body fixing screws. I replaced the couplings with my usual etched couplings. Finally, I modified the handrails round the front steps. Most of the work was in the painting and finishing. Because I wanted to get the effect of engrained dirt in the bodyside panels, and because I wanted to portray a fairly grubby locomotive, I first sprayed it with an overall mix of Humbrol Gunmetal, matt black and dark earth, which was allowed to dry thoroughly. The body was then sprayed with Railmatch Green and transfers applied. It was then given a coat of matt varnish. When the varnish was dry, a very thin mix (lots of thinners) of Tamiya NATO black, dark grey and dark brown was painted over the body, particularly into the gaps between the bodyside panels. This was immediately wiped off the centre of the panels, when dry, the relatively clean panels gave the impression of a locomotive which had been ineffectually cleaned by wiping the middle of the panels with an oily rag. The effect was enhanced by working over the centre of the panels with T-cut on a cotton bud. More weathering was built up by spraying. Looking at pictures of the prototype, there appears to be a build up of oil and grime round the cooling grilles on the body sides. After spraying, a small amount of Tamiya semi-gloss black was dry brushed on the give the impression of fresh oil. The roof was oversprayed with various shades of brown/grey and black, building up the black round the engine exhaust. The chassis was painted separately. I toyed with the idea of removing the plastic frame for painting, but as this would have involved dismantling the brake rigging, I left well alone, and just masked off the motor and coupling rods. The frames were initially sprayed with the gunmetal/black/earth mix, before being overcoated with a black/grey/earth mix. Additional weathering was applied from weathering powder mixed with thinned matt varnish, and brushed on. The coupling rods were repainted with Tamiya red, let down with a little white, and then drybrushed with a gunmetal/black/earth mix. The crew came from the spares box. The driver was a civilianised driver from the Airfix RAF emergency set, and the shunter was a figure from their trackside workers set. Having photographed the shunter, Jonty returned to his lodgings, intent on returning the next day to see what else he would find.

Might it be the old Slaters one? That was body only as I recall so the under frame would have been sourced separately.

Were they gas lights at Buckden? I once saw a model where the platform lights came on one after another as the lamplighters walked down the platform.

I've got the plan I made of the Godmanchester bridge. PM me your address and I'll send a copy.

I like the Huntingdon East idea and am looking forward to seeing this develop. Various of the buildings on Diddington, including the bridge are from the section between Huntingdon East and Godmanchester, and the loco yard at Diddington is based on Huntingdon East. I'm still plotting a layout based on a section of St. Ives. Maybe your Huntingdon East will be the spur I need to get going.