wiggoforgold

Hi Its been a while since I posted an update. I've been working on the layout, but summer is here and outdoor activities have been taking precedence over posting updates of late. Anyway, with Diddington currently in sections, I've been taking the opportunity to add some more scenic items and refurbish some of the existing work.. I discovered the Scalescenes row of cottages the other day, and thought this would be ideal for the row of cottages I had been intending to make to go behind the boathouse, where I'd left a suitable hole to plant it in. Here are some pictures of work so far. I've ordered some etched window frames from Brassmasters for the cottages, and when these are installed I'll post some more pictures. Pete - a belated thanks for the heads up re the casters. I was thinking along similar lines. I've got a friend who builds large mixing desks and the like and I'm going to pick his brains on the subject.

St Ives (Cambs) station, completely flattened and replaced by the terminal for the awful guided bus way. A piece of my formative years torn away. I went back a couple of years ago and was going to cycle up the cycle path to Cambridge, but it was so depressing I went somewhere else.

The first trolley is more or less finished, save for painting, which can wait for the present.. I also need to decide on how the boards are going to be secured to the trolley for traveling. I'm not 100% happy with the casters, I might try some larger ones, or ones that turn more easily (The ones I'm currently using are 30mm ones from B&Q) I'll shortly start work on the second trolley, which will be a bit smaller, and the boards it has to carry are a more regular shape, which will make construction easier. Here's a pic of the finished one

Work on Disddington's new legs is proceding apace. The idea is to construct two "tea trolley" atrrangements. The larger one, which is now nearly complete, will carry the station platform and station throat boards (the largest and most irregularly shaped respectively), the power supplies and the control panel. The smaller one will carry the station approach/loco yard, and scenic boards. When erected, the station platform and station approach boards will sit on top of their respective trollies. The station throat board will fit between the two and the scenic board will piggy back off the station approach board, with its own set of legs at one end. Here's some pictures of the current state of play. The next jobs are to reinforce the fixing points where the legs bolt to the bottom "shelf", and install the casters. Mean while work is going on to lighten the boasrds, and tidy up the electrical installation.

The screen wash doesn't seem to affect the paint colour. The Carplan one may have a detergent in it as it foams a bit when it's sprayed neat to clear the airbrush. It doesn't affect the paint.

I part alcohol to one part water. Screen wash isn't diluted at all.

I think Tamiya thinners is isopropyl alcohol, but I stand to be corrected on that. It is expensive though, and I made my own by buying a bottle of isopropyl alcohol from a chemist and mixing it 50/50 with distilled water, which was a lot cheaper. However, I've since found it difficult to buy the isopropyl alcohol and have used car windscreen washer fluid. Not all brands are the same though. car Plan and Halfords definitely work, but I'm not sure about any others.

I think Tamiya thinners is isopropyl alcohol, but I stand to be corrected on that. It is expensive though, and I made my own by buying a bottle of isopropyl alcohol from a chemist and mixing it 50/50 with distilled water, which was a lot cheaper. However, I've since found it difficult to buy the isopropyl alcohol and have used car windscreen washer fluid. Not all brands are the same though. car Plan and Halfords definitely work, but I'm not sure about any others.

I think Tamiya thinners is isopropyl alcohol, but I stand to be corrected on that. It is expensive though, and I made my own by buying a bottle of isopropyl alcohol from a chemist and mixing it 50/50 with distilled water, which was a lot cheaper. However, I've since found it difficult to buy the isopropyl alcohol and have used car windscreen washer fluid. Not all brands are the same though. car Plan and Halfords definitely work, but I'm not sure about any others.

Hi Marcus, It is of course your railway. However, 46444 and I will be meeting up in a couple of weeks and as self-appointed guardians of the Kettering-Cambridge line will discuss whether we feel you are taking unacceptable liberties with the prototype. Did I mention I love the chimney on the station building btw? Alex

I enjoyed that trip to the RM Web members day, and came away with a few ideas. Diddington was never conceived as a layout for exhibiting, but rather as a home layout that could be dismantled to move it. Added to this, the technology used in the construction of the legs is a good twenty years old, and things have moved on a bit since I made them. The new idea for transportation and display is to replace the legs for two of the boards with asort of giant "tea trolley" arrangement.. Two sections of the laypout will fit in each trolly for transportation. When the layout is erected, a board will sit on the top of each trolley. The wole thing is on casters for ease of movement. The boards aren't very heavy, but I'm currently looking at ways to take more weight out of them without losing any strenght. The idea is that two people will be easily able to lift a trolley containing two boards into a van fro transportation. I've started work on the larger of the two trollies. Heres some pictures of the work done so far. Work has been a bit slow of late as I've been riding a bicycle up msome mountains, but that little avenue of pleasure is over for the time being, so it will be full steam ahead with consrtuction now.

Could you paint the backs of the wheels with electro conductive silver paint such as is used for heated windows in cars?

It's possible ( just) to walk across on the Tamar side at low water. You will still get your feet wet as even at dead low water there is a small stream. Don't forget that in the period you are modelling there was a walkway on the West side of the viaduct to allow people to walk across without going round Coombe creek. It was removed about 1970 I think.

A new theme! I reckon it's only a matter of time before you do a Settle & Carlisle model. If its going to be this good, I can't wait.

A new theme! I reckon it's only a matter of time before you do a Settle & Carlisle model. If its going to be this good, I can't wait.

A new theme! I reckon it's only a matter of time before you do a Settle & Carlisle model. If its going to be this good, I can't wait.

Good to see you back. I was wondering how this was coming along. You're getting the atmosphere of the place I think. I particularly like the chimney stack on the main part of the building. Interesting to see the Wills point rodding in action. I'm considering getting a couple of packs to address the invisible point rodding on my layout.

Now why didn't I think of writing the identity of the wires on the underside of the layout? Off to buy a marker pen.

"Marriage" of Diddington and Juniper Hill is going well. Mark and I have shared ideas over the years, so there was already a bit of Juniper Hill in Diddington, and a bit of Diddington in Juniper Hill. Some of Juniper Hill's stock has visited Diddington in the past, so it knows where it is. The main differences in the layouts is the point work, which on Diddington is PCB and on Juniper Hill is Peco code 75. Both layouts make use of Bachmann/Hornby mechs so no running problems. The other difference is couplings. Diddington uses DG couplings, and Juniper Hill uses the Hornby/Bachmann tension locks, so no coupling compatibility. Trains between the two will make use of stock from their parent layouts, except for services originating beyond Diddington, which will use Diddington stock.