SNCF stephen

Hi Pete, I wish I could tell you a bit about the history of the line but my knowledge of SNCF railways is still developing. One thing I can say is that MKD produce a kit that is of a station not too dissimilar to this one, ( https://www.ontracks.co.uk/index.php?page=product&prodID=100767&catID=214 ) I cannot make out the name on this picture and we left the box in France. I know you are not modelling it but I thought you might like to see that. Of general interest though is that in France there is a tendancy to leave the track in situ when a line has been effectively closed. This is of great use if you want to research the line for modelling purposes.

Very nice. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

During the past two weeks I have been mostly doing modelling activities that do not really show tangible results and as such I have not posted anything. However after a week of working away I thought it was worthy of a blog entry to give me a boost to keep going. The first thing that I shall mention is the fact that I have now painted the viaduct (several times in fact!). I was not happy with its plastic finish so I initially gave it a grey wash to see if that would make it look a bit better. Unfortunately this did not work so I painted the entire structure white to give me a better base colour to work with. From here I attempted a yellow wash to give it a light yellow finish. However the yellow I used was too deep and the wash too diluted. Finally yesterday I mixed some of the yellow with some white acrylic paint, diluted it down a little and gave it a quick once over. The results are quite pleasing: I will be adding a coat of white to give the cement joins a bit more texture. I am looking to weather the bridge and I have a few pictures to help me get the right look. What I now need to do is find the right colour. I was thinking of rail match sleeper grime but diluted so that it gives a weathered/dirty look to the bridge. I am not sure how best to apply it so I may be asking for help in the help forums again… The next thing was the painting of the sleepers on a length of flexitrack. I need to do another 2 foot or so worth of track for this project and I shall be glad when it is over. This initial colour will be toned down with darker shades to make it look like weathered timber. I could have sprayed it I suppose but I found the painting quite therapeutic and I also think the fact that certain parts of the track that are not painted help make it look a little better. Last but by no means least, I added the two ends to the base boards. One side was too long and I only noticed after it was fixed and moved back upstairs. I shall have a go at sanding this down before I get further with the project. Those are the physical pieces of work that I have done. However I have also been researching the Draisine track maintenance vehicle. I have really come to enjoy their looks and I have gathered a fair few pictures for reference from the internet. One issue that did bug me was that the smallest N Gauge chassis you can get is too tall and all of the ones that are the correct height are too long. However I did manage to find an ingenious solution on a French forum regarding a similar scratch build. I have now made some pretty accurate measurements of the lengths that are important to this build. It will be quite a tricky one but I also think very enjoyable, especially if I manage to incorporate all of the features I hope. More on this soon.

You can glue track down with PVA but it does make the reuse of it a lot more difficult as either your cardboard baseboard will come up when the track is removed or the track could get damaged (depends how strong the glue is as there are different strengths of PVA available). You might find that with cardboard the track could become unlevel at some point and this may have an effect on the running quality of the stock. I am trying to think of a good cheap alternative but unfortunately wood seems to be the best choice. Mind you a 4 foot by 2 foot sheet of MDF would only set you back about £7 from B & Q. With wood you could tack the track down which would allow you to reuse it in the future.

If you decide to not use a mat on the shelves then double sided sticky tape could be a better solution for holding the track down as it wont move as easily and could even provide a base for putting down some ballast. You could also consider using foam ballast as that would not need the glue to keep it in situ. Also double sided tape would allow you to stick your grass matt in position and keep it in one place. I used to use double sided tape a lot and on a shelving unit like this it might be worth checking whether it comes off with relative ease. I think that it might do considering the material but you would not want to wreck your shelf and have to fork out for another one. Good luck with this project, I look forward to seeing how it comes along.

Today I made some progress with the front and back sections of the baseboards. The back is bolted into place at the moment which will allow easier access to the electrics and for mounting the printed backscene when that is ready. I am starting to consider the fiddle yard/storage cassettes options now. I am currently thinking of having storage cassettes that are 2 feet in length. Is this enough? Anyway here are some pictures of todays work: I have started considering what rolling stock I might need so far the list is: X3900 Picasso railcar - Will be modified from the spare Del Prado railcar I have, it will need some work done to the body and a repaint! X73000 Bombardier Railcar - These form the mainstay of the passenger operations on the line currently. They are available from Mikadotrain and I believe Arnold is producing one shortly. TU65 Draisine - This will have to be scratchbuilt, I am looking at various chassis options at the moment. 66000 Locomotive - This will complement the one I already have, not certain on which livery to get at the moment? 68000 Locomotive - Mabar are producing this locomotive and it would provide more variety to the haulage of freight traffic on the line. I am also after a steam locomotive to replace the two Fleischmann ones that I currently have. They are just not reliable enough on Neuvic Entier to warrent them being kept in my fleet.

I collected the two viaduct kits that I ordered today. Upon opening the package I was surprised at how much smaller the Faller kit was to the Atlas one. Not only in height but also in terms of length. While it does offer more complicated features it is over 3 times the price of a similar sized Atlas kit. I was also disappointed that the promotional picture for the Faller Viaduct shows more than you get in the box and the description on the web sites selling these things is not very helpful (see the picture below:) Still the Atlas kit really came through for me. Not only is the plastic sturdier, it also looks more similar to the kinds of viaduct found in the Limousin region on this particular line. The kit was easier to build although the gaps in between the sections of viaduct are more prenounced than on the Faller kit. One major disadvantage of the Atlas kit is that Peco Flexi Track is too wide to fit in the gap provided for the track (note the track not fitting snug in the picture below:) This surprised me and it means that I shall be doing lots of sleeper trimming when it comes to track laying. Still The benefits of this particular viaduct far outweight this disadvantage. I have also marked out the position for the cutting of the front of the baseboard. This includes the approximate dimensions of the valley where the viaduct will carry the running line over: The weather is a bit unpredictable at the moment so I shall do the cutting tomorrow or Friday if I get the time. I am still not certain about the height of the backscene yet I am thinking 9 inches from the running line level, but 10 inches might be a little better. Thanks for reading. Stephen

Thanks Taigatrommel. I am thinking of sticking with Peco flexi track but I shall see how much track there is and what different bits there are before making a decision...

This did make me chuckle. However I cannot top the kraftsmanship of the joke...

After completing the work on the baseboards last night I got a few pieces of flexi track out and had a play around with the proposed layout. The original plan was to have the siding for the station on the viewing side of the running line. However upon closer inspection this would make the siding either very short or very long to get the desired effect. Therefore I decided to put the siding on the other side of the running line and infer that there is some sort of way of crossing the line off scene to get access to the goods shed. Here are some pictures of the approximate location of the track: I have also been experimenting (unfortunately not with test tubes and bunson burners!!!) with the kind of paint that would enable me to get a finish similar to this using Peco track: http://rfe.railclub.ru/pix/fr/diesel/dmu/X2800/white-blue/misc/2800_Morteau_1.jpg So far I am using 3 different acryillic paints as the base layer. These will the be covered by different thicknesses of railmatch sleeper grime to see which gives the most realistic finish. I think the beige colour is proving to be the best so far: I purchased 2 different kinds of viaduct last night and when they arrive I hope to examine which will best fit the valley I intend to build. I purchased one set from Faller and another from Atlas. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I am hoping that my viaduct will look like a smaller version of this: http://rfe.railclub.ru/pix/fr/diesel/dmu/X2800/white-blue/misc/SNCF_UM_X-2800_CZL_170703.jpg My future father in law has informed me that he got a rather good bargain at an autojumble of some N gauge track produced by Fleischmann (its the pre ballasted stuff). Does anyone have any views or experience they might be able to provide? I was going to use Peco flexi track for this layout but if the Fleischmann product is miles better then it might do me better in the long run. One thing I was using the flexi track for was the smooth flowing curves. Do Fleischmann do a similar product that is compatable with the pre ballasted stuff? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Stephen

I don't know what it is about when I go on holiday but I usually get an idea about building a layout and then I have a tendancy to actually follow through and build the thing! This time was no exception. Not only was I modelling in OO but I had some time to myself to sketch some ideas for a new module which could double as an extension to my current French layout (Neuvic Entier) or a stand alone exhibition layout. So yesterday I went to the DIY store and purchased the materials to start building the base boards and today I got to work. It went from this: To this: This was the most complex set of baseboards I have built so far and I have made a few mistakes and before I could finish making the screws tight my drills battery ran out so further work is necessary but I am quite pleased about it. The most annoying mistake I made was the inset for the valley is slightly higher on one side than the other. I had even made sure that this was taken into account in the design phase. However when I was building it I completely forgot! Still it is very minor and the bridge that will get put over the valley there should solve that problem. Anyway the track plan is simple with a small station on the right hand side of the layout with a single siding. From right to left the running line will go through the station, carry on skirting the edge of a forested mountain, then it will cross the valley on a bridge before skirting the edge of another mountain and running off scene to the left. I intend to have a go at making a cassette storage system for this layout and I have designed two removable 2 foot long cassette holders and the associated cassettes. The backscene will be photographs of the area stitched together using photoshop and I am bolting the board to the layout so that I can work on the structural elements until I get the backscene printed. I am hoping that this might take about a year to get to a decent standard to take out and about. I will have to see how this timeframe goes. Stephen

I have just returned from a very relaxing and very needed 2 week holiday in France. I had always said to my future father in law that I would help him build a layout and seeing as it was not possible for me to do much in the way of physical activity at the moment he suggested that I make a start on the layout. We had a few trips to the DIY store where we purchased the trestles and other bits needed to get some track down. We used some old doors which were joined together to form a decent size board for the layout. Over the boards I glued some green fibre board that was acting as a substitute for cork underlay. It has worked very well as an alternative and has a few benefits over cork in the colour (being a not too garish form of green reduces the need to paint it) and the ease of chopping it to size. The best benefit was the price. We got a huge pack for 15 Euro's which could do about 8 metres square. The same amount in cork would have been a fair amount more. A trip to the model shop in Limoges to get a few supplies and a plastic kit was purchased for the station building. Following a few different track designs we eventually decided two running loops with some sidings off the main exterior loop for storing trains and shunting. The interior loop will have to wait to get its storage sidings because the points that were in the box of track were not electrically isolated (what were Lima thinking???!!!). By the end of the holiday the kit of the station had been built but not completed (just needed work on the details!) and the loops were in a good enough state to run trains around. My future father in law had even managed to get the Trans Europe Express working again (I had been unsuccessful and thought it needed a new motor!!!, it now runs magnificantly!). Also while I was in France I hatched a plan to build another new layout. This would be a modular extentsion to my current one but also built in such a way so that it could be exhibited. I have had a fair few thoughts on this and I will post more once I have my sketches loaded into the computer.

I will be watching this one with interest. I have been mulling over getting a T gauge set for a while now but I have not been convinced by their sudden start/stop qualities. If they got that sorted I think an impressive layout could be done very well. Good luck with this project.

I was about to make a start on the fiddle yard extension to Nevic Entier when I noticed that I had enough materials to construct a reasonable sized shunting plank. This made me change my plans somewhat considerably. A new micro layout would give me somewhere to take pictures of stock and also allow me to finally use all those buses my dad purchased for me. So last night I used the scraps of wood I had left over to form a pretty crude baseboard and this morning I layed the track, created the frame for the hill, filled the frame with scrunched up paper, covered it with modrock, painted the baseboard grey, ballasted the track. This afternoon I painted the inside of the tunnel, fitted the top onto the hill, added the scatter, had a go at weathering the track with some acrylic paint and stuck down some Metcalf Coblestones and pavements. Its not looking too bad for less than 24 hours work! The 08 was my very first loco in N gauge. It must be well over 16 years old now! The carriaged in the above photo come from Lima and Minitrix. They are not the best but they are going to be weathered using a variety of techniques to hone my skills. Plus they are BR blue and will be made to look quite shabby which is the look I want. The basic premise of this little line is that it is on a short industrial spur that has since been used by a heritage transport company with their museum. I was influenced by Telford Steam Railways smaller operation and the 08 would take small trips around the yard in a brake van. I have built the layout so it can be extended to a fiddle yard at both ends so there is scope for further operations. The cost for this project has so far been 0 because of the fact I am using stuff I already had in stock. I am also going to use the scalescenes free sample low relief warehouse to make the backscene more interesting. Depending on how easy that is to make I may splash out on the scalescenes low relief flats for above the tunnel.

A lot can be done on a smaller budget. I found someone selling some scenic scatter on ebay and put a cheeky bid in and got a nice assortment for 99p. It was not the most up to date product but it does the job and I got lots for very cheap. If you are going to use products like Plaster bandage to create the landscape then look around the other hobby sections in places like Hobbycraft where you might find cheaper products than those aimed at Railway Modellers. If you still have the broken class 86 then getting it repaired may be cheaper than buying a new one. If you ask in the Advice Centre on this forum for help then someone might be able to help you repair it yourself, saving yourself even more money. Best of luck with this layout. Stephen

Thanks for the advice on this one. I am quite lucky in that my layout is at a stage where I can do other things at the moment and in terms of building kits I will definitely be getting a few Faller products in the coming months, so I may PM you Will regarding the PVA as a contact adhesive as it would provide me with a way to move forward with those sooner rather than later. I think the move to acrylics is a wise idea. I am not entirely satisfied with some of the finishes I have done anyway so I think it might be a good idea to have another go at them anyway. Many thanks Stephen

The 25 looks great and from the distances the videos have been shot it does not look like it rides too high. Given the fact that you are essentially using toys to make what look to be professional looking models, I think it looks spectacular. When I look at your blogs I am always impressed by the finished products and although I am not a rivet counter I am certainly not drawn to any flaws in your models. I think that because they are in G and because they are done very well they do not show the constraints of using the toys as the basis for a model. I think that you should have a shot at seeing if it would work, but would you stop at doing just one mrk 1 carriage? Stephen

Thats a good idea. I may have to wait until later in the summer to get one but it could solve the problem for the Autumn/Winter months. I think the doctor just needs to make sure that I am not making my lungs get any worse than they are already by using these chemicals so as long as they don't get to me then that should be ok. Thanks for the tip. Stephen

Well Doctors orders mean no more solvents, paints and generally other nasty chemicals can be used at the moment so I am having to take a step back from doing buildings and the like for the layout. Still I have made excellent progress and with my return to work next week I am starting to feel proud of this Springs modelling season. It occurred to me that I had not taken a picture of the layout in its entirety. I also had a good tidy over the past few days and the room it is in now looks presentable. The square is pretty much complete in terms of the major buildings. I just need to get a few bits and pieces like the Faller Market scene and the Faller park accessories which will be used to make this square seem like a bustling village festival scene. I have a few sets of Noch figures that will also inhabbit this space (although I am finding it difficult to find a home for the sexy scenes one I got given!!!). The Brasserie came together quite nicely. Except I am far from happy with the colour. I am thinking of trying to find a creamy white/yellow similar to the station building. I also built the small lean too building out of a spare Faller roof and some Plasticard and a SAI large door. This picture does not show it off at its best angle though! The fiddle yard extension has been landscaped to make it blend a little better with the rest of the layout. Its not finished but this gives an impression of where it is going. And thats the progress from this week. Over the coming weeks I am tempted to extend the original "behind the scenes" fiddle yard to accommodate more trains and longer trains. This would be done by enhancing the existing extension to make it wider and changing some of the smaller fiddle yard roads into feeders onto a longer fiddle yard. Once I get paid and have some time the lighting will be going in. These two schemes don't involve too much in the way of nasty chemicals so they can keep going. Unfortunately the continued painting and weathering of the buildings is to be put on hold, as it the purchase of the above mentioned Faller kits since they all need the use of solvents. Still there is plenty to keep me going for the rest of the Summer and into Winter (as well as my Wedding Planning!!!). Thanks for reading. Stephen

I think you already have a brake van don't you but thats the only thing that I can think of right now.

I play guitar and use a case with a detachable base for my effects pedals. These cases are of sturdy construction and can vary in size greatly. The reason I mention these cases is that they have very low sides on the base which mean that a layout could be easily laid into the bottom of the case (which due to a hinge system can be detached from the lid). These cost less than the SwanFlight ones you are looking at and they would do a similar job. The one I have has an outer case that is made of sturdy plastic with an interior of foam rubber and foam. The detachable base has a felt like material that allows pedals to be struck down with Velcro (which is usually suppled) which could be adaped for a train layout to be stuck down... Saying that, the company you have found does look like it is very good quality. EDIT: Here is a link to one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kinsman-Ultima-ABS-Pedal-board-case-guitar-effects-/230490363830?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item35aa4bd7b6

Looking stunning John. I am just blown away by how good this is. I know other people have mentioned other rolling stock that this might haul but have you considered doing a MK1 carriage? It would look just the part.

I have surprised myself with how much I have been managing to do recently. My first building took me about 6 months to complete but the last 3 (although they all need painting and details etc) were all done in the space of about 4 weeks. I think that the method of using the Lego has worked well for me. Today I added the roof to the Boulengerie which means that aside from detailing it and adding lighting (more on that later!) its structurally done. I have also given it a first coat of paint. The neighbouring building is almost complete, it just needs a roof at the moment. I am not certain I am going to keep the colour as white. This building is a Brasserie and the Lego structure has been rebuilt in such a way that every window can be lit up (if anyone is interested in further pics on the internal structures then let me know and I will post some pictures). I also plan on putting some tables outside with customers enjoying un Pressee (I am really not sure on the spelling there :s). I am planning on building a small extension entirely out of plasticard for this building (that might be the last structure for this layout). And here is a close up from the road. My plans are to light up the interior of these buildings in the near future. I have started aquiring the equipment needed and I am planning on using the Hornby/Dolls House style lighting systems. I am also planning the details of the village. I am considering having a market in the square with plenty of people and activity taking place. I would add to the ambience by putting a small speaker inside the village hall so that French music can be piped through (it might only be a small set of powerful earphones...). Eventually I might add some street lights to the layout (this might be a winter project) which would make it seem like the market and the music are part of a festival. This would certainly give me the excuse to run more trains and more unusual train formations. Thanks for reading and sorry about all the brackets! Stephen

I have been plodding on slowly since my last blog. Still a lot to do but its starting to get better. Here is a picture of the SAI kits I have constructed that are built into the hill: As well as this I have continued developing the Lego/Plasticard building. Since it has a very large shop front I decided that some sort of display for the window was needed. Therefore I constructed a crude stand for displaying the freshly baked bread: This was then painted Red and a yellowish colour was used to give the impression of Bread being displayed on these racks and when in situ it looks quite effective: Following the last side being glued into place I added a sheet of plasticard over the top of the Lego to give a flat base for the roof supports. In the next few days I will fix the roof. I have also cut the sides for the next Lego/Plasticard structure which will neighbour this one. I am not sure what kind of building it should be but I am thinking a house or some sort of cafe. However I need to consider the kinds of doors and windows I need to use to get this effect as I am running low on my stock of leftover Faller doors. I have also started to make the small fiddleyard extension a bit more scenic. Thanks for reading. Stephen

I installed Cork on my layout. I originally tried laying the track without but the Cork makes it easier to tac the track down. It also reduces the running noise which, although not huge, is quite good. I laid the track first and then created the dividing walls between the fiddle yard and the scene. This meant that I had a bit more freedom when laying the track.