The Evil Bus Driver

That's good to know. Putting them on a relevant chassis and then you've got effectively a nice canvas to put together your creation.

That's a shame. I might have to go the plasticard route instead. That said I'm elbow deep in layout build at the moment (but unfortunately didn't manage to get any pictures this week)

Yes I've been reading about them on Blood & Custard. Some good pictures on there too. I may have to obtain some older Bachmann coaches and Comet sides to make some of the 64' ones. I'll take my time on the hinges for my own sanity 🤪

Weren't the Bulleid Milti Door stock coaches built on Maunsell underframes. I read somewhere that loads of them were dumped at Lancing for the duration and Bulleid put the bodies on later. If you've ever visited the site of Lancing works (one building from it still stands and has carriage glass in the large windows to this day. Some of the panels have the word Smoking in them) you'll know just how close thexsite is to the sea and as such the salty air had 6 long years to do its work on them. Hence the rot and rust that set in.

Heres the view I got. I was on the old part of the track just before Luffield Corner https://youtube.com/shorts/h402CCh8fO4?feature=share I wonder if sales of Scalextric soar after a Grand Prix

Thanks for the update Fran. I'm looking forward to receiving mine as I won one of the locomotives on the raffle at the Severn Valley Railway recently and the Manor was what I picked so the news they're about to land is fantastic. Looks like time to start building a portable test track since my loft layout is being put back another year...

I love the Hidden London Hangouts series as it shows that ththere'do much more to the tube than you might see on your usual journey. So much hidden in plain sight as the team frequently say.

Update: 17th June 2023 Second board is built and I'm on to a new set of legs now. Then figure out how to clamp them together and jump power cables across. I've been given a few industrial buildings that might come in handy so lets see if they'll fit in somewhere and I've obtained some Mountboard to start building the platform. I'll be needing to buy some track soon. I'm thinking two options here, 1. I can have the whole branch on Bullhead track. This would be most likely in the 70s and 80s on rationalised lines I'm half tempted to set this one in the early 80s) and the main purpose of keeping the line open was the location in the town centre, we can assume the road network is rather diabolical and freight traffic still runs to the sidings and the stores here so operating a (admittedly pretty well used) DEMU shuttle along the line isn't too much of a hardship. Option 2. Concrete sleepers on the passenger line and bullhead in the yard. Again even though the line is singled from the previous station to the terminus the track has been replaced at some point with CWR and the slow moving freight trains shuffling around the yard don't cause much wear. Maybe a stack of 60ft rails in a corner could have been kept for use, having been lifted from redundant lines in the yard or station or something. I don't know, it's too early yet. I'm looking at using Finetrax turnouts or printing off some Templot diagrams at some point. I can then get appropriate parts in and finally 3D print that jig for filing. That'll mean I can just make as many turnouts as needed in a bespoke fashion rather than relying on Peco ones, though that remains an option as the Peco Bullhead points are rather tasty themselves. I might build a third board which will be purely scenic, it'd mean the road at the end of the layout could go on there and I'm planning a parade of shops from a disused (partly dismembered) level crossing up the hill into the town centre proper. I'm wondering if there might be a local chippy there, although I won't tease audiences with the smell of fish and chips wafting from the layout 😈😈 The crossing would need to be double track width, representing the closed line beyond the buffers. A pair of rusty rails in the road and check rails with an overgrown crossing gate closed across some brambles. Other jobs One other job that needs doing is the additional bracing to the legs I built before. These are bespoke due to the need for stability hence why they flare outwards. It does mean some annoying carpentry has to be done but it'll stop it falling over. I've got the wood cut for them but I just didn't have the energy to dive into building them last week (be fair it was a bit hot and sticky in the clubroom) I did manage to get all the wood cut though. The whole thing just needs bracing length wise and I've cut a piece of wood to allow this, although I might add a couple of triangular pieces too. I'm rapidly running out of softwood at the moment so I might grab some before club on Friday and get some screws as well. The bracing pieces will need to be removable so I'm thinking bolts and wing nuts with washers to fit these . That's about it for now. I'm hoping to get some pictures for you to all laugh at admire or whatever. If you want to point while you laugh that's up to you. I'll knock together a possible track plan as well when I get 5 minutes. TTFN

I was given some buildings for the layout I'm building for my daughter at club last night. Means I need to get the legs built and track laid pretty quickly. I might get one of those foam pizza bases from Sainsburys and try playing with it as it's similar to foamboard but without the card.

That looks phenomenal! I love the drybrushed foam technique

I've heard walnut is an excellent wood for sleepers as it's available in the correct size and takes the glue very well indeed. I'll order some and build a turnout with it and see if it works.

Hopefully once it comes in there's be unboxing videos galore.

Wood is cut for the second board just enough time to run out of screws.

Over the past few weeks I've been working on a layout to entertain my 5 year old daughter and give me some operational interest too. I've come up with a couple of 1ft ply boards donated by a friend and put a frame around them. I had to think about the legs too as it was a but tall and top heavy so I modified the supports so they were a bit more splayed (splayed legs? Oo-er missus) I've been hunting around for screws and now completely run out hehe. By making the legs more like an A-frame I can make the layout a bit more stable. Perhaps a storage shelf might work under the main board. That's one built, now I need to do another one. Seen at Daventry MRC's club room. The idea of the layout is there's a single line into the station, which is a single track branch line terminus on a double track formation. There's a kickback siding into a factory and a headshunt leading to it. There'll be a road bridge in the middle and beyond it will be further sidings giving a storage area which can be used as a shunting puzzle. There will also be room for a loco to be stabled. The fiddle yard to station main line will be operated by a DEMU on the ABC shuttle principle. Beyond the station I'm planning a former level crossing, with rails and check rails still in the road, and a small scenic extension board to give the idea of the line being closed beyond this point. Perhaps a parade of shops going up the road and a backscene depicting the backs of the buildings in the high street. Track plan to follow

Maybe the offer of a land swap Exmoor Associates style might tempt them. Basically where the railway buys an adjoining piece of land on the opposite side of their farm or somewhere and offers to swap it for the piece containing the trackbed. It might take 3 of 4 swaps but it'd be a lot less controversial and would create a lot less bad blood than the CPO route. IIRC their objection was largely access to the land north of the railway, which I completely understand. So doing that and obtaining the trackbed and the land beyond the line for an equivalent patch of land might be one possible solution, potentially with the land re-wilded afterwards.

I needed some modelling tools quickly so I bought a £25 set from Amazon. Not the best but they'll do for now and allow me to replace things as and when rather than pay for each thing and have to wait for it to arrive. I'll be putting a layout in the left in thd next couple of years but I need to get insulation and flooring sorted out as well as lighting and power. Possibly a skylight too. It also allows me to put my locos and stock in one place and store it safely as well as plastic crates are OK but they do take up a lot of space and a lower fiddld yard with all my less operated stock will keep it safer. If you're planning to put thd layout on rollers then you'll definitely need to plan where everything goes. My old layout was hinged to the wall with an extension and a shelf holding it off the wall. Maybe something like that might work for you. Box it in and it'll look neat when folded up.

I wish Simon all the best in his retirement. Somehow I don't think that's the last we'll see of him. Even if it's just through a blog or something like that. Nevertheless, his successor has some massive shoes to fill although they'll likely be someone who works with him so they'll have a good idea how to go about the job.

I bought a pack of NEM ones at Warley and some for Airfix style coiplings on Ebay so I've been experimenting with various coaches. The Hunts give great close coupling on my Hachette rake, oddly enough. I'll be trying them out on the club test track soon.

Ohh nice! That's a great Terrier! North Devon wow! My dad lives in Paignton.

In our case we have a Mainline Restaurant buffet. What I can glean from Keith Parkin's book is it's a Diagram 24 coach, just from interest. The process would have been the same whatever. I might well do a Griddle car from a Replica body and Comet sides or something. Or a Boat Second. The coach is a Mainline as I said but it uses the same tooling as Replica used so I bought the gangways to fit. The coach disassembled with the rubber gangways removed. There are lugs each end as well as the middle and the body just pops off the chassis and lifts off. The next job is to remove the interior and put it aside for painting later. I don't know what colour the corridor wall was but I'm sure it wasn't silver. The assembled and partially painted Keen systems gangways. These have a small spring which must be handled carefully or they'll be lost to the carpet gods. They've been filed to fit as per the instructions as these coaches have a moulded gangway cowl which is pretty thick. Next the gangway assemblies were fitted and glued in place at the edges. You need around 1 - 1.5mm of travel. Be careful not to get paint into the aperture as it's a tight fit. Also the interior end between the seats at the passenger end fouls the spring spigot so this needs to be either drilled through or removed so I removed it. This also makes the interior easier to fit and remove as its pretty tight. I painted the partition wall cream colour and the floor matt black just as a bit of realism. I might go back in and fit some people soon. Not to mention a replacement for the missing buffer head. Fitted at the passenger end with some touching up to do. I did file the part at the top of the gangway as these would have disappeared by the time of the blue era. I can touch it in with some rail blue soon. The reassembled coach. I do need a few details like the disc vents on the roof. These were missing when I bought the coach . Also next job will be new bogies and Hunt couplings as this will run in my mk2D rake which is already fitted with them.

Hi Gary This is certainly an interesting project. Have you considered joining your nearest model railway club? I'm guessing yours would be either Pevensey Bay MRC, Newhaven or Uckfield. I was a member of Brighton MRC for a few years and they're a good bunch of guys too. Well worth considering as you'd probably gain access to advice or resources (ours at Daventry has a room full of books for reference) as well as assistance.

Oh yes all that filing... I did pick up some Hornby 2Es for £11 each though. They'll need new bogies and metal wheels but they're pretty nice.

Looking good Martin! I've just put Hunt couplings on all mine. Brings them closer together but not as close as I'd like. I'm still on the lookout for two or three more Second Opens. What if we ask Mr. Kohler very nicely.....?

Black, white and grey if I remember correctly.

Any chance of some 2A TSO's? If only to get some to the same standard as I need a few of those for my planned West of England rake. I reckon we'd see a load of new ones from Bachmann if that happened too.