Mikkel

Yes, the photo and setting is excellent. It's all there. Note also the guy in the window on the extreme left of the enlarged version. I can see how you would like it, there's a bit of the Clevedon kind of atmosphere :-) Regarding Gloucester I have added an image to the main entry above. The close-up views of that photo show some interesting coaching stock in the sidings - and some of it isn't even GWR I think.

Talk about a walk-through! Excellent as usual. Your work illustrates that noone needs worry that real modelling will die out when the RTR stuff gets too detailed. There is always room for improvement! I'm interested in your use of mini-drill and paper to reshape the buffers. I tried something similar with some watchmaker's gears recently but failed miserably. Maybe I should give it another go.

PS: On the subject of Huntley & Palmers, one day someone simply has to model this: http://www.huntleyandpalmers.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=huntley&f=generic_largerimage_postsearch.htm&_IXFIRST_=3&_IXMAXHITS_=1&m=quick_sform&tc1=i&partner=huntley&text=gwr&tc2=e&s=Q97IVrxKZdE (click large image in the menu for superb full screen view)

Hi Mike, well I'm afraid my pace is rather slower than yours, so don't hold your breath :-) But the loco dept sidings would make a nice little layout in itself, I think. Regarding the waterworks sidings, I haven't found out what kind of stock served them - photos seen so far don't show it well. I should stress that my research has so far mostly consisted of reading the GWRJ articles and a few other sources. So as usual we stand on the shoulders of the giants who did all the hard work for us.

Thanks for that link Job! Looks like there's some interesting info on goods and people of the area for inspiration. I can see why you were interested in the docks too, great setting for a layout. Maybe we can tempt you to do it after your "Urban Scene"?

Thanks gents. It still exists? Amazing, I'll have to look into that. Might even be worth a trip if I get to go to the UK for work sometime this year. I know some people might find this sort of thing contrived, or dull. But I enjoy the challenge of identifying a micro that follows a prototypical trackplan and has a certain variety in stock and movement. Plus, it gives me something to do on the daily commute :-) Yes, I reckon 1947 is just your cup of tea Rob! I love the pregrouping period but also have a thing for the more mundane and austere latter-day GWR. With these little layouts I can have both. As for stock I especially look forward to the Loco Coal wagons, there's a selection of kits available (see Jim Champ's very useful notes here) and I wouldn't mind trying my hand at scratchbuilding a body or two for the larger types. And a rebuilt 4-wheeler or two for the engineers dept, and some old run-down wagons for the ash sidings, and a couple of panniers scuttling about, and and... ahem, getting all carried away now :-)

Here's an idea for a potential future layout in the Farthing series. The idea is to show a small section of the yard and sidings at Farthing. The trackplan is based on a real-world prototype, namely an interesting ladder of kick-back sidings in Gloucester Old Yard, which served a variety of purposes. By focussing on one end of the track ladder, the layout can feature a variety of stock movements in a limited space, while still following the prototype. Crown Copyright 1936 Above is an OS map showing Gloucester Old Yard (as of 1936, hence past the 50 year copyright date). Goods depot on the left, engine shed on the right, and lots of sidings in between. Lovely! Here is the map again, after I’ve been at it with my crayons! As you can see, the red headshunt in the middle served a variety of interesting facilities (is headhunt the right word in this case? Americans would call it the lead, I think). This included the coaling stage, and a yard where the loco department deposited ash and stored the occasional loco. The engineers also had some special vehicles in these sidings, including an inspection saloon with its own carriage shed. The sidings also served the Gloucester water works, and a private goods depot used by, among others, a biscuit company. Here’s a close-up, showing how all sidings to the right of the headshunt were effectively kick-back sidings. Consequently, trains had to be propelled/drawn almost to the end of the headshunt to access the sidings. Two locos worked the sidings: The yard pilot and the shed pilot. Looking at photos I also noticed that by the late 1940s an additional point had been provided linking the headshunt in question with the mileage sidings (not visible on this 1936 map, but drawn in here). This included the two sidings seen here in green, which led to an end-loading dock and seem to have featured a good variety of vans and mineral opens. So how does all that translate into a small layout? Well the idea is that the layout will feature just the extreme uppermost part of the yard, as indicated here with the green outline. The rest of the yard is represented by an off-scene fiddle yard. The plan above illustrates the variety of stock and moves that can be justified on the layout. For 1-5, trains are drawn back/propelled into the headhunt (and hence onto the layout) before being moved into the relevant siding (ie back off-scene). Movements of the Loco Coal wagons were especially interesting: They were exchanged between the yard pilot and the shed pilot. The two mileage sidings (6) provide for a bit of general shunting (edit: and coaching stock storage, see below). The small section of track (7) is a scenic indication of the rest of the mileage sidings. Apart from the shunting, there could be a few interchangeable cameos/dioramas to indicate the passing of the day in a yard. See the “flexible layout” idea. I am playing with the idea of setting the layout in 1947, which would be a departure from my normal Edwardian timeframe. EDIT: On reflection I have decided to stick with the Edwardian period. An OS map from 1902 suggests that the trackplan displayed above was largely similar around the turn of the century, give or take one or two sidings. Note: Much of the inspiration for the layout comes from an article in GWRJ No. 45, which describes operations in Gloucester Old Yard. If I have misunderstood something (including terminology) please don’t hesitate to correct me. Edit 1: I have found the following 1932 photo on the excellent "Britain from Above" site. The layout will focus on the busy sidings upper right, where the road bends. Registered members of the site can zoom in on the photo - and this reveals that the two mileage sidings that I intend to include on the layout are crammed with coaching stock! More stuff to run and model then :-) Original image here. "You may, print, display, and store for your personal use at home and you may copy to a blog or personal web page as long as the page is freely available with no login restrictions and no charges." Edit 2: Since writing this post I have decided to stick with my Edwardian timeframe. The above post has therefore been lightly edited to avoid confusion.

Nice drawings of a great prototype. Thanks for the tip about Corel, sounds like you are satisfied with it?

Good to see progress, Ian. A couple of weeks for the rest doesn't sound like a long time to me. It is handbuilt after all. Rich, as we are doing you a favour I have a long list of 4mm items I need made, please ;-)

Sounds good. This winter we've had a couple of interesting GWR livery discussions where the chocolate colour has emerged as possibly too unrecognized in the literature to date. Perhaps the most relevant one in your case is this one: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/63203-gwr-goods-depot-ironwork-colour-ca-1907/&do=findComment&comment=819930

It might also be chocolate. In some of the previous discussions about GWR liveries on here, we have established that the GWR used chocolate inside some workshops, goods depots etc.

Oh wait. No Weber grills back then :-)

Good stuff! I agree with Paul about the length of the grass. And maybe the grass needs a bit of weathering too? Will there be a guy with bare chest, canned beer and Weber grill? :-)

I don't know if we ever will find all the time needed. But maybe unlimited time isn't always an advantage. When time is limited we are forced to focus our efforts, and that sometimes makes the result better.

I wish I had at least kept the measurements which would have been handy for projects like yours. The main reason I am selling some of my stock is simply that funds are tight at the moment (like so many others we have been hit by the financial crisis). When selecting what to sell I have discovered that (when forced to choose) I would rather keep the commonplace stock that I have built myself, than the unusual stock that I have obtained secondhand. Anyway, it will be fascinating to follow your building of these coaches when you get to that point. With your skills I know we all have something to look forward to.

Nice work on that pug. It looks like a real one, not like a plastic kit. Your independent blog is pure Shakespeare;-) I liked the irreverent style and now feel fully up to date on bullsharks.

Jim, you may be interested in these coaches that I bought secondhand a long time ago: This one is the third in Russell page 11 which has Culm Valley on the solebars. I sold them recently (with a bleeding heart!) to generate some funds. There are more photos here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/75/entry-4887-hand-me-down-coaches/ - and a little story here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/75/entry-5696-undecided-sky-1867/

Hi John, I seem to have fallen behind on progress here - and what progress! You don't sit around, do you! I really like the effect of the shed base, and how the shed itself is working out. The transcontinental neighbourly cooperation you've got going around the roof is pretty impressive. 2000 miles seems quite a bit after all!

Looks really good. The undulating effect of the landscape is nicely enhanced by the stone walls, I think. the patchy grass by the gravel road is very convincing. We're a whole little community of Nordic modellers on here now :-)

What a brilliant entry, Will. Inspirational, informative, creative and lavishly illustrated. You do like that bridge, don't you? :-) But I can see why, it is so nicely balanced and beautifully located. It will be interesting to see the green stuff on the trees modelled. There's one thing you can't do in CAD! :-)

Castle, not my period so I am walking on thin ice - and I do not know if BR changed some of the GWR grilles. But FWIW:. Looking at the K41 in Russel's vol 2, I think Nick's etch is right for the doors. AFAIK this pattern should not fill out the whole window (ie the bars only covered the center portion of the window). You can see the description of this pattern from Blacksmith in the photo if that is any help in getting the right etch from Coopercraft. If I'm not mistaken, the windows should have 5 bars horisontally. Blacksmith also did that etch. Alas I do not have their ref no. or description anymore, but you could send this photo to Coopercraft and ask if they have them available or some left-overs maybe from the Blacksmith stock. Edit: I forgot that you are modelling the one at Didcot - so you will want that condition and can check for yourself of course! Oh well.... I see now that the window grilles illustrated were part no. 460 102 when Blacksmith had them.

You're really getting somewhere on this project, Jim, looks like a real railway. Your structures are superb. I like the ladder. You could probably have bought it but the satisfaction of scratch building even small things is much better.

That does look good. Overlays are still a great option. Look forward to seeing the full rake.