nickwood

Hi Britfarmer The flat dray is from Dart castings and the Parcels van and Cider / brewery Dray is from Langley Models.

Thanks to you all for the comments and 'likes' Rob, It's actually Marjorie Edwards the local doctor's wife on the platform. I won't mention to her that she's got a doppleganger

Thanks, All those you have mentioned are from Dart Castings.

I can't believe that i've not updated my thread since April. I've just started to get Much Murkle ready for its next outing at Andover on the 30 & 31 August, then it will be at RMweb Live on 13 & 14 September so a busy time ahead. Not much has happened since the last update but I have recently built a few whitemetal kits to add a bit of detail here and there. A few platform barrows A flat bed dray waiting to be loaded in the goods yard A horse drawn parcels van. This may be out of era but I couldn't resist it. and finally the Cider factory couldn't be without a delivery dray

I'm another who didn't know Dave personally but wish I had. We have lost a truly great man to this terrible disease who was inspirational both in his modelling skills and the way he is known to have conducted his life. RIP and condolences to the family.

Very nice job. If you are hesitant to dip your brush so to speak, experiment first on some scrap pieces of brick / stone. Are you going to be using emanmels or acrylics? It looks like there are a number of sub-assemblies so it shouldn't be too bad to do.

What a wonderfully amotspheric shot. Not a train in sight but so much to take in. Love it

Another of the buildings from Much Murkle. The station building is based on the design of the original GWR timber building at Tetbury with bits of Shipton on Stour and Culkerton thrown in. Unusually for me I constructed the shell in styrene rather than card. Reason? Because I came to the conclusion that this one would be easier in styrene due to the amount of fiddly cuts that had to be glued and mek would be a lot less messy than pva. The roof is card though using Scalescenes slates. The bare wall sections An end view and finally a full frontal

We successfully test ran the first bit of track tonight. Everthing ran smoothly after a thorough clean and a couple of minor and one major tweaks. I'll say it quietly in case he's listening, but someone forgot to gap the copperclad sleepers at the board joints didn't they Andrew? !!! OOPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Rxay12iTY&feature=youtu.be

Ahh! but those Westerns may have been filmed in the Southern hemisphere

Built a little while ago now, this is the goods shed on Much Murkle

I've made some progress with the bridge and completed the main piers, wing wall piers and abutment walls using Slaters english bond brickwork. This is where it will be positioned in relation to the track plan right under the scissors crossover. I don't usually work in plastic and I'm having to learn a few new techniques, particularly in terms of laminating the brick sheets to the base layer. Card and papers are so much easier, just glue and wrap At least it is some progress.

A major step forward Andrew. Sorry I wasn't there to see it. What did you stick it the track down with, looks like PVA?

While Andrew has been getting on with the trackwork my attention has turned to the road underbridge and station access. As the platform is an island design we decided at an early stage that we wanted a lower street level station building with access to the platform via a subway and steps. It took me ages to find a suitable prototype that could look right in a relatively rural area. I finally stumbled across Bourneville station and this link clearly shows the access arrangement we intend to use. http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/mrb476.htm However we didn't like the bridge much and really wanted a plate girder design. A bit more research found this bridge in Patriscroft, Manchester which we have settled on with some adaption to fit our site. https://www.flickr.com/photos/salford_ian/2170082066/ As you can see the original is actually two bridges, the rear is stone with a traditional arch. Ours will be a plate girder throughout and a bit narrower. The overall size and design has been replicated by counting bricks to gauge the size of piers and depth of the girders. I started by fabricating the plate girders out of various thicknesses of styrene all pieces individually cut. The completed girders which will be cut to length. The top one will be used for intermediate girders projecting up either side of the diamond crossing on the track plan The bottom two will provide the girders front and back of the bridge. Work on the abutments next.

Jim, I remember the excitement of this stage when I was building Much Murkle. You certainly have the eye for a believable scene.

Hi MIB I did remove the chip and fitted the blanking plate. Like you I had been told it should run ok with the chip in but I have to say that I didn't try it on DC at all so I can't confirm this.

John Thank you and yes you did see a Dukedog, a recent addition to the roster. It's main duties are hauling outgoing ciders and perrys from Rancoutt's to the marshalling yards at Worcester ready for onward distribution to discerning customers around the West Midlands and beyond. It is a lovely loco and the control is probably the best I have experienced in DC. Annoyingly though, Bachmann in their wisdom have chosen to only make the GWR version DCC fitted which means those of us who run on DC have to purchase a chip which is of no use to us. The BR version is available with or without.

Chris Seeing North Haston at Sutton Coldfield this weekend I'm really liking the changes that you've made since Warley last year. I have a NAM itch I really do need to scratch some day soon.

I've just got home and unpacked Much Murkle. What an enjoyable weekend. Great organisation by the Sutton Coldfiled MRS and my thanks go to Nigel Gosling and his team for looking after us so well. The audience was a very mixed bunch from grandparents and parents with their offspring who were very well behaved through to the very knowledgeable enthusiasts. We had a great time sharing many laughs and answering many questions with everyone who stopped and spent time in front of Much Murkle, and there were many of them. We were very busy all weekend which made the time pass all too quickly. It was great to meet Andy, I love the photos by the way, particularly the one of the Cider Factory and Rob and have a chat with some fellows who appreciate the finer points of the GWR It was especially gratifying for Much Murkle to be awarded "Best Visiting Layout" I'll finish with a message to Andy Yorke. If you're reading this Andy watch out for Phil Parker's boot !!! I'm now going to sink a few glasses of RLW

Make sure that you do Robin. I look forward to it.

Thanks Andrew. Please make yourself known, it's always good to meet fellow RMwebbers

Bumped to remind anyone who is interested that I will be at Sutton Coldfield this weekend with Much Murkle. Looks to be a good line up of layouts and should be well worth a visit on either Staurday or Sunday. Details in post no 206 above.

Can't agree more. Have you seen the latest issue of MRJ (230) Jim? A really nice feature of Chris Lamacraft's EM verison of Hemyock but I have to say yours has the potential to be every bit as good. I may have missed it but is your intention to exhibit it eventually?

Thanks, yes you are correct the plan only shows the scenic section and there isn't a dead straight piece of track anywhere.

Another day another point (or two). At the club last wednesday evening Andrew brought along this point which he had made ready for making a start on the access to the goods yard. After getting the templates ready the first job was to cut and lay the sleepers and timbers When the sleepers and timbers were laid the next job was to install the common crossing Three hands are better than two when it comes to the fiddly Exactoscale chairs After fielding many questions from club members all evening that is as far as we got. Luckily we are not relying solely on club nights to get things done.