nickwood

David, thanks for the compliment and the info on the Slip coaches. Very useful. Terry, The hooks are just thin strips of brass cut from the edge of a etch with a pair of Xuron shears. They are then formed around a cocktail stick with the ends kinked with a pair of thin nosed pliers. Then just trimmed to length. Easier (and quicker) to do then describe. Hope this helps.

Thanks Neal, John and everyone who has given me more 'likes'. John, you are right, they may look a little out of place although maybe not wholly unknown for a Bulldog to venture down a small branch, probably in my case to haul an emergency 'cider special' for one of the King's garden parties at Buckingham Palace. I've yet to come up with a beievable scenario for the slip to venture down the branch form the junction but give me time ! In reality they were available at a good price, and were very well made and I couldn't resist buying them, even if I do need a bit of modellers license to run them occassionally.

Hi Robin, I not caught your thread before. I've scanned through this evening and will be coming back for a more thorough read through soon. I Like what I've seen so far

Hi Mikkel It's not ex club stock as such but stock acquired from outside sources to sell on and make a small profit to fund the club's activities. I'm not sure but I think most of the current list was acquired after someone enquired how to dispose of an estate. John and I have been following each others progress for some time and he was aware that I enjoyed building wagon kits. As he now prefers to use and adapt rtr and had these spare, he very kindly sent me a surprise Christmas present of those he had left over knowing I would put them to good use, and he was right !

The upgraded Autocoach just wouldn't look right being propelled by a bog standard Dapol 14xx so that had to get the treatment as well. I decided to backdate it to a 48xx and fitting a mainly trains detailing kit, at the same time getting rid of the traction tyres. I thought about using an ultrascale set but decided in the end to canibalise another chassis for the wheels. The upgrading using this kit has been described a few times before on RMweb so I won't bother boring anyone as I've done nothing different. The body in primer ready for top coat Top coat on and flush glazing fitted (cut out of clear plastic) Safety valve cover still to go on. Chassis is done and buffer beams have now been painted. It's waiting for etched plates to be made up from Martin finney etches. She will be numbered 4863 which worked in the Hereford / Gloucester area. That's as far as this one has got to date. Another recent acquisition (same club source again) is this lovely Bulldog (Bird variant) 3447 Jackdaw. I think it is a K's kit but I'm not sure. As with the Steam Railmotor Jackdaw was not a good runner but I seem to have got that sorted with a good clean and service. She runs slightly better in one direction than the other and I've noticed from the photos that maybe the quartering is slightly out. Something I'll have to investigate further. Edited for poor spalling !!

Work on coaching stock has been confined to upgrading an old Airfix Autocoach with a Dart Castings detail kit and adding flush glazing and passengers. I've also acquired this completed Wheeltapper Kit of a 57' toplight double ended slip coach from the secondhand stock of my club. For those who do not know these kits they come with pre-printed sides and cast and etched detail on the underframe. I've also acquired an unbuilt kit of a toplight 57' brake third. and finally for the passenger stock this beauty will now be running on Much Murkle. Acquired again from my club, it has needed a bit of fettling to get it running well. It does sit a little high due to the clearances on the valve gear but it isn't noticeable so long as it's not buffered up to other stock. Whoever made it, painted and lined it have done a very good job. Locos next....

Now's seems an opportune moment to show some of the stock I've been working on over the winter. First up a few humble wagons The first three wagons were a generous gift sent to me all the way from Utah by my friend John Flann a while back. Whilst he will have seen the photos before it is only right that I should show my appreciation again by showing the completed kits here on RMweb. I have been working on a few more to increase the stock including these Coaching stock next...

Thank you all for your thoughts and input. It seems to me that the most pragmatic way of approaching this is to have a lamp centrally on the Autocoach (as tail or headlamp) and a lamp either on the central footplate postion on the loco to denote a tail lamp or on the top lamp iron to denote the head lamp. Perhaps the later would be the better option. Interesting also that the discussion developed towards brake vans as that was going to be my next question although my own thoughts would be to model tail lamps at both ends on an end to end layout.

Thanks for your help Neal but I'm really not interested in lighting the lamps just where is best to put them ??

Yes I appreciate that, but maybe I didn't explain myself well as it doesn't answer the question I'm afraid. I can't turn the engine (or the coach) after it has reached the terminus so it has to run back in the same formation in the opposite direction, so what I'm after is the best compromise for positioning the front and rear lamps. i.e should I have it correct in one direction only and if so which one or should I just have front lamps at both ends???

Hi Neal, no plain old DC I'm afraid

I'm looking for some guidance on the placement of lamps on the loco and autocoach used on a terminus to fiddle yard layout. The train will run coach first into the station and obviously loco first to the fiddle yard. The options as I see it are; 1) Have a single lamp headcode on the autocoach and tail lamp on the loco. 2) Have a single lamp headcode on the loco and the tail lamp on the loco. 3) Have a single lamp headcode on both autocoach and loco Whatever lamps are used it will be a compromise and will only be correct in one direction of travel for 1 & 2. Option 3 will be incorrect in both directions because there would be no tail lamp but it would be correct at the front in both directions of travel. My gut feeling is to go for option 3 but I thought I would canvass opinion first.

The description says "Hand Weathered". That would be right....and the paint is probably still on his fingers !!

Thank you all for the kind comments and my apologies to michael for not responding earlier. Marc - I agree that there is so much on RMweb that you are always stumbling across gems that you miss. Threads fall off the radar very quickly. Dai - That made me laugh Yes it was a burp and has already been mentioned earlier in the thread. I didn't notice it during editing Shunting can get quite tricky and is lots of fun. Much Murkle is in the garage and all the stock in the house. It's been too cold to spend much time in the garage over winter but I would like to do some more photos and video soon, especially as I've been working on some new stock that needs an airing. Hopefully spring will be here soon.

Hi Brian, just found your thread. Shed layouts don't normally do it for me as most seem to be about the stock rather than the surroundings which interest me more. You seem to have managed to give equal attention to both and the results are simply stunning. The weathering on your buildings is subline and the detailing really brings it to life. Love it and hope to catch it at a show near me sometime.

The lighting on the photo is poor Jules and doesn't show that there are about four different shades of green used. Although I use Woodland Scenics I also use a lot of Jarvis scatters for variety and they are cheaper.

The dairy has turned out very well Jules. Well done. If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, there is one thing that I think you could easily do which would improve the look scenically. Your fences could do with some extra growth along the bottom especially around the posts and perhaps a few bushes or small trees along the fence line. This would give your scenery more depth and interest. Something along these lines (hope you don't mind me posting a photo in your thread), a few sprigs of woodland scenics fine foliage planted along the fence line and some coarse or lumpy scatter material along the bottom of the fence line. Maybe a few dabs of pva on the fence post and along the fence rails with some fine scatter to represent climbing growth. Hope it helps

Hi John I have followed your work on Granby elsewhere as you know but I've not seen photos of the early work before. I've seen your descriptions of the building of the various major areas on the layout, Goods warehouse, station roof etc but it's good to see an overall shot of the room as things developed in the early years to get an appreciation of the scale. Much appreciated that you've resurrected the thread.

Hi Jules, and Merry Christmas Personally I think the backscene as it stands detracts from your excellent modelling. Apart from the bubbles, I hadn't noticed before but the backscene appears to be showing a winter / early spring scene with no leaves on the trees. I would redo it and if you can take the opportunity to get a similar one that is set in late spring / summer.

Hi Mikkel, a novel approach and innovative concept and if anyone can pull this off, you can.

Thanks Jim. I don't know where you are but it will be north of home territory at the Cradley Heath (West Midlands) Exhibition on 13th October 2013.

Jim We all make mistakes and cover them up somehow. One of my major mishaps resulted in the Goods Shed having to have a thick growth of ivy on one end to hide it My weighbridge office was the first building I made for Much Murkle and after I had made a few more buildings my technique had changed / improved so much it had to be rebuilt as it was no longer up to standard. We learn as we go along and will always find plenty of things that we will do differently next time. It's all part of this great hobby

It's been a while but I've made some changes to the lighting. I found that just having the fluorescents at the back caused some problems with shadows and loss of detail at the front as some had suggested I might. So I've added another row of the same lighting at the front. I've always considered that if you want to show your layout off at its best it has to be presented well and an important part of that is good lighting. Hopefully I have now achieved this. You can see the arrangement looking from the end. Compare the next shot below taken from the front .....very bright and some shadows cast by the other lights in the garage with this one with the garage lights turned off. Note that the angled shadows by the bridge and the chimney in the distance that you could see on the backscene in the previous picture have all but disappeared. Also note how well the surrounding area is lit (remember all other lights in the garage are off and it is very dark outside). I'm very pleased with the result. I now just need to get the fascia painted and I can move on to other things.

Hi Jim It's coming along nicely. I really like the platform stones, something different to the norm and looks really good. The gravel falling down to the river bank is also well observed I know what you mean about working in unheated outdoor buildings this time of year. I have the same problem

I'd like to add my congratulations on a lovely layout. I echo what others have said about the spaciousness of the scene, difficult to achieve in a relatievely small space. I particularly like the little less obvious touches like the station flowerbeds and the telegraph wires. What have you used for those by the way? Well done and another GWR layout to keep an eye on