Sasquatch

Hi manna. Yes! The 3 sets of stairs are built that way. The forth set didn't exist, so I need to brick up the second subway and pave over that stair well circled in red!! How are you getting on in your new place? Regards Shaun.

Procrastination continues over the new layout section. On the plan it all looks good and fits, the problem seems to be the gradients on the tramway. If it was simply a road there wouldn't be any problems. I might have to reroute the tramway and settle for a shorter run. The temperatures here are getting up into the upper 90sF. This means that the modeling bench has been re-requisitioned. Work on finishing Queensbury is now underway. Herein lies another problem which has been solved... At the South Junc./Halifax end of the triangle there was a footbridge over the rope worked colliery tramway cutting. What I've never been able to work out was how the staircase on the Bradford-Halifax platform fitted in. The sidings would have squeezed the platform width well under the required 6 feet. Initially I modeled the subway and cut a hole to accommodate the stairs. Still not satisfied I fired up the old laptop and searched all the images. None of them seem to show stairs because there seems to be the same problem as that on the model. Not enough space! This map confirms my suspicions. Looks like I need to fill in that hole! There's still quite a lot to do on Queensbury including but not limited to; Platform fencing/walling, main footbridge, uncoupling system and more scenic work. Squatch.

Thought it was going to be a big horse and cart. Turns out, it was a small pony and trap! Sorry! It's not usually me lowering the tone. Regards Shaun.

Congratulations mate. Will that building on the left become the train shed I wonder? Regards Shaun

Unfortunately, the only thing on the modeling bench is a fresh coat of furniture polish! It looks like it will remain that way for up to a couple of months😑(the duration of my mums stay and then the in-laws). I've tidied up the garage and will give mum a tour and see if she'll still insist on calling it my train set afterwards 😄 Hope that you're all well Regards Squatch.

Here's a video of an EMD SD7 shunting (switching) at Albany in Oregon. Don't know why but I do find these rather likeable. PNWR 1501 spotting cars at Albany 25-May-2010. - YouTube

Quite right Paul mate. When I saw the price tag I broke out in a cold sweat, so decided to build my own! If you can solder brass, then I think it should be an easy little project! Regards Shaun.

A co-co, 12 wheel pickups and extra weight! Something like this... ...but my Bachmann class 37 will do the job well too.

There's not been any time for modeling of late. My friend's drywall is finished (Pat on the back to self for learning such a labor intensive skill at my age). At present we're engaged in various small projects before mum's visit and garden work now that it's warmed up and spring has finally arrived. All the track on Grim-Up-North had to have a good clean which is a little challenging, what I have in mind is to build a super track cleaning/maintenance train to make things easier. It's all in my head at the moment, something like a pair of American 3 axle sprung bogies (Trucks) and a tank with isopropyl alcohol that feeds to a sprung pad and a magnet to pick up any loose coupling hooks. It will have a dedicated locomotive fitted with Kaydees. After the regular track scrubbing, I did have a short running session. Here's some pics! The modified Lima/Bachmann pannier J50 doing all the work on Queensbury. J39 shunting stuff about around Goathland A pleasant bit of sunshine bursting through the clouds here and there. I'm looking forward to July as I'm spending the whole month working on the layout. Hope that you're all finding more modeling time than me at present. Squatch.

Bravo. We were admiring Metcalfe Rd. in a YouTube video a short while back. It's very well put together and unlike most layouts which focus on the railway, your modeling is a great change as it's the other way around. I'm interested to see what you do next. Regards Shaun.

Hi Adrian. You're making me rather home sick. Please take that as a compliment! Regards Shaun

Great to see that you're encouraging wildlife on Chuffnell Regis. The bats and barn owls will be moving in pretty quick and you'll be overrun with frog, newts and snakes before you know it! Lovely modeling Graham! Regards Shaun.

You know that you're quite right Neil, I just went to measure it and it is a foot under! I've been on the blower to the highways dept. who have informed me that they are aware of the error, something to do with over applications of tarmacadam since the bridge was built in 1859! No one uses it anyway as there's a solid 3-foot plasterboard wall on the other end and a 6-foot gap between the road and the wall and then a scale 240-foot drop in front of that! Regards Shaun

Thanks mate! I discovered that the phone can be turned upside down! Hopefully there'll be plenty of low angle opportunities like that on the new section. Regards Shaun

Perpetual summer huh, sounds too good to be true. Think of all the money you can save on heating (or in my case, not having to deal with firewood every day) and winter clothing. You could have the barbie going all year mate. Here's some pictures of the layout for you manna. regards Shaun

The Bexhill-Hastings end of the Sussex bay has always looked a bit shabby (That's why I didn't list them!) It's a shame Eastbourne has gone downhill, especially since Scale Rail closed huh! Some parts of Brighton are not very attractive either. Regards Shaun.

HI Manna This might take a while, I don't want to rush it! We had a couple of days sunshine and you should see how green it all looks. There is still some snow lingering up the mountain. The taller ones have a decent snow cap this year, some parts of the Sierra Navada had up to 25 feet of snow, which some forecasts predicting an end to the drought! I guess Queensland doesn't get snow, half of it's in the tropics isn't it? Will you be looking for a place that far north? Modeling time seems to be precious this year, I spent most of the day fixing tube lighting, putting that up and making my own cedar shims. Nearly had another panic attack when I saw the price of a pack down at the hardware store! Regards Shaun.

It's a bright, warm sunny day and the garage doors are open. I've set up some trestles and beams on which I've set 3 whole 8'x4' sheets of 6mm MDF. Told you it's gonna be big! It might be wise to put the sheets directly on the floor which will enable free movement in there, I'm not that old that I can't crawl about with a pencil for a couple of hours. It makes sense also because those sheets are too wide to stretch across. The final design will of course have a sexy curve to it in the usual Sasquatch fashion and with a bit of luck there will be a place to view the trains approaching head on!

Hi Julian. Have to agree, every time I visited the North of England I felt the industrial hard working atmosphere, but then again I'm from sunny Sussex with its white washed bright holiday resort atmosphere. Eastbourne, Brighton and Seaford are quite a contrast to Stoke, Bradford and Queensbury etc. Hope that you're well Regards Shaun.

Hi Chris, you're very kind! Just wondering if you will think the same of this smoggy, dirty, dank looking mill town when it's done? Regards Shaun.

Just a little bit more progress. The garage doors have had a fresh coat of paint. It feels quite luxurious in there now, I'm ready to bring in the trestles and the MDF sheets in leu of drawing up the mill town in the morning. A couple of trains for you to ogle at, both Thompson-esque. B1 and Thompson corridor stock with a non-corridor Gresley wooden bodied brake bringing up the rear. L1, still in apple livery emerges from abbey tunnel with a pair of Thompson 52' suburban coaches on. I wonder if the 2-6-4 will cope with that 1in75 gradient over the viaduct... Nope! Looks like it's got stuck!! They were prone to failure on gradients. (Luckily Hornby's model is very capable).

You could try mixing fine sand, white glue and acrylic paint. This will give a much less uniform look and allow for worn areas. If that's not fine enough have a test run with baking soda instead of sand, a little water helps to thin things a bit! Sandpaper coatings often contain clog resistant materials such as PTFE, which might not form a great base for paint! I was admiring the flow of your point work BTW. Looks great! Regards Shaun.

Hi Adrian, seeing as we're reminiscing over Kentish Inns and the like, I couldn't help thinking of The White Heart in Newenden, probably the coziest pub we ever visited. Spent a couple of hours in there waiting for the AA one rainy Easter bank holiday Monday (over 30 years ago now). When I looked it up on Google Earth, there's an Oast house just like your model right behind it! Regards Shaun. P.S. Happy easter, don't over do it on the chocolate eggs etc.

Hi Adrian. Guess I'll have to add a choir to that "still to do list" as well then! No Easter egg hunting for me this year!! Regards Shaun. Thanks BTW.

Things are starting to take shape after the weekends progress. A sheet of nice thick sketch pad paper was marked up by 4mm along each side. A good biro was used to score the lines every 4mm in one plane and with a pencil every 8mm in the other. I have acquired a guillotine from the yard sale stuff, intently for the purpose of slicing up the slate roofing strips. Makes this tedious job so much easier! Soon I had a pile of slate strips. The pencil lines help keep the rows straight as you work up the roof!! Next, I applied all the grime to the stonework. Then decided to make yet more alterations. Wood strip was added along the tops of all the walls and two courses of stone added, the lower one covers the existing top stone. I then used a triangular needle file to bring the individual stones across the wood. Roof sections were then trimmed down to fit and caping stone courses for the gables were added to the roof ends. Roof was slated up and given a coat of light slate acrylic. Lastly, I've touched up all the modifications to the stonework and added the window glazing. There's still much weathering detail to add along with two copper green rooves, one to the entrance and the other to the bell tower. Edit: ...not forgetting .......Doors, pews, down pipes, candle lighting, alter, organ, bells, chimes, vicar funeral party, coffin, coffin bearers, bats in the belfry. Squatch.