Sasquatch

The backscene and lighting on this layout are just perfect, they show off the Brunswick green locos and marron stock just right. My guess would be about 5pm around late May/early June or an Indian summer perhaps? Regards Shaun.

Hi Tony. That 3D print is very convincing! At first, I thought it was a photoshop because I see that you have employed the model you as your avatar! In answer to your question, don't worry you are not alone... For some reason I had the same sort of idea and used a Dapol figure which I painted in the style of my very first school uniform, that of Rudyard Kipling Infants school from 1970. Seen here watching a J50 pass the Halifax to Keighley platform at Queensbury in the early 1950s. Just goes to show that this hobby of ours is way too much fun! Regards Shaun.

A bit of fun the past couple of evenings. I'm sure it's been done before, this old Airfix 040 pug kit had been knocking around in my kits box forever. There were a couple of bits missing from the running gear, so I modeled it without any! The only tricky part was removal of the molded-on hand rails. 51214 has been properly loaded on hefty alder blocking and chained down well (with beading thread). The chaps at the L&Y preservation trust will have their work cut out locating the wheels etc. and restoring 51214. Those pistons look well and truly seized up! Squatch.

Thank you, thank you, thank you gentlemen. Hands are a bit shaky of late and I don't know why the sound is so bad. My problem is that it shows up a thousand things I need to put right. That base board joint where the oil train leaves the station has moved for a start. It took a lot to get everything to gel nicely. Phone kept doing things I didn't understand, the computer battery ran out, the pick-ups on 13029 were absolutely filthy and downhill running was so bad I took all the wheel sets out of the tankers and lubed them all up. The brake van is now missing a brake shoe too. Model trains seem act like animals when you try to point a camera at them!!! I will get the hang of it and hopefully the videos will improve. Until then you're all too kind, really. 😌 Regards Shaun.

If you're a Youtuber why not subscribe to the Grim-Up-North channel 😇 Hope that you enjoyed that extended video because it took up most of the day! Squatch.

Ditto! First class seat as well!! She will be treated like lady muck when she's here too. Just the problem with spiders. Mum is an arachnophobe, one black widow and she'll have some sort of an attack, it won't need to actually bite🙄

That's not a bad idea, having already crossed my mind and found it quite problematic because of the curve! Edit: Come to think of it, the platforms were removed after closure to passenger traffic so it's not worth the bother considering there was only a couple of freight workings each day after that! It would also be great to run things set in GNR days, alas I already have (Some would say) too much stock and to assemble the stock needed I'd need another lifetime. Having said that there will be the odd C1 with GNR coaching stock seen from time to time and on the other end of the scale many trains that would never have been seen at Queensbury including the odd diesel. YouTube tomorrow, I need a break from cabinets and stuffing wood stoves! Heads up that it won't be Queensbury, not until it's finished. Regards Shaun.

Just what I needed a good kick up the a***. I'll do it!

Thank you! That always seems to be the case. I've been spending my relaxation time watching too much YouTube instead of making models! It's not a complete waste of time because I intend to put the layout on YouTube and am observing how all the other Youtubers go about it. Yourself included who I should add does an excellent presentation! 🤩 Time is something I have plenty of, just got too many body (and now mind) issues, so am not very good at knuckling down to things. Hope that you are well. Regards Shaun.

All my modeling time this year seems to have been eaten up with other things, especially firewood. I'm not going to complain because now it has turned cold were nice and cozy. I'm still working in the shop building cabinets because I want our house to be in ship shape condition when my mum is here. Her coming all this way on her own is quite a big deal. The family talk about nothing else and my brother choked on his dinner when she told him. Thank you, BTW, I'm quite proud of that A4 and it has paved the way for some more repaints. Regards Shaun.

Too much to do here, there's far too much on my plate in general what with mum coming over next year. Seriously she's blown us all away and I still haven't got my head around it now that her ticket is sorted. Modeling mojo has tried to be stirred with prescriptions of Prozac, benzodiazepine and valium. Every other avenue will be exhausted and the white coat team will need a good straight jacket before I swallow any of it though. Don't panic (no pun intended), things are already looking up and relaxation with various unfinished projects continues, it's just that staying away from the internet is part of the solution. No doubt things will return to normal soon and the thread will see some sort of revival. At least I felt like taking a few pictures of some trains. The A4 Sir Nigel Gresley repaint project never had any images posted as promised. Although it falls short being tender drive and all but still ranks top of the loco favorites list! Hornby's Q6 is no stranger to passenger services on the layout, not unlike the Q6 of the NYMR. The rake of suburban teak stock it's hauling are all kit bashed Ian Kirk kits. The Lima J50 on a Bachmann GW64xx chassis still gives the Hornby ones a good run for their money, seen here on the short viaduct at Queensbury Thanks for taking the time to check in on here, I only wish I had more to share. Squatch

Nice! It's always a welcome sight to see LNER engineers-blue stock on layouts! Looking forward to it after the airbrush treatment. Regards Shaun

Midland Railway 2-4-0 has now been given a coat of black. While that's drying, the next project to have found its way from the modeling projects cupboard to the dining table/workbench is this kit. Me thinks it's a GWR double bolster wagon by D&S. It came free with another kit but without any instructions or floor. Now all the bit and bobs to complete it have been acquired I feel like having a go at it. Despite having built 100s of rolling stock kits this is my first white metal one. Has anyone ever built those compensated W iron assemblies or have instructions per se?

You can't beat a bit of double heading mate! Are both the E1 and the D2 (GNR D1) your RTR conversions Manna? Regards Shaun.

Here we go then, I tried to hold the phone still. Honest! That took forever. Squatch

While that is drying, I have finished up the detailing on 60007. One of those pipes must be an air brake, so I need to add the air tanks on the tender I think.

The primer hasn't really dried overnight despite the info on the can saying "dry in 10 minutes". It's a new can that I haven't tried before and think that it has reacted with the plastic. It's been sitting near the wood stove too. Now I'm trying a fan to see if that helps. Squatch.

Hi Manna. Ambitious plans I think! Love to see a picture of your E1... Managed to get the bearings fitted and the motor mounted. Two etch off-cuts were used to space the motor mount which I soldered to two medium top hat bearings. This leaves just the right amount of space for the gear! Dry run was very smooth without any lubricant. I can spray it all now. Here's two MR 2-4-0s, the second is a re-boilered engine. (I'm not sure that they were built like that but am pretty sure that's a fowler boiler and fire box. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of MR locomotives will shed light on it and correct me). Regards Shaun.

Sir Nigel Gresley is ready for duty, so when I get the garage warmed up there will be pictures! Cab has been detailed as much as possible. We awoke to an inch of snow this morning; I doubt very much that there will be an opportunity to get the primer on the next project. Before the mojo slips away, I have decided to get a few long overdue projects finished. Some half-built brake van kits, LNER Ian Kirk Quintuplet set and 5 loco projects are on the list. These are things that will get done while in doors with the log burner going. Half a day is needed to get the woodwork shop ready for the next project in there, the Mill Towne baseboards! 🤭 Next up then is this ex-midland 2-4-0. To cut a long story short the Perseverance chassis comes from a failed build whereby I somehow managed to melt the body trying to dry the paint. Having acquired another Ratio kit. I'm melding the two together with lots of detailing. It might be a challenge to get some weight in it, something easily done to the tender. It might be worth putting pickups on that too. Tender has also had the molded coal removed and replaced with a bunker. Loco body has had a scratch-built Westinghouse pump fitted along with all the plumbing associated with it. I did consider replacing the fire box top with a square one from a Jinty doner to make a reboilered engine. Always up for something a bit different me!! Squatch.

That's a beauty Felix! I also had a ride behind one on the Bluebelle line, about 23years ago. Looking forward to the video 😃. Regards Shaun

For the life of me, I can't seem to fathom out why Hornby's older A4 looks so much better than the newer one. There are subtle differences in the shape of Gresley's Bugatti Nose design on these models. The older one has more pronounced curves around the edges, is a little short and seems narrower between the lamp brackets. The older one has many obvious faults too, such as: thick boiler bands (if that's what you can call them), there's also too many gaps under the foot plate (if that's what you can call it) that let through too much light. There is more of a forward drop in the profile between the mid-section and the chimney. The arch on the footplate is about 1mm higher on the older model as well. It could be that all this makes it look just a bit more aerodynamic than the prototype! At first, I thought the glossy black paint made it look much smarter, which it does because (like has been discussed elsewhere) Hornby's paint is way to flat and plasticky looking! Here's the Railroad Mallard. I know it's a cheaper model but am sure it uses the same molding as the more expensive mainstream range. What is it with this? Is there just too much flat black that just seems to absorb all the light making it look a bit dull and boring. Either way, the blue looks so much more delightful than the GWR Brunswick green. I've never liked it on LNER engines, even when I first saw a A4 for the first time on the 1979 Hornby catalog at the age of 12 I didn't like it. The following year Hornby announced the release of Seagull in LNER garter blue and I was hooked! Do hope that I'm not chewing the cud too much here... Regards Shaun

Hi Julian. It would be interesting to put them side by side. I have a railroad Mallard here. The two things that sick out the most when placed next to 60007 are the overall shape of the front which seems more pronounced on the blue one and the glossy finish. (That was a tinlet of Phoenix BR loco blue which got smuggled through at least two over cautious postal services Shhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!.) I need to stop staring at it and get it finished. Regards Shaun.