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  • SouthernRegionSteam

    Coastguard Creek - 15 months of planning!

    By SouthernRegionSteam

    Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)   I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted
    • 8 comments
    • 3,310 views
Up the Line - 1918

The Big Push!

Finally back from that annual ritual of the Summer Holiday and have just about survived the over optimistic schedule, leaky cars with wobbly wheels and dodgy stomachs and now have to go hell for leather for a couple of weeks to get everything as ready as it can be for the first outing. There was a bit of progress in the week before we went but was just too busy to write it up and manage to take a bit of stuff with me so shall up date on these soon. Right now it is write a big to do list and d
KH1

KH1

2
Shipston-on-Stour Branch

Dean Goods loco chassis - 1

Having set the tender aside, and with Bank Holiday rain to prevent any outdoor activity, I started on the loco chassis.   All in all, things have gone well, barring a couple of silly mistakes which were easily rectified. The chassis fits nicely into the Hornby shell with a few minor adjustments with the craft knife. The tiny Mashima motor and gearbox were not too difficult to assemble and the mechanism is ready for testing before being stripped down for painting. The coupling rods and crank
Focalplane

Focalplane

7
TomE's N Gauge Modelling

Ropley - The Road to Ricoh 5

Hi all.   Just a quick entry this evening to show a little more progress.   Work the last few days has focused on finishing the backscene whilst I wait for a fresh delivery of track components and the locking, folding brackets for the fiddle yard legs.   I always intended the backscene to be a fairly simple affair, essentially representing a lovely sunny Hampshire day (he types, as it's grey & wet outside!) To get the effect I was looking for, the whole backscene was first sprayed wi
TomE

TomE

6
Halton Boy's Blog

Halton narrow gauge

Hi everyone Halton camp had a narrow gauge railway that was used to move timber to be sent to France in WW1. I am building the Halton light railway as 7mm standard gauge. Can I build the light railway part in 7mm 0-16.5 gauge. Will the two look alright running next to each other? Do Ixon produce 0-16.5 gauge engines? or should I use a Peco engine with a branchlines chassis. The narrow gauge will only be a small part of the model railway with one engine and some log trucks. I have tried t
Halton Boy

Halton Boy

6
Jessy1692's modelling bits and pieces

13 003 Finally up and running

Apologies for lack of updates iv been doing a bit of decorating for a mate so thats taken up pretty much all my spare time over the last month or so. Anyway 13 003 last time i left it was painted so slowly but surely transfers were added including thh wasp stripes, slapped a bit of weathering on and then blasted everything over with humbrol satin which i think leaves a lovely sheen.   Next i ordered an 08 sound chip from Charlie at DC kits and a couple of sugar cube speakers but then i found
jessy1692

jessy1692

7
Maxstoke

A Starter for Lambourn-mechanism

It seemed appropriate to show a picture of the bits that make it work. The servo motor is self explanatory. the brass plate screwed to the small block of ply is the main below baseboard drive. The red and black wires power the LED. What may not be so obvious is the double crank arrangement for the signal. Just below the red and black wires can be seen a small section of copper Mercontrol tube, a steel wire attached to the signal is guided through this to a small hole on the crank, which is very
RichardW1

RichardW1

2
Highclere - 2mm Finescale

A teeny weeny update

Hello   Just a little update, nothing really exciting to report this time but there are a couple of things worth mentioning...   1. Tank wagons...     This is the latest test build of my anchor mount tank wagon. I have tweaked the etches to make a 10ft wagon this time as its the one I actually need! This particular wagon has also got a 3D printed tank, printed in the classic FUD and with a very small amount of sanding came out really well. It looks like there has been a problem wi
-missy-

-missy-

9
Maxstoke

A Starter for Lambourn

It has long been a task to get Lambourn's platform mounted starter signal into operation. In fact the original non-working signal was broken some time ago. A fit of enthusiasm, and a wet weekend (Well two actually) has seen the task completed.   the signal was sited at the end of the platform, and so was unusual in that the balance weights were mounted high on the post, an early example of 'elf and safety'! I confess that the model is actually too tall, ( it should be a bit lower for the dri
RichardW1

RichardW1

2
A Shell Out On Tanks

A Shell Out On Tanks

Rather than convert Bachmann tanks which I did`nt feel were opened framed enough. I had a go at David Geen kits and started on a set of three. I began with a general clean up of parts and to work out how to incorporate my favourite w-irons.           this proved to be a little more complex as I had to to fit all three springing units seperately making sure they all squared up with the framing.       A little jiggery pokery to make sure the wheels were free of the framing.    
ROSSPOP

ROSSPOP

8
S H Model Making

Tyne Dock 9F

HI all,   Thought I would do a quick post whilst I am having a couple of days off, even though the phone keeps ringing   A Tyne dock 9F that I was asked to convert from a standard Bachmann 9F   I re-worded the water streak after taking the last pic as it was a little bit heavy but it was quite prominate on the proto pic that I was working from.   Cheers Simon
Mr.S.corn78

Mr.S.corn78

4
N-Gauge LMS Layout

Foster Street - (Playing Trains)

Well today I was another year older, so in an anti-celebration mood the Domestic Overlord and I walked (yes actually walked), into our local town to partake of a meagre spot of breakfast, spot the healthy tomato Once we managed to get on the outside of a weeks worth of calories, and still having the use of our legs we managed to walk home, this healthy living is easy. Anyway I set off to the railway room to work on a few of the outstanding jobs that never seem to get finished, and actually m
paulprice

paulprice

9
Engine Wood

'Bleakhouse Road' - prelude to play

With the RMWeb event at Coventry a mere three weeks away, it was time to get 'Bleakhouse Road' and put it up for testing, so that's what I did today. The layout last appeared in public at Weston-super-Mare in January 2013, which, for various personal reasons, was the most recent exhibition I've attended with one of my own layouts.   The layout was put up, but I didn't bother with the buildings and trees that aren't fixed down, this was primarily about ensuring that the layout was still in full
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

7
Ouse Viaduct/Balcombe/Lewes project

Some presentation planning

It's been a long time since there were any updates to the viaduct project (and no I haven't done any more to that footbridge). This has been due to a variety of non-modelling issues for both John and myself.   Anyway, we're back looking to rebuild some momentum. This weekend we have made significant progress in conceptual planning of the final presentation format (of which more in due course). The main thing was to decide how high to have the track, bearing in mind that it will be different
10800

10800

0
Shipston-on-Stour Branch

Dean Goods tender - 1

I have started on the Dean Goods 0-6-0 and the tender is basically built, minus the rear buffer beam, so here is an update. The Comet kit comes in two parts, tender chassis and tender frame. The Hornby shell sits on top of the frame after some whittling and still needs that hideous pile of coal to be excised.   The chassis includes the brake gear and could have a water pickup but this has been excluded:     The frame contains the rest of the undercarriage:     The two bolt together b
Focalplane

Focalplane

3
GWR Standard wooden halt in 7mm

Dont say SARSDEN say CHURCHILL . second part.

I was hoping to use Balsa wood for this part but could only find Bass wood ,which is fine , but looks less aged and grainy. However, it was probably a bonus on the stability front. I thought a base for the whole platform would aid stability as the platform was to be built around the front of the signal box.           I had already purchased a Skytrex GWR Pagoda and intended to upgrade this as well as use the whitemetal platform supports to save me much time.                
ROSSPOP

ROSSPOP

1
Shipston-on-Stour Branch

Around Fenny Compton

Bank Holiday Weekend, cold, cloudy, oh well, what to do?   We drove over to Burton Dasset and then selected a random area to explore, namely the crest of the Oxford Canal near Fenny Compton. Fenny Compton was where the GWR and the S&MJR lines crossed and we were just south of the twin stations, neither of which now stands. The Oxford Canal is considered to be one of the country's most scenic and in this area it certainly lives up to its reputation.   As at Watford Gap, the canal, railw
Focalplane

Focalplane

0
GWR Standard wooden halt in 7mm

Dont say SARSDEN say CHURCHILL. first part.

Needed to try my hand at 7mm building construction. Also thoughts about a small-ish end to end 7mm layout/test track to run my stock. Found what I was looking for on a book about the Banbury and Cheltenham . Sarsden Halt should have been called Churchill Halt, but Lord Ducie at Sarsden House intervened..... I have therefore used modellers licence and changed it back......     I had acquired a fret of GWR window frames from Churchward Models and with photo references and my `Guessometer` I m
ROSSPOP

ROSSPOP

0
BRM Blog

A background for painted people

In the September issue of BRM, I've been painting some little people. While the step-by-step guide covers the painting part, I've set them in a little scene with the two hikers asking directions from the passing cyclist. Here's how I built the model - it's in 7mm scale but everything would work in 4mm:     The base for the scene is an offcut of plywood 16cm by 14cm. My plan involved a gateway on to the country road so household DIY filler was used to build up the grass verges and cam
Phil Parker

Phil Parker

1
GWR Metro 7mm. The last ever white metal kit

An old Castle models kit

I still like making whitemetal kits but having moved into 7mm modelling this is to be the last. Bought through the O Guage Guild Society relatively cheaply with wheels included, I already had a motor and gearbox in the spares box. The kit is from the 1980`s and the body castings seemed reasonable. With some major fettling of the body parts I felt she would make a reasonable loco.     By thinning the edges I felt she would have a much better profile.           The boiler casting wo
ROSSPOP

ROSSPOP

10
Matthew Cousins' Blog

Now has a name - Cadwell Moor

Having been spotted on RMWeb by a fellow rail artist Craig Tiley, my outdoor layout got featured in RM by him, which was very flattering considering that the railway is still a work in progress. Anyway, Craig asked what the name of the railway was and I hadn't really thought of one, so came up with my old spotting location of Cadwell plus a description of Moor, which I suppose goes with the rugged viaduct and heathers? Have had a couple of recent running sessions with some visiting locos.  
Matthew Cousins

Matthew Cousins

6
Sylvian Tennant's archive of pants!

Who said I couldn't do it in time for Blyth?!

Well I did really... But I managed to surpass even my own expectations and got my breakdown train finished!   and here's the results.         About three generations of Hornby Railways are combined in this one train... plus a Bachmann J39.   All of the train (save the 12t van) have been heavily modified in some way or another.   I'm currently waiting to see it;s first proper useage at Railex NE at Blyth. If you're around, please don't hesitate to say hi.
Sylvian Tennant

Sylvian Tennant

0
Jon's DCC Train Set

Post #003 Getting my head round DCC

I've read quite a bit about DCC and despite lots of reassurances from RM Webbers saying that DCC isn't complicated, it always felt like it would be difficult. This isn't a criticism of any individual RM Webber, but one problem is there are often conflicting views and from a non-expert position there's no arbiter to help you work out who is right. And the likelihood is, in their way, everyone is right, depending on their circumstances.   I read the Hornby booklet that came with the train set an
Jongudmund

Jongudmund

3

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    • Yan
      Post Scaleforum 2024

      By Yan · Posted

      Thank you for leaving the comments and thoughts guys, much appreciated.   Both Butley Mills and Ditchling Green are with new owners that are currently refurbishing them. Even the modelling skill and composition still shine through, so they were both well worth seeing in the flesh. One of Iain Rice's layouts I'd like to get the opportunity to see is Trerice.
    • BarryP
      Post Scaleforum 2024

      By BarryP · Posted

      It's good to see so many positive reviews of a model railway exhibition. I did dabble in S4/P4 way back and Iain Rice's writings were inspirational. I saw Butley Mills when it was first shown at Scaleforum in 1987 and I loved it. Gordon Gravett's models are fabulous and I would love to see them in the flesh, as it were. I did visit two shows specifically to see the magnificent "Pempoul" layout that the Gravetts built, that was the finest I've ever seen. I'm dabbling in "O" Gauge and an opportuni
    • Keith Addenbrooke
      Post Scaleforum 2024

      By Keith Addenbrooke · Posted

      Good to see it was a positive experience - and really nice to see a couple of photos of Ditchling Green (I didn’t realise it was still around).  Always struck me as a lovely layout: an early example perhaps of the ‘less is (so much) more’ approach to railway modelling that is now widely appreciated.  Keep up the good work, Keith.
    • Mikkel
      Post Scaleforum 2024

      By Mikkel · Posted

      The layout and info display looks very good. Thanks for posting photos of the other layouts, always a gift for those of us abroad - especially when they are this good.   Imposter syndrome is common I think, it can hold us back but on the hand I'll take that over bragging anytime.  
    • Mikkel
      Netherport and Basuto Quay Chronology

      By Mikkel · Posted

      That sounds like a good approach Nick, thank you for clarifying. A sense of space is so important, less is more and all that.   The Penzance photo shows unloading of flower traffic from the Scilly Isles (no date). It features on the front page of this volume by Tony Atkins. The book is perhaps not unexpendable and a tad dry, but it is informative and some of the photos are lovely.    

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