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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
I 'ad that

New 3 rail layout construction progress - part one (March to May)

I built a 3 rail layout on individual boards, primarily for personal use but it ended up being exhibited on several occasions.   It started showing its age, the boards began to warp and trains started to derail and uncouple, so my brother suggested we build a new, smaller layout and add some scenery.   We started work in March 2014.   The previous layout, at 16ft by 10ft was a bit of a monster and I wanted a layout where I could operate it and observe the entire layout from one position.
andy2308

andy2308

0
MikeOxon's Pre-Grouping Blog

A Year in Retrospect

My first post in the Forums was in July 2013 while I started this blog a little later, in August. I've not been doing much modelling recently, since other activities take up most of my time during the Summer months, but I do spend time thinking "where next?" and also taking stock of the past year.   A year ago, i had just started trying to re-create some late-19th century "atmosphere", while knowing rather little about how things were actually done. Thanks to the patience and help of m
MikeOxon

MikeOxon in general

5
Brackhampton Snow Hill

Brackhampton and the 21st Century

Impressed with what can be acheived with 3D printing I have been having a play over the weekend with "Sketchup" a free 3D drawing programme that can be downloaded off the interweb.   I had intended to use the ratio canopy kits to produce the extensive canopies that covered the bay platforms at Snow Hill. Each one being approximately a metre long (or more) in model form. However the work needed to beef these up was concerning me, and I wasn't sure that they would look high enough.   They also
rovex

rovex

0
eetype3's Traction Blog

Lima diesels - putting the record straight

Hello,   Long time no post - but the modelling's continued when time and health permit.   Time to right a long-term wrong.. that being the general ill-feeling towards Lima products - which (and it pains me to admit) I have also been party to in the past.   Lima diesels are now well into bargain territory; with little searching, it is possible to obtain a near-mint example of most Lima diesels - limited editions possibly excepted - for £30-£35. In most cases, what you get is a robust, relia
eetype3

eetype3

1
The Farthing layouts

Traverser testing

I’ve been testing my somewhat "under-engineered" traverser, and made a little video to show it in operation.   It continues to work well, and I now have some faith in the basic concept. I’m in the process of re-enforcing how the tubes are fixed in the foamboard, but that is more of a pre-emptive move than a result of any actual problems so far. The running is smoother than rendered by the video.   PS: I’m aware of the period inconsistency between loco and wagons, it's all sti
Mikkel

Mikkel

19
garethashenden's Workbench

850 Part 4

More progress has been made. The rods are fitted and the quartering adjusted. It runs!!! I think it needs a little adjustment, it's not as smooth as it could be a very slow speeds. But still, the split chassis works as do the CSBs. I've fitted the springs, sandboxes and buffers. I've also fitted the brakes and primed the whole chassis. Since the picture was taken everything has been painted black. I still need to fit something to represent the bottom of the boiler, otherwise the motor
garethashenden

garethashenden

2
ootrainoo's Blog

Hornby railroad MK1s

Welcome to my Blog.   I start this Blog on a subject close to my heart. Passenger coaches. The Hornby Railroad MK1 in my opinion is a great addition to the range. It is finer looking than the Bachmann equivalents. One BIG draw back was the lack of close coupling. I tried various nem couplers and came up with the option shown in the picture. A Roco coupler and a Hornby (Roco type) coupler. One is short the other longer. Now the problem is buffer lock on radius 1 & 2. Solution? 1/ Cut the
ootrainoo

ootrainoo

1
Up the Line - 1918

Problems of all sorts!

It just has been one of those weeks really on all sorts of levels! You can take that as an apology for not a lot of progress and not a lot in the way of pictures. There are pictures but they are on the computer that is out of action with a faulty PSU (I hope!). Was fairly well prepared for such things having bought an emergency spare a few months ago onto which I had transferred some stuff but not nearly enough. Along with school plays, and loads of other things cropping up not very much time l
KH1

KH1

2
Petes Model workshop (or ramblings from the balcony)

GWR MOGUL (12)

Some more done, getting ever closer to the wet stuff.   Firstly the squared up cab.     Then onto the final missing parts. The exhaust injector, or a representation of it. and the missing reverser. I think that is all the parts now apart from the back head etc. I will do that next.   It had it's legs fitted for testing the ride height and to sort out the bogie pivot and fixing point. I am also considering a centralisation spring too. I will lo
N15class

N15class in GWR 63XX MOGUL

0
Wenlock's Blog

Bridge Construction part 2

Once I was happy with the overall size and shape of the bridge, the underside of the arches, parapets and abutments could be tackled. South Eastern Finecast brick embossed sheet was wrapped around a curved former of a suitable diameter (Empty bottle of Aussie red wine!), then placed in a bowl of boiling water and allowed to cool. Once back to room temperature the sheet stayed in a reasonable curve and was glued to the underside of the bridge side walls. Flat embossed plasticard sheet was also cu
wenlock

wenlock

14
mikeandnel's Pre-Group Blog

Fifth Attempt

Well it has been seven months since I posted the last entry in my blog and this will probably be the last one. I have reached the age of 81 and am now suffering from Parkinson's Disease, which means that I am now unable to hold things still while soldering or detailing or lining. Other than that, I am fine!. I have posted a request for help in completing some of the kits which are still not completed and have had one gentleman offer to help, but could do with more help as there are quite a lot t
mikeandnel

mikeandnel

0
Modbury - 2mm Finescale (Brunel's Baulk Road)

Modbury - Trackwork 3

Finally, a start on building the Baulk Road track work for Modbury...   Initially, the baulks for the station approach along the embankment have been laid. These were fixed to the track bed with really runny super glue, capillary action sucking the adhesive under the baulk as it was held in position. The baulk for the other rail was laid at the same time using the previously prepared "Baulk Roller Gauges". Once the position of the first turnout was reached, the positions for the switch tie bar
Ian Smith

Ian Smith

12
knapper's workbench

First foray into metal kits and 0 gauge - Part 4

It's been a while since any update but progress has been made. Shortly after my last update I attached the axle boxes but made a bit of a mess of it. I had two problems, the first was that I stuck with my original iron tip (now way past its best), and the second was that I'm not using a temperature controlled iron. The end result was that I melted the edges of the axle boxes slightly (the pictures below show this). Basically I was impatient and just wanted to carry on. I decided to be sensible a
knapper

knapper

2
SRman's Workbench Blog

Repairing a Hornby N15

A few months ago, I bought a Hornby BR early green N15, 30737 King Uther, at a very reasonable price, with the knowledge that it had a little damage on the tender rear, including missing a buffer and the lower corner of the buffer beam, plus a bit of the upper fairing being broken.   I have slowly been repairing this damage using plasticard and filler and a pair of Bachmann sprung buffers. Repairing the damage was relatively easy but touching up the pre-weathered paintwork took a little bit of
SRman

SRman

0
Neil_S_Wood's Blog

One step forward two steps backward

Well, have done a fair bit more but it doesn't really look it. Most of what I have done has been rewiring and point instalation.   I got four more points and motors installed. Went to buy some more Tillig flexi track from the Orient Express stand at the Caulfield show when I was there the other week but they had forgotten to bring the flexi track with them. Ended up buying some points and motors instead. Have them all installed and connected up now. There we go; that's 300 bucks there. Do
Neil_S_Wood

Neil_S_Wood

0
Petes Model workshop (or ramblings from the balcony)

GWR MOGUL (11)

I decided I ought to get on and do some of the scratch building of the missing parts. But firstly I found an error with the body. Although built on a jig the rear drop down sloped down hill, which made the cab lean backwards, like a ship with a broken back. Not good at all. I never checked with a square as it fitted well and was as I say on a jig. Once free of the jig it was very noticeable. Fortunately I only needed to remove the firebox to straighten it up. The rear splashers unfortunately cam
N15class

N15class in GWR 63XX MOGUL

0
gc4946's Model World

Another complete (in itself) loco collection possibility now - part 9

Recently I won on an auction site two PC Models kits of LNWR 50' non-corridor stock in their original LNWR livery, a composite and brake third.     They were drafted onto ex-Wirral Railway lines after grouping in 1923 by the LMS to replace aging Wirral Railway stock, some of them retained LNWR livery for a short while before repainting into the LMS style.   Although the PC Models kits have long been discontinued, they're a timesaver for me as I couldn't have reproduced the ornate LNWR car
gc4946

gc4946

0
Barry O's Weathering Blog

Wagons and coaches....

Well in between umpiring I have finally managed to do some more weathering. At the moment this has been confined to a coach and some wagons.   The coach is a Hornby Hawksworth in Blood and Custard. I am not sure how accurate these are but they are very nice models..     and of the wagons well, yet another Murgatroyd's Tanker has been weathered (and the next one has just arrived)..     and I have been busy re-weathering a pair of Dapol Private owner rectangular tank wagons..    
Barry O

Barry O

6
SRman's Workbench Blog

Class 30 and 31 trials, tribulations and modifications

School holiday jobs: I have re-chassised my green Hornby Brush type 2 (class 30), D5513, as the original was one of those with the dreaded metal "cancer". That was all right, except I got the bogies at the wrong ends, initially; the difference is in the wire lengths! I had carefully noted the wiring before disconnecting all the wires from the pcb but, on reassembly, I found that the lights weren't working properly on DC or DCC (I started with the decoder removed and the original Hornby blanking
SRman

SRman

0
AllScales' Gerlos Blog

First train from Gerlos!

I'm afraid it's wonky, not very high resolution and the lighting is not great...   However, I decided it was time to try and actually run a loco around the track so far. So I got out 2095.04 and first tried it on its own. This was successful and the loco only stopped once (not bad on track that hasn't been cleaned in years).   So for a bit of grand test, I got out some of the stake wagons, they are very light and so should derail at the first opportunity. This was not to be, despite a double
AllScales

AllScales

0
Somewhere in Germany

Sparks and lasers

I've been making further small steps of progress, and taking pictures of it with a potato. I shouldn't be so lazy, I have a better camera...   Electrification work has started, under the experienced tutelage of Andi Dell (Dagworth, Ravensclyffe) . Sommerfeldt masts are a pig to solder to. I think if I was doing any more extensive electrification, I would draw up etches in a more solder-friendly material, brass or nickel-silver. The U channel is the wrong way round, which is ironic as I was try
Taigatrommel

Taigatrommel

0
BRM Blog

Train-Tech 2 aspect signal

In the August issue of BRM, Howard builds some etched signals in 7mm scale. Inspired by this, I've tried the economically priced operating colour light signals for 4mm scale models from Train-Tech.   The company produce a range of designs, each supplied in kit form and simple enough for anyone to build who has stuck an Airfix Spitfire together.   The two aspect signal I built costs less than £10 and takes about half an hour to assemble and paint. It's designed for DC control but DCC versions
Phil Parker

Phil Parker

2
Mr.S.corn78's Blog

Life, the wilderness......& S H Model Making

Hello,   My name is Simon and you may remember me from such blog entries as,     Layout progress and Taunton RMweb members day SECR Ballast van 4mm   and The secret Diary of an exhibition exhibitor/ Demonstrator Well as you may have noticed that its been a very and I mean very long time since I wrote on here (just under 3 years ) and a lot has happened in that time. You may remember the last entry listed above well that was about two shows in to a back to back run of 6 weekends on th
Mr.S.corn78

Mr.S.corn78

8

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  • Blog Comments

    • 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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