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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
ess1uk's Workbench Blog

PWA vans.

The latest 2 new arrivals to Ruby Road are PWA vans for a UKF bagged fertiliser flow to Gillingham and Andover from Ince near Stanlow.   One of the vans needs attention to fix broken/missing buffers on end and there are a couple of missing hand wheels, but nothing serious. I must also figure out a way of getting them to couple closer together.
ess1uk

ess1uk

4
Chronicles of Notlob's Siding

Peckett "Y" Class - Framed! (part 1)

"I didn't do nothing wrong, but I always got the blame" sang Alex Harvey in Framed. Well, let's hope nothing goes wrong in making the frames for the Peckett. An inside framed 0-4-0 is a reasonably simple starting point nowadays.   When I first started in 2mm finescale circa 1982/83, something like this would have been much more difficult, as appropriately sized wheels & motors were just not available. Today, the 2mm finescale modeller is almost spoilt for choice.   Normal
2mmMark

2mmMark in Loco construction

6
Jessy1692's modelling bits and pieces

Tinsley Special, 13 003

Evening all, thanks to a couple of very fortunate ebay purchases earlier this week i have just taken the plunge and started creating my very own class 13.   Im aiming for 13 003 in blue when its finished, but at the moment there is a lot of work to do on the slave unit before i get to the spray cans out   So this is what iv started with, a model of 3256, not in the best on nick but useable for the slave unit. I did some research and it soon dawned on me that the 13's all had smooth body s
jessy1692

jessy1692

0
Paternosterrow

XP 64 Project

A little project to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. I always loved the red flash double arrow logo and wish BR had adopted it for the whole of the corporate era.     There's certainly a lot of life left in these old Lima models. I spent a lot of time trying to match the colour BR had first used - turquoise blue - and eventually found this colour. It's not a perfect match and seeing how I'm limited to using spray cans (I haven't yet plucked up the courage to go buy an air brush) it was
PaternosterRow

PaternosterRow

13
Clachbeg: base and scenery

Completing the ground cover of the station

I was not satisfied with the triangle behind the outer loop track: it was too obviously formed of flat layers. I therefore added about half a kilogramme of lightly-coloured plaster to soften the contours. I also covered the final surfaces between the platforms with a thin coat of plaster. In this step I want to get the ground covered and coloured, not in its final state necessarily but “natural”-looking.     This is the remodelled triangle; hard to see the contours here.     The passen
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg: base and scenery

Ballasting the station

Finally the groundwork and platforms are in place, and I can proceed with ballasting the track.   The ballast is a mixture of excellent scale granite chips and fish tank gravel; the latter is rather colourful, but it will all be coloured dark grey so I hope that the two will blend. I inadvertently mixed a handful of larger fish tank gravel into the mix, so there are some 3"–4" pieces here and there. Altogether I have 8 kg of gravel to hand...   The method I am using is similar to smaller sca
Richard T

Richard T

0
garethashenden's Workbench

Finescale American N

I have made a point using FS 160 standards. These are basically 2mmFS standards regauged to 9.0mm instead of 9.42mm. I've been wanting to try this for a while, now I have. I'm quite please with how it came out and will be continuing with these standards. Lots of pictures:
garethashenden

garethashenden

0
Fourgig East

Rodding, board one - done.

I'm please to say the rodding on the first and most complicated board is done. Aided by my new toy - an LED head torch. I now have light wherever I look   A few snaps of the completed rodding including the cross rods to the double slip and the first set of compensators       I've removed the chance of the cross rods shorting out the track by copying a bit of prototypical trackwork and added an insulator between the rails - a small rectangle of double sided PCB that the rod halves are
RedgateModels

RedgateModels

0
A Wellingborough Fireman

March 1952

Sa 1 8/53-7.15 Wboro – Brent 48269, Brent – Toton 48167 Rushden A 4 BR 0 Su 2 Off M 3 6.0-2/0 Wboro – Brent 48678 Tu 4 5.50-1/20 Wboro – Toton (lodge) 47971 W 5 11/30-10.15 Toton – Wboro 48359 Th 6 Rest Day F 7 5.45-1/10 Wboro – Toton (lodge) 48180 Sa 8 11/30-7.30 Toton – Wboro 48671 Su 9 1.50-8.40 London – Leicester 44168 M 10 9/19-9.5 Brent – Toton 48662
nomisd

nomisd

0
A Wellingborough Fireman

February 1952

I have slightly changed the layout from the first entry. It is now day, date, booking on and off time followed by the turn then the loco. If more than one trip is listed they are shown in the order in the diary. I have put the day, date and places the turn was to and from in bold to make it a bit easier to read. I will go back and re-format the January 1952 to be the same at some point.   F 1 9/50-8.20 Wboro – Brent 48644, Brent – Wboro 48415 Sa 2 9/50-7.10 Wboro – Brent
nomisd

nomisd

0
A Wellingborough Fireman

January 1952

Tu 1 9/35-6.5 Henlow 43367 W 2 9/35-6.5 Henlow 43367 Th 3 9/35-6.5 Henlow 43367 F 4 9/35-6.5 Henlow 43367 Sa 5 9/35-6.5 Henlow 43367 Earls Barton 3 BR 2 Su 6 Off M 7 5.0-1/15 Trips 43856 Tu 8 4.0-12/0 Relief 48672, 48415, 48151 W 9 4.0-11.15 Relief 48678, 48644 Th 10 5.50-12/0 Wboro – Toton (lodge) 48367 F 11 11/30-6.55 Toton – Wboro 47977 Sa 12 4.0-12/0 Relief 48073, 48620 BR 0 Rushden A 0 Su 13 12.5-8.20 Wboro – Brent 48305, Brent – Toton 48037 M 14 9/40-8.50 Wboro – Wigston
nomisd

nomisd

0
A Wellingborough Fireman

Introduction

My grandfather was a life long railway man. He started his working life on the LMS as a knocker upper in Watford in the 1930s. He worked his way up to a passed fireman and at the start of WW2 he was transferred to Wellingborough. He stayed in Wellingborough for the rest of his life, retiring as a driver in the early 1980s. After he died a couple of years ago, I inherited his ASLEF diaries for 1952 & 1953. In these he recorded every single turn that he did over those two years.   I have mus
nomisd

nomisd

1
Barry Ten's Blog

Using Train-Safe storage tubes

Sometimes a really useful product can slip under the radar a bit ... at least in my case. My 4mm layout was never intended to be anything that a glorified test track with a bit of scenery, and so I wasn't overly concerned that the fiddle yard capacity was rather limited. There are six storage tracks, but only three are of what I'd call a decent length, and two are really only comfortably long enough for a B-set or two car DMU. I was fine with that - it's only a single track cross-country line an
Barry Ten

Barry Ten

5
Northall

Not in the mood….

I have trouble with my hay fever eyes. Modelling is a real challenge with cloudy sight every 5 minutes. Fortunately for my I don’t suffer from other hay fever problems any more due my medication. After trying for some while I stopped. I have to wait till sight is not cloudy anymore. Did some paperwork modelling instead. Trying to get my Northall story fitting to the design of my modules. Searching for background information to create stories for Northall based firms, companies and shops. So
Job's Modelling

Job's Modelling

12
Dave Holt's Blog

Delph - Bridge work progress

I've been doing some further work on the Dobcross bridge/tunnel which forms part of the scenic break at the exit to the fiddle yard. Recent work has been to add a section of curved wall alongside the steep lane going over the bridge. These days, it is almost completely obscured behind brambles and other thick undergrowth but I imagine it was fully exposed to view at the time the railway is set (mid to late 1950's). It appears in a photo on page 23 of Larry Goddard's Delph to Oldham book. Follow
Dave Holt

Dave Holt

0
drduncan's workbench

The wagon and carriage shop - coal 'Private Owners'

Having forgot to pack the weathered O13s when I headed off to the club yesterday evening, I thought I'd best photograph something I did have in the stock box - some POs that have just had their final coat of varnish.       One of the problems with modelling PO wagons in Cornwall (and pre-1914 to boot) is the lack of photographic evidence. So, in order to keep the Empire Mills china clay dries and the industries on my own slowly gestating layout supplied with coal, I have made a few assum
drduncan

drduncan

0
The Legge Lane MPD Blog

Why Legge Lane - what's in a name?

The fictional motive power depot had to have a name and I chose one that relates to my childhood, particularly those years when I was an avid trainspotter. Legge Lane does exist but is not close to any railway line, past or present. It is in Birmingham's Jewellry District, post code B1, not far from the city centre. But it is up on a hill so would never have been selected for a railway route. I spent a lot of my adolescence there (and in the nearby Museum of Science and Industry).   The na
Focalplane

Focalplane

2
Up the Line - 1918

Going to the wall

Just as a little aside as I complete the barn, and as another step towards filling in all the 'white bits' I have been working on a little wall section. Quite a satisfying little project actually as a good result pretty quickly which is good as have been far too busty today engaged in the troublesome business of doing some proper work for a change.   Last night I knocked up a quick foam board shell, stuck on some embossed plasticard and then some thinly worked bits of DAS - bit like marzipanin
KH1

KH1

0
wainwright1's Blog

Old Humbrol Thinners

Hi All. Not sure if anyone has raised this issue before, but I will do it now and see who might know the answer.   Humbrol changed the formular for its paint some years ago and the type of thinners used for the new type is not compatible with the old paint, and vice versa. Having built up a fairly good stock over the years, most of which is still quite usable, but sometimes getting a little thick, can anyone advise if the thinner for the old paint was a a proprietory spirit which could be bou
wainwright1

wainwright1

3
garethashenden's Workbench

850 Part 3: Bodywork

Now that the chassis is mostly done it's time to do the body. This is all pretty standard etched kit building, so how about more pictures than words?   Forming the curved splashers was a bit fiddly, but not too hard. The option front steps were added as they are present on my prototype (1907). The half cab was folded up and soldered in position followed by the cab floor and cab wheel covers.   One issue with building the locomotive with a split chassis is that the footplate will cause a sh
garethashenden

garethashenden

0
sigtech's Blog

Sproston - running something for a change (part 2)

Have recently had an enjoyable operating session which helped to clean the track,- it being sometime since a loco hauled movement had taken place. Still to be decided is which coupling system to standardize on - all stock is fitted with tension lock couplings, so I suppose that is the obvious way to go, I find that the only problem with this is the large number of uncoupling ramps that will be necessary to enable all the proposed train movements to take place. It also seems that nearly ever
sigtech

sigtech

5

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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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