Jump to content
 

Blogs

Featured Entries

  • 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
Links

Four weekends, four shows (of a sort)

The last four weeks have been busy, first there was the Ally Pally show, some purchases were made, but no "horrendous parchasing accidents", just some track, a Roco N DB 215 class, and a signal.   Next was a stag weekend in Bristol, a visit to the S.S. Great Britain and the Clifton suspension bridge included ( the joys of not staying up all night)...   Then NGS, even though I am a member of the 009 society, I decided to avoid the AGM and concentrate on the exhibits. Sorry guys, I know it has
AllScales

AllScales

0
Cowes & Newport in 4mm scale

Heading North out of Newport

Track laying has reached the North end of Newport. Not without some problems and the usual cycle of two steps forward and one backwards. I have about 8 feet to go until the continuous run is in place, but ALL the track will be built before I start any wiring. So nothing running for some time to come and lots of sidings to lay at Newport.   As mentioned before, the layout is considerably compressed and configured on a continuous curve to fit the available space. The object is to reproduce the s
ChrisG

ChrisG

0
Building Buckden

Brake van special

Yesterday me and K went on a cycle ride down the Avon to Portishead, which gave the opportunity to visit my not-quite-closest model shop (Model Railways direct). The recent release of the Bachmann Midland 20T break van is perfect for Buckden, so I'd been planning to slowly build up a collection over a few model shop visits. However, the lovely people at Model Railways direct were out of stock, and also let me know that Bachmann have completely sold out of all of them - which is impressive as the
Ivatt46403

Ivatt46403

3
North London Railway in 7mm

Making a start in O gauge

Finally making a start in O gauge modelling! So far I've done plenty of armchair research, joined the O gauge guild, bought a couple of rolling stock kits, and started building them, and thought about what period to model, and which company.   Have sounded out a few members at the MRC who are interested in O gauge, but haven't found any who are interested in the late Victorian /Edwardian period, so it look like it will be a personal layout.   As I live in Islington, and am a member of the M
EdwardNo2

EdwardNo2

7
The GC and Met in OO

GCR clerestory brake third

I'm having a final push to complete my rake of GCR clerestories. The final pair of carriages are intended to be a brake third and a brake composite- the brake third can be converted fairly easily from the Hornby clerestory brake but the composite will need a little more thinking about.   I've descibed my methods when it comes to building these clerestories before- basically I remove all of the moulded beading, rearrange the compartments as necessary then add new beading in thin evergreen str
James Harrison

James Harrison

0
SRman's Workbench Blog

A minor tweak to one of the LBC Southdown coaches

My modelling abilities have been temporarily curtailed, along with my on line presence and reading abilities; I had a cataract removed from my right eye last Tuesday and am having the left one done this coming Tuesday. I am typing this with one lens in my glasses and a patch over the right eye!! Once the left eye is done, I will have to wait for some reading glasses before I can see properly to read and type again - I will be doing a little of both but with severe limitations for a month or so.
SRman

SRman

2
Ashbridge blog

A tour if the layout

Here are some pictures of the layout after the first ones didn't work. Ashbridge 00 gauge Model Railway by firstbusphotos, on Flickr The station and village shop (left). Ashbridge 00 gauge Model Railway by firstbusphotos, on Flickr Overall view of the layout. Ashbridge 00 gauge Model Railway by firstbusphotos, on Flickr The scratchbuilt bridge and the bus depot. Ashbridge 00 gauge Model Railway by firstbusphotos, on Flickr Roadsigns at the junction. Ashbridge 00 gauge Model Ra
Intercity 125

Intercity 125

0
Clachbeg: buildings

Stonemason’s shed: plans

Initial plans for the Stonemason’s shed. Paradoxically this will be a brick building (records show it was built of bricks from the Brora Brickworks; the bricks were probably taken on as ballast by a coastal steamer and then unloaded at Kinlochy), with a stone plinth and stone platform and a slate roof. The design is my own and will be refined further.     At this stage I’m tempted to build this “properly”: using stones for the base and scale bricks as well as wood and glass for the windows
Richard T

Richard T

1
Clachbeg: buildings

Initial plans for Clachbeg buildings

I foresee three-and-a-half buildings at Clachbeg: the goods shed the passenger shelter the stonemason’s shed and the mine, which will be a tiny and flimsy affair   Each of the buildings will have a full interior, as they will all be at eye-level. They will be projects in their own rights, modest as they are.     The stonemason’s shed with platform. This will be a stone building and platform. A dry stone wall will abut against the backscene on the left.     The pa
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg: rolling stock

Initial rolling stock plans

The plan is to build the vehicles used on the Clachbeg branch and not be distracted by interesting but un-prototypical vehicles...   As such the building plan will encompass: Patrick—Internal combustion engine: this is the 3-ton Plymouth I’d like from Sierra Valley Enterprises in ready-to-run form. It is on order and will arrive in due course. A wonderful indulgence justified by a significant birthday! Sandy—Internal combustion engine: this will be a scratch-built Simplex Canisp—9
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg: trackwork

Starting the bridge

I made a start on the branch-line bridge.   First up was to measure out and make the stone abutments for each side. I’d already carved away craft foam to the nearest layer down, which gave me level and known base heights (in the absence of scale theodolites a useful reference!). I then used the hot wire cutter and a craft knife to shape two rectangular blocks of craft foam, one for each end, into which I drew dressed stone outlines with a soft pencil (and forgot to photograph). These are visib
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg: trackwork

Track templates

I had the track plan—which measured 2500 × 2500 mm—printed out by a local printer in full-size sections, which I laid out and taped together across the craft foam to get a sense, for the first time, of the whole track.     Laying out the prints and taping them together.     It became easier when I cut away the unneeded paper (I followed the loading gauge lines which I had included in the print-out).   Note the coving filling the inner corner of the baseboard: simply craft-foam shape
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg

Permanent Way

Track   A prime consideration in the building of the line was the weight of materials, which had to be brought to the estate by small coastal steamer. Rail weight in particular was thus kept to a minimum, the rail and related ironmongery being imported from Glasgow.   The main line and the Clachbeg branch are laid with 25-pound, 15' long rails on locally-produced wooden sleepers; many sidings still use the original 12-pound rail in 9' lengths, whilst the Bealach line is laid with 12-pound r
Richard T

Richard T

0
Montgomery01's Blog

What is a large model collection?

What constitutes a large model railway collection, and what are the largest by volume in the UK? I have often asked how collections compare, and have recently had to itemise mine for removalists and insurance. My son and I have two collections, his continental N gauge is 85 locos to the good, about 200 carriages and similar number of wagons. My British Railways OO is 980 (nine hundred and eighty) locos strong, and approx 4000 number of carriages and wagons. Mostly Lima and Hornby, so not as valu
Montgomery01

Montgomery01

4
BRM Blog

Flying Visit to Intermodellbau in Dortmund

This week Steve Cole and I paid a flying visit to the massive Intermodellbau modelling show in the German city of Dortmund. Having promised myself a visit for several years, I knew it was big but nothing could quite prepare us for the sheer scale of the event. Attendance reaches almost 100,000 over the five days, with exhibits spread across eight exhibition halls and covering model railways (2 halls), radio control aircraft, RC road vehicles, military modelling, live steam, card modelling, stat
61661

61661

2
Northall

3D Sketch

For the figures I have found the right position. Now it is time to see of my design is right. A drawing on paper is always different than a 3D diorama. Also the dimension of this diorama are totally new to me. So I have to get familiar to them. So I decided to make a try-out diorama. The black & white diorama is just quick build. Not all the details are visible. I also have to make some small adjustments for the coloured version I have noticed all ready. Here is the overview. Just three l
Job's Modelling

Job's Modelling

2
Clachbeg

The Model

Clachbeg is a 7/8"n2 scale model of Clachbeg Station as it was in 1935.     7/8":1' equates to 1:13.7 and is a very large scale for modelling; 7/8"n2 represents two-foot gauge on dimensionally-correct 45 mm gauge.   My layout measures a scale 110' on each side and (including the fiddle yard) covers 9,075 scale square feet; in H0n2 it would measure all of 38.5 × 38.5 cm, in OO9 it would be 44 × 44 cm—it surely qualifies as a micro!   [it’s perhaps stretching a point, but generally “micros”
Richard T

Richard T

0
Clachbeg

Trackplan

The Clachbeg layout is a micro, measuring 110 scale feet along each side, with board depths of about 29 scale feet...   The plan was drawn using Templot; the 12'3" radius curved turnout to the mine really tested the limits of the software. As I lay the track I'll adjust some of the timbering, as I have varying rail lengths and also am making the joints in places different from the Templot suggestions; at this scale there is plenty of space on the templates for annotations!   The fiddle yard
Richard T

Richard T

0
Marsh Lane Sidings

The PCAs - shortened and nearly finished...and the colour match isn't bad either?

Only the chassis are left to do.     This has been one project that has been both a joy to do and frustrating and the same time. There were certainly times when I thought about reducing the amount of work I did to complete the models in order to get them finished but perseverance and determination kept getting in the way. There were a number of re-visits to the drawing board and a number of times when just I felt like giving it all up. A number of the things done on these wagons are new to
RobboPetes

RobboPetes

4
Jessy1692's modelling bits and pieces

Spencer pretty much sorted, a new tunnel mouth and an 09, good week off

Finally the sun has appeared today and thankfully iv got a week off so out came the rattle can of satin and Spencer got a blow over to get it ready for naming.   I ordered the plates specially from Narrow Planet, great service and the plates are fantastic, really impressed.   So tonights job now the varnish had hardened was to get the plates on and finish Spencer off.   Very interesting project, if i had to do it again id defiantely look into a better chassis but the mashima
jessy1692

jessy1692

0
The Trial of Sir Topham Hatt

Day 2

There was drama in the courtroom today as the defendant broke his self imposed silence with a verbal attack on the council for the prosecution. It came after the lawyer continued to outline evidence of negligence dating back to the 1940’s. Mr Beeching QC presented exhibit B to the jury in the form of a mangled and charred wooden brake block. This item had been loaned to the prosecution lawyer by the Island of Sodor museum. It had, according to Mr Beeching, been recovered from N.W locomotive num
andyram

andyram

6

  • Blog Statistics

    2,574
    Total Blogs
    22,152
    Total Entries

  • Blog Comments

    • 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.    
    • WFPettigrew
      Post Scaleforum 2024

      By WFPettigrew · Posted

      If only you'd brought some crossing timbers, we could have had them down too 🤣. It was a pleasure to be able to help!   All the best   Neil 

  • Blogs

×
×
  • Create New...