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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
    • 3,298 views
Dukedog Model of the Month

Model of the Month (April 2012) Dapol / Airfix VENTILATED MEAT VAN

Dapol / Airfix VENTILATED MEAT VAN     This months model is a recently constructed Dapol kit of a BR ventilated meat van in use from the 1950's up to the 1970's although not used for its intended purpose towards the end of their careers on BR.   My model shows a meat van in early 1960's condition having been repainted from coaching stock maroon it to BR Bauxite and now in use for general merchandise.   Apart from the basic kit I have used some very nice buffers from Nairnshire modelling
Dukedog

Dukedog

2
Brafferton - 2mm Finescale

Let There Be More Light

With the sun shining this morning, I took the opportunity to take some better (?) photos of the weighbridge/coal office. These are somewhat higher resolution than the previous post and highlight the grottiness of my modelling!       Here you can see the method used for the roof: tiles on 10thou plasticard and a centre beam of 40thou timber. There are similar beams mounted on the inner gables to support the plasicard sub-roof.       In an attempt at redemption, here is a "look ho
Tony Simms

Tony Simms

5
Ouse Viaduct/Balcombe/Lewes project

Some tree surgery!

After the first attempt at tree making using Gordon Gravett's methods I wasn't happy at all with the efforts. Some had the 'broccoli tree' look whilst others looked too dense or with too much 'space' and with the wrong colour foliage! Using the Woodlands 'foliage' just doesn't cut it, at least until I can master a better technique in using it. The Monterey pine has been sidelined with it's dark Woodlands foliage, as it all looks too flat.   The ones illustrated here have all had their original
Re6/6

Re6/6

6
Hundred of Chagford Tramway

A Night on the Tiles

Hi All     I've been working on the Dairy roof, but I not had successful as expected. BUT I think all is not lost. Along the way, I have learned some valuable lessons. These are when cutting thin paper, it is important to use a very sharp blade in one's scalpel and to cut, rather than tear you must have the blade at a low angle between the blade and the paper being cut.     Coming back to the problems, I’ve got PVA glue on the printed brickwork between two windows, but I think I can retr
Lisa

Lisa

2
Southern steam

Craftsman T1 - progress to date

Saturday was spent soldering up the T1, an these photos show how far I got: It was a lot easier than I epxetced. I made one modification to the body - E75 (the loco I'm modelling) had a flat top to it's cab cutouts. The kit is for the batches with an arched top, so this was adjusted with needle files. I also found that the bunker rear was too high, so it was cut down to fit - I suppose it's better to spend a few minutes with a file than finding that it was too small and having to make a rep
pete_mcfarlane

pete_mcfarlane

2
What have I let myself in for??

A chink of light at the end of the tunnel!

The sun is shining, the weather is getting warmer and the clocks have gone forward. For some the better weather may actually bring their modelling time to an end, not for me! For me it is likely to be the beginning!   I admit it. I hate the start of the year. Not that I hate winter you understand, let's face it we hardly saw much winter this year. But once Christmas has gone and the schools go back I end up extremely busy. Our headteacher, in her great wisdom, decided that our school reports t
andyram

andyram

1
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

Moving to P4 (Post 8)

Thanks for your replies. Am taking it on board. I've had a fiddle this afternoon and have got a bit further, but as is alot of this I'm sucking it and seeing. I'm probably doing this all wrong but if I'm doing it wrong then it seems to be working so I do not know! This looks horrid I know, amazingly crude. The outer uneven holes are for the tabs in the etch to go through. In hind sight it would probably have been better to file them off but I'm unsure on ride height. I did leave them w
Knuckles

Knuckles

3
greslet's Blog

Gresley Full Brake arrives from Hornby

Finally it has arrived, the 61′ 6″ full brake from Hornby, in both LNER teak and BR Maroon. I had hoped that this would be available for Christmas, and was quite disappointed when it didn’t arrive under my tree. I … Continue reading →   Source
greslet

greslet

0
GWMark's Little Puzzle (Layout)

Wood working and dimensional accuracy

This weekend saw a start on the baseboard building process and a realisation. The baseboards are going to be built using the Barry Norman technique of constructing beams from two lengths of 4mm ply (5 foot long and 70mm tall) with 18mm block of 70mm square blocks of softwood sandwiched between them.   To start with progress was a little shaky, with some uncertainty as to whether this would be strong enough. The first 5 foot beam was made up, with a block at each end, two equally spaced blocks
GWMark

GWMark

3
John's Blog

A big photo backscene

Well, it's been a while but I eventually found some more railway time. On a previous post I bemoaned my lack of artistic skill when it came to painting clouds. I also tried a plain grey backscene to try to create a feeling of a dull overcast day. Unfortunately I felt that it just looked like a grey bit of wood and didn't contribute to the effect I wanted.   Given all this I started to think about photo backscene. A lot of searching on the internet didn't turn up anything close to what I wante
Grimly Feendish

Grimly Feendish

5
The Sumtown Tramway Locomotive Workshops

Miniature SJ Class S1 No.383 - A Profile

The Class S1, No.383, reasssembled cosmetically for photographing. It is a European locomotive, Swedish and within the 20th Century, and is a 2-6-4T. Numbered 383, I purchased this locomotive as a non-runner, and have since taken it apart to try to get it running again - if this proves impossible, it will need to be converted into a rolling static exhibit.   The side of the locomotive, showing where the motor used to reside. This locomotive is an old Lima-built engine, unfortunately employin
Trainmaster64

Trainmaster64

4
Highclere - 2mm Finescale

Ally Pally - The Results

Hello   Well, the Ally Pally show is over for another year. I really look forward to going along to the show every year as its one of my favorites. Not only is the show a good oppertunity to meet up with friends, but also there is a good selection of layouts to see and it all take place in a fantastic venue. Its about my 6th year now I have gone along and sat on the 2mmSA stand at the show and I hope its not the last time..   This year way a bit different for me, for the first time I went a
-missy-

-missy-

23
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

Moving to P4 (Post 7)

Progress report, P4 conversion attempt and a lesson on how to do some mild kit bashing. Having bent my first Bill Bedford etch the wrong way, I have refrained from Bill's advice of hammering it into a pulp(!) and bent it the opposite way whilst strengthening the wire retaining flaps with some solder. I have only got a Couple of kits I could try to adapt so I went for the Dapol Cattle Waogon. I don't know how suitable it is for P4 conversion but I have built a few up in the past so am comfor
Knuckles

Knuckles

4
buffalo's workbench

CSP Radstock Sentinel, part 4

I had been making steady progress with this kit up to the end of last month, then life, work, health, dentistry and so on intervened leaving me precious little time when I felt able to do any modelling. Nevertheless, some work was done though not enough to make it worth posting a weekly update. In odd hours or half hours I managed to build up the chimneys and roof, and to add the numerous small details provided in the kit. These included many rivet strips, lamp irons, the forward/reverse gear me
buffalo

buffalo

6
Brafferton - 2mm Finescale

No Weigh Back

Well! A thoroughly enjoyable time was had at Nottingham. Thanks to the show organisers for all their hard work; I don't envy them at all.   Although Brafferton didn't thoroughly disgrace itself, I have come back with quite a to-do list. There are some fairly substantial tweaks required in the trackwork, especially in the yard area to ensure that running reliability is maintained.   Additionally, I was concious that some of the scenic work didn't progress as much as I would have liked. On the
Tony Simms

Tony Simms

6
Ullypug's tales from the tinking table

Clevedon - it lives!

At last, I'm pleased to say that over the last couple of weeks, the final wires have been attached, the panel finished, the turnout operating rods attached and everything checked. The result of this is that this afternoon I connected the power box and switched it on. Playing trains commenced shortly afterwards!! There are a couple of tweaks to sort out but importantly, nothing shorted. As the weather was glorious, I couldn't resist putting some of the stock on the layout and taking a few piccies
ullypug

ullypug

4
barrowroad's Blog

Bristol Barrow Road - Trackwork Update

Most of the trackwork in and around the coaling and ash plants is now ready for attaching the droppers, however my next task will be to complete the approach and four sidings, with their pits, alongside the roundhouse and workshop. I'm very pleased with the progress over the past few weeks as I have got into the swing of producing lengths of track using timbertracks sleepers as exactoscale chairs. Of course the track assembly jig I borrowed from my friend Graham has helped enormously.    
barrowroad

barrowroad

7
Isle Ornsay

We demand another rockery...

.. to paraphrase Monty Python.   More rock castings have been placed around the yard end of the layout to sort their positions before fixing them in place and carving the areas between them.       All these castings came out of one mould on one pour!!     Tweaking of the foam base needed to make sure there's sufficient clearance for stock, and to move it back from the turntable a bit.     I have been doing some work in the yard to add some ballast a la Nevard, i.e. air drying
invercloy

invercloy

5
Penrhos1920's Blog

One step forward, three steps back

Since my last blog entry it has been one step forward and 3 backwards on several occasions. But now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel - or is it a headlamp of an oncoming train?   The double glazing was installing in the garage on budget and schedule. But the roof, wood burner and main door were not. I couldn't find a roofer who would touch the roof for less than £2000; all I wanted was the ridge re-pointed and about a quarter of the eaves tiles replaced. I couldn't find a wat
Penrhos1920

Penrhos1920

0
Killybegs' Blog

L&LSR 4-8-0 Finished at last!

After goodness knows how many hours No.12 is finally finished (all bar a bit of coal and some crew). It has been a long road and one which I don't think I would choose to travel down again. However, at the end of the day she doesn't look too bad and runs quite smoothly.
Killybegs

Killybegs

8
Fen End Pit's Blog

Day One at Ally Pally

Set up on Friday went smoothly, despite missing the right turning from the North Circular for Ally Pally. My Son did an excellent job at map reading (no new fangled Sat Nav for us!). The unloading was greatly eased through a helpful trader who had just finished using his rather excellent 4 wheel trolley which he kindly let us borrow, reducing the number of trips between vehicle and site considerably!     Everything worked well on set up and we celebrated by visiting IKEA for Swedish meatbal
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit

1
Legomanbiffo's sound Blog

Those pesky Germans

The 67 project was coming along nicely and it was time to start getting the sound vs speed relationship how I wanted it. I fired in some settings based on previous experience and ran the loco round and it was clear all was not well. Before I got to halfway on the throttle the sound had already worked its way up through every notch to full tilt! After studying the flowchart it dawned on me what had happened; the most recent software upgrade from ESU had corrected a discrepancy that has existed in
legomanbiffo

legomanbiffo

0
Knuckles' RWS, P4 & SCC Blog

Moving to P4 (Post 6)

Whilst I await that point blade (phoned Len other day) I finally managed to work out what I think I need. Bill Bedford RCH 1907 Sprung W Irons. Might try a truck conversion whilst I wait. if you have any suggestions as to a good flat base doner (kit or RTR) please tell me.     Don't really know what I'm doing as the instructions as usual with most etches asume you have some idea what you are doing. This is what I did... Clamped the wire in the err 'thing', then spent a while trying to
Knuckles

Knuckles

9

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