SR Rich Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 Ok, we are back at full speed (well nearly), with 7 weeeks to go before out first exhibition. Here are some pictures from progress over he weekend. Started on the back scene One part drying. Started with the trees. I am sure Stuart will have more pictures and a better description soon. Richard 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SR Rich Posted August 22, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 22, 2016 OK, a lot has happened since the last post. I will start with the ugly bit, this is an extension to the tunnel on the curve as it enters the fiddle yard. It is made from a fiber board which we also found has a sound damping effect. The piece of wood on the top is a handle, so we can lift it up if we have any problems! Here you will see that the back scene has been added, I think it works very well. Trees have been planted with a little more scenic work under them for more realism ( more to be seen through the post). Duck boards ( if that is the right terminology) between the signal box and the station platform, these were made from matchsticks, painted and then dry brushed. Telegraph poles have been added between the tunnel and signal box, just waiting for the wiring gang to arrive! Finally I think, is the small bridge over the stream ( bottom right of the picture) which had the same treatment as the duck boards but I think they were made from ash ( type of wood). So quite a lot going on here ! A better picture of the duck boards We move to the other end of the layout and a bit of gardening! Veggies now "growing" in the allotment, with flowers and bushes "blooming" in the gardens. Now to the farm ( will it ever be finished). A pig sty was requested and so, one was scratch built and added in the corner of the yard. Gates and pigs to be added later. The next job was to make a running in board, I am very please how this turned out. This next one is with the sign in a much more correct setting. The next couple of pictures just showing the layout is becoming more photogenic. I bit of a long post, but a lot has happened recently. Now moving on to a little painting. I think Stuart may have a few more pics. Take care for now. Richard 21 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenGiraffe22 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Love this layout! Very inspirational, I'd love to do something like that when I have the space in the future Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
prtrainman Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Love this layout! Very inspirational, I'd love to do something like that when I have the space in the future Agree. Looked good before but the backscene makes it even better. Is it a Guagemaster one? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Agree. Looked good before but the backscene makes it even better. Is it a Guagemaster one? Hi Thank you all for your kind comments The back scene is made by ID Backscenes, it is 203 Village pack a and b, we are very happy with the way it has worked with the layout. Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al. Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Wow..! This is superb. A lovely layout. You've done a brilliant job there and I enjoyed reading the thread. If I've got a couple of criticisms. One, your ballets is too clean for steam loco's. and two, Land Rovers are defiantly post war. Could I suggest replacing it with a civvie coloured Austin Tilly...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 Hi all Not so much modelling, but getting ready for our first exhibition. Just finished sewing the black cloth to go around the layout and back of the fiddle yard. The two pictures here show the curtain around the scenic part of the layout, it is held in place with velcro. The animals mentioned in the last post have progressed to being glued on to wire for easier handling and sprayed with a black undercoat. Richard 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwenglish Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks for the kind comments everyone. It really helps with the motivation to get on with the layout (although most of the recent work has been done by Dad). Wow..! This is superb. A lovely layout.You've done a brilliant job there and I enjoyed reading the thread.If I've got a couple of criticisms. One, your ballets is too clean for steam loco's. and two, Land Rovers are defiantly post war. Could I suggest replacing it with a civvie coloured Austin Tilly...? The ballast may get a bit more 'dirt' once we got an airbrush compressor, as doing it by hand doesn't sound so entertaining (especially after painting all the rails!). The Land Rover is just a temporary placement on the layout as we are hoping the layout can cover a few different time periods by switching the right vehicles in and out, as our collection of rolling stock covers everything from pre-grouping up until the BR blue period. Stuart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Good luck and do enjoy the show, a super advert for our hobby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwenglish Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 I thought I would make a quick progress (or lack of) update. Unfortunately today someone (who shall remain nameless) received a new Terrier today, so all work has halted while the layout was subjected to a Terrier Takeover! Normal service will hopefully resume tomorrow....as long as nothing else arrives in the post! Stuart 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 (edited) Hi all We have not ben idle over the last couple of weeks, just not had time to post, over the last couple of weeks the station platform building has been completed and planted, many animals (sheep /40),cows(6),pigs(9),horses(2),chickens(11) and wildfoul (8)) and many other things. We are in the middle of our first exhibition , here is a few pics. So if you are in Bergen (Norway) this weekend do come and say hi ! This is the layout, we are both very proud of what we have achived. The next couple of pics show an overview of the exhibition, the enterance is directly in front of the layout, so we are the first layout the publc see. Ok, that's it for now, have a great weekend. Richard Edited October 1, 2016 by SR Rich 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Norwenglish Posted October 9, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) Well it's about time I write a bit of a report of our experiences from the exhibition! Overall, it was a fantastic weekend with all 3 of us who were operating the layout thoroughly enjoying ourselves, as can be seen in the picture below! From left to right we have; a school friend of mine (who made a 7 and a half hour train journey across the country to help us), myself and Dad. The exhibition was very well organised, with large amounts of space for people to walk around the layouts (it sometimes seemed people were more interested in looking in on the fiddle yard than the layout!), the organisers were very helpful and friendly and kept all of us well fed! We also met a few more fellow UK escapees with interest in the railways. The layout itself was very popular, what with it being the only english layout there, and we found that one of the biggest talking points was how the layout operated, as the majority of layouts over here are round and round layouts with very little in the way of shunting in goods yards etc, with the other discussions mostly being people asking if we had different classes of engines as they had seen them on visits to preserved lines in the UK. We also discovered some problems, and areas to improve on the layout which will be addressed before next year's exhibition (if we are wanted back of course). The biggest problem was inconsistency in the couplings and weights of rolling stock, which meant we couldn't carry out our plan of Maunsell era southern stock being run, and resutled in me bending wire to create coupling loops for engines while operating the fiddle yard. The other problem was that some of our isolating sections decided to stop functioning at random times, with them either being permanently dead or the permanently live, so this will also be looked into. As for areas for improvement, the controller and control panel set-up wasn't optimal with us getting in each other's way when trying to make different engine movements, so we are now going to be looking into creating 3 separate control panel (goods yard, station area and one for other functions), these will also be built to have space for switches for operating signals and automatic uncoupling to be added in the future. The 'Other Functions' panel we are thinking of having for operating fiddle yard point motors, control of the main line switch and a transformer to provide power to auxiliary systems such as point motors, signals, uncouplers and lights (we have noticed the lights have started flickering when older engines are run). Uncoupling was also difficult with the backscene being a bit of a hindrance for hand of god uncoupling and peco uncoupling ramps lifting engines off the track in the station (mostly Dad's growing horde of Terriers!), so we are looking into other uncoupling systems, with a gaugemaster one on it's way for trials and testing. I think that is all for now, although Dad will probably add anything that I've forgotten (I know he has a video of another of his Terrier Takeover's which he has been talking about uploading). To finish I have some more pictures of the layout which a friend took while visiting the exhibition, which we have been given permission to use, as we took very few ourselves due to being too busy playing trains! Last but not least, the small part that I'm rather proud of, the layout's new shiny badge! Stuart Edited October 9, 2016 by Norwenglish 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bescotbeast Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Well done on your first exhibition and I hope you go onto many more, love the layout by the way, you've really captured the look of Southern England. Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Edwardian Posted October 9, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 9, 2016 Good to see more of this layout, and great that you have successfully exhibited it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 You have made amazing progress with the layout. It looks really good now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinZaPint Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 A very good looking layout and excellent photographs, well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2016 The layout is looking fabulous, and you obviously had a great weekend at the show. Looking at the overhead views of the exhibition begs the question; was yours the only layout with a backscene? All the best, Dave. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) Hi Thank you all for your nice comments. There was one G gauge layout with a small backscene behind a trestle bridge, so technically, yes ours was the only one with a full backscene. Here in Norway the layouts seem to be mostly large modular types. Stuart mentioned in his post another " Terrier Takeover", I like to think it is more of a cavalcade! A video of it can be seen here, the sound is from the engines and not a recording or ddc sound (the layout is analog). http://vid1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/Mobile%20Uploads/20161002_100051_zpsaqalo3w8.mp4 Richard Edited October 10, 2016 by SR Rich 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkeeboy56 Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 What a fantastic layout! Well done on your first show as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Great work. Looks great. Hopefully it'll be even better from the experiences of exhibiting it As for couplings, have you considered ones such as kadees between the coaches (the southern used buckeyes a lot for coaching and EMU stock), or the alex jackson system? Only thing missing is a bit of 3rd rail (tounge firmly in cheek!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) Great work. Looks great. Hopefully it'll be even better from the experiences of exhibiting it As for couplings, have you considered ones such as kadees between the coaches (the southern used buckeyes a lot for coaching and EMU stock), or the alex jackson system? Only thing missing is a bit of 3rd rail (tounge firmly in cheek!) Hi Kelly Thanks for your comments on the layout, we have a few ideas of how to improve the layout before next year, more on the running side. I had not seen the Alex Jackson system before, it looks very good, I do not know if it would work for us because we have a tight corner from the layout to the fiddle yard, maybe we would get buffer lock if pushing round he corner . I have come up with my own coupling between my Kirk coaches, it is made from handrail wire (0.45) so it has a little springiness to it, so it stays coupled when the coaches go up the incline on the layout, this system worked well at the exhibition without any problems. This is on a two coach set, so maybe sprung wire and a little thicker could be a better idea for the future. This is just my first experiment, which will be refined in the future. As for the idea of third rail !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Richard Edited October 16, 2016 by SR Rich 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Nice work and well done on the exhibition . I'm often in Norway, but unfortunately Oslo mainly, I bet it's getting cold already Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted October 16, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2016 The layout looks brilliant Stuart, love the scenic work, the hills look like they're really made of chalk! Proper Southern country. You've captured the character of the landscape perfectly. all the best, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR Rich Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Three locomotives have been seen arriving at "Rotherhurst" today. :) 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 57xx Posted November 5, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 5, 2016 At last, Photobucket is back online. Found the thread last night, saw all the positive comments but could see none of the pics. Time for a coffee and proper read of the thread Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now