Blackmoor, Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in 009 (c 1930) -East Grinstead done , next show is Taunton

[roundhouse]

Static grass added in small patches around the goods yard and a worker added just outside the Stables.

 

Once all has set it will get a final vacuum before boxing up ready for the trip to Barrow in Furness this weekend.

Edited October 8, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

We had a good run to Barrow In Furness with a couple of pints in new pubs for us including one at the Southern end of Walney Island. The Queens Arms would make a great model.

 

At the venue on Walney Island we have the same spot that we had last year with Dans Swiss layout so we were soon set up, layout tested and all working.

 

Do say hello if you are visiting the show today.

[roundhouse]

What a great weekend we had in Cumbria.

 

A very good drive there stopping off about 40 minutes before Barrow at a pub the we hadnt tried before but with the Anglers opposite Haverthwaite station now closed we had to try somewhere else. The Gilpin at Leven was good..

 

The layout was soon set up and tested before heading off to try other pubs in the town.

 

Blackmoor ran well over the weekend but we did have the odd few niggling issues such as two solenoids that required a little adjustment and one signal required the wire refitting into the servo arm after putting a better 90 degree bend into it.

LEW played up for a short while. I thought that the mechanism had jammed but one of the secondary drive gears had slid off the end of the axle where it pokes out of the chassis. An odd design but after checking that it hadnt split it was pushed back on the axle and the loco was soon back in action. The locos otherwise ran superbly well with virtually all derailments being operator error including me .

 

The extra magnets in the two yard sidings has improved the remote uncoupling although a few wagons did have sticky Greenwich couplers.

 

After the show finished yesterday we had the layout pcked up and loaded. We departed 25 minutes after closing time and made good time ot our overnight stop in Lancaster.

 

Got back home around 2pm and the rolling stock has had a good clean, the locos actually not picking up much dirt. Another fettle of the couplings on the wagons ready for this weekends show in Uckfield.

 

A few photos from the weekend.

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

Apart from a few minutes that LEW was out of action, the locos performed so well that both versions of LYD weren't really required as the spare locos. However,during the last hour on Sunday they both had a run albeit one at a time as at present they both have the same DCC address, partly to stop them being run at the same time.

 

They will both get loco crew but a present I just have one set of Dart casings crew that are currently being painted.

 

 

[roundhouse]

A couple of the bogie open wagons still had the original flexi plastic trucks that came with these kits, so these have been changed for the Chivers styrene kits. I had a few packets of these in my 009 box and wondered why I still had them.

 

I have also weathered the floors in these and touched up the paint generally where required.

 

Now left yo dry before getting a matt varnish coat later.

 

[roundhouse]

Layout loaded for the drive to Uckfield tomorrow.

 

Actually it was loaded last Sunday in Barrow and has been in the car since as the weather has been OK to be able to do so. Just the stock computers and DCC system to reload.

Come say hello if you are visiting the show this weekend. Apparently the show is bigger than before.

[roundhouse]

Yesterday was a good and busy day at the Uckfield show. Plenty of interest in the Lynton and Barnstaple railway.

 

We had a few gremlins to start with but the layout soon settled down again. I have one turnout to have a look at that is at the front of the layout. The solenoid wasnt throwing fully, so thats the first task before opening today.

 

All locos inspected and cleaned earlier this morning.

 

LYD had another run during the day when LEW played up briefly.

Edited October 16, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

Annother busy day at the Uckfield show yesterday.

After fixing the iffy point before the show opened, the layout performed well. Just the occasional derailment and every so often LEW would slip a gear. So LYD was pressed into service a few tiems.

 

A few potential invites for shows in the South East the next few years. I am quite happy with this as I am mindful that with a simple track plan, we dont get bored operating it.

 

All locos inspected and cleaned early this morning with just LEW left to sort out why it is not playing ball plus a few wagons that still have sticking couplers to remedy.

 

The layout was left in the car last night partly due to the rain and also I do need to move the American N scale from the garage to the shed to check it all over for its outing to the NMRA convention in Crewe. Blackmoor will then fill the gap in the garage for now. Its next outing at present is the Nailsea show in March 2023.

[roundhouse]

Happy new year all.

 

At present we have two shows confirmed with another that I am awaiting written confirmation.

 

The first is Nailsea in March then Bexhill in August.

 

The one yet to be confirmed will be up North in September.

 

I hope to do a bit more work on the scenic side and hopefully more sound decoders fitted to the remaining locos.

[roundhouse]

I have been up since 4 am this morning so decided to head to the shed and finish the rmeote programming cable and control for the Megapoints servo unit. This will save me having to under the layout if any of the signal servos require adjusting. Its easy to make as I have a box of servo connectors so out came a 5 pin connector to which I soldered the ribbon cable and then made up a styrene box to house four push button switches. Once the styrene box has set I will add some velcro to it then the unit may stay semi permanently connected to the servo circuit.

 

In the next day or two I will hopefully make a start on the petrol station. This will then be photographed and added to the backscene as per the adjacent hotel. I have just over a week to complete it before the Nailsea show, so we shall see how it goes.

 

One more show to add and thats Liverpool in September this year.

Edited March 14, 2023 by roundhouse

[Phatbob]

"First show of 2022 will be Nailsea"

Your autoincorrect seems to have surpassed itself.  I think you mean first show of 2023! ;-)

 

[roundhouse]

On 14/03/2023 at 12:36, Phatbob said:

"First show of 2022 will be Nailsea"

Your autoincorrect seems to have surpassed itself.  I think you mean first show of 2023! ;-)

 

Thats not the device autoincorrect but me being incorrect🤨

 

This morning at 5 am I took the stock box into the shed and started cleaning the coach wheels. I have also changed over some of the plastic wheel sets to metal Farish ones but still require another pack or two to complete the the rest. Locos will get a check over before looking at the wagon fleet.

 

I also hope to start the petrol station today but need to locate the old photos that were on my server that has failed. The hard drive is still good but requires recovery software to pull off the files onto the new server. Fingers crossed that I have the photos saved on one of the computers drives.

 

With a week to go before loading the layout into the car I should have tiem to build the petrol station as it is a fairly simple building.

 

 

[roundhouse]

The petrol station house is now taking shape.

 

The photo that I am using is old and therefore not a huge amount of definition so I am assuming the walls to be rendered rather than painted brickwork.

 

Once the basic shell has dried overnight, the roof tiling will be added.

[roundhouse]

Today I have been weathering various wagons. These were all built over 20 years ago so they could do with a bit more work to them.

 

Also the base for the petrol station is under construction. The stone edging is ballast from the garden railway that has Bern crushed a bit smaller. Its now setting after sprinkling the dust after crushing into the gaps. Once set the loose stuff will be topped away thrn the grass areas can be worked on. Just four days ladt to get this completed

[roundhouse]

Up and in the shed at 4 am this morning to fabricate the petrol pumps.

 

I have spent a few days searching for detailed photos of these pumps but so far not found the ones at Blackmoor, so these are a guesstimate of what they may have been like.

 

All fabricated out of styrene including old sprues off kits, sliced up to form the top of the pumps. I knew those sprue bits would come in handy one day.

 

They are currently in primer but will be sprayed white for the top and green for the rest. Once painted the hose pipe will be added.

[roundhouse]

The petrol station is just about there and photos will be taken tomorrow for adding to the backscene

[PaulRhB]

I think you need to extend the landscape to include them Pendon style. 
 

You may need to get a roof box and trailer though . . . 🤣

[RailWest]

I see no customers - were the tanker drivers on strike on those days  ? :-):-)

 

[roundhouse]

14 minutes ago, RailWest said:

I see no customers - were the tanker drivers on strike on those days  ? :-):-)

 

Absolutely no one in the photos that I seen so far.

[Jon Baker]

15 minutes ago, RailWest said:

I see no customers - were the tanker drivers on strike on those days  ? :-):-)

 

To be fair, this is an accurate representation of the post card that I think Ian's model is based on, not a customer in sight. I think a trick has been missed though not depicting the little dog (which I assume because I have one is a wire haired fox terrier) looking out of the window on the left 😉 If only there was an oo-scale fox terrier on the market. 

[adrianmc]

32 minutes ago, Jon Baker said:

To be fair, this is an accurate representation of the post card that I think Ian's model is based on, not a customer in sight. I think a trick has been missed though not depicting the little dog (which I assume because I have one is a wire haired fox terrier) looking out of the window on the left 😉 If only there was an oo-scale fox terrier on the market. 

 

I was going to ask what the source photograph was - I've seen several pictures of the hotel such as the one below but not the petrol station which is bottom left.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by adrianmc

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, Jon Baker said:

To be fair, this is an accurate representation of the post card that I think Ian's model is based on, not a customer in sight. I think a trick has been missed though not depicting the little dog (which I assume because I have one is a wire haired fox terrier) looking out of the window on the left 😉 If only there was an oo-scale fox terrier on the market. 

I had never noticed the dog but just looked again and see what you mean. We are out having a few beers at present but hopefully the PVA glue holding the building down will not have completely set by the time we get home.I might just have something suitable to represent the dog.

[roundhouse]

45 minutes ago, adrianmc said:

 

I was going to ask what the source photograph was - I've seen several pictures of the hotel such as the one below but not the petrol station which is bottom left.

 

 

I believe that photo is post 1933 after the hotel was extended at the rear and external down pipes were added. I have modelled the hotel on earlier photos. However I have just noticed missing items at the entrance to the petrol station in the lower left presuming that the roadside lights were there in September 1930. That might be an early morning task.

[adrianmc]

There is another photograph of the hotel dated March 1934 of the Exmoor Foxhounds meet.

 

It is taken from the petrol station forecourt which shows a wall light - evidently the petrol brand was Shell at that time.

 

Would you be able to share the image of the petrol station? 

Edited March 22, 2023 by adrianmc

[roundhouse]

2 minutes ago, adrianmc said:

There is another photograph of the hotel dated March 1934 of the Exmoor Foxhounds meet.

 

It is taken from the petrol station forecourt which shows a wall light - evidently the petrol brand was Shell at that time.

 

Would you be able to share the image of the petrol station?