Minor Points: Annie's layout projects.

[Annie]

My little mystery GWR No.101 loco has arrived and it's a scratchbuild.  Soldered construction, fairly basic, but a reasonably tidy job.  The chassis it's fitted with is a 'Nellie' type, diecast metal with riveted steel frames and what looks like the early kind of can motor.  I haven't tried to take it apart yet or have done any testing to see how well it runs, though the vendor did say it does run Ok.

 

Old scratchbuilds are a different kettle of fish to plastic fantastic RTR stuff so now I'll have to have think about what I want to do with it.

 

[Barclay]

I think we need a campaign to 'Save 101' !

[Annie]

11 minutes ago, Barclay said:

I think we need a campaign to 'Save 101' !

Oh don't worry I have no intention of pulling it apart or robbing any bits off it.

 

A proper pair of numberplates and a set of GREAT WESTERN transfers is the direction where my thoughts are going.

[Annie]

Ah, - it looks like No.101 never carried any indication of ownership on its tanksides just its number on a cast plate in the usual manner.  I tend to align my opinion on displaying the company name with Brunel, - 'People know who we are', - so I'll go ahead and order a pair of '101' plates and forget about any insignia. 

 

 

The coupling rods are made from a piece of bullhead rail which is a real nostalgia hit for me since that was the usual way to make coupling rods back when I was much younger than I am now.  The wheels look like they are the finer species of Hornby offerings.  Cylinders are a little undersized and it seems it was intended for No.101 to have connecting rods, but for some unknown reason that didn't happen.

 

Michael Edge made a proper job of the Hornby version back in April 2022.

 

 

 

[Annie]

'101' numberplates ordered from Light Railway Stores, - and I was completely amazed because shipping was free.

 

It looks like No. 101 is here to stay since I've just now purchased a Hornby shunters truck for it.  Vague thumbnail plan so far is to see if I can plot out a suitable goods only type shunting layout for it to play in.

 

Our local on-line auction website has far too much Hornby 'O' gauge stuff on it at the moment so I'd best stay away and not get distracted.

[Annie]

47 minutes ago, Annie said:

It looks like No. 101 is here to stay since I've just now purchased a Hornby shunters truck for it.  Vague thumbnail plan so far is to see if I can plot out a suitable goods only type shunting layout for it to play in.

I'm wondering about something based around Scalescenes canal wharf boxfile layout kit.  I saw a flurry of activity back in 2020 with forum members using this kit for layout projects.  Most were 'O' Gauge conversions so I didn't really twig at first that the kit was originally made for 4mm/00.  Something small that I can muck about with seems like a good idea to me while I'm excavating down through mountains of old tatt to find my 'O' gauge boards.  A good little cheer up project to stop me feeling useless about myself.

 

https://scalescenes.com/product/ly02-canal-wharf-boxfile-layout/?v=8e3eb2c69a18

 

[Annie]

3dk was another printed paper and card building kit maker that I purchased model kits from when I was still actively working in 'O' gauge.  https://www.3dk.ca/   They don't seem to have as large a range of buildings as they had about eight years ago, but what they have is certainly useful looking.

 

Their kits were to 4mm/00, but were simple enough to resize to 7mm/O.    Their corrugated iron country garage kit in particular was highly adaptable for making light railway buildings.  I found the crushed remains of one of them just recently, but as squashed as it was the colours were still good and hadn't faded.  I used to use an artwork preserving spray intended for protecting fine art pieces on my cardboard buildings.  A bit expensive, but it certainly does the trick.

 

Image from 3dk website.

[Annie]

 

 

Since I'm considering putting together a small goods only shunting layout I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit these cardboard baseboard videos again.  I never was able to reclaim the large cardboard box I previously had my eye on from the cat,  - but I've got another one now that I think should do the job.  I just need to order a good sized bottle of PVA and I should be all set.

Edited July 18 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Annie]

Last year when I was first thinking about building a layout I purchased a small Metcalfe card 00 signal box kit, but ended up setting it aside because it looked too small to my 'O' Gauge eyes.

 

 

 

Now that I find myself considering a small 00 goods only shunting layout I'm looking at the Metcalfe signal box again in a new light.  Some might say that a small yard would only have a lever frame at best, but from my 'O' gauge clockwork trainset days when I was only a wee slip of nothing I knew very well that proper layouts have signal boxes.  So on the strength of that I purchased the Metcalfe signal box interior kit so I can make a proper job of it.

 

Edited July 18 by Annie
Changed my mind and got rid of the video

[Annie]

More adventures with cardboard.  There's some good ideas here for making a small layout for very little money.

The most important thing for me though is that I can make baseboards using these techniques without any risk of hurting myself.  I usually flatten out cardboard boxes to go into the recycling bin, but I can see myself running a ruler over some of the boxes from now on to see if they are suitable for making small layout baseboards.

 

 

 

And part 3 is mostly playing trains and shunting, but I've included it just to round off the series.

 

 

[Annie]

Stunned and amazed to discover that the old Peco 'Wonderful Wagon' underframe is still available and at a surprisingly *cheap price as well.

Back in the day when I was much younger than I am now I would buy Triang wagons, throw away the awful plastic underframes, - and fit Peco ones instead.

I'm thinking of having a go at making my own wagon bodies and plonking them onto Peco underframes.  Has to be cheaper than buying RTR when even second hand RTR if it's any good is still fairly pricey here.

 

 

* Relatively speaking given the horrendous price of anything in the way of railway models here in NZ at present. 

[Annie]

 

So the footprint Scalescenes claims is 375mm X 264mm

 

I have a box that a folding computer desk thingy came in and that measures 595mm X 390mm with a depth of approx 85mm.

 

That seems to be a bit more useful as it gives me an extra 220mm of length which makes the whole thing a lot less cramped for shunting in, but without it being an unwieldy size.

The top and bottom surfaces will get extra layers of corrugated card glued on to them to strengthen the structure of the thing and I think it will be fine for what I want.

 

There's an on-line ironmongers that sells PVA in quantity and the sight of the 4 litre bottle that they sell fair turned my head for a bit.  I did come to my senses though and I might go for something a wee bit smaller than that.

 

I haven't a clue where or when I obtained it, but I seem to have a large postal tube full of H0 track marked 'Made in Italy', but with no other branding.  Some of it is in full yard lengths and some in smaller pieces that look like they might have seen some use.  Being used to 'O' gauge track it looks very small and fine in its rail section, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

I'm presently on the hunt for second hand Peco points since new ones would require me to donate a kidney and my days of hand laying pointwork in 00/H0 are well past.

The weird thing is I also found 4 yards of 'N' track and an odd collection of points which I must've purchased some time last century.  Needless to say my days of messing about in 'N' are well over too. 

 

A Ratio still sealed pack of MF401 3 metal guard figures turned up for cheap so I grabbed those.  After buying them my wallet decided to run away screaming and hid itself so it looks like I might have to play with wot I've got until next payday comes around.

[richbrummitt]

I have some code 100 OO peco points spare but postage from UK to NZ might make them expensive. 

[Annie]

1 hour ago, richbrummitt said:

I have some code 100 OO peco points spare but postage from UK to NZ might make them expensive. 

Thanks for the kind thought, but as you say the postage price would be fairly steep.

 

I'm having reasonable luck with finding what I want, - I just need to be patient and see what turns up.

[Edwardian]

Presumably Trade Me - Peco Turnouts

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Presumably Trade Me - Peco Turnouts

Or Peco Points, - which is the other keyword search I use.  I've got my account set up so that if any second hand Peco points go on sale I get a notification.

 

Hornby points are fairly common and are often cheaper, but they aren't so kind to small 0-4-0 locomotives.

[Annie]

Amazing what you can find while attempting to sort through years worth of model railway stuff.  This is a Lionel 0-4-0 mech that was made back in the 1990s when MPC took over the company and introduced their new line of Fundimensions models.  Traditionalists were shocked because many of the new line of engines were now powered by DC motors and the old monster AC mechs with their complex reversing system were looking to be a thing of the past.

Back at the turn of the century the US dollar did a major drop compared with the NZ dollar and with international surface mail still being reasonably affordable.  I set about buying older 3 rail Lionel locos and Marx locos that were a bit down on their luck on ebay and repairing them, then selling them on here in NZ.  Plainly this was well before ebay got rip--off hungry and I gave up on buying anything from their dodgy website.

Eventually the good times with the exchange rate came to an end and I shut down my little pocket money enterprise.  I still have a box of odd Lionel mechs and bits, - including this particular DC MPC era Lionel mech which George my little helper is displaying for me.  He's actually being quite a good sport about it since I haven't been able to find his toolbox yet and he will be wanting it fairly soon.

 

 

Nothing like getting myself distracted when sorting stuff, but I had the thought that this Lionel mech would be the perfect thing for a coarse scale 'O' G15 tram engine.  

 

EDIT: Modern printers will have problems with this image and will try to print it oversize due to the original DPI size coded into the file.  My daughter and I were able to eventually adjust it to the right size for our Brother printer to understand, but we wasted a lot of paper along the way.

 

I would like to build as much of it as possible in wood.  I own a small collection of wooden coarse scale 'O' gauge models and it would be nice to have a wooden tram engine to bunt them around.

 

From the August 1954 issue of RM.

 

Edited July 22 by Annie
Printing information

[Annie]

The best study and examination of GER Tram engines can be found in the Great Eastern Journal No.197 issued on January 2024.  For the first time in a long while the GE Journal contained almost 100% pre-grouping topics which certainly made for a pleasant change.

The article by Lyn D. Brooks was accompanied by seven excellent drawings of G15 and C53 tram engines as well as photographs which detailed the many changes made to them over their long working lives.  My only complaint is that the scale of the drawings was mentioned nowhere in the article, but seems to be close to 'S' scale.

 

C.J. Freezer's G15 drawing is not especially accurate in some details, but I can correct those as necessary as I proceed with the build. One of the photos is for No.127 as seen at Stratford Works in 1910 and this is the one I'll be using as a guide as the external sliding windows are the same type as C.J.F's drawing.  The earlier woodwork is very nice, but I know my limits.

Edited July 22 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[richbrummitt]

21 hours ago, Annie said:

Thanks for the kind thought, but as you say the postage price would be fairly steep.

 

I'm having reasonable luck with finding what I want, - I just need to be patient and see what turns up.

I’ve checked what I have: 4 left and 3 right, all medium, all electro-frog. I’m going to the post office this week anyway so I can find out. I’ll send you a message after. 

[Annie]

3 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

I’ve checked what I have: 4 left and 3 right, all medium, all electro-frog. I’m going to the post office this week anyway so I can find out. I’ll send you a message after. 

That is awfully kind of you, - thanks.

[Annie]

I'm having to order some 1.5mm Birch ply from Ironhorse before I can make a start on the G15, but while I was on the website I noticed they had Poplar plywood as well.  That was something I'd not seen before and now I'm wondering what it might be useful for.

 

In other news I've been searching for layout plotting software that will run in Linux, - and the short answer to that is there isn't any that will run in Debian Linux.  On the way i did discover TRAX which runs entirely in your web browser so it's not operating system specific.  Potentially I could run it on my Win 11 buzzbox, my Chromebook and in Debian Linux on my Xeon computer without having to mess around with emulators or config settings.  https://www.traxeditor.com/index.php/

And TRAX is completely free to use which makes a nice change after having used Anyrail up until now.

 

The only problem is both narcolepsy and LongCOVID have messed with my brain so it's more difficult than it was for me to learn new things.  The 'Getting Started' pages were  vague and didn't explain things all that well, - and then the menu interfaces for the various tools weren't exactly intuitive to use either.  I have since received an e.mail from the TRAX people to tell me that there is a comprehensive manual for TRAX available so I guess I'll be doing some reading for a while

[Annie]

 

[Annie]

@cornamuse and his latest large scale efforts are being distracting.....

 

I have all manner of large scale odds and ends littered around and I'm trying to do my best not to take any notice of them while I'm busy with my smaller scale layout projects.

That tram engine has reawakened thoughts of my own beginnings with Wantage No.4 and I'm having to tell myself to, 'Stop it!' fairly frequently.

 

Edited July 25 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

4 hours ago, Annie said:

That tram engine has reawakened thoughts of my own beginnings with Wantage No.4 and I'm having to tell myself to, 'Stop it!' fairly frequently.

 

When I was making large scale models I was mainly working with wood.  I would have all my modellers 3 ply and wood supplies in a box along with coffee stirrers and lolly sticks from the craft shop.  Same with my tools, - my razor saws & etc.  I would work on a large tray with raised edges and make things while keeping my Mum company in the living room when she was with me and before she finally had to go into care and I got myself bit by type 1 narcolepsy.

If I need a piece of wood I didn't have the right size for what I was doing I'd take a straight grained piece of kindling wood out of the firewood box beside the wood burner and cut it to the size I wanted using my razor saw.

 

It wouldn't take too much for me to set up to do that again and it would be a good way for me to relax and do creative stuff when I'm fed up with computers and I don't feel like reading or writing.  Something I should do is finish off my signal box since that's been sitting around unloved for far too long.  While cleaning up I found the station building that goes with it marked out on two big pieces of foamboard (sigh).

 

[Edwardian]

11 minutes ago, Annie said:

When I was making large scale models I was mainly working with wood.  I would have all my modellers 3 ply and wood supplies in a box along with coffee stirrers and lolly sticks from the craft shop.  Same with my tools, - my razor saws & etc.  I would work on a large tray with raised edges and make things while keeping my Mum company in the living room when she was with me and before she finally had to go into care and I got myself bit by type 1 narcolepsy.

If I need a piece of wood I didn't have the right size for what I was doing I'd take a straight grained piece of kindling wood out of the firewood box beside the wood burner and cut it to the size I wanted using my razor saw.

 

It wouldn't take too much for me to set up to do that again and it would be a good way for me to relax and do creative stuff when I'm fed up with computers and I don't feel like reading or writing.  Something I should do is finish off my signal box since that's been sitting around unloved for far too long.  While cleaning up I found the station building that goes with it marked out on two big pieces of foamboard (sigh).

 

 

Abolutely delightful, Annie, and beautifully constructed.