well filled baps The Sheep Chronicles. The adventures of a Sheep, the Works Forecat and the Works Apprentice, George.

[F-UnitMad]

37 minutes ago, Hibelroad said:

I thought the days of gauge snobbery were long gone.

Unfortunately they still surface, but not as much as the narrow minded xenophobia that rejects any layout that isn't British outline. Anyone who, like me, has exhibited "Foreign" stuff will have come across this attitude, which is particularly resentful of American outline, for some reason. 🙄🤔🤷‍♂️

[2ManySpams]

In my opinion the gauge snobs are a rare breed and, to be frank, are best ignored. I wouldn't even give them airtime. Just carry on doing what you're doing SheepBloke.

[david51]

Rob

do not despair.In my own (albeit limited) experience those who talk loudest produce the least. I exhibited my little layout ‘North Street’ at Folkestone  a few years back and had one or two negative comments in similar lines, one individual was especially scathing about my use of tension hook couplings. On this forum there are some superb layouts using oo gauge ready to run track. I have had the pleasure of seeing several of your layouts. They run beautifully and they exude that elusive thing-‘atmosphere’. Next time you get one of those gauge snobs ask him where he is exhibiting and to produce photos of his work. Chances are he won’t be able to.

Meantime I look forward to seeing you at RailWells.

All the best

David51

 

[NHY 581]

Morning all, 

 

Thank you so much for all of your kind words. Lovely of you to say such nice things. 

Yesterday was really good, as was Saturday aside from stupid man, whom I shall no longer give any further thought to. 

The general feel of the show was that it was busy, moreso on Saturday but overall I gather the figures were good over both days. 

Traders were happy, which in itself is always a good sign. 

 

Things at Chateau Sheep will now return to what passes for normality hereabouts. The car will be unloaded this morning  and Ewe returned to it's perch in the Room of Doom.  Thoughts are turning to the construction of the point test piece thing. I was very much inspired over the weekend by this test piece displayed on the EM gauge society stand by James Daniels, a good chum and all round very nice chap. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is lovely and it's the first layout built by James, who models in EM. He wanted to try various things and knocked this up. It's an excellent piece of work.  I really like the tone of this. The colouring of the road etc is  particularly pleasing but it presents a lovely picture. 

 

Rob. 

 

[Northroader]

Test piece? I’d call it a layout, and a very nice one at that.

[MrWolf]

As @Northroader says, it's a layout and a very nice one at that.

I've spent about ten minutes looking at the photos, not for faults, but inspiration, as I do with any layout.

Having had a long day yesterday I'm a bit late to the party regarding the gauge bore, but I agree completely with what everyone else has said.

Ignore the bore.

You always get one, regardless of your area of interest. When confronted by the question of "Where's yours?", there's a standard list of lame excuses.

I can pretty much guarantee that you will never see such people do anything and that is why they like to try and pull down other people's efforts.

[NHY 581]

It may be a bit previous but I am in a position to suggest, without prejudice, that we MAY WELL see James's test piece at SWAG'25..........Just saying....

 

Rob

Edited July 8 by NHY 581

[Geep7]

23 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Unfortunately they still surface, but not as much as the narrow minded xenophobia that rejects any layout that isn't British outline. Anyone who, like me, has exhibited "Foreign" stuff will have come across this attitude, which is particularly resentful of American outline, for some reason. 🙄🤔🤷‍♂️

I have been on the receiving end of such comments when I was exhibiting both of my American outline layouts a few years ago. It's sad really to hear that these sorts of things still happen. But as already said, it's best to just ignore those comments as a bit of whistling in the wind.

 

I've only ever seen Ewe in the flesh once, but if I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was EM gauge anyway, especially from the viewing angle. Rob, don't let them get you down, your work is fantastic, and worthy of exhibiting at any show.

[Winslow Boy]

8 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

Morning all, 

 

Thank you so much for all of your kind words. Lovely of you to say such nice things. 

Yesterday was really good, as was Saturday aside from stupid man, whom I shall no longer give any further thought to. 

The general feel of the show was that it was busy, moreso on Saturday but overall I gather the figures were good over both days. 

Traders were happy, which in itself is always a good sign. 

 

Things at Chateau Sheep will now return to what passes for normality hereabouts. The car will be unloaded this morning  and Ewe returned to it's perch in the Room of Doom.  Thoughts are turning to the construction of the point test piece thing. I was very much inspired over the weekend by this test piece displayed on the EM gauge society stand by James Daniels, a good chum and all round very nice chap. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is lovely and it's the first layout built by James, who models in EM. He wanted to try various things and knocked this up. It's an excellent piece of work.  I really like the tone of this. The colouring of the road etc is  particularly pleasing but it presents a lovely picture. 

 

Rob. 

 

It is very sheepish.

[Tortuga]

On 07/07/2024 at 06:39, NHY 581 said:

It transpired he modelled in EM gauge and seemed to think everyone should do the same.

In that case I would’ve asked why he’d settled for a compromised narrow gauge - why not go the whole 18.83mm if you’ve got that attitude?

 

I remember saying to you and Jay at Stafford last year, since we tend to view the track side on, the discrepancy of 1.5mm (or 2.33mm for P4 modellers) isn’t immediately obvious unless you go looking for it.

 

Please keep up the good work Rob!

[Nick C]

One could avoid all these issues by modelling an alternate universe in which the Stephensons decided on a gauge of 4' 1.5"...

[St Enodoc]

5 minutes ago, Nick C said:

One could avoid all these issues by modelling an alternate universe in which the Stephensons decided on a gauge of 4' 1.5"...

...but then Greenly et al would have come up with 3' 6.5".

[NHY 581]

Morning all, 

 

Hope all is well with you all..

 

So as to move Ewe back into the Room of Doom, for a few months at least, I need to remove the new layout. The intention was to plonk it up into the attic pending a decision on it's future. However, looking at it, I'm thinking it may be of use to someone, despite the warpage. There are seven Peco Code 75 points on it. Now,  I don't see me using these points so I'll not be stripping them from the board. 

 

 

 

 

The warp hasn't got any worse. The twist is perhaps not as bad as I thought but my enthusiasm for this project has left the building. But on reflection, it may well make a nice home layout. 

 

The point ( ! ) is this.........Would any one be interested in this a starting point for a project ? 

 

If anyone is, I'd like to get something back re the points but it's laid, wired and painted. I'll make sure all areas run so would clean track and test etc prior to it going anywhere. Rough dimensions are 140cm L x 39cm W and 38mm deep. 

 

Therefore, if you are,  feel free to drop me a PM to chat further. 

 

Rob. 

 

 

 

 

[franciswilliamwebb]

46 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

However, looking at it, I'm thinking it may be of use to someone, despite the warpage.

 

Someone could embrace that warp, perhaps, and use it as part of a "foot of the incline" layout...

[NHY 581]

9 minutes ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

 

Someone could embrace that warp, perhaps, and use it as part of a "foot of the incline" layout...

 

Thanks for that. 

 

 

[NHY 581]

Afternoon all, 

 

It looks as if the Lambsdown board has found a new home so that's an excellent result for all concerned. 

 

Rob. 

 

[NHY 581]

Well, confirmed that Lambsdown has "gone". 

That really draws a line under that particular project, for now at least and in fact, draws a line under any current modelling  as I'm loathe to start anything new ahead of a family holiday in a couple of weeks. 

 

So, a bit of a sort out in the Room of Doom to make it ready for a resumption of activities around September and we'll take it steady from there. 

 

I've already had a few invites to shows next year and will post details closer to the time but some have been turned down as I want to do less, being determined  to have a slower pace of modelling going forward. 

 

I've come to the conclusion I'm a bit disenchanted with things trains at present so a sabbatical may well be a good thing. 

 

Rob

 

 

[Graham T]

Ever tried any military modelling or anything like that Rob?  A change is as good as a rest; might rekindle the enthusiasm?

[NHY 581]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Ever tried any military modelling or anything like that Rob?  A change is as good as a rest; might rekindle the enthusiasm?

 

Hi Graham. I used to model in 1/35th in my teens but I honestly don't have the urge to do any modelling of any sort at present. I'm not going to force it. I tried this with what was Lambsdown. It no longer works for me to model like that. 

 

Rob

 

 

[88C]

I’m sure most of us feel the need to take a break from modelling from time to time, so have a rest, enjoy your holiday and the itch to will return. 
 

All the best,

 

Brian

 

[Gedward]

17 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

I've come to the conclusion I'm a bit disenchanted with things trains at present so a sabbatical may well be a good thing.

 

I know that feeling only too well Rob. It's always a good idea to take a step back and recharge the batteries. You may want to get back to RM or as Graham suggested something completely different. Either way something positive will come from taking a pause.

 

I've had this happen to me several times in the past. I jumped back into RM in 2019 after a 30 year hiatus. I really enjoyed my first attempts at scratch building and all of the scenery modelling. But was really put off by the very poor running of RTR locos on a simple BLT layout. I soon realised it was the building and not really the operations that interested me all along. I didn't want to have to spend 5 years building something that I'll get bored with, after a couple of months. So I decided to concentrate on building simple cameo layouts going forward. And following on from Bodmin Moor, they will all be exhibition layouts, because trap 3 awaits.

 

 

Edited July 19 by Gedward

[SteveyDee68]

Well, Rob, you may decide to take a break from modelling as you are feeling a little uninspired at the moment, but in the meantime your thread still exists as inspiration for many other modellers (including myself!).

 

To that end, I have started re-reading from post 1 … 🫢

 

After an initial flurry of photographic gorgeousness (including Jenny Agutter and various other luvvy loverlies!), a whole bunch of GWR stuff appeared and it isn’t until page 16 that the IKEA Lack shelf first gets mentioned…

 

On page 17, the name Sheep Lane appears, and thus begins the more familiar story!

 

It’s a shame so many photos were lost in the Great Server Outage, but everything that is there is getting downloaded for future reference (I am NOT being caught out like that again!)

 

You might not want to revisit those earlier pages but if you do, perhaps T.I.T.T.I.E.S. might be something to consider? There’s a certain joy that comes across to the reader in your writing (even missing the photos) that encourages the reader to try same (well, it does for me!) and might prompt you to try the same again (and rediscover your mojo?).

 

Maybe rather than produce another amazing shelf layout, you’ve got to the point where a new modelling challenge will fire up the enthusiasm? Time, perhaps, to apply your skills to the most difficult of things to pull off in a small space, a roundy-roundy?!

 

I’ve said it before, but I think you could write a book that would easily end up on many modellers’ shelves as inspiration for their own modelling. You already have a title “The Sheep Chronicles” (and a subheading should you wish) and it could perhaps be mainly a “coffee table” style publication of inspirational photos (cuts down on the writing!) with an occasional sub chapter of “how I achieved (this particular thing)”… not a “do it my way” book but a “this is my way of doing it”.

 

There’s no end of folks lining up to write the foreword, perhaps starting with a few words from the CEO of IKEA?! 
 

Whatever you decide, don’t feel any pressure or obligation - it’s your hobby, sir!

 

Steve S

[The Bandit]

Love the idea of a coffee table style book with how to sections and hints and tips. I’d certainly purchase a copy.

[woodenhead]

7 minutes ago, The Bandit said:

Love the idea of a coffee table style book with how to sections and hints and tips. I’d certainly purchase a copy.

The only thing Rob would do with a coffee table is build a layout with it. 😁

[RodneyS]

Despite Schooner's video and comments at the bottom of page 773 on here, I decided to buy one Peco medium radius bullhead point to try out.

 

Both blades bulge out and reduce the gauge to about 16.20mm.    This shouldn't matter too much except for the fact that flanges on modern stock are much thicker than they used to be.

 

I spent some time bending the blades to better fit the stock rails.  I then used a file vertically between the sleepers to remove some of the head of the rail.

This widened the gauge to about 14.40mm and most things now run quite well.

 

The problem seems to be that the flanges on recent models are so thick.

The Beattie well tank, the Hattons P and the Rails Terrier are all about 0.90 - 1.00mm thick.

The Hornby Terrier and a loco with Romford wheels are about 0.70mm.  This is more in line with the old BRMSB standards.

 

The only Rapido models I have are in the Titfield Thunderbolt set -  which I couldn't resist.

Neither the Lowmac or the Toad would run through the point which is what Schooner found.

The vehicles would bind up in the curve and the wheel flange would hit the point of the vee.

 

I measured the back to backs and they were 14.6 - 14.70mm.   I decided to reduce this but that is easier said than done as the axles are shouldered so the wheels cannot just be pushed in.

 

I couldn't get the wheels out of the Lowmac but those on the Toad were not too difficult.

I removed one wheel with the intention of filing a bit off the plastic bush to enable the wheel to slide further on.  Unfortunately the bush was too tight to come off the axle and the wheel came off leaving the bush behind.  So I countersunk the hole on the back of the wheel and pushed it back on.

The back to back is now 14.40mm and the Toad runs through the curve of the point very well.

 

All rather frustrating and as a friend always says to me 'why do we do it?'

Rodney