cornish trains jez

Great set of photos Jo! I particularly like the second one. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Everyone, Just discovered this thread, lots of great pictures! Here are a couple of mine taken at Kingswear station when Bittern visited last year with The Torbay Express. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Reece, No further progress to date but I'll really need to start progressing this one come the new year. I'll probably get the signal box finished off over the coming months and I've already drawn up plans for the Network Rail building on the Western side of the station and the Wychway Inn just over the bridge. Best regards, Jeremy

Good evening, Some progress tonight. I have cut out the other side of the initial structure and measured and cut out the legs using 4mm square plastic strip. These parts have now been put together and the structure is already starting to take shape. Here are a selection of photos, please excuse the poor quality but I am lacking my usual lighting tonight. Looks like something out of star wars on the cutting mat!!! A couple of views with the legs in place which was a nightmare to get all 4 straight! And with the A4 to give an idea of scale, it looks quite high already and there is still almost half as much height again to go! As always, any comments are most welcome. Best regards, Jeremy

I totally agree Pete, less is more. To be honest I would like the focus to be on the structures more than the track plan so I thought simple trackplan so I can spend more time scratch building.

Cheers Paul. I want to keep it nice and simple as I have never built easitrac turnouts before,

Thanks for the advice. I'll have a browse on the web for some tools.

Thanks mate. Hopefully the layout will get some invites!! My "bit on the side" is a mini layout for my Dapol A4, different era altogether, see my blog for the latest update. Didn't get the latest farish 37 but will certainly need a few more at some point ! Best regards, Jeremy

Hi all, I have decided to no longer make this my permanent long term project and will revert back to my original plan of Par being an exhibition layout. I have given myself a timeline of end of 2014 for completion. So it will be ready for exhibitions in January 2015 onwards. I currently have a mini project on the go too which will be my little permanent home layout for the time being, Par taking priority from late this year! Best regards, Jeremy

Can't believe I've only just discovered this!! Superb work Kris, I'll be watching with interest! I can just hear a large logo 50 rumbling over the viaduct!! He he!! The steam era is a great choice, with farish releasing their Castle and the Dapol hall, manor and grange, there is some great variety of tender locos now available. Best regards, Jeremy

Good evening, I have put together a track plan today which is fairly close to the prototype. I want to keep it as simple as possible as this will be my test bed for building easitrac turnouts, in readiness for the 7 turnouts that I need to build for my Par layout. The layout will be 120cm long across two 60cm boards. 40cm to one end will be allocated for the fiddle yard which will be very simplified as it will only need to hold locos and some coal wagons which will be shunted onto the layout to the coaling plant hopper. The coaling stage will be on the scenic break and will be one of the three buildings that I will produce, the coaling tower being the centre piece. I still need to research the water tower a bit more and to date, have only found one distant shot, so if anyone has any photos of this structure, it will be greatly appreciated. Here is the plan. As always, any comments are most welcome. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi, What kind of saw do you have in mind? I've never used one before for modelling. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi, Yes, and I believe from what I have read that the triangle used to be a great place for spotters during its heyday to see the locos. I wont be modelling this part, only a small area surrounding the coaling plant. I've also just picked up Keith Pirt's Grantham Portfolio book which has a wealth of knowledge about the area and some great photos. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Pete, I hope to put a trackplan together tomorrow. It will be 120cm long to include a small fiddle yard of about 40cm long. I'll post it in the next blog entry. Best regards, Jeremy

Good evening, A small amount of progress has taking place over the past two evenings. As I have already added all the measurements scaled down to the plans found on the LNER website, I have now made a start on drawing out the various parts on a 1.5mm thick sheet of plasticard. I chose this thickness, as the structure will be relatively high, I would like it to be durable and not be too flimsey. However this thickness is a nightmare to cut out and takes a while for the knife to go through each cut, then a small amount of filing is needed to tidy up the edges. Well, I thought I would start from the ground up, and here are the first pieces cut out and ready. The two lower sides and the West facing side have been cut initially and below is a photo showing the progress. I am pleased so far and will next cut out the main structure legs/beams which will be made using 4mm square plastic strip. I hope to draw out a trackplan over the next few days which will be as close to the prototype as possible. Best regards, Jeremy

Superb Cav, the bridge is looking amazing and to get this level of detail in 2mm is an achievement in itself. Can't wait to see it in position, coupled with the falling landscape, it will be a masterpiece of a centrepiece. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Pete, I think I do have the serial layout bug. I have shelved the swiss project for the time being and will use the boards to create this little layout for which I have a lot more enthusiasm. We've also just put our house on the market and Par has been banished to the garage.....to keep the house tidy (according to my wife!!) So this little project will allow me to run trains in the house until we move. My plastics arrived yesterday so I may start making some progress later on tonight. Best regards, Jeremy

Superb work Tom! The yard looks very authentic with the methods you have used to replicate the different effects of weathering, and I'm looking forward to seeing the trains running around the yard! Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Tom, The track weathering looks amazing! And as Jerry says in the post above, you wouldn't believe that this is a model. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Andy, You can never have too many layouts!! I only have Par at the moment, and the class 90 was a bit of a one off as I really liked the detail etch produced by PH designs. I used to have an N gauge layout based on the ECML in the 50's, on which I ran my minitrix A3 and A4, but that went a long time ago with a house move. This project will be something I will run alongside progress on Par. Box file on end sounds cool, maybe I'll have to have 2 or 3 side by side as the water tower is quite high too. Who knows, I still haven't finalised the trackpan yet, although I do have plenty of easitrac ready!! The rods do need toning down, they look a bit clean compared to the rest. Best regards, Jeremy

Good evening all, It's been a while seen I have added a blog entry, so thought it was time to pick up on this. This particular one is another "off Par station" subject, after having almost finished my class 90 upgrade, I decided that I would like to build a little home for my Dapol A4, purchased a while ago as I have always loved this loco. I currently run this loco on Par as a specials working, but thoughts have turned towards a mini layout set in it's own period late 50's. So ideas have been that I would create a snippet of Grantham, a location that I used to spot at during the 80's with my late grandfather, who was born there. Having researched a suitable area, I decided that the coaling plant area would make for an interesting mini project as this would allow me to build one or two structures which would add to the depth of the layout and interest of operation. Luckily, some material was readily available at home in the form of Steam World mags, collected over the years when the ECML in the 50's-60's articles were featured. I have two which specifically features Grantham which was my initial port of call. However, the LNER encyclopedia website has an excellent thread entitled "returning to Grantham" which has an excellent abundance of quality photos, several of which were of the coaling plant and also some plans of the structure. Photos here http://www.lner.info/forums/download/file.php?id=11541&mode=view and here http://www.davesrailpics.bravehost.com/grantham/granthamshed.htm The second photo down in the second link will be the main area of the layout plan. According to the architectural plans featured on the LNER "returning to Grantham" thread, the structure is about 80'10 high, making it 16.2cm high in 2FS. Using this measurement as a base, I have now calculated measurememts for the whole structure and have ordered up some plastic sheets and strip which I will use to build it. Well, this is just a start. A couple of photos below of my A4 which I weathered a little while back with weathering powders. It might be joined shortly by a Farish A1 once I can get my hands on a reasonably priced one! Any comments are welcome and I hope to have some parts cut out and a layout plan for the next blog entry. Best regards, Jeremy

Very impressive Cav. It's worth getting these parts etched for you as it will create the atmosphere you are looking for from the prototype. Good work!

Looking forward to seeing if in the layout mate, with a HST screaming across it! Have you thought about colours? I've done a bit of research and there are very few colour photos of millers dale viaduct.

That's really impressive Cav!

Cav that looks superb! It really gives an idea now of how big this viaduct really is.