Andrew Young

Thanks Don, lucky to have friends who are happy to swap 'a play for a play'. Never been a huge big engine fan, but the Manor on a Western route with the Cambrian Coast Express headboard on was rather nice for someone who's spent a lot of time travelling by train over the Cambrian. Cheers, Andrew

Managing the little and often approach to modeling at the moment, current effort being soldering dropper wires on the station boards so the moment of truth as to whether anything will run over my attempts at track building is getting closer. Doesn't make the most interesting of photos mind... In my last post, mentioned a day out on the cards... my first memories of mainline steam is the Manor on the Cambrian in the mid '80s, one of my friends and colleagues is a driver on the Severn Valley and was invited to spend the day on 'Bradley Manor'. Spent most of the morning trip on the shovel, with nine coaches on, sounded really good! With seven on in the afternoon, I was allowed to drive the trip and had an excellent, if damp day. My friend is a great fan of footplate cooking, in addition to copious quantities of tea, we had breakfast cooked on the shovel at Kidderminster in the morning. During the day, a fine chicken curry with rice and naan breads was cooked for us to enjoy back on shed at Bewdley. Back home, this steaming beast was snapped from our lounge last week... Back to the soldering iron! Andrew

Life continues to be quite hectic, since the last update we've attended a wedding, continued with wedding plans of our own, had another gallivanting trip away (more later), attended to the house and garden and even been to work a few occasions... oh and tried not to get too distracted by the Cameo Layouts Competition or the arrival of the new Snailbeach book. During all this, have been at the modeling bench for some 'little and often' sessions to complete the first carriage. Been good to get through the glazing and roof stage which puts me off! The glazing is clear styrene (only took two attempts!) The glazing sits in a rebate in the sides, ended up glueing some retaining strips vertically between these to hold the glazing in, seems to have worked. Above the window line is a rectangular piece of 60 thou styrene holding the body square sitting on top of the window rebates. Both this and the floor have some holes drilled in them to allow the glue fumes to escape. On top of the styrene rectangle is fixed a piece of styrene strip along the center line to help support the roof. Having had issues with roofs before, spotted some ready curved styrene roof sections of the 7mm NGA stand at our members day in January for a pound or two each and picked up a couple of each of the two sizes. Cut one of the larger ones to shape, squashed it until it got to the curve I needed, glued it on and it seems to have worked a treat. Rain strips and ventilators were added before a coat of grey paint followed by some sooty black dry brushed / stipled on. Mentioned some gallivanting.... about 20 years ago, a group of Talyllyn volunteers started going to Woody Bay, then newly acquired by the L&B Trust and started digging holes which latterly had S&T equipment installed. Have been an intermittent visitor in recent years, but spent three days in early May in glorious sunshine playing trains with Isaac. There was also chance to explore some of the latest track bed acquisitions by the Trust: Not much gallivanting booked until early July now, he says with a day out booked in for Wednesday... so time to get back to wiring those baseboards. Cheers, Andrew

After reading various comments on this thread about the various degrees of competition from those who just want to take part and use this competition as an excuse to get out of the armchair through to those who are in it to win it, for want of a better expression. Spent the day in a jewellery workshop with what seemed an appropriate motto on the wall for this competition: Cheers, Andrew

Looks great Captain, will be one to watch. The buildings you acquired are very nice and I like a good history for a layout. Cheers, Andrew

Thanks for the advice gents. Think it's the best way to go. One of my friends who would be one of the more regular visiting operators would also struggle to lift cassettes and was another factor so think the right decision has been made. Cheers, Andrew

April turned out not to be the productive month of modelling I'd hoped it would be. Since turning 40 on the 4th, I've been mostly broken! Firstly, a cold turned into a nasty hacking cough for a couple of weeks, then no sooner had I overcome that then I tore some muscles in my neck and shoulder resulting in a course of diazepam from the doctor which doesn't exactly aid quality modelling! My modelling mojo has also suffered by the fact that glazing carriages is my least favourite part of modelling by a long way. However, as I type this, the Rother Valley carriage is now fully glazed (at the second attempt!) and had the interior fixed in place. Once the glue has cured, the roof can go on and be photographed once complete. Think I might tackle something more fun, like a loco, wagon or even some layout electrics before glazing the next one... might help the modelling mojo return! In between breaking myself, there has been some other progress. I became unhappy with my intention of using cassettes for the fiddle yard. Had experience of cassettes before in 7mm narrow gauge, I'm not convinced at how user friendly they are with the extra size and weight in standard gauge. So at NG North, ordered a Grainge & Hodder laser cut sector plate fiddle yard. It's one of their 'specials', a 3ft long table on a 3ft 8in board to allow space for spare loco's. I'm impressed with the Board as it's far squarer and truer than I could've managed for not much more than the cost of the materials in my local diy emporium. Whilst in the process of breaking myself at Easter (think as part of the tidy the railway working party- maybe I should stick to the more sedate driving?) there was also chance for a first drive on the Talyllyn for the season. Shall try not to break myself in May so there's more progress to report! Cheers, Andrew

Sadly the large Prairies didn't make it along the Cambrian Coast, suspect they were too heavy. Possibly made it to Barmouth via Dolgellau but no further. Andrew

Just found this thread in the depths of RMWeb and fought my way through a couple of pages of frothing before getting to the good ideas. Have to admit to having been oblivious to this Rice chap for about the first decade or so if my modelling years, Dad's copies of Railway Modeller had people like Holdsworth and Gravett to inspire me, until finding a copy of Rice's book on Light Railway Layout Design in a second hand bookshop sometime later. My route to this thread seems quite opposite to many of those moaning about buying the Cameo Layouts book. Trerice in MRJ a year or three back was the first time I'd come across a Rice layout to inspire me (and would work very well in narrow gauge). Subsequently, I bought a copy of Cameo Layouts when it came out and saw the competition advertised in the latest MRJ. So for me, this competition being allowed an airing on RMWeb is a blessing. Rather than just seeing a few exquisite examples published in MRJ in due course, we might get to see some being built 'watts and all', so am pleased it's being included on here. As for me, whilst I doubt my modelling skills are up to the standard required to make it worth checking my shift roster for 2019, I might just give the competition a go. Maybe a small module that can be later incorporated into my grand plan? There is a 7mm narrow gauge Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0 that I'm rather pleased with sitting on the shelf with nothing to do yet and a 4ft by 2ft laser cut baseboard kit crying out to be used for something, so who knows.... Cheers, Andrew

Thanks for the clarification. Hope you get it sorted soon! If I don't mar the summer gala, shall try to make sure I head over for one of the other events. Cheers, Andrew

Noticed that the Foxfield website is saying that the gala is over two weekends this year, including 22/23 July, is this the case, or a typo? Shall be returning from a fortnight driving on the Talyllyn on 16th July, might just have to suggest we go via the A50 rather than our usual route along the A38 this time... Cheers, Andrew

Thank you both. Have looked at my Peckett and it's missing the reversing lever too. There is a lever there but is likely either for the drain cocks or the sanders. Would be interested in one when they arrive Chris, failing that, I might have one in my bits box that will do. Just have to decide what else to do to mine now to make it a little different to most... Cheers, Andrew

Are you able to divulge the answer you received PGH? Haven't had mine out of its box since reading your post but wondering whether I'll find one or not when I do take mine apart for detailing and was hoping that someone would answer your question. Thanks, Andrew

Thank you. Yes, we were up by their storage area waiting for our man with the car when we spotted it. Want one, but not sure how it'd look on my Golf... Cheers, Andrew

Thanks gents. The Lakes visit was planned long in advance as I'd not been there for 32 years it turns out! The lakes are only 2 1/2 hours up clear roads for us and whilst we packed plenty in, it was from leaving home Friday lunchtime to returning Tuesday evening. The rest of the week was a tad more mental... But offers like that don't come around very often! So Wednesday was work 07:00-17:00, with some late running thanks to some numpty trespassing at New St taking a wander into the Stour Tunnel meaning I failed to get away ahead of Derby's rush hour. Drove up to Beamish where thankfully curry and beer were waiting. Did the two days up there before driving back getting home just after 21:00 Friday night. Thankfully a shortage of drivers on late shifts on Saturday meant that I could swap my 04:55 book on for a nice 15:33 book on going to Bristol... Was a case of returning to work for a rest working Sunday, Monday and tonight on lates and apart from a bout of the lurgy, looking forward to my day off tomorrow having recovered from last week's manic adventures! Would I do it again? In an instant! Cheers, Andrew

More Distractions.... This week has seen a couple of short visits to the modelling bench attaching glazing and the seating into the RVR carriage. But as watching glue dry is akin to watching paint dry, you might prefer what took me away from the modelling bench last week.... So, last Tuesday, I turned 40 and I was treated to a long weekend away in the Lake District. Much fine food and fine ale was consumed, we also took trips out on the Steam Yacht Gondola on Coniston Water and the Ullswater Steamers with a good walk alongside Ullswater thrown in. There was a trip on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite on my birthday before coming home too, but the highlight was the Saturday. We spent the day in Eskdale with a good walk up around Dalegarth and Boot, with a fine pub lunch in Boot to keep our energies up halfway round. On our way up to Dalegarth in the morning, was treated to the best seat in the house on River Irt: The Best Seat in the House by Andrew Young, on Flickr Little Giant Refreshed by Andrew Young, on Flickr Glenridding Morning by Andrew Young, on Flickr Ended up at home for one night and one shift, then headed back off again... After a chat with Paul Martin at NG North, found myself heading up to Beamish to be his stand in Batman on the Thursday and Friday of the Great North Steam Fair as his usual Batman was unavailable. A chance not to be turned down! Thursday found me firing to Paul on the Coffee Pot, a truly wonderfully bonkers contraption! As you'd expect, being on the Coffee Pot meant we drank plenty of coffee: Coffee Time on the Coffee Pot by Andrew Young, on Flickr A nice surprise was that on the Friday, I was rostered to driver the Wren on the narrow gauge. As some of you might know, I rather like my Kerr Stuarts. Happiness is.... by Andrew Young, on Flickr Beamish is a fantastic place at the best of times, but with two narrow gauge locos, two standard gauge and a traction engine in steam there, the colliery area really came to life. The narrow gauge is a fun little triangular layout with a couple of sidings off and some fierce gradients making for some fun operation. This year there were two traction engines set up with saw mills at two corners of the line, with the Wren and Diana ferrying logs and cut timber around between the two, very much reminiscent of the Kerry Tramway for which Diana was built a century ago. Only being there for two of the four days and being largely busy, there was very little chance to see what else was going on over the site, though we did get good views of the numerous traction engines, steam rollers, steam lorries and new fangled petrol engined contraptions trundling round the road. Though I was given a pass out to take a look at Samson, which I'd not seen before and chanced upon River Mite in the yard there too. If you follow the link to my flickr album, there are plenty more photos on there: https://flic.kr/s/aHskXFwLXk Now, will have to go back to my copy of J.C.I Body's 'Lesser Known Rails in Mid Wales' and see whether the Melyn Valley ever had a timber tramway...? Cheers, Andrew

Agreed, drive through Welshpool regularly on my way to and from Tywyn and it's hard to think that the railway ever ran through the town. Cheers, Andrew

Been a couple of months since the last update. Life has been quite hectic with several birthdays in our family around this time. However, there have been sporadic visits to the modelling bench. First up, have been painting figures for my carriages, its fair to say that the services will be sparsely populated! Have also constructed some resemblance of seating for the Third and Brake Third carriages, which will be tramway style along the sides and constructed out of styrene section. Very quick, easy and sturdy. Decided to finish the carriages one at a time, starting with the Rother Valley style third, seen here mid weathering and amongst the passengers. Front of view is a styrene roofing section purchased from the 7mmNGA for a pound or two in Mickleover in January, which, when cut to size, should form a decent roof for this carriage. Also made some progress at last on the layout yesterday by fitting the blue point operators and setting them up. Shall have to get the soldering iron out next to wire the thing up.... Exhibitions can do wonders for the Modelling Mojo and succeeded in attending two in March. First up was Narrow Gauge North in Leeds, where Bob Harper did his usual trick of handing the controller over to someone who stops for a chat whilst looking at his Franklin On2 layout. A happy hour ensued which reminded me how much fun even a small layout can bring... Usually, my trips to Leeds involve driving tin rockets, departing Leeds northbound I often look enviously towards The Brewery Tap, outpost of Leeds Brewery as I depart towards Newcastle. This time though, there was time to see what the view is like looking the other way before catching my train home. The following weekend saw the Nottingham Exhibition, one of my favourites as my Dad is still involved with the club I was involved with as a teenager. This year's show was up to the usual high standard which saw me impressed by some N gauge and some American HO layouts, which is most unusual for me... However, my favourite being Macclesfield club's 'Wolfe Lowe' layout, inspired by Rice's 'Leintwardine' plan and very nicely done. And finally.... Been to Tywyn a couple of times, first off at the end of January, spent a weekend learning all about hedge laying, add a new skill to the collection. The view wasn't bad either. By comparison, had my shortest trip to Tywyn yet last week. By train for the day, was in Tywyn for two hours to collect something which will come in useful in a couple of weeks time (no doubt there'll be a post about it...) After visiting the flat, there was just time to look in at Pendre, see the sights on the front and have a quick liquid refreshment before heading back home. Cheers, Andrew

Excellent modeling! Shall look forward to reading about the layout when it appears in Narrow Lines. Thanks, Andrew

You are indeed correct Captain, my comment about P4 was said with some flippancy. Whilst some layouts go for correctness of gauge, few succeed in creating the landscape and atmosphere as well as Little Muddle does. This does remind me a lot of one of my favourite articles in MRJ, Phillip Harvey's Freelance Approach in MRJ 63. Cheers, Andrew

Found your thread courtesy of a rare pressing of the New Content button. Superb modelling that really captures the feeling of a branchline running through the countryside. The sort of layout that ought to be in MRJ for realistic modelling without the P4 pedantry. Cracking stuff. Cheers, Andrew

Glad to hear they came out well and proved useful, I rather like the fact that your layout's backscene is of the actual location. Thanks for the offer of a copy of the file, but I'll politely decline if that's alright as I don't know what I'd use it for, I'm just happy that it's served the purpose for your layout. Cheers, Andrew

The backscene looks really good, is it from the photos I sent you? Like the idea of a vinyl backscene, better than joins in plywood, where did you get it done? Thanks, Andrew

Really enjoying your build, exquisite work. Particularly like the fine detail. Regarding the colour, Reds can be quite thin colours and my experience is that a brownish tinge, as shown by the weathered finish in the photo of Cackler, is helped by painting over a Red Oxide primer rather than a grey one. Cackler's condition is well polished so the finish could be achieved by using the polishing technique that Giles Favell favours. One possible colour choice would be GWR Indian Red (for carriage bolection mouldings I believe), which is a brownish Crimson lake for want of a better term. Attached below is a photo of my 7mm scale Fletcher Jennings loco purely to illustrate my point, the painting was a Halfords Rattle Can Red Oxide Primer, followed by brush painted Railmatch Indian Red, a coat of Testors Dullcote and some dry brushed weathering. Hope that helps. Cheers, Andrew

Very nice, one of these Cambrian Dutton boxes would've been an option... https://railmodel.co.uk/products/llansantffraid-crossing-signal-box Cheers, Andrew