Martin S-C

This layout is a Small Empire design and although its based near real places, the companies and towns it serves are fictional. I see this layout as a rather poor cousin to Edwardian's magnificently thought-out Castle Aching, from which much inspiration has been derived. However, apart from some rather pretentious links to the Madder Valley Railway to allow a supply of external traffic, the system is self-contained, so in that case, yes, the colliery produces the right sort of coal for the local industries. Or rather, should I say, more correctly, that a variety of industries developed around this local area because coal of a certain type was cheaply available, which makes more sense. Forest of Dean coal was commonly house coal at the near-surface seams which meant that local merchants and industries would buy it for domestic consumption and to fire the boilers of most local industries. The deeper (and much sought after) High Delf seam under the limestone cap of the Forest was akin to Welsh steam coal and most of this was shipped out of the region from Lydney docks. It probably went abroad, but there was a historical variety of coal in the Forest and some mines won different grades. I can of course happily have loaded coal trains enter the system from external sources and send out loaded trains. I need no excuses to play trains in new and more interesting ways. The coke output from a gasworks would mean I need a couple of coke wagons now, a type I have no examples of. The thing is that I have never seen a coke wagon local to the Forest which may imply some major point I'm missing... I think I need to investigate gas works. Maybe there weren't any, but if that's the case, then why? Titanius Anglesmith - a careful look will reveal more than one MVR wagon as well as a C&M one and an AVR one, though the latter is hard to read.

I could, yes. Something of the sort of thing Peter Denny was so expert at squeezing into a corner. It would give me an excuse to shunt tar tankers in there as well. Thanks for the thought! Colin - thanks, point taken. It is a worry and I noticed another pair of boards shifting a bit out of vertical alignment again yesterday under some track. The culprit seems to be the plywood, B&Q's finest I am afraid and I know their products can be, shall we say, variable in quality. I will investigate a suitable sealant. I assume you're just talking basic emulsion for the job and not a specific product?

I could use something very much like this for the pump house at my colliery.

There hasn't been a great deal of progress over the last few days. I've sketched onto the baseboards the basic scenic outlines of major features and some buildings which has helped me get a proper sense of scale of some of the industries and settlements. Here's Witts End with a few scenery items loosely placed. The tin shed is the Bachmann corrugated barn. The white marks on the legs show where I plan to saw 20mm off to bring it down to a height suitable for use as a basic Titfield style loco shed. I've also begun experimenting with Celotex for the terrain, placing blocks and hacking some basic shapes to get an idea for landforms. Its the first time I've worked with Celotex and its pretty horrible material, I'm making sure I do all the cutting and sanding outside, however it is easy to work with as long as you don't breathe while doing so. What the film and video game people call 'concept art' I think. The cutting that leads to Witts End with a raised field on one side and a retaining wall on t'other. The village of Witts End scribbled onto the baseboard with a suggested station building. The company is getting more and more impecunious the longer I think about what their magnificent railway empire might look like. In the background the slopes of the valley of the infant River Aight take shape. Another view of the valley. The embankment in the foreground will be a much gentler affair than that thin block of Celotex suggests. I am not sure why that narrow piece got left there. Useless photographer's assistant... mutter... Blocked-in shapes for the Wood Distillation works and its boundary fence. General scrawl denoting the proposed shape of Catspaw Quarry. Layout of Green Soudley loco shed, signal cabin and Ledwardine brewery. The brewery buildings are the Bachmann offerings and they might fit in - just. If I do use these - and any other resin buildings - I plan to repaint some features such as doors, etc so they don't look like every other one from the same mould, and weather them. I've been playing about with buildings to get some idea of town layout. The resin buildings will be interspersed with scratch built ones to fill the gaps and this is by no means a final layout - just playing around with shapes and styles for now. Coggles Causeway sketched out. Seeing if some commercial buildings will fit the loco works site. The two road shed will probably be used with a bit of sawing up. The wooden shed at left won't go there, but might be cut up to make up another part of the loco works complex. Part of Snarling village. Snarling station. Water mill and Snarling coal merchants siding. Scenic treatment around the crown timber siding sketched in. Likewise the Nether Madder station buildings. I decided to not go for over-track goods sheds anywhere due to the size of such structures but will use small lock-up sheds on loading banks in the style of the one at Madderport on the MVR. The platform stop blocks here and at Green Soudley will be trimmed back a little. I laid track all the way to the baseboard edge initially to ensure I had enough room in the loco release for a 4-4-0, and it turns out there's plenty of room. There are cattle docks at the three termini but not elsewhere on the NMGS network. There is no dairy or beef farming in the Forest that I'm aware of and therefore much of the time the cattle wagons will convey sheep. I have imagined a slaughterhouse somewhere at Nether Madder and therefore cattle would be brought in via rail for that customer, though just post-great war herds could still be driven on the hoof to market over quite long distances. North of the Forest in the lower lying regions on the west bank of the Severn towards Worcester there is dairy farming and some traffic might reach the NMGS network from there. I am growing increasingly unhappy however with a choice of a dairy as a rail-served industry at Snarling and am considering changing it to something else. The question is, what... unless its the aforesaid slaughterhouse.

That has turned out as a very nice model. Well done. I like the fancy chimney very much.

Ah, a man of style and quality.

Not wanting to sound negative but simply curious - what would a train of these be doing on Sodor, given that there doesn't seem to be a refinery on the island as far as I can recall. I would expect such block trains to be filled at specialist oil terminals/docks. Will you assume one such facility is off-stage?

Armchair modelling!

Only Class A tanks require a barrier wagon, these are probably Class B carrying more stable heavier oils.

That shade to me looks a bluer green than any of the samples in Phil's image. Of course displaying the colours adjacent to each other changes the colours we see. Forgive the off-topic link but this I think is relevant here.

Lovely screenshots Sem. The GCR locos especially, plus the "hot air balloon" shot of the B12 out in open country. And love the 1:15 with the dock tank struggling up it - reminds me of the NM&GSR

I was reading some old MRC magazines last night and came across this advert from 1960. It reminded me that back in those days there were no RTN (ready-to-nudge) buildings made. Everyone had to scratch-nudge and the quality of nudging wasn't so high as it is today. Buildings made from the Bilteezi sheets didn't work very well due to the cardboard and there were some unhappy crushed results when people, new to the technique, tried to nudge with too much enthusiasm. Then Airfix brought out their plastic canopy kit and nudging for the average modeller took off and has never looked back. I also found this famous photo from the cover of an RM showing the Rev. Peter Denny nudging his entire Buckingham Mk.I. That was unheard of in those days, it was extremely advanced nudging and is part of the reason why Denny and Buckingham became so well known. Of course now with Bachmann's Scalescenes and Hornby Skaledale resin buildings people can nudge cheaply in the comfort of their own homes even without expert nudging skills. The resin is very forgiving and the practice has become quite safe and much less destructive, unlike the chaotic early days.

The reflection in the oily paintwork of the tender in that first pic is really nice. Reflections like that are very rarely seen in model form.

Its all good for experience and I really am in no position to complain. The wood issue is a bit perplexing as the amount of insulation that went into the garage walls, floor and roof means its very cool in there in summer when outside is very humid, especially this last week or so when its been very thundery. I suppose the wood is just naturally drying out. I have a thermometer in there and keep an eye on things. The temperature starts out in the mornings at about 18 Celsius but has risen to 23 at the end of a day with two of us working in there with a laptop and power tools running. I have had the air con unit running a good bit which drives the temperature back down to 19 or so by evening. The couplings thing is just one of those eternal model railway "fun aspects" and apart from it being a chore to correct several wagons its not really a thing to complain about. I am still aware there could be a major system change eventually so its something I'm not too bothered about. Loco speaker/decoder cost... well, a lesson learned. I will change my buying habits from now on! And yes, "teething troubles" is a good way to look at it. I am sure these are just minor road bumps on the route to success.

Hi Chris, My mood is a bit mixed at the moment. A few little niggles have begun to come up and there's a few places where the track will need fettling. The double Y point/slip thingy at Snarling let me down after the first installation but on Friday Neil spent a long time working on it, adding the copperclad and soldered central sleeper piece as well as adjusting the gauge and slope of the thing. We eventually pulled and propelled trains over it in every direction the signals will allow and we got wagons propelled into the exchange siding without any derails which was encouraging as last week I kept getting flanges lifting due to uneven rails. Yesterday I even got my six-wheeled brass S&DJR brake van to go through it which I never thought it would. Its very unlikely the 20 ton brake would even be used on trains that serve that siding but its encouraging to know it will travel across the slip in that direction. The timber of the layout is settling down and its clear that its shifting about as almost daily there's something new and interesting going on! Obviously its a lot warmer now than when construction started but Neil and I seem to be constantly adding supports, strengthening pieces and such to some of the ply boards which seem to like bowing up in the middle and drooping at the edges. The other issue that is making me a bit unhappy is the gradients. This is simply down to my poor planning. I have run a few trains and it seems that 8 wagons plus brake is asking too much. There are a couple of things to try before I go down the route of banking but as one of the grades is up from the hidden loops under Armisford Mill that one is the bigger problem as there is no place to attach a banking engine from. Most irritating for me is that I bought a number of locos last year with sound fitted and these were okay at the time, but after being in storage (warm dry conditions inside the house) I have had a lot of failures of sound, mostly this seems to be rubbish speakers and speaker failures and I have decided I won't touch Hornby TTS products again, nor will I ever buy a loco with factory fitted sound or have shops like Hattons or Rails fit sound as their workmanship just isn't up to my standards. Now I have to face the expense of taking about 6 locos up to Digitrains in Lincoln and getting the speakers replaced and in some cases the sound decoders as the factory fitted ones are, quite frankly, rubbish. Another bothersome issue is couplings. I have a lot of kit built stock and when I built them the couplings seemed okay on the workbench when tested against the Bachmann wagon that I use for all my height checks but it seems there is no such thing as a standard above-rail-height for tension hook couplings since Bachmann locos vary so much, not to mention the different heights of Oxford Rail, Hornby, Dapol, etc, etc. Add my own kit builds into this mix and I have a growing box of wagons whose couplings need attention... already! But apart from all that - which I suppose is simply normal for the life of a person who models railways - everything is fine!

Its the Tam Valley Auto Reverse unit. I'll post up some pictures when it gets installed which should be this week. https://www.digitrains.co.uk/shop-by-brand/tam-valley-depot/dfj003u.html?fbclid=IwAR3xld54ZKhL4rNBQtwy5pTUSbyfooCC62WLOHvXfOGA51MsB4czbC7n3Q4 Many thanks Schooner. As I have said before, if anyone is coming near Peterborough and would like to visit and have a cuppa and a look at and chat about the layout, people are always welcome. Just drop me a PM.

I use Boots little make-up applicator sponges for weathering. They are like cotton buds but don't leave fibres everywhere.

Big event today, the golden spike was hammered home at 5:10pm this afternoon. There had been beery celebrations earlier with Neil when the NM loco turning triangle was laid. We started laying track on 11th April, so three months and two days. Some wiring up remains to be done as both main termini remain unpowered and the reverse loop module is yet to arrive but the next stage is to install all the point motors and build the control panels. In itself as big a job as track laying. NM loco turning triangle being eased in with lots of cautious bending and chopping of track. The alien mother ship has landed on the GS approach tracks. Triangle laid, fan of loco shed and works roads to the left. Main line enters from left to access platforms via the double slip with various turnouts being added for the goods yard entry. Loco shed and works within the triangle. Goods storage sidings and headshunt to the left. Goods storage sidings, headshunt. loco works. Main pointwork of NM all laid. Overall view towards NM stop blocks. Coggles Causeway in the foreground. Green Soudley entry with two road engine shed. Brewery and greaseworks sidings in the background. GS overall view. The whole scene. Between the two stations on the lower level behind GS station will be the the Wye & Aight Canal, various canal-related industries and beyond, rising up the hill an extensive townscene a la John Ahern (I hope).

My word, that sounds a bit energetic, still, I suppose it helps you keep in practice with your disco moves.

Thanks. I think the general arrangement of these vehicles was broadly similar wherever they were used. The one below has dumb buffers front and rear and seems to have an open front for access to the coal. The arrangement of running board and short wheelbase makes me think more and more that a Hornby or Bachmann GW shunters truck could be a good source - of the chassis at least.

Thank you Derek and Andy for those snippets about Frank. I wonder if it would be possible to list some of the magazines and other publications his articles appeared in? I would very much like to dig them out for a read. I have MRN copies going back pre-war so should be able to track some articles down without difficulty. Model Railway News early 1953 St Michaels Model Encyclopaedia of Model Railways Does anyone know of more? On a similar note of beautiful models this gorgeous creation was displayed during tea and cakes after my running session at the garden railway the other day. Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Sacre 2-2-2 of the 1880s. As I said, the owner is a fan of the GC and its constituents and wanted something unique. It is entirely scratch built other than wheels, motor and gearbox. It can't run on the owners garden railway but I hope to see it in motion on another finescale O gauge layout at some point. I was advised that it will feature in the O Gauge Guild magazine later his year.

It is. A lot. Thanks!

Which era of Tri-Ang are we talking? I am not sure since they went through a few changes. My intention was to use a modern 9ft wheelbase Dapol wagon because the unpainted ones are dirt cheap, then replace the wheels and hack the body about. A Bachmann GW shunters truck chassis also appeals due to the short wheel base.

Cheers folks, I will pass on your very kind remarks to the owner when I next go along. It is indeed something of a time warp, that railway, 50 years old this year and long may it continue to run.

I see there's a proviso on the Shapeways site about this being unsuitable for motorisation. I think, though, if you just used the body and built brass frames I see no reason why it couldn't be motorised. As Killian says, the issue would be with the mechanical parts in the slidebars, cylinders, etc. and you could hide the actual mechanism behind the 3D printed cylinders in some manner.