A small portable N-gauge project in the near-present era

Very nice, Rick.  :thumbs

The scenery is up to your usual high standard.

Are you enjoying the smaller scale?

Cheers Max.

It's proving an interesting challenge both working in a smaller scale and up against a very tight deadline.

My fingers aren't built for 1:148 modelling and my eyes protest at times.  I am on a fast-learn curve with regards to problem solving and have had to accept already that for its British outing the layout will have all points and coupling moves worked by the Hand of God.

On such a small portable I don't see that as a big problem although both could have been worked around given more time.  

My current issue is ensuring everything stays on the tracks 100% of the time in both directions. The present score of 95% is not within my acceptable limits and I suspect there might be a short length of track which has shifted marginally in the fix-down and created a kink in the radius.  I'll trace it and have it fixed in time for Easter.

There are 12 days until I fly home with a completed layout :shock::shock:

Here's the current state of play.

What's happened in the past couple of days?  The canal lock is complete and the bridge is â…” done.  Another piece of higher land is in. More ground cover has been placed.  All the rails are weathered using a 5O brush and a blend of Floquil paints.  Power feeds are wired and soldered in.

This is, of course, half the scale so around ¼ the size in 3D of anything I've modelled before.  I hope I'm doing it justice.

Looking good so far, good luck with getting it finished in time!!:lol:

Cheers
Ron

Starting to look good Rick.
Going to put some RTP buildings on it?

Marty

Thanks Gents - Plan A is that I still have a couple of Scalescenes kits to build then there's likely to be one or two small RtP buildings.  Not a lot.  I'm working on the minimalist approach here - minimalist weight and minimalist budget!  

And then there's the back scene ….. probably going to be self-painted at this stage which in the time frame is quite a big ask.  But there's a four-day weekend up ahead before I leave.

Looking good Rick. :thumbs 

Seems like you be having a very busy easter weekend, so you better lock your doors and take the phone off the hook ! ;-);-)

Cheers, Gary.

The state of play as of today.

More groundwork complete.  One corner post fixed and mostly greened.  The three others will be loose and only used for transport purposes.

More canal in its final position and the water is "wetted".

The boards which will become the back scene have had gesso applied and tomorrow will be painted.

The canal scene, tunnel portal and brick wall at the other corner, also the newly laid cobbled area, have had weathering powder applied to vary the appearance and diminish the look of "off the printer".

I now have just tomorrow and Monday to complete the project and pack it up.  Final detailing which includes the addition of a couple of buildings, several vehicles and people will be done in the UK as will the fitting of the power controller.



And a similar view with the back scene boards loosely placed with gesso applied



The canal boat will be placed as though just leaving the lock and thereby covering the gap between boards to some extent.  The bridge will remain a lift-out  / drop-in piece in the same manner as the tunnel mouth due to being over height for the carry-case.



And some detail including weathering of the bridge scene.  The bridge number plate - a separate piece to cut and fix - is probably the smallest piece of paper I've ever had to deal with!

Forgot to include the long view showing the corner post (top right) which not only forms a part of the scenery but will support and keep apart the two boards when they invert against each other in transit.

The three others will be plain blocks of polystyrene only placed on the corners in transit and otherwise used to prop up the back scene when the layout is on show.

Looking good Rick :thumbs

Looks like your on schedule.


Ed

Thank you again gents.

Today has seen two sessions on the project with one final tidy-up still to come.  As I anticipate there may be some disturbance in transit I'm not packing it with everything spotless and perfect; it's likely to need at least a few bits "rearranged" after its 12000 mile trip at the mercy of several sets of baggage handlers!

However I now have the first-fit of the painted back scene which will be held in place for exhibition purposes with Plasticene along the base.  The landscaping is all but finished and this morning a major step forward has been to fill in the last remaining large "hole" and create the access road ramp to the sidings.  At one stage that was to have come off the canal bridge but the angle and gradient are wrong.  That bridge has now gained brick side wall and is a self-contained feature with the roadway leading only to the towing path.

Considerable use of "Council curtains" (rusty corrugated panels) has achieved a sense of separation and dereliction along the access lane.

The locos and the DMU are already packed for travel but the wagons have been left out for show until now.



Cooling towers dominate the skyline and the steam blends into the grey dampness of the sky.  



The town of Boghouses has appeared on the back scene after 30 minutes with the paintbrushes



The brick errrrr …… house has taken its place at the bottom of the access road.  This is currently formed from fine coal and will have a topping of weathering powder to dull and vary the surface when the glue is dry.  Lots of "council curtains" here now.



The new brick sidewall to the canal bridge, which remains to be tidied up, showing how much higher this sits than the surrounding scene and why the road could not be taken down to track level sensibly.



Looking one way …..



And the other way.



I expect these to be the last images of the layout in build.  I am out of time to do much more except tidy it up and pack it.  Once in the UK I'll take a look and decide what more needs to be done but I may not have the right combination of camera, cable and computer to add more pictures until after its public debut on the 26th in Taunton.

Gentlemen - I give you BOGHOUSES.

Hi Rick,

Boghouses is looking brilliant and I wish you and the layout a safe and successful journey.

The canal and back scenes work very well and you should be proud of a fine layout, executed in a remarkable timescale!

Bon voyage and we all look forward to the concluding posts.

Bill :)

Good luck at the Member's Day Rick, looks great :thumbs



Ed

Boghouses has survived its marathon trip around the world, has had it s day in the limelight and is now back in Australia 25000 miles later.

At no stage of its travels was I questioned by customs or security as to the contents of my bag despite it containing wires, a transformer and the layout itself. The tool kit included scalpel and files which are banned in cabin bags but are fine in the hold apparently.  I even managed to get a couple of pots of Railmatch back with me unchallenged.

Once safely in the UK I added some detail which included cars (shiny and derelict), fences and a few more signs.  The overall impression certainly conveyed what one or two visitors termed "East Midlands grot" very well.

Not perhaps the finest example of modelling on show but Boghouses certainly stood with the best and the rest with no shame or disgrace.  I've paid more to see less.

Andy York's picture (used with permission) shows me behind the layout with the class 158 DMU performing laps as the 08 shunts "megabox" wagons and the class 66 loco waits in the loop for its train to be made up.

Welcome back to the forum Rick, to you both and we're all happy to see that all went to plan and a bonus getting some rail match pots back :)

Sleep well and catch up later.

Bill :)

Gee Rick, if we knew that you were bringing some Railmatch back, we would have put in our orders !

Good to read that the layout survived the 25,000 mile journey, including yourself carrying all those modelling tools with you. ;-)

Well done. :thumbs

Cheers, Gary.

Tim Maddocks, organiser of the RMweb event at Taunton, has posted the following message over on RMweb:

I am hugely indebted to Rick for his most enterprising commitment to this most worthy of projects, which puts me in mind of the famous speech by JFK - to paraphrase -
 
'I believe that this Forum should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this year is out, of landing a working layout in the UK and returning it safely to Australia'…
 
I think that it's just brilliant that it all worked out, and full marks to Rick for ingenuity and finding a way to make it happen. This was one of the highlights of this year's Members Day for me.

WoW, makes you all warm and gooey inside :thumbs A thoughtful and inspired compliment Rick and congrats yet again for that small step for man, but a giant one for railway modellers :pathead

 

Bill

Nice work Rick.
Will you continue to "scenic" the layout or has the foray into N scale ended.
cheers
Marty

I shall return it to a fit state to present in case another exhibition invitation comes my way.  It can also of course then be run on the kitchen table at home when I have friends over.

Would I do another N-gauge project?

I'll keep an open mind on that.   There's something rather pleasing about such small trains.  There are some very fine models out there in the smaller scale and while it's not a competition I am always up for a bit of a challenge.

The biggest challenge is to ensure what ever I create has a home.  That is what stopped the "new" 00 layout in its tracks (pun intended) as it won't have one unless Penhayle Bay is at least partially dismantled.