Somewhere SW of London. Somewhen before today

All I can suggest for any kind of "link" fencing Rick is that fine nylon netting - maybe the type used in wedding veils.  Given the current lockdown, you might get a good deal on an unused dress ………………… :lol: :lol: :lol:

I wonder if it would stiffen with a coating of superglue rather than starch. Maybe hairspray or Kleer might toughen it up enough to retain it's form …………….

It really is a problem, I know but to me, overscale fencing just spoils things ……………………… :???:

I may have a compromise to avoid wasting the investment in the Ancorton fences.  I can use some across the end of the goods yard which is not in the main line of sight but requires fencing off from the backscene houses.  I can also use a couple more lengths in other less visually-intrusive spots.  I have in mind perhaps at the opposite end where I have yet to create the visual break between running lines and fiddle yard but which is intended to be crossed by a girder bridge.  That can have chain-link beneath it to secure the railway from errant youth!!!  
Another thought is that I can cut the panels to half-height and use them as 3' not 6' fence which will reveal more of the backscene.  

I understand your predicament Rick.  I suppose it all hinges on how much you'd invested in the Ancorton product. But I do think you'd be happier substituting it when it's in full view.

Maybe have the 6’ fences here and have 3’ fences along the main viewing area?  

That works for me Rick.  :thumbs


Far less obvious than the original site and in fact, it looks the part there too.  If it suits you, I'd definitely go with that.  :cheers

I haven't done any real work these past few days but instead have tried to get the layout into running order in order to film a video for Hayle MRC's Virtual Christmas Exhibition.  

 Some persistent electrical problems showed up but largely related to dirty point blades and the as-yet not connected frog switches.  I am therefore reliant for now on blade contact for power supply.  There remains one dead spot and I have a couple of "transitions" to remember where a train passes from one circuit to another.  

The track is far from billiard-table standard.  That causes some bumps in the running and a couple of items persistently derail in the same spots.  There isn't a lot I can do about that short of ripping it all up and starting again.  As you may recall the boards are some 12-13 years old and were stored outside in Australia before being brought back to England when I came home.  About half of the track is the original laid at that same time so distortions are not unexpected.  

Nevertheless I managed enough material for the requested 10-minute video which has been filmed and edited with only the narrative to dub on tomorrow before it is complete.  

A few still images, which will be incorporated in the video, may be of interest.  

Two trains pass in the halt.  A 2-Hal unit pauses on the Up side with a 2-Bil unit showing headcode 35  on the Down.  These types were used interchangeably by BR Southern Region from around 1960 when newer stock was built for the Kent Coast routes formerly worked by the 2-Hal type.  Still a lot of detailing work to do here including fitting lights, platform benches and the scratch-build of a corrugated waiting shelter on the Down side.  Plus levelling of the footbridge and other buildings. 



The goods shed was weathered and fixed some time ago but is in a corner making photography difficult.  With the lights and the SLR in use today I got a better result than previously.  The pantechnicon is in the colours of Lucking & Sons of Washington, near Worthing, well-known theatrical removers of the time.  



Finally this is where the control panel will live.  It isn't fixed down yet and all but the track power has yet to be wired in.  More switches are on order and will permit powered operation of points and the small number of semaphore signals on the layout.  Some economy will result from crossover points being wired and fired in pairs which was done when the boards were first built years ago; the under-board wiring remains good and just needs connecting to the panel.  The train is a Bachmann class 20 with Heljan "Dogfish" ballast wagons.

A piece of the action.

 The fuel oil tanks arrive from Fawley behind an SR "Crompton" BRCW Type 3 and will be taken on by an LMR loco to Cricklewood diesel depot.  Later in their lives these locos became, and are widely known now as, Class 33.  

On the Up passenger line a 2-Bil set calls at Waddlemarsh Halt.  The driver appears to have forgotten to remove the headcode from the rear - a not uncommon sight in the 1960s when these were metal stencil plates and not the end-of-train marker as were the later red roller blinds.  

https://gwiwer.smugmug.com/ModelRailway-1/Waddlemarsh/n-w7M85z/i-FH7MC6k/A

Very nice Rick. Great to see some movement on Waddlemash. I think one of the drivers needs to go and do some training as as you said they did not remove the the the headcode but also there was a signal incursion! You have a great knack of making everything look so real!

The signals are not yet wired up so it was passed at danger under authority ;-)

Nice video Rick - the layout looks bigger than I'd imagined.   :thumbs

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Nice video Rick - the layout looks bigger than I'd imagined.   :thumbs

Thank you.  The board featured here is 230 x 65 cms.  Around the corner the other board supporting the goods yard is 210 x 65 and that includes the two hidden sidings for the passenger lines behind the backscene.  The 10-road fiddle yard is 175 x 50 cms.  Not huge.  Quite a challenge to get everything in and achieve a through end-to-end passenger line with concealed storage at both ends.  

Some very nice weathering on show in that video, Rick.
Both on rolling stock and lineside.

The next little project is the construction of the corrugated waiting shelter for the down platform. The style is taken from the Sussex coastal halts. The construction is scale corrugated sheets located through a wargames supplier and braced with scrap foamboard which was to have been used as the platform surfaces. 

That corrugated sheeting looks very interesting Rick.  Most "model" sheeting I've seen in the past looks like a scale 18 inches thick - yours looks really thin.  
Who was the supplier please ?  The wargamers seem to be about 50 years ahead of us - I've no idea why.  Is it because they throw more money at it or because it's popular with the wealthy youngsters ? 

This is really thin Peter.  It cuts with a scalpel blade or scissors but has enough rigidity to be used for construction.  As it comes in panels it needs bracing if at all possible to keep a structure rigid though that might not be necessary if using it as a fence for example.  It also bends readily - in my case I have used the edge of a steel rule as a former - so giving me an overlap around the corners.  Individual panels are superglued together.  
This comes from eBay seller aha21.  Currently out of stock but of course these things can come and go.  



The finished piece should resemble this one at Aldrington near Brighton.  This image, which also shows the construction of the halt which I have attempted to replicate in model form, is a screenshot taken for my personal reference and copyright of the original is acknowledged but unknown.  Posted here under fair dealing for research purposes only.  

Four walls joined. Roof panels placed but not trimmed nor fixed. Boards will go where the window should be.

 

A new arrival in today’s mail. The latest iteration of the Kernow MRC D6xx “Warship” class is this factory-weathered green syp version of D601. Two other new (pristine) versions are also available. 
Despite already having six models for a class of only five prototypes I choose to support Kernow MRC with these items which would rate among my global favourite diesel classes of all time. 

“Ark Royal” awaits the road into Waddlemarsh yard with a parcels working. 

That really looks the part. 

I don't like them Rick but, as a model, she looks brilliant - excellent photography too - really sharp.  :thumbs

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I don't like them Rick but, as a model, she looks brilliant - excellent photography too - really sharp.  :thumbs

The D6xx have won a few awards now including Model of the Decade which is a worthy accolade for Chris and his team at Kernow MRC who endured a wait of years and setback after setback in bringing these to market whilst never settling for second-best.  
The photography is among the first images taken on my new iPhone 11 which has replaced the older SE model.  That required a new battery (not expensive in itself) and was too old to run the NHS Test & Trace app so an upgrade (which was quite expensive) was a sensible option.