Another quart in a pint pot!

General view of the backscene.  The corner joints are due to be strengthened behind with aluminium angle.  This should create a much neater appearance at the corner joint than is shown in the following photo.  Since taking the photo a hole has been cut in the left-hand end to enable trains to access the fiddle-stick.

Terry

That sky looks really good Terry  



Ed

Thanks Ed.  Much appreciated.

Terry

The layout should progress a bit faster now as most of the buildings are already built and merely require fixing to the baseboard, like this…



The bothy has been glued in place and some weeds have been added. The photo appears to make the colour much more vivid than in real life.  This is the sort of detailing which I enjoy and adds so much to an otherwise ordinary scene.

Terry

Lovely work on both the clouds and puddles Terry. I've used smashed up dry tea leaves as the base ground cover under all of the woods on my Newcastle Emlyn layout to represent the leaf litter that accumulates. Smashed up in a blender with assorted trigs for fallen branches mixed in. Works a treat and cheaper than chips.

I'm enjoying the diesel refuelling point build. Another 3 page spread coming on me thinks.

Thank you Marty.  Funny that you should mention the three-page spread in the Railway Modeller of this small length of mdf in its original guise as 'Poppy Lane', as I'm already thinking of submitting an article when the layout is complete.  At £40 payment per page, this small piece of mdf is 'the gift that keeps on giving'!

Terry 

Well, it's been three and a half months since my last entry.  Things have been progressing very slowly, due mainly to my time being taken up elsewhere.  In the summer I decided to offer my time as a volunteer on a couple of Heritage Railways here in South-East England.  I am now a qualified, both as Porter at the Bluebell Railway and Platform Assistant at the Kent & East Sussex Railway.  I must say that the experience has been very enjoyable and fulfilling.  Looking forward to greeting you when you next attend either railway.

However, back to this small layout.  Work has consisted mainly of chopping up various Scalescenes' buildings and rearranging them to fit.  The signal box, now an office, had to be sliced lengthways in order to make it low-relief.  I have got to the stage where the finer detail should be added and I am slowly attending to this.  The ground cover (tea leaves) has been given a very diluted wash in places of black acrylic paint to give some variation of colour.  All track has been cleaned and locos run well.

I realised that a succession of deisels arriving for refeulling and then just leaving might be a bit repetitive, so came to the conclusion the sidings could also be used for wagon storage, maybe Engineer's Dept. wagons.  Accordingly, I have chosen a layout name to reflect this, as shown below.  I would just point out that the lettering on the lighting pelmet is not distorted as shown in the photo. Locos and stock will require weathering and those Grampus wagons will require some additional work, i.e. replacement loads and numbering/lettering.

More soon.

Terry






 

All looking very good Terry 👍



Ed

Thanks Ed.

Terry

Some great modelling there Terry.

I was about to ask about the backscene then I realised I was looking at the greenery through your window ———————

Are all the buildings Scalscenes ?  If so, then you've made a very neat job of them - far better than I can achieve.  Are the windows in the workshops prints or bought in jobs ?

Hello and thank you Peter.  All of the buildings are hacked about Scalescenes' structures, mainly from different loco sheds.  The windows are screen printed products obtainable from Scalescenes via their website.  They are sent from Australia and usually arrive quite promptly.  I figured they would look better than the original ink-jet black windows which are shown earlier in the thread.  Once the new windows were in, I backed them with some black card, a) to make the white windows more prominent, and b) to make it impossible to look through the windows at the backscene.  I am currently adding some more details to the scene.  It's amazing what you can fit into a five and a half inch wide baseboard!

Terry

A little bit of detail has been added.  I would have liked to add a railing behind but it would foul the coupling rods of 08 shunters.  There is a limit to what can be squeezed into five and a half inches width of baseboard!

Coming along very well Terry. 

The weathering on the track looks superb and I love the puddle in the last shot.   Not too sure yet about the gas cylinders but the oil barrels are great - who makes those ?
 

Thanks Peter.  The oil drums are sold by Dart Castings.  I think that I'll give the gas cylinders a wash of something mucky to make them look a bit unloved.  They are Bachmann products.

Terry

London Road Sidings has had it's first (and probably last!) exhibition invite. If you fancy staring at a piece of 4' x 5.5" mdf, it will be appearing at the Orpington & District Model Railway Society's exhibition on Sat/Sun 13th/14th April, at Pratts Bottom Village Hall, Norsted Lane, Pratts Bottom, Kent. BR6 7PQ. If you do visit, make yourself known to me and have a play with the layout.
Interestingly, this village hall featured in the recently aired drama production about the Sub-Postmasters' scandal.

Terry

If only I was more mobile Terry, I wouldn't mind a trip to Kent.

Why probably last exhibition invitation?


Ed