Rail200 - prepare, pack and dispatch

Once I knew Whittingham Hospital would be off to be shown at the NEC, I had a few preparation jobs to do. One was the broken platform lamp. I'd superglued it in place, so I had to remove the platform barrow and use pliers pivoting on a block of wood. 

The wires passed through a hole in the baseboard, which of course didn't line up with the lamp. I drilled a new, big hole as close as I could to the lamp, and after some fiddling and extracting bits of debris, I could pass a stiff wire through. I soldered solid-core wire extensions onto the new wires so I could pass them through like a needle, and connect them up to the screw terminal block. 

The lamp was the fixed with a little matt Modge Podge, which sets slowly hence the tweezers holding it in place, but should part easily if (when) I come to remove it again. Which I will definitely do when I relay the track and add a point! Actually this is now the third lamp here, the second broke when the board moved and my hand slipped while fitting it... so now there are no more spares. 

I wasn't sure if there would be power for the lights when it is on show, so I got some cheap battery holders and screwed them under the rear edge of the board. They give 9 volts, same as the output from the regulator, and a quick calculation suggests they should last 48 hours! The socket for the transformer has also been fitted here too, and a switch powers the lights either from the transformer (left), batteries (right), or off (centre). 

The lights under the canopy were a bit bright and white, so I painted over them with yellow acrylic... which seems to have toned them down and given them the colour of sodium lights. Just what I was hoping for. Both platform lights now work too...

My son pointed out that while my backscene was sky colour, the plain MDF outer ends might be an eyesore for an adjacent module if that has no backscene. So I gave the outer faces a quick coat of the same sky colour. 

The building roofs needed fixing down. I used a bead of matt Modge Podge around the edge, again it seems to hold the roof firmly but hopefully the bond can be broken without damage should I ever need to remove them again. 

The station canopy roof is held together with wire pins, to stop them falling out I put a blob of UHU over them. 

A couple more wire pins hold the roof to the brick wall. These were fiddly to fit, being right under the middle, I stood the board on end and used long tweezers. Again, a blob of UHU will hopefully hold them. 

The support columns are located with paperclip wire extensions which pass through holes in the board. Each is slightly longer than the next, to aid fitting them one at a time. Under the board, I have bent them slightly to prevent them rising up, but not too much so I can straighten and remove them when I need to. 

I'm happy that I'd managed to make the boiler house and engine shed doors openable, but that means they can flap around as the board is moved, and might stay closed. I thought I'd better pin them open, but so that they could be closed if wanted. I bent some springy steel fine wire as shown...

The long "leg" of the wire was superglued into a hole in the ground so that the inverted V shape peaks just above the bottom of the door. The doors can swing over the wire, which springs back up to hold the door open. Pushing the wire down will release the door. The wires were painted matt dark grey, camouflaging them. They ay get removed if not needed later, but for now the doors are safely held open.

Finally, the layout was packed up in the box the baseboard kit came in. This explains the height limit rule of course. The box is longer than the board, so some card packing was added each end. Fortunately, I don't need to post it, as Gaugemaster is one of the collection locations, so I took a short drive over there yesterday to drop it off. It seems appropriate as the track and most of the building materials came from Gaugemaster.

Lighting up Whittingly - and exciting news!

I had mentioned fitting lighting to the buildings when constructing Whittingly. With the visible work done and entry to the Rail200 competition submitted, I thought I should wire them up and make them work.

I attached a AD;DC "buck" voltage regulator under the board, and adjusted the output to give 9vDC, which gives a nice light from the miniature bulbs in the lamps. The wires from the lights had been taped up under the layout. I fitted "choc-block" screw terminals near groups of lights, connected the wires to them, and ran wires back to the regulator. The lights inside buildings and under the canopy are LEDs, the choc-blocks allowed a resistor to be fitted for each. A 12v wall-wart transformer is being used to test the lights, with a temporary socket fitted under the layout, although in due course the lighting will be run off one of my usual 16V AC transformers. 

The effect I think is rather pleasing, the light illuminating some areas and casting other parts into darkness. In this view, perhaps the station canopy lighting is too bright and white, I'll see if I can tone it down a touch, or fit a bigger resistor. 

The wall bracket lights are particularly pleasing, while the inside of the boiler house is deliberately not lit (so you can't see how empty it is!). The weighbridge window doesn't look that bright to the eye. 

The passenger service will be provided by a couple of 6-wheel coaches, which Hornby have usefully provided with their own lighting. These add nicely to the atmosphere!

Yes, that lamp at the end of the platform doesn't work. It got hit several times during construction being in a vulnerable spot (with hindsight, fitting it last would have been better!). It's been superglued back together but of course, the metal structure provides part of the circuit, and superglue doesn't fix that! I have a spare lamp, but replacing it might be tricky. 

Today I received the exciting news that Whittingly Hospital has been chosen as one of the finalists! That means it will be on show at the NEC next month. Having seen some excellent entries that haven't been chosen, I am surprised and delighted. 

Uckfield Model Railway Exhibition 2025

The Uckfield show has got a reputation for high-quality layouts, and this year was no exception. All 20 layouts were modelled to a high standard, and they covered a variety of scales and genres. I've included a lot of photos below, but even so, they don't cover all the layouts - just those that aligned to my interests or stood out to me. 

Rye Sands (00) by William Lloyd was a layout I was looking out for, having seen it on RM-Web. It's small and very simple - just two points - yet scenically interesting. Not just the jetty for the head shunt, the net store, buildings, and collection of sheds set the scene as Sussex by the sea, reinforced by the distant skyline of Rye on the simple but effective backscene. The pre-grouping SECR stock is unusual, and everything fits together with consistency.

Some of the stock is more colourful than others...

The GER tram looked at home, despite being very far from home! (it was the last hour of the show)

Flintfield (P4) shown by Adrian Colenutt featured in last month's Railway Modeller, and was originally built by Vincent De Bode in the Netherlands around 35 years ago. Despite it's age it looked stunning, a layout where you look across scenery and almost forget it is a model. It's another pre-grouping layout, meaning interesting and colourful GE stock, and it ran faultlessly including auto coupling (which is not a given for P4!). 

Ditchling Green (O and O16.5) shown by Rex Davidson and Stephen Williams was another layout I was looking forward to seeing. It was originally built by Gordon Gravett in the 1990s. I remember seeing it in Railway Modeller and being captivated by the detail and atmosphere, the clever use of space, and the narrow-gauge crossing. This was the first time I'd seen it in person, I have to say the village buildings and the (new) backscene set the location perfectly. 

East Lynn Quay (S) shown by Simon Dunkley (but the work of the Late Trevor Nunn - see comments) caught my attention as it is beautifully modelled, including the sailing barge and quayside buildings, as well as being in an unusual scale. 

Its operation was also interesting - yes, that is chain shunting! This was used extensively, a prototypical working practice that is rarely modelled. I understand the wagon turntable works too. 

Devil's Bridge (009) by Andy Cundick is instantly recognisable for those who know (or have seen pictures of) the prototype. It's modelled in the early years of the line.

St Oswalds (O-16.5) by Tim Crockford is a small but beautifully modelled shunting layout in the style of the Welshpool & Llanfair. 

Fryer's Lane (P4) by Mark Forrest - set in the 90's, I'm not sure this can be called "modern image" any more? 

Laxfield (P4) by Rod Cameron - another venerable P4 layout, built 40 year ago by John Watson.

Janes' Creek (EM) by Andrew Browne is based on the real place in Strood, Kent, and is another pre-grouping layout set around 1920. There were superbly modelled sailing barges and quayside industrial buildings. The deep foreground with sailing barges did make photography difficult though!

Pwllheli (P4) by Jonathon Buckle - I've seen this layout before, but its high standard of modelling and attention to detail modelling the prototype still impresses. 

Todmorden Midland (N) by Ed Purcell is a well presented and attractive yet compact model. This corner reveals an industrial saddle tank beyond a canal, note the submarine...

Roman Road (OO) by Oliver Turner is another simple but atmospheric cameo layout, of which Ollie has made a few, featuring the unusual overhead wire DC in a bleak marshland corner of Kent. 

That's just a sample of the layouts. I spent a good three hours at the show, including chatting to a few friends, an excellent day out. 

Garden diorama in 7mm scale

The October BRM magazine contains another of my "Getting Practical" contributions. This issue has been out a few weeks now, but I was a bit busy last month and forgot to post about it!

This garden diorama in 7mm scale is the subject of my longest step-by-step article yet, which covers the garden buildings, scenic setting, and a range of details. 

The three Dapol laser-cut kits for the greenhouse, shed, and chicken coop, along with the ready-made tomato plants and runner bean plants, were the basis of the project. Coming up with the setting in which to use them, and selecting the detailing parts to finish the scene, was a lot of fun. 

The details include chickens, chicken wire fencing, plant pots, a bench, a potting table (in the greenhouse), wheelbarrow and garden tools. 

It was also fun to experiment with new scenic treatments such as card paving slabs and real soil.

Check out the magazine for the full details!

Rail200 - a few extra details

It didn't take long for me to add to Whittingly Hospital. I was tidying the workbench putting away left over materials and wondered if I had any ducks left over from previous projects. I didn't, but I did have a pair of swans - and what's more, they had been painted already! As I thought, they do add a little interest to the front of the layout.

 In the same box I found a couple of other details I could use. Both are in this photo...

The letterbox adds a splash of colour in the foreground too. My thinking is the guard collects the post a couple of times a day, transferring it to Royal Mail at the junction. This small letterbox on a post was also already painted, recovered from a past layout, it seemed more suitable than a full size pillar box. 

The other detail is this pinch bar, used for moving wagons by hand, it's been left leaning against a wall. Subtle, but just helps to break up an otherwise bland corner.

I wouldn't be surprised if other details get added in time!