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!

Rail200 - Whittingly Hospital

My Rail200 challenge entry is finally finished, and the entry submitted with a whole 6 days to spare!

It has a name too - Whittingly Hospital. Since it's inspired by Whittingham and Hellingly Hospitals (amongst others) it's not the most original name, but it seems an appropriate reference to the inspiration.

The composition of the buildings has worked out well, and I'm pleased with how the covered platform has come out. The cinder yard is a little darker than I'd intended, but the buried track is a nice contrast to the ballast.

There's limited scope for details, in photos the prototypes' yards seem to be kept tidy and it wouldn't be a place busy with people, so the few figures are placed with apparent purpose. We see the vicar returning from a visit (perhaps a service?) talking to a nurse heading home, and a groundsman taking a break from mowing the extensive parklands...

A sneaky look out from under the canopy works surprisingly well too, revealing figures that aren't easy to see from the front. 

The engine shed provides interest at the opposite end of the scene. Look into the gloom inside the shed and a fitter can be seen.

The pond provides visual interest in the foreground, and was surprisingly easy to do. Perhaps it could do with a duck or two?

Another figure waits in the shadows of the boiler house. 

Another view that can't be seen from the front of the layout. It's unfortunate that the platform couldn't be arranged to face the front, but that's compromise of a micro layout. 

Rail200 - trees and people

A day off on Friday and some time free over the weekend has enabled me to catch up where I'd wanted to be with the Rail200 project. The first job was to finish the trees. I'd got most of a pack of Woodland Scenic armatures left over from Loctern Quay, but the larger sizes were too tall for the height limit of the challenge and only the shorter trees could be used. My friend Tim mentioned he had a pack of smaller Woodland Scenics trees but had found them a little short. We did a swap so he got some of the taller trees and I got some of the smaller ones.

As usual, I cleaned up any moulding lines and marks, and drilled the bottom of the truck to superglue in a length of paperclip wire. They were then dunked in hot water and twisted to spread the branches, and tweaked into a 3-dimensional shape.

The trunks look a bit plasticky. In the past I've brush painted them, but this time I thought I'd airbrush them while the airbrush was out to weather the buildings. This seemed to work well.

And so, this week was foliage time. I'd picked up some Busch foliage at a show, but first impressions was it didn't tease out and fell apart if stretched too much, so the trees looked a bit lumpy. I couldn't find any left over foliage from previous trees (there must be some somewhere), so ordered some Woodland Scenics foliage which I know works well, and some WS polyfibre too. The foliage can be teased out until it is light and fluffy, then glued onto the branches (I use Matt Modge Podge). The polyfibre can be teased out even more, but needs foliage adding in the form of finely ground foam scatter stuck on a liberal coat of hairspray. 

The polyfibre tree (left) is fuller and more dense, but still lets light through. This will be a view-blocker for the front of the layout. The WS foliage (third, fifth, sixth trees) looks better than the Busch stuff, but together there is a variety of shades and density of foliage. 

The trees are planted in place on the layout by punching a hole through the (kitchen towel) surface, and poking the wire in covered in matt modge podge. The trees on lower ground needed a hole drilling in the ply surface below. The two tallest trees (second left and far right) are 135mm tall, so needed the trunks recessing into the polystyrene below the surface so they fit within the 140mm height limit!

The other job this weekend was to paint the details that had already been prepared and primed, and a few figures too. There are a couple of Monty's Models figures, the rest are Dapol/Airfix/Kitmaster - they still look good! Painting is using acrylics. The plastic figures were drilled up their legs for a 0.5mm wire to help locate them securely, the whitemetal figures already have a rod below a foot.

I've started gluing the details and people in place, and a few last jobs are in progress, so the finish line is in sight!