A brace of vans

A little while back an internet friend offered me some surpless kits and bits for Welshpool style wagons, I think they were Nine Lines kits. He'd started them, made some modifications, but lost interest and realised they didn't fit with his plans. I'd guess they'd been kicking around his workbench for a while for a few of the parts were damaged or mising - such as most of the wheels! Still there are enough parts to make up 5 wagons, I picked up some wheels at Sparsholt and have been slowly working on the brakevan, cattle van and goods van.



They make up into rather nice vehicles, slighly larger than most of my stock but not excessively so. The kits have needed some fettling though, and depsite my best efforts all 4 wheels are not quite level - so the solebar/axlebox mouldings are not very accurate! If necessary I'll have to re-work the chassis but they may be OK. I've had to use a few bits of plasticard, including supports for the running boards of the brake van, I've made plasticard roofs using the boiling water method, and added handrails from wire. They have had lead sheet added under the floor for weight, so now all they need are couplings and painting.

A Naming Ceremony

A little over a year ago my latest Paul Windle loco arrived, just a couple of days after my daughter. It seemed like a loco that needed a name, and my daughter's name "Lucy Ann" just seemed to fit, so my wife suggested I get some name-plates. Well, suitable bespoke name-plates proved hard to come by and not cheap, so when a freind started offering etched nameplates via the NGRM forum I was delighted! So here is Lucy Ann, along with a reasonable representation of Hunslet style works plates too!



While I was at it, in the interest of sibling equality, I got a set of "Joshua" plates, which seemed to fit the Sharp-Stewart tram nicely. And as for the LNER style tram loco, well that just needed the name "Toby"! Both are also Paul Windle models. The plates are finely etched, but do need a background colour. I chose red, just Humbrol matt enamel, and after it had dried I removed the paint from the raised letters and edge with a scalpel blade, and by rubbing gently over some fine wet-and-dry. I lined them up on the side of the loco's against masking tape to get them level and central, and stuck them on with a little PVA, on the basis that it should provide sufficient bond without damaging the paint in case of excess.

Considering that the name plates are just 2mm (a scale 6 inches of course) high, they are very sharp and really add to the locos' appearance, but I am not sure the photos do them justice. If you are interested you can find out more and order your own from Narrow Planet, who also do works plates and are planning other related products. Now I'm sure I have other loco's in need of names ...

Another Sound Distraction

So here's one reason I haven't posted much about my own models in the past few weeks. As you may have seen from the "About Me" section I am involved with the sound system at my church, and over the last couple of years we've seen some welcome improvements and upgrades. As a result there was some surplus kit, so it struck me that it might be possible to put together a basic PA system for a side-hall and for occasional "portable" use. OK, I didn't have everything needed - a couple of bits came from e-bay, like the flight-case rack. I guess that covers the portable bit!

Another e-bay bargain was a "Zone Mixer", an odd choice perhaps but it has the minimum of knobs and buttons. The settings are mostly internal, so just 6 knobs for 6 inputs plus a volume - perfect for use by anybody! A surplus CD/DVD player (and previously from a charity shop) is the main source of sound, a colleague at work helped me turn some offcuts of aluminium into brackets to attach it into the rack.

The rest of the space at the front was filled with a grille, and a panel of sockets: 3 microphone inputs, 2 stereo inputs for external sources (the final one being the DVD player), and outputs for video, left and right channel sound. The job of wiring up was quite familiar to me, not unlike model railway wiring! The system will be plugged into sockets on the wall running to speakers, although portable speakers can also be used, hence the jack sockets.

Inside the back cover of the case I attached a 4-way extension lead and ran the lead out through a hole, making plugging in straightforward. The amplifier is also in the rear of the rack, which not only leaves space for the panel of sockets at the front, but keeps the amp knobs out the way. Only the front cover needs removing for operation.

Well it works OK in my lounge, but we've yet to install the speakers in the intended room to try it out for real. And please be assured I'll try and return to topic for my next post ...!

Temark Valley at Sompting Show

Fellow Sussex Downs 009 group member Mark Holland (builder of Spirit of Welshpool) was showing his first layout, Temark Valley, at the Sompting Model Railway Show, so I had volunteered to help out. Mark says that he did everything wrong building this layout - the corners are too tight, gradients too steep, clearances too restricted, the baseboard is large and had to be braced to make it strong enough for exhibitions ... but it is an attractive layout and great fun to operate. The narrow gauge line leaves the yard across the canal from the standard gauge, and one branch dives through a tunnel to a halt, while another winds up to a quarry with interesting shunting challenges!


There was a good selection of layouts at the show in a range of scales and themes, although N-gauge is clearly popular with the organising club. You will find some photos here. This super little layout in 0-16.5 caught my eye, very nicely modelled and just shows what can be done in a compact space. (The builder (Brian Taylor) was also responsible for Pelporro in G-gauge.)


There was even a Thomas layout for the kids to operate, up to 3 at a time. My lad loved it, and spent ages playing!

A day out in Bognor

On Saturday I took the boy over to Bognor for the second "SWING" (St Wilfreds Industrial and Narrow Gauge) show, having been last year and heard on-line the layouts that were to be there I had high expectations - and was not dissapointed. Perhaps as a fan of all things narrow-gauge and industrial in railway terms that should not be a surprise, but there were 11 superb layouts (not a dud one there) in this small, friendly show. A good range of scales and themes too. OK I had seen about 3 of them at other NG shows recently, but all were worth seeing again. The hall felt a little less crowded and cramped than last year, which was no bad thing and I suspect due to better planning and smaller layouts rather than number of exhibits, I also understand numbers were slightly down. But it was a great show of layouts and well worth a trek accross the county! Here are a few pictures, see the whole set here.



I enjoyed all the layouts so much it would be hard for me to pick a favourite, however perhaps the most impressive layout in terms of modelling was "Selsey Town Station - 1925" in 0 scale by Keith Smith. I understand this won best layout and it is easy to see why. Not only was the modelling of the unusual loco's and stock (including the Colonel Stevens railbuses) carried out to a high standard, but also the scenic work, and it had really captured the character of the Selsey Tramway (that was not too far from where the exhibition took place).



The first photo above is Nick Pidgley's "Touchwood", his first layout in 0-16.5 scale. Having seen my cassette fiddle-yards in action he decided to try it in the larger scale, using the pipe cover for double 22mm diameter pipes rather than 15mm as I used in 009. As you can see below it does work, he has also fitted his fiddle yard with neat shelves for storing cassettes, and had a good idea of using "T" section plastic pushed into slots at the end of the cassettes to prevent stock from escaping. Tom Dauben's "Dunbracken" layout was also at the show, now featuring the same cassette system - I really should have patented that idea!!

Spirit of Welshpool

A few months back I posted some pictures of Mark Holland's under-construction layout inspired by Welshpool. Mark has obviously been busy recently as the townscape had really progressed by the time he set up the layout at Sparsholt last Saturday! His glamorous assistant operator (daughter!) confirmed that he had also been taking over the house somewhat with bits of layout too!

The effort is really paying off though, those familiar with the old pictures of the Welshpool & Llanfair railway threading through the back alleys of the town will recognise features in the model. Mark has done a great job of distilling the scenes into an atmospheric model, compressing and moving landmarks around but it is still recognisable, despite the whole town scene from the end of the station yard to the halt at Seven Stars being about 3 feet long. There is some way to go, the church is yet to come for example, and Mark is adding interior detail to the shops, as well as more people, vehicles and street clutter being required. But the washing on the lines, the railway running over the stream - they are all there! Would you believe the black-and-white cottage started life as an Airfix kit?

I was lucky enough to have a go at operating the layout for a while during the show, with a whole 5 minutes training (!). Actually it was great fun, although I am not a fan of the Bemo couplings, and there was one bit of track between a board joint and a point which was determined to derail any loco in one direction to frustrate me! I'm sure Mark will get that sorted. The sequence is to run in a mixed train, uncouple wagons in the yard, run up to station. Then back up, run-round, and shunt wagons. Reverse new train to station, depart for Seven Stars halt and the fiddle yard. Alternate with a railcar or goods only for interest! Mark is building up a fleet of Welshpool stock, which will really look good on the layout.

I'm sure I'll be able to bring more updates in the future!

Narrow Gauge South 2010

Last Saturday was Narrow Gauge South - otherwise known as "Sparsholt", after the college near Winchester that provides the venue. The Sussex Downs 009 group were showing part of the "Everleight" modular layout, and I had volunteered to help. This is a superb layout (I can't claim any credit as it was built before I joined the group), but the quirks of operation take a little getting used to, and not helped by the gremlins that got into the system between the test and clean session the previous evening, and being errected at the show! So the first hour of operation was a struggle, but once the issues were sorted and operators (including me) "on-message" things improved! In addition group member Mark Holland had his "Spirit of Welshpool" layout there, which I had the pleasure of operating - more on that soon. My recently completed and unpainted railcar spent much of the day on one of those two layouts.

In between operating sessions I did get chance to look around, although with over 40 superb layouts it felt like a rush to see them all! No toddler in tow this time though, so a little easier to stop and talk, and take photos. Some of my better photos are here but for the full collection see my fotopic site. I skipped the 009 society AGM - I'm glad too, as it took 2 hours! - which was the best time to get close to the layouts. All in all, a great show.

I did get away without spending too much money, although I did pick up a few essential tools from Squires did add up, some useful odds-and-ends, and a fascinating book on Light Railways full of inspiring and atmospheric pictures (see photo).