Brick legs

The platform store needed some brick legs a la the Welshpool shed. Chopping up Wills sheet and mitre-ing the corners looked like an awkward way to do it, and making up a former and covering with Slaters sheet wasn't a lot better. So in the end I went for the Pendon approach and stuck two bits of plastic strip together and carved the bricks on with the tip of a steak knife. Rough? Naturally...

Wills Store

This spring/summer is turning into another Wills-fest similar to last year: first the chapel-station building conversion, now this platform store on legs from scratch and yesterday the purchase of a Wills small signal box from the Engine Shed at Ford. In 30 years of doing this I've never used so much plastic kit material and the engine shed is still on the horizon , but I need photos for this. It's surprising how little notice I take of engine shed in general and the system of clearing loco exhaust. Picture hunting time...

Coal ladies

An answer appeared in an email from Geoff Gauntlet.

'The women on the coal truck are trimming the load to ensure that nothing can fall off. A lump of coal slipping off the truck as it made its way along the line could do some nasty damage to anyone adjacent to the track e.g. a shunter, permanent way man or even a passenger stood on a station platform. The receiving coal merchant would also be a few lumps short of what was weighted into the wagon at the screens.'

Seems logical to me.

This from and email this morning:

Take a look at this. The bits before the grovelling are great especially the short clip at about 50sec. Never seen that mentioned let along modelled.

http://vimeo.com/67647513

 

So what is going on with the coal shovelling?

Colour Footage

I was sent this a few days ago. It really is incredible - finding this sort of colour footage of the 1950s is rare enough, but this from the 20s showing a period which many modellers still represent is fantastic.


http://urbanpeek.com/2013/05/13/rare-color-footage-shows-what-london-looked-like-90-years-ago/

Kerr Stuart

Now I'm pondering whether to leave it in primer grey as per the WHR loco. This is the first time I've built the kit with most of the parts in the right order. It needs a lot of work and may be overdue for a re-hash. The bonnet halves in particular are a bit of a bitch to get lined up into some sort of acceptable order, and even after filling and sanding excessively the join is still visible.
Squeezing the Bachmann 0-6-0 IS possible with a few mods and  runs a treat. Now some works plates...

Shoehorn city

Well the roof is just sitting and there is much to do, but unlike the last time I combined these two items the length is just about as built, only the axleboxes are shifted to match the Bachmann wheels.
Whether it will come apart again is another question.

Kerr Stuart mock-up

I haven't abandoned the Hawk project, just put it to one side for a while. The 009 stud continues to be built though. This week the long awaited Kerr Stuart diesel on the Bachmann chassis takes shape. The Meridian kit is already compromised and I will no doubt introduce a few more, but this is the second version of this combination so I know, that in theory at least, that it should work.

Culm

Apart from the ancient take on the KESR the above took my eye and I returned several times during the afternoon. Culm - a simple four point plan (my favourite type) built by Dia Davis. Very well executed, but more than that unlike a lot of 4mm GWR layouts it had a certain atmosphere and life the reason for which I couldn't quite put my finger on - the unexplainable something.

Expo EM

 A visit yesterday to Expo EM at Bracknall. Not over-attended it has to be said, but then it's a specialist show. What was very noticeable was the lack of badly running layouts and finger-poking. If this was the only show I'd been to this year I would have said that the hobby had come on in leaps and bounds. However I know full well that this is not so, and other layouts in other shows (mine included) fail miserably in that respect. I can be done though.

One of the main reasons for going was to see Leslie Darbyshire's Maidstone Road. This has been under development since the late fifties and like that other long serving layout that always gets mentioned this single-minded approach pays dividends in the form of charm and character. An almost layer-like effect where you can see where things have be improved and where older items have been retained. No 4 at the top is, I believe the original scratch-built loco making it over half a century old. Don't tell be that your Bachmann 3F will have the same charm and still be running at exhibitions in 2063. Pure inspiration.

Can't see the wood...

I'm on the last leg of the tree thing for Svanda - six yesterday and possibly another six today which should be enough. It's like a Woodlands Scenics explosion in here with little bits of green everywhere.