O gauge point

 As always there are a couple of side projects to do while the glue is going off. The first is Mr. Hill's Gauge O project. In an idle moment I grabbed a point plan (blown up some years back from the EM gauge society stash). This was stuck to a bit of  chipboard, and before I noticed I was welding up a point V. The rail is some 125 FB that I bought cheap at a Guildex last century, and which has been lurking around at the back of the cupboard ever since. There's already a built one in hand and I need five. 

This makes the third scale this week and it's only Tuesday.

TT120 Terrier and other considerations

Image: Steve Croucher/Peco studio

 A task is to hand. 

This month's Railway Modeller contains a fairly standard BLT plan of the month. You will all have obviously bought this so no need for me to expand on the reasoning behind said plan, and again obviously I'm not going to reproduce that here. However, there have been a couple of messages appearing on my phone vis-à-vis the hints here, and drawing conclusions. The task for me is to build it, but not in a familiar scale/gauge, but the relatively new TT:120. This was a surprise on lots of levels and I have questions, but there is wood to cut and a deadline; at the outside of the magazine print-run up to the Glasgow show.

The eagle-eyed will notice that in practical terms it's a funny shape and moreover the boards are split unevenly. So the already compressed plan/idea needs tweaking further to allow practical transportation.

Removing the Southern IOW angle throws up further possibilities: The first is to forgo the Terrier and head for the new J50 or the 08. and go GNR area. I'm thinking something like Horncastle and that photo in the Bradford Barton Brach line diesels book. The IOW buildings could be adapted and you are good to go. The other is to use all the Pacifics that are available and go Pickering NYMR during preservation. It would need stretching a little and to move the goods yard sidings to top right as an MPD. 5-coach trains would be possible in the same sort of space, though the fiddle yard is naturally longer than the planned 30" length needed here. 

Peco TT120 lineside hut

 Continuing the process of getting my eye in. This was snuck out of the RM office. It's tiny. Not N gauge tiny, but the equivalent N gauge item is six bits and a chimney pot. This is three frets and layers of 1mm wood with jigsaw location. This later characteristic worried me with the roof ridge after the struggle with the WHR station frontage. Here some careful sanding did the job. There are no gutters or downpipes. so I fashioned some waste fret to do the job. The usual acrylics to finish.

I like.

Setting the table (top)

 It had to happen sooner or later. I'd mooted it a couple of years back, thinking that it was the new big thing, but it got a negative response. However, all Tiger-like it was bounced at me, almost forcefully. The turn point it would seem is the Hornby Terrier and some forthcoming buildings. This month's RM holds all the answers that you may need. In the meantime I'm cutting MDF. 

I really should start taking commissions...

Wills SS48 signal box

 Just about done here. Took a fair bit longer than I'd hoped. I should know this by now; signal boxes are time thieves. Despite going down the budget/minimalist approach to the interior, this and the painting sucked up a lot of bandwidth. Pretty much as the instructions, if I had bothered to read them. The windows blocked up, which despite this being a kit option, rarely is it seen on layouts. Safety bars added to the windows. Doorknobs and a spearpoint fencing lever frame. The figure is a Dapol workman with his lunchbox removed.

Now to see if the emails get answered.