Svanda at Uckfield

 Slightly surprisingly Svanda makes an appearance at the Uckfield show this weekend. Not surprising in its locality being only minutes away, but because it has become a mini Scaleforum of late. This suggests that a foreign layout built using Peco code 100 may not be a perfect fit. However...

Always worth a visit even with the weather that is forecast for the area.

For some reason Blogger is being awkward with photos so a couple from the layout's development that I can retrieve. 

Drovers Brook track and plotting

With the track down, wired and tested; time for a little painting. In days of yore I would do this with a brush and it took an age. Now I wait for a reasonable day, take things outside and use the Nevard-lifted method of two or three colours of Halfords finest which takes a matter of minutes. Some cleaning up and a polish of the rail tops and it's done.

Retesting and fitting onto the existing support system recently vacated by Rhiw 2, which is now stacked underneath, could take place. Some plotting of buildings which are largely done is the current state of play with the platform next on the table. The backscene and facia may well follow. This is a slightly different approach to normal as this is not a show bird, though others may follow as part of the Project 70 process. This is constantly moving and I am endlessly changing my mind on the direction that this might take though I have forced the channel of travel buy selling bits off via Ebay; the Wood End/009 stock box being the next to hit the exit.

 

Drovers Brook track and power

Where we're at: Drovers Brook in the intermediate stage of being on the short trestles while the basic track and wiring went in. This meant I was back to having a layout in the middle of the room again, something that is not in the slightest bit convenient. In some ways there is nothing to see here, and any description could just refer to c2017 when the AoTC was under construction, as the methods and thinking are all but identical excepting the 75/Bullhead combo.

I managed to get about 85% on the plain track done with the BH the remaining bits at the far left (van siding and H/S) were done with 75 with the sleepers rejigged to match the spacing, i.e. exactly what I did with Dury's Gap. Usual simple three feeds with the points doing the isolating - the one engine in steam operation requires little else. The DPDT switches at the front (as per the AoTC) will be scenic-ed around to make them less obvious. This is very much a home beast, although it it nominally requested for the WRG show in March displayed very much in 'home operation' setting, and not on the usual high trestles with the lighting tubes.

 

Trefach in Railway Modeller

For obvious reasons the 009 layout build has only had glances here and now is revealed in a series of articles in RM beginning this month. The first on the reasoning behind the design and the baseboard. Most of this is not new for regulars here, but the expert carpentry will probably blow the minds of the general RM buying public.

Anyway, for part one, rush out and get the mag; but be quick as it seems to be popular and has already gone from the local WHS hereabouts. Just shows the excitement that one of my baseboard builds can trigger.

Moving forward, the layout is sitting stacked behind the Editor's desk in the RM office now, and as I understand is not destined to see the light of day until the SEC show in Glasgow in March although the whole thing was timed for the NEC next month, and we all know what happened to that.

 

Skip

The last piece (for the minute) for Rhiw is a skip; one of those that sits by the lineside with a mix of gash inside and seemingly has no means of being retrieved.

The root is one of a pair from the Peco Modelscene range which is stamped Leafdale Models 1988 underneath. A couple of coats of paint to dull the bright yellow plastic and then the full scrapbox treatment for the contents. This was a scrabble down to the bottom for some small bits of sheet and wood and I can proudly announce a boxed ticked. Rhiw was the first layout for a while not to have any part of a Wills Occupation Bridge kit on it... now it has.