Neil
Western Thunderer
An interesting idea Dave, however it was the lodge for Fulford Grange.
4mm Life in a Northern Town - the Buttercrambe diversion.
- Thread starter Neil
- Start date
Neil
Western Thunderer
May was a productive month though not necessarily model railway focused. The big project was to assemble a rigid skinned polytunnel.
It was an utter tw@t to assemble, but an utter delight once put together. It's had the beneficial effect of freeing up shed space, which has in turn freed up some space in the garage giving a bit more elbow room when my mates arrive to play trains. And what of the trains I hear you ask? The bits and pieces of time I've had while steeling myself for sessions with the polytunnel have been spent integrating the Peco 200 competition baseboard into Northern Town.
Here I'm building up the surface to match that of Northern Town .....
..... and this should give you a rough idea of how track and buildings will be arranged.
It was an utter tw@t to assemble, but an utter delight once put together. It's had the beneficial effect of freeing up shed space, which has in turn freed up some space in the garage giving a bit more elbow room when my mates arrive to play trains. And what of the trains I hear you ask? The bits and pieces of time I've had while steeling myself for sessions with the polytunnel have been spent integrating the Peco 200 competition baseboard into Northern Town.
Here I'm building up the surface to match that of Northern Town .....
..... and this should give you a rough idea of how track and buildings will be arranged.
Neil
Western Thunderer
With the polytunnel finished I guess there's an assumption that much progress will have been made on the layout over the last month. I have been busy but in an unexpected direction. Here's what the layout looks like now.
Don't worry, this temporary state of affairs is actually good news. The garage roof under which Northern Town sits has more patches on it than my gardening jeans and is due for very imminent replacement. I have four stacker boxes full of carefully bubble wrapped buildings in my indoors workshop and a local builder booked in for later this week to sort out the roof.
Don't worry, this temporary state of affairs is actually good news. The garage roof under which Northern Town sits has more patches on it than my gardening jeans and is due for very imminent replacement. I have four stacker boxes full of carefully bubble wrapped buildings in my indoors workshop and a local builder booked in for later this week to sort out the roof.
simond
Western Thunderer
I wish…What happens to all the support material? Is it recyclable?
Neil
Western Thunderer
cmax
Western Thunderer
No worries Neil, thanks for letting me know, you have done a great job cleaning it up.
Neil
Western Thunderer
Oh dear a couple of months have gone by and what do I have to show for it? Well I've done some shopping, a pair of baseboard kits and plastic storage boxes for a micro layout that I play with indoors. I've also bought a Rapido NER class H, saw a couple on the TMC stand at the NEC and couldn't resist the NER liveried one that Rails of Sheffield had. Here's the loco on the paper plan for the light railway which though not finalised will give some idea of how things will be, probably.
It's also had its portrait taken on Northern Town while under test, sorry, while playing.
Also in the shopping bag this month, twenty quids worth of sound and light equipped, remote control fun from Hornby.
I took it on Friday evening to play on a friends layout, it isn't at all finescale but it is a hoot and perhaps shows the way forward. Will Hornby offer dead rail alternatives in its main range?
It's also had its portrait taken on Northern Town while under test, sorry, while playing.
Also in the shopping bag this month, twenty quids worth of sound and light equipped, remote control fun from Hornby.
I took it on Friday evening to play on a friends layout, it isn't at all finescale but it is a hoot and perhaps shows the way forward. Will Hornby offer dead rail alternatives in its main range?
Neil
Western Thunderer
Another mini update on the mini layout. While waiting (seemed like forever) for some brass pins (for the p-way) to arrive in the post I redirected efforts into providing a station building for the Buttercrambe terminus of the light railway. It took me quite a while to settle on the final design as I didn't want another in the style of the DVLR. In the end I chose a close copy of the original Damems station building, a structure I've always had a fancy for. Here are a few photos of the build.
The main shell is constructed from hand scribed 80 thou plasticard, though the roof sections use 40 thou built into triangular boxes which fit within the walls. I'd like to fit lights in and to the building so the roofs need to be removable. With lighting and open doors I feel that I should cobble together some basic furniture which is fun if fiddly.
The main shell is constructed from hand scribed 80 thou plasticard, though the roof sections use 40 thou built into triangular boxes which fit within the walls. I'd like to fit lights in and to the building so the roofs need to be removable. With lighting and open doors I feel that I should cobble together some basic furniture which is fun if fiddly.
Neil
Western Thunderer
I'm pleased to report some more progress has been made, not much you understand, but enough to make a few photos worthwhile. I have finished painting the roof sections and have weathered them and the rest of the building, with not too heavy a hand as in my chosen era the building would only have been up a short time and be well cared for.
The guttering sticking out at the rear will eventually decant into a large wooden water butt, just like at Damems.
As well as fabricating the desk I've also built a stool and stove for the main part of the building and popped some sacks and a small barrel into the parcels room.
Both sections of the roof are removable as I want to install lights. I hope to use fibre optics rather than leds as I find that unfiltered led lighting far too harsh to represent oil lights which is probably what would have been provided here. No town gas out in the countryside.
The guttering sticking out at the rear will eventually decant into a large wooden water butt, just like at Damems.
As well as fabricating the desk I've also built a stool and stove for the main part of the building and popped some sacks and a small barrel into the parcels room.
Both sections of the roof are removable as I want to install lights. I hope to use fibre optics rather than leds as I find that unfiltered led lighting far too harsh to represent oil lights which is probably what would have been provided here. No town gas out in the countryside.