No, I haven't deserted Western Thunder...
Although I haven’t made great strides forward on the workbench since the mid-April portable-layout operating practice sessions, I haven’t been idle. Layout, fittings and stock were put away bit by bit in the most logical/convenient order I could devise in order to have items in sensible groups ready for show set up next Friday. I added some more handy support loops under the layout in various places, so that several long detachable wiring runs and plugs would neither be left drooping down when fitted, nor (hopefully) be tangled by well-meaning attempts to thread them through the permanent spaghetti under the boards. All locos had wheels cleaned again, even if they looked clean, mechanisms re-lubricated, tightness of vital screws checked, and in several cases couplings changed before being packed away. Any that hadn’t performed adequately were either sorted out, or swapped for one that did perform as required.
While I already had a horse and cart that would serve as the local coalman’s, standing ready by the coal cells, and I found a potential coal merchant among a few reasonably suitable moulded plastic people I intended to paint on an old sprue, I felt the scene around the coal cells probably needed a bit more detail. I actually bought some Ratio OO coal sacks, scales and weights, but on opening the packet I decided the sacks were far too flat for full ones, and not flat enough for empties, although I may yet use the scales and weights. After perusing images of horse-drawn coal deliveries on-line, consulting a friend with equine interests, and reading various purported “facts” on the web about old coal sack sizes, I decided to add a detachable tail-board and part-load of sacks to the cart, making the sacks out of plasticine. Depending on what I choose to believe on-line, the sacks may or may not be an appropriate size and colour! I at least now have a basic scene with a coalman who has paused with his shovel, part way through bagging up and loading the cart. I’m told the horse deserves a nose bag too, and a bucket of drinking water hanging below the cart. I’ll see if I have time to add such details.
I didn’t want to over-do the numbers of human figures in a quiet rural location. But I did select a man in fairly business-like apparel and a smartly dressed lady to pose as a couple waiting for train to Lincoln, A seated chap with bowler hat awaits the train to Louth.
I’m not sure whether it really works to have the driver of the steam ploughing engine looking down towards the rest of the off-scene ploughing crew and balance plough, but I’ve put him in place anyway.
Mid-week I had a mild panic when I realised that I had completely omitted the goods yard loading gauge, despite it being highly visible by the cattle dock in one of the photographs I’d used when building that dock. On checking that photograph the means by which the arc of the gauge was suspended wasn’t particularly clear, but fortunately a friend was able to supply an additional photograph which helped to clarify things. I found I had a spare cast-resin, wire reinforced signal post that would serve as the upright support for the gauge, and the rest could be made up to a basic standard from thick plasticard and brass wire. Although I was able to estimate dimensions from the photographs, by comparison with the assumed GNR 13' 9" absolute maximum height, allowing me to produce a probably-to-scale sketch, I found that a "scale" model would not have allowed the adjacent hut to stand in the right place, so I presume my track layout and cattle dock width are "not quite right". I've therefore had to alter the proportions of the woodwork to suit the site, reducing the horizontal dimensions, which forces the diagonal brace to go a bit higher up than it rally should be, in order to clear the “correct” arc of the gauge. Thanks to one or two over-height loco/stock models, and the combination of track curvature with OO wheel-to-track slop, I've also had to raise the whole thing 2 to 3mm compared to my estimated "correct" height, in order to clear the eaves of loco cabs to ensure safe shunting. The main arm of the support
is horizontal by the way, no matter what the image perspective may suggest!
I wasn't too pleased to see that the newly received extra photograph also showed that there was once a cattle-dock lamp I've never seen before, and additional paling around the lower half of the cattle dock fences. Too late to add those features for Immingham next weekend!
Simultaneously with the coal merchant’s scene, the figure painting, and the loading gauge panic, I was trying to put together some text and maps to explain the (credible?) alternative history of my busy version of the Louth and Lincoln line, so that I could produce some information boards to display with the layout. I did consider producing as many as five boards, but time, enthusiasm and inspiration proved insufficient at this stage for more than one board…
