12. The Boston and Frieston Shore Tramway, progress

I thought it time I showed something of the main layout in the shed. So far I have the boards for the left hand side done, and have some 'sketch' buildings set out to see how they fit. These are based on photos I took some years ago and architects drawings I dragged up from the Boston council planning department. The area at the front will be the quayside and I still have to work out the track plan for the railway.

I've included a picture of the far left end, as well as an old picture of the original site, to see how they compare. Building models are purely for visual aid in eventual planning. The track disappearing off screen will not be there, but shows how the real line was supposed to run. Clearance would have been very tight.

The building on the right end, with track going round the back, is the loco works. I real life the area is occupied by Georgian warehouse, now mainly converted into flats, and in the 1940s were part of the scenery in the film 'One of our aircraft is missing', when the town was supposed to be somewhere in Holland.

11. Not a lack of progress, just a lack of photos.

Is it really December since I last wrote something? Yes it is! Not for lack of progress but more the fact that I haven't been taking 'as I go' photos.  Anyway, here are a couple of smaller projects currently on the go, both for my 09 'Hubbards Hills' miniature railway tourist line.

First up is a photo of my lounge corner worktable. Originally it was a small writing desk and the top folds back to open, while when not in use it folds forward and the thing looks like a small table. The two strips of wood are holding a group of dodos which I'm painting according to an illustration found on the internet. Now I know that dodos are supposed to be extinct, but these are a sub-group of a miniature breed, originally brought back by Mathew Flinders after his enforced stay in Mauritius as guest of the French. Flinders knew the Nisbett family and presented them with a pair, who bred into the flock that now inhabits the estate.

Second, we have a newly acquired 3D print model obtained from Shapeways. This is the Heywood locomotive 'Ellie' and will run on the donor chassis of a Farish 08 seen behind it. 'Ellie' will then become 'Maggie', the second loco of the fleet, and I'll need a short train to match.                        

I have also been working, in fits and starts, on my large layout in the shed. There are no photos as yet because I have the windows covered for the winter, and it Is too dark in there for photography. But I have been making baseboards and planning the buildings. More about these later.