Ready to start.

 At last, after nearly four months of intermittent work, the railway shed is ready for layout construction to begin. 

Here we have a picture of its present situation, taken from the doorway. The main worksurface, on top of old kitchen units, is to be the foundation for the 009 layout baseboards, while the shelf to the right is going to hold a small 0:16.5 7mm scale layout. At least, that's the idea. The cupboards underneath hold a multitude of boxes full of the essential stuff needed for modelling. Kits, paints, tools, old cardboard, brickpapers, etc.. This includes a box full of old Superquick kits and a batch of even older Bilteezi card kits that may actually get made! A number of baseboards can be seen on the worktop, ready for putting in place. Now for a track plan.

15. All Change

Well, what a year it has been, with one thing and another. I won't bore you with the shenanigins around Covid19 that affected both MrsJ and myself, suffice to say we have survived the various lockdowns and both had our first vaccination, so are feeling reasonably chipper. The other major event has been the search for a new home. MrsJ decided that we needed to move nearer our daughter and our grandchildren so a move some 30 miles away, to Sudbury, has been on the cards for some months now. What our son feels about this (he only lives some ten minutes away with his family) is unrecorded, but I was overruled in the decision.

We've finally found and organised a new home. A small bungalow in a pleasant quiet estate, seemingly full of elderly residents, on the edge of Sudbury and are moving tomorrow. Actually, most of our possessions have gone bit by bit over the last three weeks while we went over to prepare the place, and only the larger furniture bits and pieces need to go. At the moment our new 'library' looks like this:

 

Somewhere in that lot are my books and files. It may be a while before I get access to them properly.

I do have individual access to a large wooden shed, as the property has two in the garden. MrsJ says I can have the big one for a railway while she has the small one for her gardening. No argument from me. The electrician has been and installed lighting and adequate power points, so the next thing is to insulate and line the building. This is going to take a while and I envisage it to be June before I can start construction. 

I have a number of ideas, these will be revealed shortly. Now it's time for bed and a good nights sleep ready for a busy day tomorrow.

 

14. A little more progress

Here we have the situation a couple of days ago. The main station at the front now has a name board, and some fencing being tried for size. To the rear left is Granny's Cottage on the edge of Tulgey Wood. I'm hoping that I can arrange the trees so that the train can run under their canopy. Next is the platform for Wisteria Halt with a lot of work still to be done. Then finally, on the right, the barn under construction; which will be a blacksmith/petrol station.  There will be a road going from a level crossing in the bottom left to another on the top right. I've got ideas for three or four vignettes around the board, but more of those later.

13. A Little Lockdown Whimsey

I'm on

e of the worlds great procrastinators and progress on my two layouts are moving in fits and starts. Early in march I came across a mention of some new locomotives from Shapeways, in the style of Rowland Emett cartoons, and thought a couple would make delightful display models. The first loco and coach arrived and were so nice that I contacted the designer with suggestions for a couple of others. Enough models were ordered to make a couple of trains and thought was given to using them on a layout. A miniature motor and chassis was sourced from Japan to make the whole thing workable.

I already had a few bits of Peco 009 set track so found a piece of ply they would fit onto, This was a little warped at one end so I framed it with strips of pine ripped down from an old shelf and covered with cork.

Here is the station building, along with the first couple of painted models. The station is made from a sheet of brick printed card made by copying a sheet of Superquick paper at a slightly larger scale. the canopy cut from postcard and stuck round a piece of balsa. ideas for the rest of the area taking shape in the rear. There will be a small halt on the opposite side to the station based on an old Rowland Emett model (Emettland) of the 1950s.

I've been spending some time painting figures . These are from my stash of wargame figures and come from a number of ranges, among them we have Grenadier, Citadel, Games Workshop, Eureka, Perry and Foundry, as well as others so old I can't remember their origin. 

This will be a 'fantasy' layout, hence the name 'Whimsey', and the intention is for a number of scenarios not usually found on model railways. I already have a Frankenstein monster painted up, and waiting in the wings is Red Riding Hood and wolf, these latter two will be at Granny's Cottage, on the edge of Tulgey Woods. Others will appear as I get inspiration.

That's how it is at the moment. I'm currently painting more stock and making a barn/blacksmiths, as well as planning the landscape. Keep an eye on it.

 

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.

                           

                           

10. In the background.

It's getting too cold in the shed to spend too much time in there, but I have managed to do a bit of work on the rear left corner. This is going to be the boundary of the estate, with the gateway, walls and lodge. So far they are only placed in position. There will be a tree and garden access between the house and wall, with a small garden to the left. I've got to experiment on some shop bought trees with spray glue, assorted dried herbs and spray paint to see what I can come up with. The house is one I built some time ago and is based on a drawing in a 'Ladybird' book.