2996 Victor

Sorry to hear that, seems a real shame. Can it not be salvaged? Cheers, Mark

Great start, or perhaps re-start, Ken - looking forward to seeing this develop. The part-relief goods shed is a great idea, as is the part-station with view blocks. Cheers, Mark

Excellent points, David! I'm a bit of an Iain Rice disciple as well - creating a framed scene helps to focus the viewer's gaze on the model rather than the surrounding activity, while gentle curves and avoiding baseboard edge parallel-ism is more pleasing to the eye. Y points are a very useful tool in shortening the overall length taken up by sidings and loops and as you say going diagonally is also a useful way to make the track layout more interesting.

A series of great plans there, @David Holman, and the notes are a good way to reason out a scheme, something I ought to do when scratching out a plan! I like the minor through stations, particularly the first of the two, they have a lot of potential as cameos. Of course, Fintonagh is a delightful layout, and the plan incorporates just the right amount of track to make for interesting manoeuvres. I do like the way you use view blocks to disguise the holes in the sky, something I'm trying to do as well with the layouts I'm planning) building. Great stuff, thank you for sharing. Cheers, Mark

Close observation seems to be the key with a subtle approach. And not over-doing it - less is definitely more in my humble opinion! Cheers, Mark

Well it certainly looks the part, so why not? In fact, I'm tempted to see if I can find one for my project MGWR layout when it gets started - I think with a bit of tinkering it might fit in nicely! Great stuff - looking forward to seeing more. Cheers, Mark

Looking good, Dane, excellent track layout and nice progress. Great work on the concrete which notoriously difficult to make convincing. The shed also looks fantastic, the windows are particularly effective. Have you got any details on the build? Looking forward to seeing your next instalment Cheers, Mark

Beautiful work, David, as always! The time taken pays handsome dividends in the atmosphere of the whole scene. Cheers, Mark

Would it be worth finishing the road surface before adding scatter/greenery? That way, you can add grass and weeds growing at the margins of the road, making it look a bit more like nature trying to reclaim the land. Just a thought! Cheers, Mark

Sitting on an old crate, perhaps!

Superb!

Thanks, Alan, that's ingenious- I've got a few of those frets so I might have to give that a go! Cheers, Mark

Excellent - that's a fantastic result! How did you create the typical BCDR outside axle guards? Cheers, Mark

Maybe not as the door is X-braced! Slater's kits are back in production, their website is here bizarrely about twenty minutes down the road from me! The MR large cattle wagon might be cut-down-able, though! Interestingly, one Lot had roof doors!

I wonder if their MR box van has any milage in it for converting. Admittedly, it's an assymetrical design so you'd need two kits to splice together, but the heavy outside framing is in character. Just a thought!

I know what you mean! I used to be able to hand-letter quite passably but dimishing eyesight has, I suspect, put paid to that! Excellent use of the (Derby) Midland wagon kit - Slater's, I'm guessing - it really does look the part with the tarp. Cheers, Mark

Excellent work there, if I may say so - the wagons all look resplendent in their grey as does the carriage on its green. For lettering, are you going to use transfers or hand lettering? Cheers, Mark

Looking forward to seeing the results, Jonathan: you've beaten me to it as I've run out of my chosen shade of grey! Plus I haven't got any wheels yet..... Cheers, Mark

Fantastic work on the quayside inset track, David, and the harbour wall! Scribing in the stones is quite cathartic, but as you say best done in chunks Cheers, Mark

Thanks, Jonathan, I thought that would be the case but in all things, "ya never know!" particularly, as you say, when it was not uncommon among British companies - the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railways and the Cambrian Railways spring readily to mind. All the best, Mark

Oops! I'd forgotten that..... Thanks, Ken, that's great - I'll go with that. The Hurst Nelson wagon seems to have black-painted ironwork - would you say that was purely for photographic purposes? I've not come across any mention of it otherwise. Thanks again and best regards, Mark

Hi Ken, Credit where it's due!!! The models are superb. But a coat of paint certainly makes the details pop! Thanks for the suggestions for the buffers - I've fitted the short ones to the convertibles and they do look good. I've also given those two a coat of grey, although looking at your pic - great two-planker, by the way - I think it's a bit pale. My preferred era is 1905 give or take a few years either way, so I'd guess there's be a mix of DW&WR and D&SER lettering. How high do you reckon the lettering would be on the convertibles? Many thanks once again and best regards, Mark

The hernia surgery is healing up nicely, which has allowed me to make a little progress with the warehouses at the back of the layout, with the back halves added from 2mm mounting board to the end wing, and small extensions added to the back wing to bring the ridge tiles away from the backscene. I've done the same for Nos.4 and 5 Steampacket Terrace at last. Hopefully more soon! Cheers, Mark

I chose to have the wagons without buffers and source some myself as I wanted to fit sprung buffers. I've got a stack of MJT steel buffer heads and springs and some Bill Bedford/Mousa Models 3D-printed housings, some Midland, some GWR. Here you can see a set of Midland round-based housings sitting in the headstocks of one of the cattle wagons: Hmmmm, a bit short methinks! Comparing these buffer housings in the Ashbury Van with photos, definitely makes them look a bit short, so I've got some GWR carriage buffer housings on order to see how they look. Thinking a bit more about livery, Shepherd/Beesley barely touches on the subject of wagon livery saying only, "In later days wagons were painted slate grey with the company initials applied in large white letters". I presume this applies to both the DW&WR and D&SER eras? Any ideas? Thanks for looking in, Mark

Interesting. Three or four years ago I used DecalFix, bought specially, on some Cambrian Railways wagon transfers from the Welsh Railways Research Circle - it was a disaster. The transfers wouldn't adhere let alone conform to details. Not sure who the decals were printed by, though, but they responded far better to MicroSol. The DecalFix left a nasty sticky residue as well, and I haven't used it since! I do realise it's a case of what you get on best with! Cheers, Mark