David Holman

The yard surface is just sublime - had to look twice before I realised it was photos of a new model. Have you ever tried the trick of filing a flat on the tyres of a road vehicle? May not show up in 4mm scale, but it 7mm it gives a subtle touch to make the model 'sit' with tyres looking like they have real weight pressing down on them.

The saving grace of outside valve gear on a model is that while it looks complicated, most of it doesn't do much, other than rock to an fro a bit. Outside cylinders, with their piston and conrods, do a fair bit more. Add in brake and sanding gear and it all starts to look a bit scary, with lots of opportunities for electrical shorts - which I'm sure our man is well aware of!

Great work, but which brought back painful memories of my own attempts at such alchemy!

Good stuff & very interesting.

Lokks like se the same problem is happening again, as per original post on this thread. Site doesn't seem able to upload photos. Text ok though. Message reads Error Code DSCN 6832 jpeg could not be saved.

Nice. Very nice indeed.

You can't see it in the photos, but the greengrocer was Edward King. Several excruciating puns in the headlines at the newsagents too.

Already on my third or fourth version and not convinced I've got the design right yet! Drawing it out full size on lining paper should help, so I can pose stock and add some basic cardboard mockups of buildings too. However, before any more on the new project, thought I'd finish off my early 7mm scale stuff by going right back to the beginning and 0n16.5. This was in the late 1980s, so not only are the pictures photos of photos, some are actually in black and white. The layout was called Hawkhurst, High Weald and it appeared in the Railway Modeeller in 1991 and Narrow Lines [7mmNG Society Magazine] in 1994. The pictures below show the track plan and map of the concept. The latter very much a Colonel Stephens theme, being a narrow gauge line running across the Weald of Kent from Rye to Maidstone, replacing the Kent & East Sussex; with a branch to Hawkhurst for good measure. Construction was very 'old school', with chipboard on 3" x 1" softwood frames, though the fiddle yard used a newish idea of cassettes. Trackwork was hand made, using Code 100 fb rail on copper clad sleepers, the first time I had attempted this & not that successful if I'm honest, though the points gradually got fettled into something workable. There was also a small amount of 9mm gauge track, as I had bought the 0n9 kit of one of the Horwich Works 15" gauge shunters. Stock was very freelance, mainly scratch built plastic bodies on 00 chassis. Plastic water pipe worked for loco boilers, while chimneys were often 00 ones cut in half and then made longer with some brass tube. All very home spun, but being freelance I didn't need to worry too much about accuracy. The Lima 08 shunter was useful, with its outside cranks, while a GWR 2-6-2T was made into an 0-6-2T, with the front pony going to the 08 to make a 2-6-0T. Another loco disguised its old Hornby 0-6-0 chassis by having full side skirts. It is seen with a couple of transporter wagons [my first standard gauge models], as per the Leek & Manifold. Pride of the line was a Vulcan kit of the Hunslet ex Sierra Leone 2-6-2T. My first 'proper' 7mm scale engine, it was quite a leap of faith with its RG4 motor and outside valve gear - the latter seriously scary stuff, being held together with 14ba nuts and bolts. Probably beginners luck, it actually ran really well. Wagons and coaches were mainly built on 4mm Ratio under frames with plasticard bodies. The buildings were all based on typical Kentish types, including a Wealden Hall House and the classic oast. Really went to town on these, using the same methods I later used on Loose End. The station building was based on an Arthur Paine design like the one at Hemyock. After debuting at the Chatham Show, the layout did several other ones, including Expo Narrow Gauge, possibly the last one held in Greenwich Library, before the show moved to Swanley. However I found that the chipboard started to sag, thanks to inadequate bracing, so after a couple of years, I carefully removed the buildings and the rest [including the track], went to the council recycling centre. I then turned my attention to standard gauge, with Loose End, though narrow gauge later featured in similar layout called Cranbrook Town, of which more next time. Hawkhurst taught me a lot, particular in terms of basic scratch building. I enjoyed freelancing too - trying to be faithful to general railway practice, without needing to worry too much about overall accuracy, while working in 7mm scale [albeit in narrow gauge] showed me certainly got me hooked on larger models.

Headlight, lots of hoses. Driving end of a railcar/dmu. Or inspection saloon maybe?

So, time to come clean about my ideas for a new 0 gauge project... As I've said earlier, it all comes down to rediscovering all my stock that has been languishing in boxes for the last ten years or more; that and a fascinating article in the latest Model Railway Journal called "A tale of Three Stations or more..." As you can see, it combines Iain Rice style design, with one of his favourite subjects, an East Anglian byway. Very much a 'part layout' [with a fiddle yard taking the place of half the loop], it appealed to my limits of a 6'9" shelf space, expanding to the 11 feet footprint of Northport Quay and Swillybegs' trestles and beams used for exhibitions. It also got me looking back through my books on East Anglian railways - especially those by Dr Ian Allen, John Brodribb and Peter Payne. From these, ideas rapidly coagulated into I scheme I felt could meet my needs: A single track line with a siding leading to a private branch, in particular a small set of exchange sidings The 'main' line could run things like my diesel railbus for passenger traffic, together with short freight trains that could exchange traffic with the private sidings In the 1950s, an East Anglian branch freight could be as little as one or two wagons and a brake van, hauled by anything from a D16 4-4-0, J15/17/69 0-6-0s, F5 2-4-2T through to Class 15/03/08 diesels. The private sidings would be perfect for my ex Wantage 0-4-0WT, or a Manning Wardle 0-6-0T. All of which I have, of course, while among my 40+ wagons are pretty much all the types I might need in terms of vans and opens, plus the essential brake vans. The design I've come up with builds on the MRJ article of '3 stations in one' - indeed I think I've identified at least six. Allow me to explain: The sketch plan shows the single track through line running across the front of the scene. On the right hand side is the main fiddle yard [I'm thinking cassettes at the moment], which will be no more than 30" long, enough for a small loco and three wagons, or a tender engine and two. Don't need anything longer, as the Iain Rice rule of maximum train length being no more than a third of the scenic length demands this. At the other end will be an 18" length of plain track - enough to hold the railbus before its return journey, or indeed a loco with a parcels van or two. There were a lot of light engine movements or loco and brake van in East Anglia at this time. The main line will be Peco bullhead track, but the private sidings will be flat bottomed, Code 100 rail on copper clad sleepers to help emphasise a lightweight look. All four points will be Ys: in particular the Y points offered by Marcway of Sheffield. Have used these many times, because they are such space savers. A 6' radius Marcway Y is just 12" long, compared to 18" for the Peco one. As you can see, there is half a run round loop [the right hand fiddle yard does the other half], plus a siding with a small loco shed and a kickback siding. The key to the multiple personalities lies in the shaded area in front of the back scene. This will hold a range of exchangeable 'jigsaw' pieces [another Rice idea] that will mean I can change the personality and purpose of the layout over time. Initially, this will probably be just a section of low cutting, with open scenery behind - very Fenland, in fact. A couple of trees should hide the exit to the fiddle yard. In this form, the private branch could have at least three forms: an agricultural line, such as the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway or the Benwick branch An army depot An airfield branch - both of which were common in the area and offer a wide range of traffic However, if this scenic area is replaced by buildings, then there a several ideal prototypes which could be used: Maltings and granary - am thinking Snape in particular, which had its own BR operated branch, but there were plenty of others with nice buildings such as Hadleigh, Saffron Walden or North Elmham for inspiration. I particularly like the archway at Snape, where in reality, wagons were shunted by horse or road tractor. In my case, it makes a nice scenic break which I can use in the other concepts below. A jam factory. Yes, really - the Wilkins factory [still open today] on the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway was rail served, albeit by the branch goods, but there were enough sidings on the site to merit a private shunter instead of horses. A dairy. There was a rail served one at North Elmham. Same idea as above, while I do of course have three, six wheeled milk tankers... An engineering works. Think Garretts of Leiston on the Aldeburgh branch. Makers of agricultural machine, including traction engines, they had their own shunter. The works is now a museum that is well worth a visit. As I have a bit of a history of re-imagining my layouts [Arigna Town to Belmullet, Fintonagh to Swillybegs], building in some interchangeability very much appeals. So, there we are. Am already working on lists of materials - mainly timber for baseboards, plus electrics and track work. One of our Chatham Club members works for a timber merchant, so a shopping list of pre-sawn 6mm birch ply is already under way. I still need to make a wiring diagram for both layout an its integral control panel, plus play around with things like pelmets and fascias to frame the view. For now, with hopefully a few more weeks of summer to enjoy, nothing is likely to be started before the autumn, while both Northport Quay and Swillybegs have exhibitions coming up. However, knowing what I'm like, there is now a real itch that needs scratching! Be assured, that once I do get started, you'll read about it here. Indeed, perhaps I ought to get out that roll of lining paper and draw out the plan full size - just to check clearances and so on, you understand... By the way, if anyone out there fancies using or adapting any of these ideas for themselves, feel free. 6'9 in 0 gauge shrinks to less than 4 feet in 00 and 2 feet in N. Never say you don't have enough room for a model railway!

Wouldn't call those control panels "a little progress"! Looks like a lot of very neat work to me.

Interesting you say that Alan, because it is certainly the case that well known artists are often recognisable by their style. Not suggesting I'm comparable to the likes of Renoir or Monet (!), but even us humble modellers have own way of doing things that amounts to something similar, be it because of the colour palette, construction methods etc. Your own work certainly has a definite signature to it, as does that of several other folk on this forum, especially those, like your self, whose recent posts have certainly inspired me to have a go at model buildings again. Those Loose End buildings were all made of various thicknesses of card (no foamboard then) and covered with Howard Scenics embossed card. The latter quite innovative at the time and certainly an improvement on computer chads (remember those?) as used by Iain Rice and Bob Barlow. I actually painted each brick individually (I know!), using "light red" water colour and a very fine brush. Not sure if Howard Scenics card is still available, because it could still have its uses and preferable to scribing DAS clay for brickwork in some circumstances. Long grass at that time was a similarly laborious process, using teddy bear fur. No soft toys were harmed in the process. Indeed, still have part of a roll of the stuff somewhere. Thank goodness for static grass machines.

Another fine set of photos, not least Killybegs train shed with all that interior detail.

Magic!

Really enjoyed reacquainting myself with what are still nice models and have been promising myself I'd build something for my Wantage tank for several years. So, parallel projects and am certainly not done with all things Irish!