David Holman

13-14th June at Mid Kent Leisure Centre, Gillingham. 30 000 square feet of halls & nearly 100 stands, 30 of which are layouts, including the splendid 3mmFS Ballyconnel Road - worth the entrance fee on its own. Chatham Club's developing 0 gauge layout there too. By all means come and say hello.

7mm scale definitely worth considering. Ariana Town is just 3.6m long on the scenic section. Track not a problem, with C&L parts or copper clad. Alphagraphix catalogue contains several etched brass kits of the E class 0-6-0T and G2 2-4-0, plus etched brass and card kits of the 6 wheel coaches. Not difficult and VERY addictive!

Nice to see this has created some interest, though in this Workbench thread, will aim to concentrate purely on building techniques, though may well post a few more photos etc on the 'English' section of the website. However, just to answer a couple of questions, at the moment, we have no plans to add extra rails, because the inspiration for the project is the Tottenham & Hampstead line. This was never electrified [and does still exist], but carried pretty much all BR regional locos, with the exception of the GWR outside cylinder locos, which were just too wide. Hence we have licence for all the early BR diesels, plus LMS suburban and freight type, all the LNER Pacifics ran through at some time or other, plus their were plenty of SR types on transfers too. Have attached a couple of pictures of the baseboards. Built of 6mm birch ply, they are very stable, very strong, but also very light. The only fixed surface is the track base [also 6mm ply]. The scenery is using the 'jigsaw' concept, with removable sub sections for an area of deep cutting. These use insulating foam board as their base. Being curved, the boards need to be kept fairly thin for economic transport [this is designed as an exhibition layout], so several scenic sections have been made removable & easy to slot in place once the main parts are erected. Hopefully the photos show the idea. There will be a lot of brick work on the layout, so we are standardising on brick papers for this, which I think can be surprisingly effective. There is a new book on the subject by Peter Smith [of Kirtley Models], which is full of ideas and well worth reading. The other photos show a bit more of the station area, in particular how I've started the road over bridge. The surface is properly cambered and uses 400 grit wet and dry paper to replicate tarmac.

So, suitably replete - farctate even - what's in this new project of interest generally? Each baseboard is one twelfth of the original circle. This will include two 'bitsa' stations [as coined by Iain Rice], now separated by the storage loops on one side of the full oval. A 'bitsa' station is what it says on the tin - just a section, rather than the full thing. In 0 gauge, even a platform capable of holding a six coach train can be well over 3m long and, when you think about it, not much in the way of action happens at platforms. Trains stop & depart & that is about it. The real action happens in the goods yards [or did in the past], so that is what the main scenic section of the layout concentrates on, together with scenic bits to join them up. The pictures show one of the stations [no name yet - need to find a suitable London street]. The main building is on an over bridge, flanked by brick built houses & with single storey, timber commercial premises opposite. The station is timber too, to reduce the weight on the bridge girders. The design is fairly free lance, though I confess to some GNRI influences, with access to the platforms being via staircases. Rather than model these in full, going down, externally, to the platforms, they copy the design of Chatham's station in that they reach the platforms under the road bridge - which helps reduce the amount of detail modelling required. Stairs ain't easy things to model. The building is in skeleton form thus far, being just a frame of 5mm foam board. This has decent thickness, without adding much weight. It will be clad in lapboard and feature a full interior, so I'll try to report on its progress. Likewise the buildings around it. The whole scene sits on a large sheet of foam board, which at the moment is not fixed down, so I can work on it, away from the baseboard. The double track you can see is C&L flexi, enhanced a little by super-elevation. this was done by packing up the outer edges by 3mm with card, the ballasted on top. Subtle, but very effective, especially when trains pass one another. Ballast is from Greenscenes. It is crushed walnut shell, I believe & though effective in appearance [especially when toned down/weathered], it doesn't always take well to the standard PVA/water mix and we have had to patch up several areas - with some still to do. Platform surfaces are 400 gritty 'wet and dry' paper, with plasticard coping slabs, while the platform walls are all brick paper, of the sort you download from the Web and print yourself. The next jobs will be to create the stairs down to the platforms & add some supporting pillars. Watch this space...

There is unlikely to be much re the Irish scene for a while - so my activities are turning towards the Chatham Club's 0 gauge project, for which I am 'gaffer' for my sins. This is BR 1940-60s, so hardly applicable for this forum, however, there are aspects of construction which may be of interest. I won't bore you with the full details, suffice to say that it is called 'North Circular', aiming to depict a North London avoiding line, which hosted pretty much any of the Big Four's stock & therefore ideal as a Club project. The Circular bit comes from the fact that it started as a 4m diameter circle, but is gradually being extended into what will become a 10m x 4 m oval. Small it ain't! We have got the basics completed, with me actually using some ancient O level geometry and algebra to calculate the dimensions of the 12 baseboards which make the circle. These worked out so well that, even when we added 2.4m straight sections, everything still lined up. The boards are good quality 6mm ply, built from a jig we made to ensure all were pretty much identical. What will come next [sunday dinner is nearly on the table!] will be some of the innovative techniques we are adopting. So back shortly!

As the saying goes - 'quality always sells!'

Couldn't agree more Eoin. Can be just as satisfying as finishing a new kit or scratch build. Not sure why, maybe it just comes from making a older model work again - especially if you can make it better than it was before. Once managed to drop an 04 diesel shunter. A white metal Vulcan kit, it simply broke back down into its major components. Restoring it no problem but the fun came from adding extra detail and doing a better paint job.

Just been re-reading E M Patterson's history of the Clogher Valley Railway, where there is a section on extensions - including the fabled Ulster & Connaught. Seems both the Clogher and Cavan & Leitrim were keen to link up, with the former also interested in extending eastwards to the Bessbrook & Newry tramway, thereby providing a direct link to the coast for Arigna coal. The GN branch to Keady & the south eventually scuppered the coastal link, though they did build a tunnel to enable the 3' gauge line to cross beneath it. Still exists too! Hence, even if the U&C extension to Galway and Clifton had not produced a trans Irish narrow gauge 'mainline' [over 230 miles long!], a C&L/CV/B&N link would have produced the scenario of the first two's engines & rail cars sharing tracks and working with each other's stock. 'Tis a basis for a 7mmNG project I've often pondered - not least because of the variety of modelling it could offer. So far, cannot decide if it would be best in 21mm gauge/7mm scale, or 32mm gauge/10mm[ish] scale. One day...

By way of a change, I've recently been tinkering with one of the Chatham club's 0 gauge locos. It is an interesting model, being a precursor of the current Ixion type industrial locos - in this case a 16" Hunslet 0-6-0T. These ready to run engines were produced by 85A models [presumably Worcester] and were mainly plastic injection mouldings. Cost was around £150 if I remember rightly, though it must be 15 years or more since they were last made. A very nice job the made of them though. The Hunslet is a fairly simple engine, but there is plenty of detail, while the chassis, though also plastic, features a Mashima motor, with flywheel and split axle pickups. It runs beautifully, the only downside being the connecting rods were also plastic, as were the crankpins. Hence, the latter eventually broke and the loco has been out of use for some time. When I found it in a box, decided to have a go at repairing it. The solution was to replace the plastic crankpins with a set of heavy duty ones, sold by Derek Mundy, plus make a new set of rods from nickel silver and small brass washers for the 'ends'. The brake gear needed repairing too, as did the regulator linkage, but it proved a pleasant weekend's work, plus a bit of touching up of paintwork. Will also give it a name - Hornet - using one of the spare set of plates from the Tyrconnel J26 kit. If you ever come across one of these on Ebay, then can certainly recommend them. Beware only the fact that 7mm scale is very infectious![ATTACH=CONFIG]

Is that a model for your own use, or a kit???

No reason why it shouldn't work. Gordon Gravett's seminal work, Pempoul, is built on foam board foundations. Plywood sides [6mm birch] protect the edges, with 12mm ply at the ends to the baseboard joiners. No More Nails, or similar, used to hold everything together. Mr G insets blocks of plywood [top or bottom], to hold anything that needs a firmer foundation [eg servo or point motor]. Recently, he showed me his new project [details in latest Model Railway Journal], where he has clad lengths of 50mm x 25mm [2x1] foam board, with one sixteenth inch thick plywood. The result looks just like a standard piece of 2x1 timber, but weighs almost nothing. Uses them as longitudinal beams, beneath the foam board for extra strength. Works extremely well.

Check out the Alphagraphix catalogue GSR. He advertises in Railway Modeller & you need to send him some stamps, as it is all by post. There is a wide range of model building kits for Irish prototypes in both 4mm and 7mm scale. Cheap too - often 5 euro or less. They can make into decent models, or if you prefer [like me], you can use them as a plan for your own scratch builds. Note too that signal boxes in Ireland were often 'off the shelf' jobs, mainly from Saxby & Farmer. Wizard Models do many fittings.

Ariana Town worked well again at Epsom, though less can be said of its owner. Saturday morning was very wet and with the halls not opening till 8am, this left barely two hours to unload and set up. Unloading in the rain is never a good idea, though the scenic boards are last out of the car, so it had actually stopped by the time I got to these. Other boxes & stuff did get wet though, as it was about 50 yards from car park to front door. At least there were plenty of sack barrows available to help move things. my stand was end on to a wall and [very stupidly], I set up the sliding/rotating fiddle yard to close to it. Ten minutes into the show, it dawned on me that there was not enough room to turn the train table at the end of a sequence. I'd left myself about 5cm too close... By then, there was already a large crowd in front, so could only suffer in silence for the rest of the day. Eventually, had to dismantle the lights, pelmets, drapes [and move all the stock], so I could separate the boards and move them, one at a time, a bit to the right. Sunday was much better, as a result! The only other issues of any note were a loose wire on the LED lights which required re-soldering and a broken socket on the tender of the G2. The former fixed in situ, the other had to wait until Saturday evening when I got home and could fit a new one. This [and the lack of a train turntable], rendered the excursion train out of action for the whole of the Saturday, partly because of insufficient pick ups to make the loco reliable & also because I didn't fancy turning the loco by hand at the end of each sequence. Everything else worked well, none more so than the rail bus, which runs much more smoothly now that its gearbox is firmly screwed to its motor. Hence, a very small 'to do' list before its next outing - a one day show in Gravesend next month.

Serious paint job. Well done sir!

Can only agree it is a fabulous subject for modelling, though dare I say that, if you are going to model something that will require so much scratch building, hopefully you are doing it in 21mm gauge? Like JHB, my saliva glands are already working overtime. Wolf Dog has to be there!

Getting ready for a weekend at the Epsom show now. Always a good range of layouts here and the venue is exhibitor friendly, being all on one level. The to do list has been worked through, so hopefully all will be well for Saturday morning. Was tempted to set up Friday pm till I realised that would be two trips round the M25 in the rush hour. So, an early alarm for Saturday instead.

The Ulster and Connaught! One of my fantasies too JB. Probably completely bonkers, but manna from heaven for the modeller. Many times have contemplated doing a scene/section, for [as you say] a great excuse to run the larger Swilly locos alongside smaller stuff such as the Clogher. Yet to make my mind whether it would be better to do in 21mm gauge/7mm scale, 18mm gauge/6mm scale or 32mm gauge/1:29 [Gauge One-ish]. The latter especially appealing because of the size. One day...

Classy

At long lat got round to altering the name plates on Fermanagh and Hazlewood, so they just have a black, rather than red background. While giving all the locos a good clean, decide to replace the fall plate on the G2, as the hinged version I'd made kept coming loose. The new version has two pins, which locate in holes in the cab floor. The loco has a new fireman too. The previous figure was very nice, but has an action pose. Looks alright in a photo, but less so in real time. Sorry about the G2 pic - my laptop seems to have hidden the edited photo, so this one is straight off the camera...

Would that I could bring the figures to life HF - thinks I could make a fortune! The nearest I've ever seen was on a load of American S scale stuff the Club inherited a few years ago. When figures were placed on a metal plate, vibration, presumably from an electric razor type motor [though it could have come from something else!] made them move. Hence you can herd cattle on to a wagon, or people along a platform. A real hoot to watch & guaranteed to make people smile.

Been working my way through the 'to do' list from York, with the aforementioned rail bus getting its loose wheel fixed and at the same time the motor being fixed to the gearbox. No idea how long it had been working like that, but it did at least run. Track and wheel cleaning also done, but need to seek out some stuff called Track Magic. Seems as well as clean, it puts down an electro-conductive layer which minimises future applications. It was very hot and humid at times at York, so this would certain help, though even so, we only did a wheel clean at the start of each day.

Thanks Paul, the general impression I got was that folk like the fact that the layout is just that bit different from the norm & other shows so far confirm that. Reinforces the idea that the Irish scene has much to offer & it is a shame that the broad gauge seems to put a lot of people off. Still think 7mm is much easier to do than almost any other [because of the axles/wheels & Alphagraphix], though your S and Mick's 3mm make better use of space available and indeed, require much more effort and skill. Am still yet to come across any other 'correct gauge' layouts on the exhibition circuit, apart from the legendary Castle Rackrent, though would love to be proved wrong! Spoke to David White [slaters] on Sunday & he says they have sold quite a few 7mm broad gauge axles to folk in Ireland, so maybe there are some models out there we haven't seen yet. York's 'après show' was very good - dinner with the Gravetts always good fun & we were joined by Mike & Julie Edge, plus Bob Alderman [Guild] too. Then there was the Normanton & Pontefract, crew. These guys are legends at the Chatham Show. At the club dinner, they all turned up wearing dickiebows and sporting ferrets, flat caps, racing pigeons etc. Next job to get ready for Epsom.

Fascinating stuff - thanks chaps. Must go back to my Sprinks history of the line though as I don't remember reading about the Garrett. By the by, at the York show, noticed that one wheel on the rear axle of the rail bus was working loose. As it is only a Slater's wagon wheel [with a slice of a Corgi road bus wheel to give the Howden-Meredith effect], it was a simple case of removing the body to get at the wheel and add a drop of cyano. However, with the body removed, then noticed that there was nothing holding the motor to the gearbox! Both grub screws were absent and I have no idea how or when they disappeared. Only the downward pressure of the bus body on the chassis was keeping the gears meshed. May well have run the whole three days at York like this and for all I know the previous two outings as well. Anyway, found two new grub screws and [unsurprisingly] the model now runs somewhat more quietly...

Spoke to many people while at the York show over Easter, however, the highlight was undoubtedly the gentleman who shared with me some fascinating items from the effects of the late, great Desmond Coakham. Seems that, in 1924 Beyer Peacock made a sales pitch to the SLNCR for a new Garrett locomotive. A basic outline drawing shows the beast to be a 2-6-2-2-6-2, 62 feet long and weighing in at 112 tons. Maximum axle load was just 12 tons. Other details on the drawing suggest it would be superheated with a tractive effort of nearly 33 000lbs on driving wheels of 4'6" diameter. Needless to say, there is no record of the Sligo showing any interest in this loco and as far as Arigna Town is concerned, its scale length of almost 18" [435mm] is longer than the available head shunt, while in the fiddle yard, its train length would be limited to just 4 wagons! One must assume that Beyer Peacock were trying to sell one of their existing standard designs, so it would be interesting to know which one. It would have certainly created a stir across the borders.

With a day to recover after returning from York - how did it go? The trip up was a bit of a nightmare: Satnav suggested 3 hours 50 mins without stops, but total travel time was a full seven hours, with two stops, because of Good Friday traffic, rain etc. However, setting up went well & there was a good night out with the Gravetts & others including Mike & Judith Edge [finescale 4mm kit makers]. York seems to be very much the place for the great & good, while everyone seems keen to talk. Voice pretty much worn out by the end of each day! The layout ran pretty well, the only issues being the worm on the turntable drive, which started to slip [cured by a squirt of thin cyano], plus a failed solder joint in one of the baseboard connectors. Lots of interest for future shows, including Manchester and Warley. However, also just got a formal invite to Cultra in November next year so, fingers crossed, my ambition to take Arigna Town over the water will be realised - and what a venue too! Am already looking forward to seeing some of you guys. The show finished at 4.30 on Monday and by 5.30 the layout was packed back in the car & I was on my way south again. Home by 10pm - a big improvement on the outward journey. Took out the stock and went to bed, leaving the rest of the unloading till the next day. The layout packs into my car well, while motorways are much better than A roads for driving - fewer bumps and less 'white noise' from constant vibrations over poor surfaces. A small list of things to attend to over the next two weeks, before the process starts again with the Epsom show on the last weekend of April.