Romsey Show 2018- Final edition.

The Millbourne Valley Light Railway by Bob Goodwin is the final selection from this years show.
Stored for several years this imaginary narrow gauge railway is set in rural Dorset. Built before the advent of ready to run most locos are white metal kits running on commercial 'N' gauge chassis.

Romsey 2018-part deux!

 Second in this trio is Courtmacsharry which was the harbour terminusof the Timoleague and Courtmacsharry Extension Light Railway which was built in Ireland in 1891.
Built by Andy Cundick, this was the layouts first outing and was shown as a work in progress.
The prototype was built under the Tramways (Ireland) act and was of lightweight construction.
Passenger services ceased in 1947 apart from the Regatta excursions and finally closed in 1960.

Romsey Model Railway Exhibition June 2018.

 The first of three entries highlighting my favourites at the Romsey Show which had been rearranged from its usual February date.
First up is East Quay by John Nibblett- This is a  layout built as an exercise  in minimalism in space, cost ,materials and time. Except for the warehouses, the buildings are all scratch built mainly from cereal packet card and plywood.
Featured are working hoists, sugar loading system, remotely operated wagon turntable and working water mill.

Quarry Sidings plus new Minitrains loco 009.

 Sid is having a quick five minutes rest as twilight arrives.
Quarry Sidings lends itself to these kind of pictures as, being on its own turntable, posing a scene is just a matter of rotating the layout.
Below are images of the new Minitrains Contractor Locomotive- Catalogue 2001.
Similar in style to a previous Eggerbahn product, this is an all new model- you can tell because running is excellent straight from the box.
The headlight illuminates when running in a forward direction-

Swanage Railway May 2018.

 Just a few pictures of Swanage during a dull drizzling day during May. So sorry about the photos being below par.
For some reason the last two digits had been removed from the cab of Sir Keith Park- i didn't notice until I got home. Maybe someone knows?

009 Woody Lane - weathering the track.

Oh the joy of retirement. One day 4mm, one day 3mm and another 009.
Woody lane is progressing slowly and this shows that the track has been weathered- the ballast has been mixed so need a steady hand and calm disposition to lay the mixture and secure it all in place-soon!
The track has been sprayed with Humbrol 29 , the point contacts having been masked and then touched up with a fine brush.
Doesn't look too bad so far!

Dapol 4mm B4 0-4-0 Tank .

 I had forgotten all about this release from Dapol.
A good offer from Rails was acted upon and shortly after this little beauty arrived from Sheffield.
I know that ''it runs superbly straight from the box'' is a bit overused but in this case I will make an exception- it is absolutely stunning!
A couple of crew members have been fixed in place and but for some headcode discs it is ready for work. It has already worked Woodlands and this has given me some impetus to crack on with the 4mm layout.

009 Dolgoch kit and chassis.

 This is as far as I have reached with the GEM Dolgoch. Yes I know I already have a Bachmann Skarloey which has been turned into Jasmine but I do like a bit of kitbuilding.
So, Neville Kent of N-Drive supplied the chassis which, after some slight modification is nearing fitment to the body. It is a bit tight between the top of the motor and the underside of the boiler but if it was easy everyone would be doing it!!

009 Quarry Siding- Securing the Premises.

 One thing I thought that Quarry Siding lacked was a gate to keep the undesirables out.
Looking through the bits box I found a PECO gate and post.
A quick coat of dull brown dry brushed witha darker tone saw the desired effect.
A quick twirl of a drill saw a couple of mounting holes created, a touch of glue and hey presto!
I had considered permanently attaching the JCB and tipper truck but having them loose allows for a change of era so I already have a Volvo digger plus a Bedford TK tipper to substitute the JCB and AEC tipper.

Quarry Sidings.

 I have spent time searching a Thesaurus for an alternative to Quarry Siding but to no avail. No local locations were plausible so I have decided to stick with the original.
However, I have painted the fascia and added the name from my wooden lettering previously described that was purchased from The Works.
Shown is the bare layout as purchased.
 I have been sourcing a short wheelbase tipper and other vehicles so that alternative periods can be substituted.

Heljan OO bargains!!

 Recently, Hattons offered some Heljan stock in both OO and O gauge.
These two shown weren't really on my wants list but at the price it would have been churlish to ignore.
I sent one ofmy mates the link and he too had a parcel arrive from Widnes two days later.
They both run perfectly and now have to work out wether a small layout will appear for the railbus.
What a bargain.

Sand for RAF Misarah 009.

 The subject of a covering for the polystyrene sand dunes has been thought about for a considerable time.
I did try and find a substitute but all my efforts didn't look right.
So down to an un-named beach and a small amount of sand procured.
A slightly diluted kids PVA was painted onto the painted Polystyrene surface and sand sprinkled on trying to keep even.
I still have to fill between the tracks but will wait for this to fully dry before tackling that.

3mm MK1 Coach.

I bought several Kitmaster MK1 coaches at the recent 3mm Society AGM. It is surprising how good these can be and I admit to having built a fair few.

These, however, will be finished in BR (Southern Region) green as shown. Yes I know the number is wrong but I had some rub down numbers in stock so used them rather than buying more.

They will have the couplings changed from the original Tri-ang TT type shown here.