00 Gauge St. Mewan for sale. NOW SOLD.

My 00 gauge- code 75 rail, is for sale due to lack of space and rationalization of stock. It is 8ft 1 inch long by 8inches wide with fiddle yard extension- left. The chimney is placed next to the dries. The layout fold in half for transport and is 3ft 6inches long for transport. Will need to be collected from Bournemouth. Comes with custom St Mewan Brake Van and Shunters truck. Wired for DC and points motor operated needs controller- wired for Gaugemaster Walkabout, and transformer with 2x 16V AC outputs.

 

00 Gauge Watershoot Bay ready to exhibit.- NOW SOLD

The work on Watershoot Bay is almost complete for the present. All that I intend to do is a lighting gantry which will be illuminated by LED strips.

Watershoot Bays first outing is at the Minehead exhibition on the 6th August. 

A new venue this year at the West Somerset College, Bircham Road, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 6AY.

Open 10am to 4.30 .

 

Preparing St. Mewan for its first outing.

St. Mewan was built during the recent lockdown on a couple of baseboards 3ft 6inches long by 8incheswith a short extension to the fiddle yard.

The fiddle yard extension is removable and the layout is hinged to fold in half. This has the added bonus that there is no need to split the wiring as it is permanently fixed together.

The only removable part is the Clay Dries chimney- a resin casting by Bachmann.

The most time consuming thing is checking that all the locos work together with checking the couplings- in the case of Goods Stock these are fitted with Sprat and Winkle couplings.

 The passenger stock has modified proprietry couplings which have a small staple fitted through a hole in the dropper which is soldered into place.

Most of the goods stock is run in rakes of 4 so the centre wagons don't need alteration.

 

 

The magnets for uncoupling are fitted under the baseboard and are invisible to see. The uncoupling points are indicated by figures or scenic items- all I need to do is remember where they are!

 A type 2 Diesel Hydraulic awaits departure with a short goods tarin.

The layout can be run in either GWR or British Railways (Western Region) so stock is split into the two periods.

One era in the morning and one after lunch.

St. Mewans first outing is at the Moors Valley exhibition on 25th/26th June 2022.

If you visit please do say hello.

00 Gauge Watershoot Bay update.

Basic ground cover- paint- applied. It already makes an improvement.

One of the re-imagined 4 wheeler from a GN Hornby model- captures the essence of IOW early coaches.

The Southern Vectis bus makes an appearance, this be repositioned when the roadway is built. Hopefully the 'Southern Vectis' lettering will be more visable.             

 

The coal wagons have had a Sprat and Winkle coupling fixed to each end of the rake of four. The couplings between them are shortened proprietry type.

 

00 Gauge Watershoot Bay- now electrified.

 

With Watershoot Bay now up and running- thanks mainly to my good friend Nigel-work can now progress on the scenic side.

This post shows the rolling stock that will be used on the layout. Motive power will mostly be 0-6-0 ex LB&SCR Terriers. Most are in Maunsell Olive livery but there are also a couple of others, one in Sunshine Malachite and one, as yet ,devoid of markings.

The Olive coaches are now 4 wheelers- the centre axle having been removed. The teak 4 wheelers are re-branded GNR stock.

The wagons are a fair mixture. One of each Hornby and a Smallbrook Studios Brake vans together with a Smallbrook van converted from a redundant brake are the correct replicas whilst the others , both vans and opens, are modified and repainted Hornby with a solitary Oxford ex-GN van.

The first picture shows the station building sat atop the platform base- this needs some work before it can be glued to rest- hopefully in the right place!

00 gauge Watershoot Bay fiddle yard.

 Aligning the tracks on any layout has always called for some ingenuity.

Whilst the tracks line up satisfactorily current still needs to be transferred to the chosen track. So, this time some square brass tube has been soldered to a basethrough which a square peg can be passed through and provide current transfer.

Once cleaned up, the parts are soldered together- my 25Watt iron is slightly underpowered for this job.

Once glued and tacked to the board and sector plate it provides a secure alignment system. Just need to wire in the connecting wires.