Newbies update

I have now finished the small GWR 850 class saddle tank and have been running it in on Lananta. It is finished in the late Victorian livery of dark green with Indian red frames and wheels.

I have also revamped the cassettes for Lananta so that they are now compatible at either end and I have improved the alignment of them with the rest of the layout. Slowly the general running of the layout is improving!

Also in planning is an extra Broad Gauge locomotive. I have started building a GWR 2-4-0 Hawthorn Class loco which was featured in the latest edition of the Broad Gauge Society Broadsheet. The loco chassis is almost complete and I am now waiting for some etches for the footplate and the intricate valances.

The chassis has a beam compensation with High Level Miniblox horn blocks. The gearbox is a High Level compact+ mated to a 1015 Mashima motor. This will fit up into the firebox and leave the cab free of intrusion apart from the final drive spur gear.

The one I have chosen is ‘Hackworth’ which will be finished as running towards the end of the Broad Gauge when it was fitted with double buffers to enable it to run mixed gauge trains. More about this later when the etches have been delivered………

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Lananta- finished!

I have now basically finished the scene. Here are a few pictures;

‘Mary’ is tied up alongside the quay with Broad and Standard Gauge wagons waiting to be unloaded…..

A Broad Gauge passenger train pulled by Bristol & Exeter Railway ‘Pearson’ 4-2-4T drifts into Lananta. A local fisherman attends to his boat while friends look on though the small child is more interested in the train….

The small station at Lananta which is based on the station building from Symonds Yat on the Wye valley line….

Standard Gauge LSWR Metropolitan(Plymouth) Tank shunts the Quay sidings…..

Details of the busy activity at the stone built end of the quay……

GWR 517 class 0-4-2T with a standard gauge local passenger train enters the scene over a wooden trestle bridge spanning a brook feeding into the estuary at low tide. There is still a disc and crossbar signal which has not yet been replaced by the more up to date semaphore type…….

Here a Broad Gauge passenger train is leaving the scene. The disused lime kilns and the remains of a rotting hulk can be clearly seen….

‘That’s all for now folks!’

Lananta-summer progress

Following my outing to the 3mm Society AGM I came home with a long list of fettling needs.

I was unhappy with the look of the drapes around the layout. They had been made from a cotton sheet which has turned out to be too thin and shows all the creases. I am replacing the separate small drapes with one long one to go along the whole layout made from heavier material. Just waiting for my wife to do the honours with the sewing machine!!

I have realigned the right hand cassette and increased the length of the track leading to it to give a smoother transition between it and the scenic part as stock had a tendency to derail at this point.

I am continuing with adding small details to the scene as well as testing all the stock so that it runs more smoothly. I will publish a few photos once the work is done.

The next outing will be at the Westfest meeting of the 3mm Society at Ilton village hall in Somerset on 22nd September.

Lananta’s first outing

Yesterday I took Lananta to the 3mm Society AGM as a test run of ‘work in progress. This was the first time that the layout was run in exhibition form and it certainly threw up a load of problems which need to be fettled. Not least was problems with the alignment of the carrying cradles for the train cassettes.

Here is the layout ‘dressed’ for the occasion- ;

I really. Should have ironed that drape!! It is attached with Velcro and in addition there is a drape fixed over the top of the layout. This was very successful in preventing extraneous light affecting the scene and made the LED lighting more effective.

On the plus side, I received plenty of encouraging comments about the overall scene from members present.

All in all it was a good test and a lot was learnt about the presentation and operation under show conditions……

Rodney Pearce/Winterley couplings

Not long ago on the 3mm email group Nick Smith asked about couplings designed by the late Rodney Pearce. Some discussion followed at a meeting of the South West group of the 3mm Society to which Rodney had belonged. I realised that I had a vehicle built by the late Ralph Steuart with this coupling fitted. Going through some of Ralph’s papers we came across his workings on an improvement to the coupling. I tried the coupling out and was very impressed and showed it a fellow member of the Launceston and District MRC. Nigel was equally taken by the concept and – as you do! – did a google search and came across the ‘Winterley Coupling’ designed by John Shaw. He had met Rodney showing his layout Burton Ash – Railway Modeller June 1996 – at an exhibition and was interested in the concept. He took Rodney’s instructions and designed an etched version of the coupling – initially for 7mm – but later for 4mm.

I purchased some of the 4mm couplings and have found with some slight adjustments they will work in 3mm. I have contacted John Shaw and he has kindly written instructions for using with 3mm.

The action of the couplings is shown below;

The real advantage of theses couplings is that uncoupling can be done anywhere and doesn’t need any magnets or ramps in the track. The disadvantage is that the coupling can only be fitted to one end of the wagon. This is fine for me as I only shunt in one direction.

Here is the etch;

Here are the component parts and a finished coupling;

And here are some photos showing the coupling fitted to a wagon;

coupled..

uncoupled…

I am now fitting them to the stock which I am going to use on Lananta.

If anyone is interested in further information, or want to purchase the couplings then go to http://www.winterleyproducts.co.uk

Lananta- March update

Having returned from a successful trip to the Netherlands with Lakebank ,where we had a very warm welcome and loads of interest from the Dutch, as well as the camaraderie of Gordon and Maggie Gravett, Mark Tatlow, Jerry Clifford and Olly and Chris, I have turned my attention to the left hand side of the layout.

The small station building was previously used on my old layout- Wye Knot- and is based on a mixture of Fairford GWR station and Symonds Yat on the Wye. Valley. The signal box is also recycled and is from my first Broad Gauge layout- Bagborough West.

The over bridge is made from stone embossed plasticard initially painted with a wash of acrylic paint and then the individual stones were picked out in water colour. Finally it was given a wash of acrylic weathering paint. The four horse drag(old mail coach) on the bridge is again recycled from Bagborough West. The coach itself is scratch built from plasticard. Makes a change from ‘the bus on the bridge ‘!!

What is left to do now is mainly adding the small detail to the scene. This includes signals, fencing, plant growth,people and animals. I have tested whether the two boards fit together in the travel box and to my surprise found that all the odd bits of the scene all seemed to intertwine very well. 2 large trees have had to be made removable together with the sailing ship and the sky part of the backscene.

Lananta-January progress

It’s been a while since I reported on the progress of Lananta. I have been concentrating on the scene at the right hand side which includes the bridge over the creek and the now disused lime kilns. The backscene has been painted and installed together with trees and ground works.

Materials are a mix of static grass, dyed hemp and woodlands scenic fine scatters. The seaweed is a course scatter from green scenes. The sand is a mixture of filler mixed with stone dust supplied by Attwood Aggregates and then painted with washes of watercolour. The water is painted with acrylics and then varnished with a quick drying satin varnish.

The sailing boat is an old model built over 20 years ago for another layout. The rowing boat is a resin casting from Quaycraft as described in a previous posting.

A ‘narrow gauge’ Beyer Peacock 0-6-0 goods with a fish train passes down the branch

Now to move to the other end of the layout………

Lananta- Tree Magic

I have now done a final sketch for the backscene and decided to play around with some trees to see the effect. I had a few specimen trees recycled from previous layouts with some hedging. These have been temporarily placed in the scene and suddenly it is all starting to come to life;

Here you can see that I have also given some texture to the estuary sand and some water flowing from the river and starting to creep in around the ship.

Here an Oak tree (which in fact is on at least it’s third layout) is going provide a good scene blocker to reduce the view through the bridge to the fiddle yard.

Finally I have painted a small mock up of part of the backscene and placed it behind the trees to see the effect.

I think it is going to work well!!

Lananta-more progress

The last few weeks has seen some definite progress. I have made and installed the basics of the lime kilns which are now waiting for foliage and detailing. I have also added the final sand surface to the estuary ready for detailing with water, mud and weed etc.

I have purchased some dinghys in cast resin. These are made by Quaycraft and purchased through Cornwall model boats. Two will be drawn up on the beach and the third will be the tender to the sailing smack.

Finally I have finished a mock up in pencil of the backscene, which now awaits painting-;

Lananta- further planning progress

Having sorted out one end of the layout (see last post) I have now turned my attention to the right hand end as viewed from the front.

I have taken Fremington on the old LSWR line from Barnstaple through to Instow and Bideford as my inspiration. This originally was an extension of the North Devon Railway. There were lime kilns here accessed by a foot bridge over the railway. Lime was loaded into horse drawn carts and taken away around the shore.

Also Fremington Pill runs into the sea here and the railway passes over. I have modelled a timber bridge with a muddy creek and have included a rotting hulk as well;

I now feel I have the potential for a number of interesting scenarios along the length of the cameo and plan to break the view up into small parts with suitable view blockers. 

Now to get modelling as winter draws on……….