Exton Quays House number 2

Mr Jenkins was not a happy chap, when the LSWR wanted to take his front garden, but after a long battle. the railway won. Mrs Jenkins supported his concerns all the way and was indeed, a very supporting wife but after a while she began to suspect this could be a good thing, thou shall not argue with a higher being, Mr Jenkins gave in and bowed to his wife's wishes. Mr and Mrs Jenkins were suitably compensated and Mr Jenkins even ended up working for the railway.

An ' Ye olde Worlde one'

That be all for now, snuff'

Exton Quays, first building and tree

Yes, a milestone has been reached.

The first building has been installed on the layout, i did cheat slightly, the Railway Hotel came from a kit that someone had previously made. 

The story starts after a trip to ones local model shop. There it was, sitting there on the shelf looking rather sorry for itself. The more i looked at it the more i thought it would fit the bill.

Duly purchased, i then asked Martin if he could chop it down through the middle on the bandsaw.   

Now, i don't normally do this sort of thing, i prefer to build things myself but after a repaint and some added detail it looks the dogs!

And so, to the tree. this is made by myself ,rather pleased with it ,to say the least.

It is made from twisted wire all soldered up. Each branch has been made separately and then soldered to the main trunk. The whole thing was painted with Tile grout, yes, i did say tile grout, it drys with a rough texture and looks a lot like bark to me. while mixing the stuff up i added a squirt of PVA, this seems to give it a bit of flex   

 The thing was then painted a 'redy' brown and leaves added 

Job done.   

Running in board for Exton Quays

It would appear that lately i have spent more time waiting for paint/glue to dry than actually building anything, well, anything worth talking about, here.

I could have gone to Warley but spend far to much time on the M40 as it is anyway, stayed home and did something more constructive.

The second 02 is well on its way to completion, Chassis running, brake gear fitted. Just the body to paint (more waiting) oh and a LSWR carriage to paint. More on this later.

Am i rambling, probably.

Why am i writing today, i hear you all cry.

I found these on Scale Model Scenery Thought they looked good so ordered one (amongst some other bits).

And yes, they are good, a bit fiddly to paint and put together but, yes, there good.  

Put together and painted. Read the instruction, bugger me, i actually did. They are somewhat fragile.

There we are, a couple of hours mostly waiting for Paint/glue to dry but am very pleased with the result. 

It's been a while

As the title say's, it's been a while since one posted anything.

I feel that i should explain.

Not a great deal has been produced in the modelling sector lately. I,m not saying that i have been sat on me arse lately doing nothing, it's just one has been busy in other fields of our fabulous hobby.

Westfest took up time helping to organise the event, but what a fabulous day it turned out to be.

Also, we had an afternoon looking around Breamore station.

Then, we had a trip to Weymouth which involved a look around  Weymouth Exhibition  And a few beers, the night before, well, it would be impolite not to.  Two friends of mine were exhibiting a 009 layout that Steve had built called Hillbrow. Pictures of the layout can be seen Here. His blog is worth a butchers.

The Point rodding on Exton Quays, also took up a heck of a lot of time to get right. Making up the point rodding stools is just so fiddly. Certainly tests ones insanity. 

We have also had our meet ups at the Avon Causeway hotel.

Then, we had Poole Model Railway exhibition, exhibiting PARKSTONE 

A good day was had and it makes the whole project worth while when people realise what use to be at Parkstone station, now it's just flats where the old goods yard use to be. George Jennings always gets a good response when he appears, chuffing, with whistle blowing when he trundles up the branch.

Parkstone Goods, all set up and ready to go at Poole exhibition. yes, Keren, the curtains look great, Thanks.  

Parkstone goods

 Then, Saturday, just gone, a trip to West Byfleet for a 3mm Scale meet up. Always a good meet up with plenty of bits to buy.

This also led to a very interesting conversation with Geoff Halliwell who has come up with a 'thinking out of the box' idea for motor/gearbox drives. I think there will be more to follow on this subject. This is definitely, 'a watch this space' scenario. 

There was also 'Cake' Phil Parker, you missed this one. Unfortunately, completely forgot to take a pic.

The Westfest expo made a small profit so we were able to make a donation to the 3mm society. 

Here we are presenting the cheque.

Thats it Folks    

Exton Quays update 2 or possibly 3

The point rodding is complete, "yeah"

I'm not sure that i would want to attempt this again but, i have to say that the end result is well worth the 'ballsache' of a job that it is.

Fiddley, mind numbing spring to mind instantly. Not my favourite occupation in the world of Model Railways.

We have also added the ground form for the scenery. And yes, even started on some of the leafy stuff.

No Signal box on this layout, it will have a lever frame under the canopy of the Station building, as was the case at Breamore.

I have never seen this modelled before, thought it would be something different.  

Built up on Two cut lengths of your good old coffee stirring sticks and stained with Ronson's Mahogany stain, It does exactly what it said it would do on the tin.

The good old Southern Railway Peco concrete platform edging, well, you have to, don't you.

It has been hacked about somewhat.

1st, it's far to tall. I get the impression it was originally made to compensate for the old fashioned foam underlay.

2nd, the top edge just isn't right. Look at concrete platform edging and it has slabs resting across each upright column, so the top edge has been removed.  

3rd, Looking at old pics, you can see the sole bars of carriages but in the model railway world it seems normal practice to have platforms just below door level. 

The ground structure has been made up using card formers and as in a previous post for 'Parkstone' another episode of 

Fun with Foam

Looking across the widest part of the layout, this is only 22" wide.

This was a pure fluke, the sky almost has a 3D effect and looks as if it is hanging over the layout. 

Some greenery has been added. Trying to think back a few years, and remember, how the look of Pine Road was achieved and what was used.

Brassmasters Point Rodding stools

Crackin little things these but oh, very fiddly to put together.

This second batch tho are etched a lot better and go together fairly easily.

you will need loads of patients but they do look good.

To get these go to.

http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/track_details.htm

This is what you will get. There are 3 pieces to each stool.

Before i cut out the etches, i used a scribe just to open up the slots.

Cut out the Two Stools and turn the brackets 90 degrees. Only do this once as they will break off.

   

You will end up with this x 2.

Push one side into the base

Then the other side. 

You should now have this.

I do a batch and then thread them onto a wire just to make sure they all line up.

The bases are just filled with solder. 

 Solder away to your hearts content and this is what you will end up with, ready to paint and to trim to how ever many stools you need in a run

Breamore station

Recently i was invited for a look around Breamore station. Opened on the 20/04/1866 by the Salisbury and Dorset joint Railway.

4 days before christmas, that's an odd one.

One thing they had plenty of, was rail, so we will use some to support the water tank 

 We think there was a wall across the middle of the room to devide the ticket office from the waiting room. the ticket window has been saved and fixed into the back wall. 

 looking the opposite way and the original fireplace is still in tacked.

 Looking on the platform side, the gravel area is where the old lever frame use to be.

 Looking towards Salisbury, the old bridge is still in tact.

 Looking towards West Moors

 How many of these are left. The original Southern Railway lamp post is still there although some of the concrete has exploded but amazed its still standing.

 The front of the building from the approach road. Even has the typical LSWR louver on the roof.

 A closer view.

 I hereby declare.

 What is this?, there were quite a few of these laying around down the line.

I think it is a point rodding stool, the bit that bolts to a sleeper buried in the ground and the metal rollers bolt to this. 

 If anyone has another theory then i would love to know.

 The side door

 1/2, half of what ? Gradient sign ?

 Opposite the station is this old shed made from railway sleepers stood on end. In Middleton's press book this is in one of the photos and its still there.

This is how to build a shed if you want it to last, just asking to be modelled.

One will appear on Exton Quays

A fascinating afternoon was had.

Thank you for letting me look around.

I also found this video. She is an amazing singer and hope she doesn't mind me sharing it here.

Westfest 2017

Well,

what can i say.

Westfest was a success.

Firstly, lets thank everyone for coming along, especially the ones that got held up on the M3.

Lots of good conversation, good layouts, oh, and, lets not forget the cake on offer.

Very well organised, a good day was had by all.
Towards the end of the day, i managed to get away from the front desk to take some pics.

I will let the Photo's do the talking.

All i will say is, there is some superb modelling here.

Enjoy!