Wednesday 27th June

Worklist:
Cows!
Railings
New path
Foliage
Yard details

Laurence had car problems and couldn't make it, so just two this week.

Geoff had purchased a pack of Woodland Scenics plastic cows. Being American, they were 1:48 scale, but they still seemed a little small. However, at the head of the bridge road, augmented with a few 'full-sized' cows and all painted a more demure brown/dun colour, they should work nicely.

NB: They are sold as an 11 piece set which comprises 5 adult cows, 2 calves and 4 dung piles!

Geoff continued with the yard railings, gluing them in place and then painting them.

Finally, he added grasses and weeds around their base.

Stephen gave the new footpath plaster a quick rub down and then gave it a coat of brown paint.

He'd also been experimenting with steel wirewool for use as a base for shrubbery, instead of rubberised horsehair. Teased apart and shaped, then sprayed red oxide, then matt black and finally adding some scatter material fixed with hairspray. Some long strips were formed specifically for the new footpath area.

Geoff moved on to the gas holder railing and planted some strips of light grass. He'll be trying out adding tiny flower heads to all of his new foliage as per an article he's been reading - paint dots added using a toothpick.

The large water tank above the holder was also treated to a few weeds around the bottom of the brick base. Even this little touch softened the starkness of the structures nicely.

It's always odd looking at the tank access ladder from the operators side as it is only 25mm long, being what was left over from when the fuel tank ladder was cut to length - "waste not want not?" It looks fine from the other side.

Stephen finally got-around to making a set of steps for the goods shed - only a couple of years after adding the back wall and dock to John's original open shed.

Stephen took a closer look at the proposed coal area in the yard. It had previously been agreed to discharge coal from the siding (rather than head-shunt) using 4-wheel and bogie wagons. The wagon door hinges are quite low, but something to contain the coal and prevent spillage onto the track, it was still required. We decided to create a shallow staithe structure of sleepers laid flat (rather than vertical). Being a maximum of two sleepers high, the area would have to be larger than first imagined. We also decided to restrict deliveries to 2 bogie wagons or 4 x 4w wagons, as any more coal could not be accommodated in one go. It will be positioned to suit such a deliveries without running onto the access road.

The area will also require scales and bags, the source of which will be investigated.

Wednesday 20th June

Worklist:
Caravan review
New tree
New path
Gas holder fence
Water tank

Another good session with all three engrossed in their own projects.

Geoff had added sky blue panels to his caravan body, fitted wheels and finished the tow bar detailing.

After approval the previous week, Stephen had taken one of his Gn15 tree skeletons and completed the finer detail work. Stainless steel wire wool was added to produce branch structure. Torn-off shapes were pushed into place and 'fixed' with cheap hairspray, which worked surprisingly well. This was first sprayed matt black and then touched-in with lighter brown matt spray paint. More hairspray was used to stick three colours of medium sponge foliage.

After a quick site appraisal, Geoff turned up a steel base 'toadstool' which was glued into the hillside and the tree was 'planted'. During the week, Geoff and Stephen had been searching for inexpensive cows, without immediate success, but the space under the tree now cried-out for a herd!

Stephen continued to build-up the ground behind the new path. It will be shaped next week, when fully dry. Finishing the grassy bank was discussed in detail as it now had to soften the transition into the backscene. Elsewhere, we'd re-used the rubberised horsehair that John had applied, but we had none left, but we did have some of the new foliage/scatter that we'd overlaid on it. Stephen would experiment with wirewool to form a base. The hedge or fence decision teetered towards a fence, but not with any strong conviction. TBA.

Geoff painted and fixed the section of guard rail that protects the gas holder area. It was left over from the generator room mezzanine guard rail exercise and has come in handy. Maybe a few weeds or bits of grass?

Laurence continued with the water tank roof.

Geoff found a box of Peco iron railings and assembled five sections to make a fence between the coal stage and the road, which finished the area off nicely.

Wednesday 13th June

Worklist:
Caravan
Water tower roof
New path

After a weeks break we were all ready for work....

Geoff continued to detail his caravan. Based on real caravan photos, his own drawings were used to laser-cut the whole body in thin card, laminated for strength. Even the panel cover strips were cut in self-adhesive paper. The caravan will become the 'office' for the burgeoning restoration group, so the previously produced furniture included filing cabinets, tables and an office chair. 'Glass' has been inserted into the window openings. Finished in cream gloss spray paint, he's now deciding whether to paint some panels a contrasting pastel colour. Today, he built the underframe and tow bar, modified from an old US military kit.

General railway clutter and the office chair, with a new swivel base.

The water tower has never been fixed down properly because it needs a roof - Laurence's next task. After a chat with the team to determine the design and 'real-life' construction, (sub-structure, roof finish, access requirements etc) he made a start.

Another joint discussion revolved around how to disguise the central road running straight at the backscene. Being so close and square-on, the options were few, but turning it tight behind the goods shed was the most viable. Stephen argued that the road was part of John's design because it had to be there - the Cottesmore end section prevented any other position. Now we had the new end board and had created an access road through to 'the business end', the rear road was not actually required. We had notionally thought it could be the public entrance from a car park or similar, but a path could serve the same purpose. A path it would be, winding behind the goods shed, allowing the grass/shrub covered bank to extend along. Stephen readily took this on...

Clearing shrubs, marking out the profile and gouging out the roadway to bed timber steps.

Scraps of foam carved and glued in place to dry over lunch.

And finally coated in plaster to form the bank behind where a fence and shrubs can be added.

Another back drop issue was addressed as Stephen had brought along two trees he'd started for his windswept shelf-display track in Gn15. This was pertinent, as the electrical wire branches had a flat back (designed for the shelf location), all lay blown to one side, and were a good size for large 7mm scale tree. One tree in particular would be perfect for the top of the bridge road, at the junction with the backscene, and the branches were bent down over the road. Geoff had already been investigating a herd of cows as a possible solution to the backscene interface - a combination of the two solutions looked good. The other tree would be suitable anywhere along the back of the layout. Both trees would be finished with textured bark, and foliage.

Wednesday 30th May

Worklist:
Review lighting options
Review backscene options
Review more rolling stock

As you can see, there was lots to review this week, so not much physical work was done.

Stephen had circulated a sketch showing a layout lighting option using three strings of LED's donated by a friend. The strips would be mounted inside the up-turned body of 75mm dia. white plastic guttering mounted on steel strip hangers. However, once the lighting had been 'rigged-up' in the workshop, it was obvious that it was totally incapable of providing sufficient light. Stephen then proposed purchasing two led strip fittings, similar to one he had in his workshop and all agreed to proceed. The steel strips would still be used to support the fittings for the exhibition, but they could then be mounted over the layout, in the workshop.

It has been noted at recent shows, that continuous, flexible  backscenes are becoming popular, particularly those with curved ends and no square internal corners. However, these come at a cost. Over lunch, Stephen's photos of the Swing show layouts were reviewed and he advocated that the use of simple panels as used on most layouts, could be quite sufficient. Back in the workshop, some white boards were clamped to the back of the layout for consideration, and didn't look too bad.

The exercise was generally worthwhile as it highlighted a few areas that have troubled us - namely where the two roads exit the layout. The plain boards were supplemented with plain paper, and sketches applied to disguise the junctions.

We then decided that these sketches could be applied to thin MDF strips permanently fixed to the layout, with the plain backscenes fixed behind them, for the exhibition. Hedges, foliage, fences etc., will be well protected and would allow materials to be applied to the new surfaces. We'll have a play to see if it's a practical solution. For the bridge road above, a large tree with drooping branches could easily disguise the disappearing road.

The road below will be reshaped to turn tightly behind the goods shed or, more likely, become a path. We've often thought this would be the main visitor entrance from the car park/field beyond, but until the preservation group become more established, it can be effectively closed off. The caravan ticket/ office will simply become a weekend abode for a few volunteers.

Stephen had brought the majority of his stock down for review. Most was deemed acceptable to senior judge Thorne although some cherished timber disconnects were debated. Whilst all manor of timber products could be transported on them, it seems that a) these were not used in the UK, and b) to run 'light', the disconnect bars were removed, which would be very awkward to put into practice as they were fixed solid. The jury is still out.

Geoff produced a diesel that he had built from a kit decades ago, which will definitely be suitable.