Bill’s N scale progress

Bill’s been back in touch.

It’s always a pleasure when I see his name in my inbox.

Here’s his last post to refresh your memory.

“Hi Al

I’ve taken some vacation and have been having fun adding more to my N scale layout.

Progress is being made and I’m having a lot of fun bringing it to life 😀 since my last submission I’ve gotten quite a bit more done.

I’ve added more trees and ground cover as well as taking some cheap eBay buildings I purchased and giving them new life with paint and weathering.

Take care and keep doing all the wonderful things you do for our hobby!

Bill
In Virginia”..



And Brian has been back in touch too (his last post is here).

“Hi Alaistair.

A follow up on progress on my layout with some photos taken with my old Sony DSC F-707 Camera. Have not used it in about 10 years. If I want excellent night photos with a great depth of field, then this is the camera that I use.

At last, laid all the track for both the harbor and Pelican Bay.

Lots of operation here with six line side industries to fill. Will keep an operator busy for quite a while.

It will be switchman’s nightmare as well as the yard master who has to set up a train in the yard at Cascade Creek for this area. A lot of backwards and forwards to do in the tight space (passing siding). It is limited as well as is the head shunt track.

Next is to add sleepers in the gaps, solder droppers where needed to the buss wires underneath and make some of the points DCC compatible. (Some are already done from my old layout in CT) While under the layout, have to put the Blue point motors in and wire them up as well.

A few pieces of different rolling stock pushed through (O-5-0) made sure that all track and point work is okay before running the locomotives.

For those who always ask where are the trains, two locomotives are busy setting out and picking up cars at the industries.

All in a good days work .

Thank goodness my eyes are one hundred percent now. Saw the Ophthalmologist last Friday, very happy and no more work to be done to the eyes, except for a follow up in five months time. Still need spectacles to do fine work though.

Brian
Knysna RSA”

It’s wonderful to see layout like these come to life. I love an update!

That’s all for today.

I’ve had a couple of emails asking about the July 4th sale – the page will be taken down today. But if you are quick you can still grab it.

It’s here for an hour or two longer until I put everything back to how it was.

I know some of you are buying it just for the buildings – $69 worth.

Including the discount on the Beginner’s Guide, it’s an $87 saving.

What’s more, I won’t be having another sale for a long, long time.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

Military model train layouts

Andy’s been in touch with his military model train layout – he’s done some excellent scratch building:

“Hi Al and all the dedicated followers

In a previous post, you mentioned your fascination for wartime dioramas within the railway theme and I guess, thanks to my past, I am no different.

I have attached a few pics of just the one side of my very much in progress layout which is set on or around 16 March 1942.

The scene is a small port/harbour that has been taken over by an undisclosed Commando Battalion who are, in conjunction with the Royal Navy, preparing for Operation Chariot, “The greatest raid of all time”, namely the Raid on the Normandy Dock, which took place on 28 March 1942.

(I mention that more for the benefit of your younger followers as I do not wish to insult the older farts like myself).

Further for the youngsters (haha), this was where an old destroyer (HMS Cambeltown) was stripped down to look like a German ship, packed with 4.5 tone of high explosive and accompanied by 18 smaller craft (wooden motor launches, a gunboat and an motor torpedo boat), set sail for the French Port at St Nazaire with a mind to ram the Normandie dock and put it out of action thereby preventing the Tirpitz from having a suitable dry dock for repairs.

(Without boring your readers with the detail, Jeremy Clarkson did a superb presentation of the raid on youtube)

Back to my layout… the challenge was finding a suitable backdrop to the little dock that I have built (and herein lies a challenge I have not been able to solve, but more on that later).

Being 1942 and in keeping with the rest of the layout, I wanted a throw-back on the Victorian era and thought that an old warehouse would do the job.

But nobody had a warehouse that fitted the period in question and I had to return to the internet of things to find photographs of what I was looking for.

And I was in luck. I found two suitable options – The one being a photo of the Metropolitan Wharf (I don’t have a clue as to where it is) and another of a completely different building, a nice, old, stone building (which I guess could have been a warehouse).

So I downloaded the photos, pulled them into Photoshop, got them scaled to the right dimensions for OO and then started modifying them in terms of length, etc to fit in with my little harbour.

Military model train layouts

Needless to say, being a complete novice at working with cardboard, it took a few attempts where the demolishing company situated down the road at Stonemill Hamlet (My closest town to “Bridgeport”
were the only winners.

Eventually,I managed to construct something that I was reasonably happy with (it still has some imperfections but these are relatively minor in the greater scheme of things).

The Photos show the finished product with a narrow platform out front.

There is still plenty to do on the scene such as:

Solving the water problem in my dock (hope you like my scratch built dock gates), finish the concrete ground works, placing the figures, building the 2 Bofors guns and sandbag emplacements, the hoists above the warehouse doors, finish making the torpedo’s, place my sailors from Langley Models and so on and so on and so on…

…you guys know the drill.

Military model train layouts

Now, because my warehouse also serves as the divider between two completely different scenes, I needed to do something on the other side and found a factory that I could modify, on Wordsworth Model Railway and here I must sing the praises of the author (Mike) for the fantastic work he has done. It is a site worth (excuse the pun) visiting for any English OO modeller.

Military model train layouts

Al, you provide a far greater service than I think you imagine in keeping this hobby alive for all, old and young.

I also extend a thank you to all those contributors out there who have given so freely of their knowledge and experience as the many tips help to keep this amazing hobby affordable for so many of us.

That’s all for now and keep on trackin.

Andrew
Johannesburg RSA.”

A huge thanks to Andrew for adding to the military model train layouts on the blog – he’s been kind enough to supply me with the artwork he used to create his scene, so I will get it on the site as soon as possible.

I think it really does show in spades with a computer, bit of cardboard and glue you can create anything you want to.

Now on to Dana.

He’s used some of the prints and some imagination to help him with his wonderful harbour scene:

“My first ever Harbor/seaport site coming along with a lighthouse, sea captain house, 50+pine trees, (all my own designs – new ideas with a working lighthouse headlight), all my railroad layout scenes supported by my wife’s (Eileen’s) painted backgrounds…working on two sea vessels…stay tuned…a railroad wide short of our current D&E Model Railroad included…coming next…

Dana”

printable buildings

A big thanks to Andrew for another military model train layout, and also to Dana.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.





More of your scratch builds

Got another scratch build for you today, from Ryszard (which I’m told is Polish for Richard).

And it’s from the same print that is bundled free with the Beginner’s Guide at the mo.

What’s more – for this weekend only – the Beginner’s Guide is just $9.

I can’t think of a more fitting way to say thank you than this sale:

Thanks to you lot, with a few thrills and spills along the way, we’ve made it past 11 years of posts, pics and tips.

“Al

I have enjoyed your site for a long time, since I have retired had to find something to fill the spare time, I purchased one of your (Big Bundle Deal) and printed out one of the Engine sheds among many others.

I have created my own version of the Engine shed as shown in the pictures.

With added and above doors are my creation of lamps, LED lights.

Scratch built table and chairs with tools.

Interior detail.

Side walls have ventilation fan vents.

I have dreamed to set up a model railroad layout for a long time and when I started to make it a reality one thing came up after another, like kids, education, weddings and now I have time and room to finish the dream, but not much of a budget.

Best to all talented people like Hall of Fame Dave, talented hobbyists and their many beautiful layouts.

Ryszard”

Now on to the very same Hall of Fame Dave, who has also sent this vid in:

“Hi Al,

just uploaded video showing building that Railway cottage from your site, turned out not bad, and it was easier than what I thought, just a case of getting a decent piece of card to put the print on, then cutting to size.

Dave”



A huge thank to you Ryszard and Dave.

Dave built the stone cottage that is in the store.

Ryszard built his engine shed from the print that is free with Beginner’s Guide.

What’s more there are 7 other prints bundled free with the Beginner’s Guide too.

If you missed yesterday’s post, you can see John’s engine shed scratch build and Charle’s stunning barn build.

That’s all for today folks – but please don’t forget this silly sale is for this weekend only.

It will disappear just as quickly as it arrived, so if you want to bag yourself a great deal, please grab it while you can.

Best

Al