Back from a break

Excuse my absence from blogging for a couple of weeks, I have been otherwise occupied.

A distraction, My 1926 Ford Model T

With the purchase finalised, and the garage tidied up so that the car will have a place to live when it is delivered. I can set to and get back to work on the layout. There is after all, an exhibition to go to in less than a month.
Where have I got to on it then?

Trees

I have been working on some trees in autumnal hues using Woodland scenics armatures and fall tones  fine leaf foliage. If the trees were to stand alone I wouldn't be happy with them but as they will be grouped together I think they will create the correct feel once dulled down with a spray like Testors "Instant weathering". I'm not after the vivid colours of a bright sunny autumn day, but the subtle tones of a cloudy day. like the picture below. Admittedly, taken whilst it was raining but you get the idea.

My preferred autumnal hues.

Encouraged by the success of my brake van project. I decided to attempt scratch building some goods wagons. Starting with a pair of bulkhead flat cars, which is a style of wagon I like.
The donor wagons for this project were the peat wagons that came with the original set that I ordered.

Busch HOf Peat wagons, the start of the project

I carefully removed the body and quite simply added a new deck and ends from Evergreen embossed styrene sheet. With a bit of strategic strapping and bracing from angle and strip. They look the part most certainly.

A couple of Bulkhead flats, a simple project.

So now I have a British outline goods train, albeit a very short one yet. I'll pair them with the Heywood Tops and see how they run.
With all this stock, I will need a stockbox to take the trains to a show well protected. To that end I decided to take the plunge and see how my theory that a fishing tackle box as a stock box would work out.
There are multitudinous designs and styles out there and in the end I plumped for this one, the Plano "Lockjaw". A very tasteful name I'm sure you'll agree.

An unfortunate name for a useful box.

The top layer of the box could hold up to 24 pieces of stock. More than enough for me for the moment. Whilst the deeper tray underneath will take myriad of tools, and even the Busch battery controller.

Things do fit rather nicely.

To cushion the delicate items of stock, I cut the protective foam cradles that the rolling stock was packed in to fit the adjustable pockets of the top layer. As you can see they fit admirably well. With plenty of room for the scratch built projects and a couple of other items I'll come to in another couple of posts. I'm most definitely very pleased with the way this project turned out.
I would expect that such a box would accommodate 009 stock and N gauge. Maybe even 09 too. These boxes are ridiculously cheap. I paid $10 (Seven quid if you're in the UK) from Menards, (A DIY chain here in the US) and this was the expensive one. You could get a basic simple one for under $4. A sound investment.

Never meet your Heroes.

They say you should never meet your heroes as they never meet your expectations of them. I had the pleasure of meeting one of my "heroes" over the course of the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Minneapolis. Roy C. Links Crowsnest Tramway layout.
Can a model railway be a hero? I don't see why not. You can admire the design, concept and execution of a model railway in the same way that you admire the personality, abilities and roles of a famous actor.
The first version of a Crowsnest Tramway layout first appeared in the UK magazine Railway Modeller back in the 1970's. A simple plan for a simple shunting puzzle layout. The model making and the execution immediately struck a chord with me. This was a Micro layout before micro layouts had been popularised.
Version 3 appeared in the Model Railway press in the 1980's. The same concept had been developed to produce a new track plan but still a part of the Crowsnest concept. The track plan was not as successful as the previous one, but the same attention to detail in the modelling was still there.
This version of The Crowsnest passed out of the hands of Roy and into those of his friend Mike South who took the layout with him to Canada. Sadly, Mike lost a battle with Cancer a few years ago and the layout disappeared from view, until it was discovered by its current owner Craig Parry. To simply say that it was discovered is selling the story short. For as I spent time chatting with Craig over the three days of the convention he would tell me more and more about the stories of how the layout, and further examples of Roy and Mike South's model making came into his possession. The tales he told would fill a book. With all the models that Craig has accumulated looking at his display stand was like looking at the pages of Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review, the magazine that Roy created.
Craig is as passionate about the Crowsnest Tramway as I am, and it was great to talk with a kindred spirit who shares the same enthusiasm for a subject such as this,  I came away from our chats fired up with a new enthusiasm for the hobby and my modelling. In fact I even came home from the convention with a kit for a 1:32 sale locomotive, that will inevitably lead to another new layout.

The overall presentation creates a certain style.
The picture frame holds a sheet of glass to protect from dirt and fingers.

There is even detail behind the buildings where it's almost impossible to see.

Attention to detail includes features like worn steps.

So simple, yet so atmospheric.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
There were a few problems with layout over the duration of the convention due to the age .
Here Craig is working to find electrical fault.

A quick update

As you know, this project has to sit on the back burner whilst I prepare Purespring Watercress for the National Narrow Gauge Railway convention here in Minnesota in September. That's not to say that things are idle on this project.

Far from it. I received some track recently and felt like messing around with it this morning to get some ideas for the models development. What follows are a few thoughts on what might well happen.

Co-incidence?

After posting about the 6.5 minimum gauge Ruston Proctor, this old Pathé film was drawn to my attention. The whole film, as with all Pathé newsreels is an education in itself. A slice of times gone by, replaced by advancing technologies. Then pay extra attention from about 8 minutes and 50 seconds for a little narrow gauge industrial railway treat. Perhaps you may even find inspiration for a microlayout here.

Some more HOf layout videos

To be honest there's more HOf video out there on YouTube than I thought. Here's a few more I found.
I like this first one because the Feldbahn train really does seem to have a purposeful end to end journey.

This next one became an instant favorite from the moment I watched it. Delightful detail. A very realistic atmosphere. Almost perfect for a slate mine.

This third one caught my attention because with the model being surrounded by walls on all sides, it's like the model could be stored in a drawer....

Finally, an amusing oddity. Someone has created a Draisine in HOf using a Busch Mechanism and a model of a UAZ van. Very likeable.

Some HOf layout video

I've been perusing YouTube looking for some Busch HOf videos to see what people are doing. Naturally being a German product, most of the videos are German so I can't understand a thing. I did find a couple of "How I built my layout" videos. This first one is all in one film.

This second one is the first in a series that seems to run up to seven films. All covering different aspects of the construction. The work showing the construction of the mine is enlightening. Some very interesting behind the scenes views.

Finally for tonight, a couple short films of Peter Smiths "Oresome Aggregates"

Some thoughts about track planning. (1)

One nice thing about all the catalogues and papers I received in the Feldbahn set box was that one page in the catalogue had actual size pictures of the track elements on it. So, to aid in the planning of the model I copied the page a few times and cut out the track pieces and played with them to see what kind of layout I could come up with. As there is no flexible track in the Feldbahn system, that limits you to what can be done. 

Track elements copied.

Here's a few ideas I developed as I moved the track elements about. I want to keep it simple as a move 'beyond the train set", and creating a series of believable vignettes of minimum Gauge railways as a part of the layout.
I like the idea of featuring a siding with a standard gauge wagon on it to compare sizes of the standard and minimum gauge stock. I think an offstage exit to a storage yard, that could also double as a siding is a good idea too.

1. Adding some straights into the oval is the first basic step. Then a turnout for a siding or
offstage exit.

2. How about a triangular layout? I had hopes for this idea
but on reflection, It's my least favourite concept.

3.  I like the idea of watching a train meander down an S curve.
The whole left hand side is a meandering curve, though the Sand Hutton didn't
really feature any meandering sections of track. Quite pleasant.

4.  A little less meandering curve, and a lot of space in the bottom left. Should I
put scenery there or would that be better served by having track there?

5. So far this seems to be the best option. This uses up the space well. A nice length of curvy
section and a straight to put a small station platform on, and the offstage exit/siding.

A few first steps in planning then. Bear in mind that planing is a personal thing and you may disagree with what I'm doing, and the way I'm doing it. That's your right, but I won't listen to your opinions.

While I'm placing and moving track elements about on the board, I'm looking at pictures and seeing things in my minds eye and trying to imagine how they'd look translated to this small board. Right now, numbers 3 and 5 fit my visions best. After a bit more fettling and messing about I might come up with something I'm happy with. Or I might come up with something totally different.