Some activity at Ulthwaite..

On the Right hand side, Dawsons Coal & Coke Merchants - hut bashed from a Wills signal box I think.

Bob, the Newlands & Borrowdale Rwy diesel, has had a colour change..blue suits it much better.


Mr and Mrs Harrison just missed the morning train. They're not talking.


A new sheep wagon, bashed from an Egger or Liliput low open.


A Liliput bash created N&BRwy brake van no.1


The local farmer (gone missing for now) is collecting from the small loading dock on the Left hand side.

An overall shot.


Katie arrives with the old four wheel coach for the lunch time train.

Ulthwaite gets some attention

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. lots of reasons.
Anyway.. despite a serious think about the future of Ulthwaite. The handlaid track just wasn't succesful enough and the original board could have been better. So, I built a new baseboard and laid the track using Peco 009. At this point I lost a bit of motivation.(should have wired up points etc).. however recently I decided to plough on.It's only small (total layout including 'fiddle' area is only 4 feet long).
Done the backdrop on my own printer - which means you can see the joins.. but I don't mind.

Ballasting and some basic scenic work done so far. It all looks a bit grey but maybe that's not a bad thing. I'm hoping to place a large tree over the exit and another smaller one near the water tank.
Lots more to do yet including small details like people and clutter.

Main thing is - I'm enjoying this layout again.

Backdrop picture

Whilst on holiday in the Lakes last year, I took a series of photos of Coniston, hoping to be able to stitch them together into a panoramic thingy.
Recently I downloaded a bit of software called 'Hugin' which did a very nice easy job. A little bit of cropping and I hope I have a perfect backscene for my Ulthwaite layout! I know it's Coniston rather than Derwentwater.. but seeing as Ulthwaite is fictional...

Ulthwaite station building

Whilst I'm still a little undecided whether or not to soldier on with 'Ulthwaite' as it is (or start again using peco track), I figured I might as well keep moving with some of the stock and buildings. I've made a start on altering and repainting a Roco steamer, plus Bob the diesel and a couple more wagon kits, but earlier I decided to take paintbrush to the proposed station building. The photo is cruel and shows me where I need to do a bit more, but I'm quite happy. (Must add a pot to that chimney). This is a pretty unmodified Auhagen kit - an HO scale little german halt. I liked the idea of a wooden building and felt that a paint job and a few details might help to locate it. Bearing in mind that there were a number of German miners around Keswick, I don't mind a slightly continental look to it..

Plankerton Wharf pictures

I 'finished' Plankerton Wharf some time ago..just thought I ought to post some pictures. Overall I'm pleased with the grotty trackwork and ground cover.. a mixture of ash ballast and filler.. and a generous spray of red oxide, black and grey car primers.

Endal Street shoebox gets some attention

As well as fiddling about with the tricky problems presented by the turntable and sector plate.. I took advantage of a new printer to make up some scenic 'flats' to set the scene in this little shoebox layout.

Much more serious work to do really first, like getting the trackwork right.. but I couldn't resist..it helps to give an impression of where I'm going with it.
I also chopped up a big cardboard box to make one for Endal Street.. it may not be an actual shoebox.. but the dimensions are similar.

Ulthwaite - more work

The Lake District layout is now known as 'Ulthwaite'. (There may be a real Ulthwaite.. but it's not this one!) Been fettling the track and testing all my stock to make sure there aren't too many needless derailments. It's actually working a lot better than I thought. but I do keep wondering if I'd be better ripping it up and laying some 'proper' track. Started to mock up some buildings etc to get a feel for how things are going to look. I like the fiddle exit between two cottages , rather than under a bridge (which was my first thought). Also been thinking about operating sequences to plan any further purchases.

Lake District 009 project starts to take shape..

For once, I've actually put a bit of planning into a layout. The setting is somewhere in the northern part of the English Lake District..Borrowdale perhaps. A fictitious narrow gauge light railway built to haul ore/slate from the hills to an interchange at Keswick also makes revenue through general traffic. This little village terminus sees coal, goods and sheep being transported, as well as a few passengers and some tourists/walkers. It also is a place for small engines pulling ore skips from up the valley to run around before continuing off down towards the interchange.. The board is recycled from a previous layout. I laid a layer of camping groundmat down, which proved to be a bit of a nuisance once I started to install the GEM wire-in-tube point control, and may well infuriate me further when scenic work starts. The track is a first for me - all hand-built copper clad soldered construction. I've just started testing and fettling to make sure everything is running properly before I start ballasting or painting (a process which will hide the rough appearance of the track at the moment). I kind of wish I had tried this track building lark out in a larger scale to start with.. but why not jump in at the deep end eh?

Something for the weekend?

A diversion the other weekend.. thinking I'd like a quick project, I spotted a spare little pine shelf about 570mm long. A bit of foam core.. a chopped up cereal packet.. some quickly laid track, a scattering of a few scenic bits and within the next couple of days this little N scale 3-2-2 inglenook layout was born. Good fun!

Endal Street - a dual gauge shoebox layout

One of my favourite designs on Carl's micro site is 'Endal Street'.. an ambitious shoebox plan from Jon Songoygard in Norway.
It features dual gauge track running through cobbled streets and overhead electrics. In a moment of madness I thought I'd give it a go! (Like I haven't got enough started)..
I figured it might be quite nice to try and build it using foamcore and card/paper. The turntable and sector plate might present some difficulties.. but I'll worry about that later.
So far, box built, track built (soldered construction). Next step.. worry about the turntable and sector plate!

I really don't know if I'll pull this off.. but it's worth a try.

Some 009 stock

Been a while since last update (a Hard drive crash didn't help!).

One of the projects I've been planning is a 009 layout. At the moment a fictitious railway set in the Lake District is a likely candidate. I know I need some quality stock to get the best out of this scale so I bought a Dapol N gauge 45xx loco and A chivers WHR Russell kit and prayed they would fit!

As it happens, they do! I haven't extended the pony trucks, although I might.. but I don't mind that it's not a direct copy of Russell, just that it looks good and runs well. Seen here posing on 'Maunfoot' - a 009 micro layout.
New problem - the stock I had built so far all looks really tiddy next to this new loco (temporarily named Edith until I get some nameplates). I might end up anglicising the Liliput HOe stuff, or simply stick to a larger prototype. I quite like the Ashover anyway, so maybe that's the way to go..

A bit more 3mm

The last couple of weeks have seen some progress on my 3mm 'project'. I've laid a length of test track on a spare pine shelf. It's just 585mmx140mm, but enough for an A4 point and a little bit of track either side. The idea was to have a go at 'properly' handlaying solder constructed track before starting on a layout.

The sleeper built buffers tops are scratchbuilt in plasticard. I figured it was easier than trying to make up rail built ones!

It's 14.2mm gauge (3mm finescale), the rails are 3mm society code 60 bullhead, a lot easier to work with than I thought it would be. The switch isn't elegant but it serves it's purpose. I plan to hide it anyway.

The Y6 tram has had a paint job and some extra roof detail. A little bit of detail paint work to tidy it up and that's done. I'm really pleased with it.