Weathering..

A nice today so I sat in the garden with my airbrush and had a go at weathering some of the stock for the HO layout. (The name 'Dreary' is being re-considered!). Anyway.. I'm quite a novice with the airbrush and I have mixed feelings about the results.
I didn't copy any one picture too closely, but tried to learn something from looking at pictures of the prototype. I think I need to develop a lighter touch.. a little more subtlety.

A slice of Americana.. an 8 foot shelf

Having deliberated good and proper.. I decided to make a start on that shelf layout (again)..

My inspiration is the real life Washington, Idaho and Montana.. bearing in mind I have been nowhere near this part of the world, I hope to capture something of the 'feel' of it.. my shortline is the Yellow Pine RR.

The layout is set in the fictional town of Dreary, Idaho, where the line now terminates.

It's the early 1980's and BN own much of the line. In Dreary the railroad services the local grain elevator

as well as a small lumber concern, collecting sawn and finished products for transit to the main BN interchange.

A lead track is also in use as a team track.

Typically traffic is light.. the 'local' Geep bringing in and collecting small 3 or 4 car trains, usually stake, bulkhead flats and full door cars for the lumber, and various covered hoppers for the elevator. An occasional box car arrives for the team track.

So far I've laid track and it's being 'tested' ;-) before moving on to scenics. the depot is an old wooden kit ('euromod'?), the elevator is scratchbuilt, as will be the lumber company buildings. Scenery will be sparse - Having used 'street view' around the area, I'm already thinking teddy bear fur! (Google image search 'Palouse' for some beautiful pictures).

Lots to do...

A little freebie

I just came across this, a little experiment I made a few years ago. The plan was to try to fit a fold-up paper model of a loco on a business card.. It's a bit of fun, and if you don't like it, tough! It's free!



To remind myself if it works, I just spent five minutes putting one together..

N gauge UK.. bought it, built it, selling it..

Well. A brief update is due. I'm still plodding along with my OO Brewery layout (must get some pictures up sometime soon). But recently I have been having a bit of a dabble in UK N gauge.. to get a feel for it. I got myself a lovely little Dapol terrier, a handful of wagnons, and built a small layout.
Despite many advantages of size etc, I've concluded that it's not for me. So, the layout is up for sale on ebay.. along with the loco and wagons. I've never sold a layout like this before, so I am intrigued as much as anything else to see how it goes.. a few pictures..

Fate of the 4x2 American N gauge layout..

This layout has spent all it's time in the garage in 'storage'. It's quite pretty, but sadly, despite it's relatively small size, it's not 'working'..not really practical for a quick play.. I am considering this evening dismantling it.
(The track is all unitrack and the buildings and trees will lift off okay - so no huge loss)
Shame.. but maybe I need to stick to shelf layouts or go royal abundance and have a big roundy in the shed or garage. :)

(As it happens, I've been pootling away on a 4ft OO Brewery layout, and have been knocking up a little N gauge shelf to try out UK stuff too..more to follow)

Got talking to a nice chap at the Mansfield show recently about TT and 3mm, got me thinking about all of that again. Initial thoughts were to try 12mm gauge.. but I wonder whether I'd be as well to persist with 14.2mm, I'm thinking a Light Railway 'tramway', where skirted locos using motor bogies would mean no real urgency to build a working chassis just yet..

RIP Carl

I learned some very sad news today.
Carl Arendt, of micro layout fame, has left us.
I came into this hobby via the interent, haven't joined a club yet, and I am still largely sustained by the internet.
Carl was hugely supportive of my early doings and kindly hosted a few of my ideas and layouts over the last few years.
A proper gent, an inspiration and the creator and maintainer of a unique source of inspiration and a real loss.

Progress..

The eight foot shelf has finally had a decision made about it's fate - it's dismantled and gone! I'm going to focus on smaller projects for now until I'm really happy with an idea.
In the meantime, some progress made on the N scale 4x2 roundy..


still work to do yet - not least a decision on where it's going to live!