4mm The Strawberry Line in P4

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Hi Andrew,

Please, could you describe your method of creating the distinctive road surfaces?

Thank you

Tim
Hi Tim
No problem. Its emulsion base colour, a layer of Attwood Aggregates quarry dust sprinkled on to pva. Mendip or Dulcote. Once it’s dried I sand lightly with a block. Hope that helps
 

AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Hi Andrew,

From William Henry Parsons.
He picked up on my basket thread on FB.
Asked if I’d seen a view of the cottage before it was a ruin. I hadn’t though shared I made camps in the ruin as a kid!
He sent back.
Photo from Brad Parsons collection
The small brick cottage that was knocked down by the tipping bay cheddar station
( I used to play in this cottage while growing up in Fiveways Farm it was empty for many years ) Photo taken before 1947.

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Not sure if you had seen this one of the cottage?
Cheers
 
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Tim V

Western Thunderer
A small point, but in the Titfield Thunderbolt - filmed in 1952, the very minor roads that the steam roller is on in the beginning shots are tarmacked.
 
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ullypug

Western Thunderer
Hi Andrew,

From William Henry Parsons.
He picked up on my basket thread on FB.
Asked if I’d seen a view of the cottage before it was a ruin. I hadn’t though shared I made camps in the ruin as a kid!
He sent back.
Photo from Brad Parsons collection
The small brick cottage that was knocked down by the tipping bay cheddar station
( I used to play in this cottage while growing up in Fiveways Farm it was empty for many years ) Photo taken before 1947.

View attachment 204845

Not sure if you had seen this one of the cottage?
Cheers
No Ade I hadn’t. That’s fantastic! I’ve never seen any photos of that up close
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Hi Andrew,

From William Henry Parsons.
He picked up on my basket thread on FB.
Asked if I’d seen a view of the cottage before it was a ruin. I hadn’t though shared I made camps in the ruin as a kid!
He sent back.
Photo from Brad Parsons collection
The small brick cottage that was knocked down by the tipping bay cheddar station
( I used to play in this cottage while growing up in Fiveways Farm it was empty for many years ) Photo taken before 1947.

View attachment 204845

Not sure if you had seen this one of the cottage?
Cheers
Ade
Forgot to ask, does William have any pictures of Five Ways Farm from that time? I can’t get to the railway side of the building to take photos now.
Andrew
 

AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Ade
Forgot to ask, does William have any pictures of Five Ways Farm from that time? I can’t get to the railway side of the building to take photos now.
Andrew
From William
“I will look out some of the farm when I am able and post them for you”
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Firstly, Happy New Year to one and all. I hope you all had a restful holiday. I managed to find a couple of days for modelling time over the festive break. Some of it was research. It looks like I will have to something about Station Road bridge. It’s far too low compared with the new photos that have been unearthed and I’ll have a think about how I can amend it without destroying everything.
I pretty much have got the camping coach as far as I can without applying transfers which are on order from Fox. I’ve made a rudimentary attempt at the internal partition arrangement using palight and have added curtains. The bogies were a challenge but thankfully it’s never going to move! Steps and external details still to do.
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I also concluded the E116 B set should have been chocolate and cream not carmine and cream so first job was a quick respray followed by some lining transfers. Thoughts then turned to the glazing. The plastic kit has quite thick sides so there’s isn’t really any other alternative other than flush glazing each pane. I’m using 0.5mm Perspex secured with Klear and it’s going to be a long job…

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Tim V

Western Thunderer
Can't find any pictures of how I did it, but basically I scraped out behind the window areas using a piece of filed steel. This was filed so that there was a fence to scrape down to. Then the glazing could be put in.
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Can't find any pictures of how I did it, but basically I scraped out behind the window areas using a piece of filed steel. This was filed so that there was a fence to scrape down to. Then the glazing could be put in.
I thought about that Tim but I’m a quarter of the way through now and there’s no turning back!! Will be be seeing you at the EMGS AGM on 20th?
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Progress with the E116 B set has been glacial at times, but both coaches have been resprayed chocolate and cream and one coach is now flush glazed. Lots of individual pieces of 0.5mm perspex cut and filed to shape before being secured with Klear.
Now there’s just the small matter of changing the bogies, since it would appear the set had 9ft fish belly type and not the pressed steel type which I’ve modelled. I’ll have to swap them out and use them for something else.
I’ve got some Bristol Division transfers from Railtec for the ends too yet to do.

The saga of the Station Road bridge seems to be reaching a conclusion. Having found photos which confirmed the long held suspicion that my model wasn’t anything like the prototype, out came the mini drill and circular saw and I did the best I could to raise and accentuate the arch without destroying everything and bearing in mind there’s a piece of 12mm ply acting as a track base which obviously I can’t do anything about. I think we’ve got there and a little more weathering and maybe a little filler will finish it off. Hopefully you can see the difference in the before and after pictures!

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ullypug

Western Thunderer
Major milestones this month.

For the first time since I started building Cheddar, some 11 years ago now, I’ve finally been able to put all of the 8 scenic boards up together. Cheddar is going to be making its exhibition debut at Wells this August as a work in progress and with under 6 months to go I needed to take stock of just how much left there is to do before it gets there!

The layout has been in various unheated garages for the last few years and it’s almost 6 years since anything last moved on it, way before ballasting and track painting started. So needless to say I wasn’t expecting a great deal especially as on retrieving the panel I noticed the din sockets were corroded and the box itself showing signs of mould!

So first things first, the trestles and supporting rails were erected in the dining room, fitting with about half an inch to spare. Yes I did check when I bought the house but don’t tell anyone! After that the boards were brought out one by one and erected on top and the panel plugged in and an engine plonked on. Power applied. Nothing, nada, no sausages at all. No surprises there really.

Then I tried all the turnouts. Plenty of encouraging noises from the tortoise motors but nothing moving. Well at least the point feeds were getting to the layout.

So I started cleaning the track. It had tarnished heavily and had a crust that needed serious attention from abrasive pads. No wonder nothing had moved. After a while though, I got the furthest (Wells end) board clean enough. A bit of power and the engine moved! After a hearty hurrah and a little jig of delight, I then worked my way up towards the other end (Axbridge) cleaning and testing. By the end of the week I’d got to the other end (yes it was that dirty), and confirmed that all track sections had supplied power to the rails and that both cab controllers worked to each section. DCC is a pipe dream…

There’s still a long way to go though. Next step is to get each and every turnout working again, which will be a combination of cleaning out all the crud and scraping away the ballast which has welded everything solid.

A couple of track joins require attention at baseboard ends as steps are now evident, I guess due to the plywood plates at the edges swelling over the years.

Curiously, the scenery sections have opened up considerably across baseboard joints. These are on a mixture of extruded foam and paper-mache so I’m going to need to redress that, or blag that Cheddar gorge is a bit closer to the station…

But onwards! I can start my snagging list now and carry on knowing that power is restored. It’s a case of deciding what has to be done by August and what can be left for later. One thing I will need is the fiddle yards, so maybe that’ll be next.

Photos attached, warts and all.

In the longer term, Cheddar will be exhibited (when it’s ready) and I hope that it will have a permanent home in a temperature controlled room where I can avoid the problems caused by its storage.

The other highlight of the week came from a very helpful chap at Bristol Water who sent me the original 1920 drawings of the Water Works that was served by a private siding. But that’s another story.
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