More about Swanage.

 Some more shots of our adopted layout.
The overall canopy is placed in position as it needs some work due to some distortion to deal with.
The track layout is not as wide as it should be but this compromise means we will be able to transport and exhibit without having to resort to van hire.
The ravages of time have taken it's toll but it is early days yet so a full assesment will be made at our next meeting.
The opportunity will be taken to check out the wiring and attached transformers. One is a cased Gaugemaster so that should be OK.

The Forge.

Following on from the recent post about Colin's cottage, this is another building that fits this corner well.
Also a DAS covered shell, this depicts the village forge. It is intended to detail this scene with a horse being reshod- a sort of rural Quik-Fit I suppose.
I think the building has been well finished with individual roof slates as well.
You wouldn't know that the railway passes behind this scene would you?
But it does.

Rolling Road.

I have extolled the virtues of the Bachrus rolling Road available from Finney and Smith- click on link on th left. The one shown here with one of Phils locos going through its paces, will accomodate locos from 'N' gauge through to 'O' gauge. This is particularly usefulif you dabble in other scales without the need to buy a road for each.
The advantageis that you can leave the chassis working away whilst getting on with other things and you can keep an eye on it.

Modelling in any scale.

 Colin brought in the corner section of his layout at our last meeting.
The cottage has been seen before but it is now bedded in with some of his excellent trees adorning the surroundings.
The cottage is covered in DAS clay and the thatch covered with static grass material.
Excellent modelling and this shows that the group has no scruples as all this is to 4mm scale.
However, Colin is enthusiastic in joing in with the refurbishment of Swanage- we may have a convert soon!

Southern Railway Coach.

One of old friends, Phil Phillips visited us at our meeting and he brought with him some Southern stock he had aquired from the late Brian Tonbridge.
A T9 loco was also displayed- you will see it later on the blog.
This coincidence enabled some authentic stock to be shown on our Swanage layout.
You may be interested to know that a model of Launceston Station, by Brian Tonbridge, to 3mm scale, is resident at Launceston Museum and well worth the time to view.

Dorset Group Meeting July 2013.

Something surprising happened at our July meeting.
The picture alongside may provide a clue. It is ,of course , unmistakeable -Swanage Signal Box.
The group has taken custody of a layout I have been trying to adopt for some time. It sat, unloved, in a display cabinet in the booking hall of Swanage Station for several years. Layers of leaflets hid what is a remarkable 3mm scale layout of Swanage Station.
Unfortunately I don't know the name of the builder but the layout was given to the railway as we have aquired it.
Originally the Engine Shed section was attached but skipped due to lack of space. More Anon!

Coach Bogies.

 Sorry but the photos today are not as focused as I would like-my apologies!
You may remember a couple of posts ago my mention of the old 'bullet ended ' axles.
Well, to save some money the CK has Kitmaster bogies with these wheels inserted. I found the wheels, unless insulated on the outer face of the wheel, shorted on brass etched frames. So this is where some recycling came in and used ,probably, 50 year old plastic mouldings instead.
Do they roll well? Ok for my needs.

Back to the Kitmaster Coaches.

I hate doing these!
However, it is an evil that must be endured when making Kitmasters.
The windows are separately fitted giving a good impression of flush glazing.
Luckily I have enough on sprues for this coach but subsequent ones will be from separated pieces.
My hand is no longer steady as it was. this means a lot of cleaning up once the paint has dried. I should really put a couple of coats on but the result will probably be worse than this!
Still-transfers next before fitting these.

Best month ever for blog.

June saw the highest hit rate ever, although by only 3! 2819 views were achieved taking the total to well over 50,000
My thanks to all who took the time to visit- hope more posts will provide enough interest so you all come back.
Todays picture shows an aged 3mm Society product, a coach wheel axle without pin-point ends.
I aquired a few of these a long time ago and have found them to be useful for a current project-more anon.

Dorset Group-July 2013 Meeting.

Our next meeting is this coming Saturday, 6th July 2013. Usual place- Furzebrook Village Hall, Wareham, Dorset. Start about 1pm until about 6pm.