Model Railway


Verisimilitude

Tim Hall on what annoys him about some exhibition model rail layouts and other layouts that work-

* Layouts that look good but run badly.
* Architecturally impossible structures, especially bridges.
* Obvious anachronisms.
* Layouts where 50% of the locos is one-off depot specials or short-lived prototypes, which would never have been seen together at the same time and place.
* No attempt to run prototypical train formations despite the correct stock being available off the shelf (N gauge layouts seem to be bad offenders at this; how many malformed Virgin Cross-Country locomotive-hauled sets have you seen?)
* Unpainted brass kettles (I’m surprised how often you see this on finescale kettle layouts)

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Rugby Central Station Model (2)

For those who remember my post a little while ago, i’m constructing a scale model of the now demolished Rugby Central railway station.

I’ve started to apply brick paper which was printed out on my rather old HP Deskjet 550C. It’s a respectable quality even though all it’s capable of is a rather low resolution when compared to todays printers. I think the model is starting to take shape…

Photo of the actual building
Model photo 1
Model photo 2

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Union not-so-Pacific

The Union Pacific railroad is suing a model company for breach of copyright because their logo appears on scale rolling stock. Lots of aerospace and military corporations are trying to shake down model companies for exorbitant licencing fees, and now the railways are getting in on the act.

It’s time for companies to start bringing out really obscure subjects and creating their own pretend corporations to use them.

via BoingBoing

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Rugby Central Railway Station

A few weeks ago I came across some construction plans for the former Rugby Central railway station. I’ve scaled them down to 1:76th scale and have started to recreate the station building using pieces of foamboard.

Old Rugby Central Station Photo
 

Photo of my ‘work in progress’ model


 

The full size plans can be found here if anyone fancies having a go themselves.

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Additions to Spinneyhead's little garage

I’ve acquired a few small Fords in the last week, all in 1:76th scale. First up is the Corgi Trackside Ford Transit which I found in the model shop on Saturday. It comes with a ticket declaring it to be number 3406 of 4000, which makes me think twice about doing anything to it. However, I also bought a tub of the MIG Productions Standard Rust pigment and this seems like a perfect candidate for rusting and weathering.

Next up are the Ford Model Y and Pop from John Day. They’re cast whitemetal kits intended for model railways, but my plans are to customise them. The bodies are clean with minor flash around the windows and mould lines on the lower edges that will only need a little cleaning up. The close up shots make the surface look pitted, but this will disappear with a coat of primer and a bit of buffing. Sprayed with car paint and with a few details picked out, these would look good on a 30-40s (Y) or 50s (Pop) layout.

Interior detail is minimal and the underbodies are a bit plain. The Y has a driver figure but, well, he looks like the elephant man. For my customs I’m going to try to build new chassis for them and fit new seats, steering wheels etc. but for their intended use these are minor quibbles.

I’d recommend these models for the period railway modeller. How they’ll suit my slightly mad hot-rodding plans remains to be seen.

You can get a list of John Day’s products by sending a stamped addressed envelope to John Day, 104 St. Peter’s Close, Moreton-on-Lugg, Hereford, HR4 8DW. Mention that you read about him on spinneyhead.co.uk/Scale

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Arpley Bus Station

Ian has asked me to show the progression of my model railway, as it’s 18 feet long it’s an extremely long term project. It’s only been in existence for a month or so but most of the models are from my last layout about 10 years or so ago.


 


 

With Ian talking about Spinney Street, I thought it was a good time to mention how i’ve tackled a similar situation. The “tarmac” i’ve trialed here is the surface of a Wickes kitchen worktop (available at £25 for a 3m length!) which I had left over and seems to work rather adequately.
I’m a fan of the free texture databases that can be found on the internet – the pavement is a texture rescaled and tiled in a desktop publishing program. The texture is available here. It’s raised an ice lolly stick width off the road surface to denote a pavement height. I would suspect it’s almost in scale as it does look reasonable. The road lines are done in a similar fashion to the paving stones in a DTP package and simply printed out and stuck down.

Just the roof of the station building to cover in a so far undecided texture and maybe respray the “MerseyBus” liveried bus into Magic Bus livery.

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A couple of model railway blogs

Clapford Junction “Details the construction of a Modern-Image OO-gauge model railway layout in the loft of my house.”

The Great Trans-Atlantic Railway “An exploration of railways, prototype & modelled, on both sides of the Atlantic, with emphasis upon the US and Great Britain.”

Also, via GTAR, Hamburg Miniature Wonderland layout.

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Wigan Model Railway Exhibition

Dad and I attended this yesterday. Click on the image above to go to the gallery. I managed to distill the photos I took down to 66 worth putting up. I still have a little to learn about taking close up shots with my new camera. I couldn’t remember which layouts some of the photos were of, so if you were there and can help out, please leave a comment updating me.

There were a lot of modern image layouts in OO, which Dad wasn’t so happy about and nothing, as far as I can remember, set in the period he’s doing his layout in (late 40s/ early 50s). The trend interests me because I have a few ideas for products that will fit into the modern era quite well.

There’s not a lot of rolling stock, proportionally, in my pictures. This reflects my interest in the architecture and characters. Any layout I made would be more of a large static diorama full of little vignettes.

I didn’t pick up much from the trade stands, mostly small detailing items and tools. Langley Models had a “pick ‘n mix” section that I delved into for a couple of white metal dogs and some other small items and Signs of the Times provided an RAF temporary hut and a pair of modern policemen. All of these items should soon be appearing in mini dioramas.

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Whitehaven


Click for larger image

The room formerly known as my bedroom is now home to a model railway layout. It’s still in the early stages of building, but when it’s done it will represent Whitehaven station in the 40s/50s. This is Dad’s big modelling project and I’m going to invite him to join the blog to provide regular updates and better pictures as the scenery goes down and he starts placing the buildings.

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