Two plus years later and lots of wagons put into shoe boxes..
Since last seen here, the Hudswell railcar has acquired representations of the opening windows, in answer to Tony's enquiry on Adrian's thread, and it remains on the "I really ought to get on with it" list.
As I am now embarking on a new garden line, things will hopefully get moving, the new scheme is every bit as daft as the last one, but in several completely different directions, including a potential light railwayesque section, maybe.
I have done a few things in the meantime, first off I started back on the Slaters milk tank of Cynric's that I bought from Liz all those years ago. This included making a pattern for and casting in resin some roller bearings, I am aiming for a vibrant "St Ivel" tank in due course, using the lovely brass tank that Cynric so skilfully rolled.
I have also started another brake van(!), this being the Toad E, several of which were in the West Country in the early diesel era, including on the Wenford Bridge line. This is scratchbuilt, working out from two brake van buckets from the Northern Finescale BR brake van kit, kindly supplied by Chris Arundel to my friend Andrew Vines when he bought one of a further batch of the kit fairly recently.
This is now on its wheels and requiring handrails, footboards and brake gear to finish before painting. It will be perfect for the likely new line and of course all of those brake van specials that the Plymouth Railway Circle would have been running...
Pieces cut out and scribed.
Built up, van chassis from Slaters milk tank spare sprue, underchassis from Triang, Christmas 1969.
Roof formed, the usual old shirt (a different one, old one used up) stretched over metal sheet secured with SBR, the lovely ventilators were 3D printed for me by the sadly late Dave Finney, as an "off shoot" of doing 4mm scale versions for the stock his brother Martin's "Semley" layout.
The chassis uses home fretted W irons soldered to two pieces of brass section as below, which is quite a sturdy arrangement.
In the meantime I have mostly been building a new shed which will contain the lathe and a fiddle siding for the new line at a high level. The idea is that it should also resemble a small signal box. This has been quite a project one way and another, but all of the hardest bits are now done.
As you can see, the new garden is quite a different proposition to the last one(!)
Well that's about it, I'm off out to the garden now to do more "enabling works"...
Simon