4mm Little Milton Colliery EM gauge. Primrose no 2 nearing completion

[34091 Weymouth]

Back in 2019 I was in my garage & found a piece of 9mm ply offcut. I thought that I am sure I could put a layout on it & so messed with some smp templates & conjured up this inglenook style shunting layout. The concept was to be a small mill complex based on Salts mill in Saltaire near Bradford.

It got shelved & forgotten about it & it's sat in the garage ever since. I dug it out & had another look at it to see if anything could be done with it. I had planned to do a new layout however money is tight & I've enough industrials to finish off or already built to make a layout with.


The layout now in my workshop In the house.

I'm going to totally change the concept to a small colliery based here in Yorkshire. I'm going to remove some track & relay it without the original cobbled area I made. I'm going to add a small extention on to the right so the wagons can go under some screens so it looks more realistic & better to operate. The canal is going to become a spoil heap & maybe a weighbridge. Basically I'm going to make it up as I go along.

I've been bashing an old airfix engine shed into a little industrial shed for the colliery.



This weekend I'm going to do a bit to get the last parts of trackwork done & wiring so it is completed in that respect. I think I've got enough timber to make the backscenes & then with a bit of luck it should start to come together & look a bit more like a scene out of the 70s.

Si

 

[2996 Victor]

Hi Si,

What a brilliant layout, and a great idea to recycle a stalled project: the track plan is excellent.

Incidentally, how easy is it to build pointwork with SMP components? I need to build some plain track and pointwork soon, it'll be my first attempt.....

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

All the best,
Mark

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Hi Si,

What a brilliant layout, and a great idea to recycle a stalled project: the track plan is excellent.

Incidentally, how easy is it to build pointwork with SMP components? I need to build some plain track and pointwork soon, it'll be my first attempt.....

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

All the best,
Mark

Hey up Mark,

Thanks for the kind comments. Track building isn't complicated if you have the right tools. I personally got a load of em gauge roller & triangle jigs plus some society Vee & blade filing jigs given. These make the job easy. You need at the very least some roller gauges. Marcways sell them along with C&L. The filing jigs are from the em stores & can be bought from em society shows. Well worth the investment & make the job easy. Some practice usually works too. I built the 3 way at my first go although I had been building all the components at the club as me & my friend built the trackwork on the club layout.

 

[2996 Victor]

Hey up Mark,

Thanks for the kind comments. Track building isn't complicated if you have the right tools. I personally got a load of em gauge roller & triangle jigs plus some society Vee & blade filing jigs given. These make the job easy. You need at the very least some roller gauges. Marcways sell them along with C&L. The filing jigs are from the em stores & can be bought from em society shows. Well worth the investment & make the job easy. Some practice usually works too. I built the 3 way at my first go although I had been building all the components at the club as me & my friend built the trackwork on the club layout.

Hi Si,

many thanks for your swift reply I'm a member of the EMGS: oddly enough I was looking at the Society gauge sets and filing jigs only yesterday! Marcway are a just short jaunt away, too. I'm just about to start a new job, so I'll have to wait until pay-day, but that's all great info, thank you!

All the best,
Mark

 

[Barnaby]

A great little layout and one-track plan I will stash away in my 7mm plank file. It has a shortish footprint yet has enough trackwork to be very interesting.
Your scenic work is noteworthy too.
A rough size calc for a 7mm shunty plank "thingy" shows I should be able to get all the track work in 8-9ft with a 2ft end fiddle yard for small locos and 4-5 wagons.

Best

 

[34091 Weymouth]

A great little layout and one-track plan I will stash away in my 7mm plank file. It has a shortish footprint yet has enough trackwork to be very interesting.
Your scenic work is noteworthy too.
A rough size calc for a 7mm shunty plank "thingy" shows I should be able to get all the track work in 8-9ft with a 2ft end fiddle yard for small locos and 4-5 wagons.

Best

Funnily enough I had thought of a rebuild to 7mm however my 7mm days are over. EM is just right for me. I think my workshop space is perfect, it's just shy of 8ft across the room which means I can make a larger colliery of some sort in the future maybe even a steelworks. Thanks for the kind words Barnaby

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Saturday is usually a workshop day of some sort & today I got to work doing some essential work on the fiddle yard.



I've made some locking pins & a safety buffer on the end so trains don't go plummeting off the edge.
I've also just fit together a fair price models terrace house base which will be colliers row.



I've a few kits that also need addressing,



That's all for now.

Si

 

[2996 Victor]

Good progress there!

I've put a few of those Fair Price kits together, they make a great basis for all sorts of buildings, don't they? I tend to use Roket Card Glue, which works really well on the MDF.

Looking forward to seeing your next instalment!

Cheers,
Mark

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Cheers Mark,

I've glued a sheet of slaters brick plasticard to the front of the building & cut the first set of doors & windows out. Its going to be a finished off tomorrow & hopefully some primer on. I've also got a woodland scenics bulldozer in primer today ready to be painted which is going on the spoilheap.

I'll post some progress on them tomorrow.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

I feel I have had a very enjoyable, productive weekend on my little layout. Yesterday evening I stuck down the front of Colliers Row with some brick plasticard. Today I've cut out the windows & added all the lintels to the doors & windows. I've also started to assemble the window frames.





I've also fit a new transmission into the austerity as the previous one was troublesome. I'm going to re wheel the austerity too with some fresh j94 wheels from markits. The current ones are over sized romfords & the flanges catch in the pointwork. Once those are here I'm going to get it finished off & weathered.

I must admit I'm really pleased I didn't bin this little layout it's great fun to work on & also to play trains on to pass the time.

That's all for now,

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Tonight is usually club night but most of our group had other plans so I didn't bother & instead did some work on things for the layout.

Firstly I painted the windows for the houses in primer so they can go straight in. I've a few doors to paint too.
A while ago a came across a kit for a bulldozer in my local model shop. The kits a pewter set of castings by woodland scenics & its built up into a nice model. I a tually built it some time ago & it's sat on the windowsil In the workshop for ages. I primed it over the weekend & put a base coat of yellow on from a rattle can.

Tonight I've finished the painting of it & given it a weathering woth some washs & dry brushing. The plough isn't show as it needed an extra coat of paint.i will weather that tomorrow & then it's ready to be put in the spoil heap on the layout.



As the layout is primarily a yorkshire coalfield layout it needs some hudson Vee tippers. I had one lurking in a very much unfinished state. I ordered a second which came today so I've built up the basic chassis to match the one already built. Now they are at the same stage I'm going to assemble them both together as it saves time building 2 at once.



As the layout is very much a cameo scene it doesn't need bags of stock. I will need another 2 of the vee tippers to make a small rake. I might even squeeze in a fifth depending on space on the fiddle yard.

I think once these are built I really must turn my attention to the RSH & Kitson I have on the bench partially built. That should keep me rather busy over winter as well as working on the scenic aspects of the colliery.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

This week has been extremely busy with work! I've done more miles in a lorry than I would have liked. That's meant not much workshop time. I did have plans to get Primrose no2 running & finished this weekend but I don't have a suitable gearbox in stock. I decided to get some work done on the terrace row & get it closer to being finished.



I still have work to do but I couldn't resist plonking a few bits around to give it some atmosphere. I can't decide whether to repaint the green windows & just paint the doors different colours & weather everything in. I've not been able to find a decent photo of a row of 1970s terraces near a colliery to figure out how they should look.

This next week I want to get the gearbox built when it arrives so I can spend Saturday morning getting Primrose finished then I have another hunslet ready for the layout.

I also did a bit of work today on a nonemistre sentinel I've had for ages. It had issues with small wheels & so I re wheeled it with some wagon wheels & give it a run. Happily it's much improved for a spud bogie. I do have a high level dmu bogie that might actually work to improve slow speed running. For now though it's running which gives me another loco to the operational fleet.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

This afternoon has been a busy one!

I set off by making some mock ups of the screens & a proper area for the colliers row & allotment.



I added a few bits I found laying around to the street to give it a better look. The patch to the right of the terrace is going to step down & be allotments with a dirt track leading down to the colliery.

I also mocked up the screens & added a template for where the pit headgear is going.




It then turned messy .......





I took the step to rip out all the old trackwork which was for its original concept as a wharf. I'm going to the club tomorrow evening & with the help of some friends I'm going to sort out the backscene & the extension for the screens. Once this is done I'll fit the trackwork back in position & then I can continue with the scenic aspects of the layout.

I'll keep you posted.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Well this evening has been a very productive night at the club. I've got all the timberwork done on the baseboards & I am now ready for laying the new sidings into the screens. The extension piece is perfect to give the whole cameo a little bit more size to it.








Excuse my woodwork its not the best but it all works & that's all the matters. Tomorrow evening I'm going to lay the trackwork to the baseboards & hopefully the first train into the screens will run.

Cheers

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

I've had another very productive evening doing a bit on some locos & some scenery too. This week I've had 3 parcels arrive so I can progress some parts of the layout. Firstly a proper set of wheels for a austerity. The original wheels were far to big with more spokes & so I bought some markits austerity wheels & replaced them firstly along with fitting a few more pick ups to make it a bit more reliable on my rough trackwork. I still have to paint the wheels which I plan to do tomorrow. I'll post a picture once it's done.

Secondly I've built a new high level roadrunner compact plus for a 16inch hunslet I've had semi complete for a year or so. Originally it was using a small brmachlines box & I could not get it to run right. I also cocked up one axle so it ran a bit rough.


This is my weekend project to get Primrose up & running with her final details added & she's then the first proper yorkshire based ncb loco to the fleet.

My next bit of work was the colliery pit headgear which I chanced upon a dap3d kit. Its a 3d print & whilst I'm not a big fan of 3d printed items this isn't bad. It's not brilliant but hopefully with some adaptation & weathering it should give the right look.



Not bad for less than thirty quid. I might give it a coat of paint over the weekend to knock away the whiteness.

All the layout extension is fitted too & apart from the shed track & isolators the trackwork is complete & running.



I'm looking forward to scratch building the screens based on Savile colliery at Methley on the outskirts of Leeds.

That's all for now

Si

 

[2996 Victor]

Nice progress, Si, its really coming together! Please post a photo of the pithead gear when you've painted it for comparison purposes - I'm certain the whiteness doesn't do it any favours and it'll look just fine when its got a coat of paint and grime.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Hey up Mark,

I think your right. I am actually happy with the headgear, it doesn't offend & this evening I've just sat & stared at it for a while whilst supping a cuppa tea. No I've not gone crazy, I was trying to digest how to take the next steps to fit it into the scene & make it convincing. I'm going to go back to this video

With a bit of stopping & pausing along with some Internet research I should be able to work out how the headgear worked at this pit. At first I was going to hide the whole base in a brick building. I'm thinking of putting some corrugated iron around the base with a building in the front for the lift access. Most headgear has some kind of building around the base I just need to workout how best to tackle this bit.

I'm going to Frizinghall models tomorrow to pick up some wills sheets so I can work on the street a little more. I could also do with getting some das clay from hobbycraft so I can start to infill the rails & sleepers around the screens.

The main task tomorrow is to get Primrose no2 up & running. This will give me my first proper ncb north yorkshire area loco, I have a 15inch hunslet to do as Airedale. As well as a local Leeds area engine Airedale is where I live so it is a personal project. I've also a mercian 50550 to do as the one from Featherstone.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Shes finally running.

After a lot of work she is now running & slowly too. I'm going to paint the wheels this evening & tomorrow I'm going to fit the brakes & final details. I'm very happy that this loco is finally coming to a close. Its been a pain to say the least this one.

 

[2996 Victor]

Primrose No.2 looks fantastic! Could we beg a short video of her in action?

Hope you were successful at Frizinghall Model Railways - I love that place but my wallet doesn't really helpful people there.

Looking forward to seeing your next instalment!

Cheers,
Mark
Glad the mine headgear is looking good. I'm wondering if it might have a place on a planned on one of my layouts, more as a background piece.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Hey up Mark,

Are you local then if you shop at Frizinghall?

A quick video, she's now had her rods removed & the wheels painted red. I'll give her the white walls tomorrow.