Elmham Market in EM

[Mallard60022]

Thanks! The first two are D&S etched kits and the Gresley ‘shortie’ is a combination of Mousa sides, MJT ends, roof and underframe and some spare Hornby bogies, converted to EM. I’m just working my way through a Comet Gresley corridor compo but rather get the sense the roof wasn’t designed to be built with the rest of the kit. I have had to file the end castings down, reshape the ends of the roof and then do a cut and shut as the roof was shorter than the etched sides. Bit disappointing really.

I have built a load of Comet Gresleys and the MJT Roof is a far better item. IIRC the Comet Roof is Plastic? Yes, those WM Ends do need reshaping to accommodate it. By the look of your Coaches you won't have any issues making them look good matey. Great layout work too and welcome from another newbee.
Phil

 

[Mallard60022]

Your CTS. Has an Occupational Therapist worked with you to provide a Rehab Splint? If not, do not hesitate to ask, as OTs love solving working problems...but these days you need to seek the support due to the 'system' being totally overladed and under resourced.
ATB
Phil

 

[James Spooner]

I have built a load of Comet Gresleys and the MJT Roof is a far better item. IIRC the Comet Roof is Plastic? Yes, those WM Ends do need reshaping to accommodate it. By the look of your Coaches you won't have any issues making them look good matey. Great layout work too and welcome from another newbee.
Phil

Many thanks Phil and I agree with everything you say on the roofs. Welcome too! I have found WT a warm and welcoming place and hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

 

[James Spooner]

Your CTS. Has an Occupational Therapist worked with you to provide a Rehab Splint? If not, do not hesitate to ask, as OTs love solving working problems...but these days you need to seek the support due to the 'system' being totally overladed and under resourced.
ATB
Phil

No, but tbh, it is healing remarkably quickly. I spent some of yesterday afternoon working on the stationmaster’s garden and have good mobility in the left hand already, even if the grip isn’t quite there yet.

 

[James Spooner]

With my hand now healing I have turned my hand to a bit of gentle modelling without overdoing it. I have been focusing on scenery, especially around the stationmaster’s garden. Today I have finished building and started painting the brick wall with door linking the station building to the wash house/privy. Mortar still needs to be added and general weathering before ‘planting’. I can then also fix the wash house in place and after that it’s hedging etc. some pictures show what I mean better than I can describe.

Cheers

Nigel

 

[Herb Garden]

Superb work as always 'James'

Herbie

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Lovely bit of modelling. I do like a bit of ex great eastern. One rarely modelled but always well done when it is.

Si

 

[NHY 581]

This is a lovely layout with a really nice pallette, Nigel. Excellent modelling.
I too have suffered with CTS. I had both hands operated on in 2011. It was like a switch had been flicked, post op. Instaneous 100% improvement. Fast forward to 2020 and I started noticing what I thought was a bit of a return of the symptoms. Finally got to see a specialist earlier this month and they confirmed that it appeared that CTS had returned to both hands. Subject to the results of a further test, it looks like a second round of surgery. However, I've already been told that there is unlikely to be the same level of improvement as the initial ops.

Rob.

 

[Easterner]

Unsure how I missed this thread.

What a lovely little layout. I've always liked the idea of modelling Lavenham but if I did it would be in 0 gauge.

Very nicely done - Will follow your progress

 

[James Spooner]

This is a lovely layout with a really nice pallette, Nigel. Excellent modelling.
I too have suffered with CTS. I had both hands operated on in 2011. It was like a switch had been flicked, post op. Instaneous 100% improvement. Fast forward to 2020 and I started noticing what I thought was a bit of a return of the symptoms. Finally got to see a specialist earlier this month and they confirmed that it appeared that CTS had returned to both hands. Subject to the results of a further test, it looks like a second round of surgery. However, I've already been told that there is unlikely to be the same level of improvement as the initial ops.

Rob.

Hi Rob, I’m sorry to hear that and my consultant did warn me of a recurrence if I wasn’t careful. I think my op has been a bit of a ‘gypsy’s warning’ and, as much as anything, am putting the cause down to an awful lot of scribing of brickwork for a failed attempt at a GER 1865 station building. I will be much more careful how I use my hand in future and put less stress on the wrist.

Nigel

 

[James Spooner]

Unsure how I missed this thread.

What a lovely little layout. I've always liked the idea of modelling Lavenham but if I did it would be in 0 gauge.

Very nicely done - Will follow your progress

Thanks Josh, and I guess if you did it in 0 you could possibly also venture to experiment with chain shunting, which I think is how the original Lavenham was shunted.

Nigel

 

[James Spooner]

Owing to an excess intake the night before, little modelling took place yesterday. However, today was a fresh day, with the sun shining over the glorious Surrey commons. A long dog walk with best beloved and I was off to the attic to try to progress some scenery on Elmham Market.

Although I have been a railway modeller for over half a century, this is the most progress I have made on any of my projects so creating buildings and scenery is breaking new ground for me and is definitely a voyage of discovery. I am rather enjoying it, although I take a bundle of photos at each stage and look at them critically as, for some reason, my eye seems to be drawn to the faults more on a photo than when looking at the real thing.

Today I focused on the station forecourt and entrance to the goods yard. Ballasting the headshunt, more static grass applied, hedging and fencing, as well as a finger signpost added. I’m quite pleased with the amount of progress but there is still quite a bit
more to do…

Nigel

 

[Herb Garden]

You know Matey that is comming on a treat!

As always your work is an inspiration keep the posts comming!

 

[John Duffy]

Lovely.

John

 

[john lewsey]

This really is a lovely model Railway

 

[James Spooner]

Thanks all for your comments and likes. It is the supportive nature of WT that gives me the encouragement to carry on with pushing my modelling boundaries.

 

[James Spooner]

It was time yesterday to do some maintenance on the loco fleet and sort out a few niggles. All going perfectly satisfactorily but I couldn’t help looking up at the F5 gazing reproachfully at me from its shelf. To explain, many years ago I built a Gibson F5 and used the springing provided in the kit. This had all got rather worn and less than reliable over the years, added to which it wouldn’t negotiate curves of less than about 4’6”.

The observant of you will note, further up this thread, that I decided to scratchbuild a Flexichas chassis and actually got it running OK, but still had the problem with the tighter bends. The poor loco was placed on a shelf whilst I worked on other things and pondered next steps. Last night, guilt got the better of me and I placed it back on the rails and ran it, which just confirmed that neither the track nor the loco had changed their geometry. My thinking in the meantime had lead me to conclude that, if I wanted to keep the Flexichas concept, I needed to joggle the frames around the rear carrying wheels to give them more flexibility around the tighter curves.

Off came the rear wheels and on went the soldering iron. It wasn’t strong enough to unsolder the whole seam attaching the frames to the stretcher, by any stretch of the imagination. With my heart in my mouth I reached for my flame gun (gas soldering iron), carefully set up the frames and lit up. Within a couple of seconds the stretcher was a separate component again and I could breathe again (to mix my metaphors!). The frames were duly joggled with some pliers and the stretcher filed down to fit. Tonight I will try the new arrangement out on said tight curves and, if successful, solder back up. A photo shows the current state of play.

Nigel

 

[James Spooner]

Good progress on the F5. Last night I tested the reshaped frames around the tightest curves on the layout and they seemed to go around them satisfactorily. I soldered everything up and reassembled the loco. Under test on the layout it works well, pulling five corridor coaches easily, but slipping with eight. That is ample for my needs. Now I just need to fit the brakes and ridding, then complete the paintwork and weathering. I attach a couple of photos.

Nigel

 

[Herb Garden]

Tis a splendid job you've done there Nigel!

And having seen the video footage I can vouch for the fact that it runs as good as it looks

 

[Paul Tomlinson]

After a lot of time during the summer spent in Wales (and other places!) I’ve turned my attention back to Elmham Market. I am trying to focus on completing the scenic aspects (or at least getting them to a point where they look credible, even if not complete). This week I have been working on the station building and surrounding platform area.

The Great Eastern didn’t believe in making life easy for modellers in terms of buildings and walls. The platform wall design has a series of built in pillars and recessed panels, which are designed to slow a modeller down. The 1865 design of station buildings has raised quoins and raised window/door surrounds in brick and different colour brickwork.

My representation started life as a Laser Cut Railway Model kit, but I scrapped the roof as it had the wrong pitch and scratch built one in plasticard. David Barham helped out with some laser cut components and I completed it but wasn’t happy with the painting, especially the mortar courses as the MDF seemed to absorb the paint. I then read somewhere that diluted polyfilla can do the trick so experimented. It is certainly an improvement but might need a bit more finessing to get the right tonal nuances. Some photos attached.View attachment 172690View attachment 172691View attachment 172692

V.Good to see your lovely station building featured in the latest EMGS Newsletter. Cheers.