Greengiant
Western Thunderer
We are now in July 2021...
Work on the railway and surrounding area has been somewhat sporadic of late, due to various reasons, in no particular order work/weather/being bothered to actually do anything!
The greenhouse was dismantled with most of the contents and some of glass sold on or given away. Leaving tomato plants and paving stones.
I used some of the old greenhouse base as shuttering for the new base and a trench dug for the power cable.
A part order of supplies arrived, still have another bulk bag of sharp sand to come, along with 110 paving slabs that are currently waiting a delivery from the manufacturers (there was a huge backlog due to Covid etc.).
The cabin kit arrived two weeks early, so I had to clear out one of the sheds to store it until ready to put up. It stayed in the shed much much longer than originally expected and became a pain being in the way. It would be a further nine months before it got erected, purely down to difficulties getting the balance of the building materials for the base.
I put down and compacted the MoT Type 1 as a base for the new main path.
The base has been cast and a start made on the edging stones. To the right of these stones will go a short section of two foot narrow gauge track which will have a disused wagon sat at one end as a bit of a feature.
Nature has been taking over the railway.
It was a good excuse to run a fruit picker special.
We had some visitors during the night who obviously did not like the initial track plan, so moved it around and left their muddy footprints behind!
They also chewed my builders line.
Cobwebs have appeared on some buildings and something has nibbled the corner of the chimney.
The crew came round during the week and we discussed the track plan for the main shed (28' x 12'), with two entry points, which may reduce to one in the final plan.
The dotted boards are module boards that some are building at home as a standalone layout that can be plugged into the garden line, also the four straight boards of our layout First Sunday in June can also be plugged in here (this idea was rejected later in the build). The garden line is being built for operation with plenty to do on operating days.
Finally I have acquired one of the 16mm Narrow Gauge Association Victory live steam kits which were released seven years ago (now 10 years). Luckily Roundhouse still do the bits that they offered at the time, but the original boiler manufacturer does not seem to be about anymore.
I contacted the 16mm NGA and by chance one of the original test builders of the kit wanted to build another one and hit the same snag with boilers as me. He has done some investigation and may have sourced an alternative suitable boiler with a few added advantages. He is doing some testing and will let me know the details if it is workable, failing that I will just make a battery powered version.
I have a fondness for Victory because I see the real thing most open day months at the Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway, where I am a volunteer driver.
Martin
Work on the railway and surrounding area has been somewhat sporadic of late, due to various reasons, in no particular order work/weather/being bothered to actually do anything!
The greenhouse was dismantled with most of the contents and some of glass sold on or given away. Leaving tomato plants and paving stones.
I used some of the old greenhouse base as shuttering for the new base and a trench dug for the power cable.
A part order of supplies arrived, still have another bulk bag of sharp sand to come, along with 110 paving slabs that are currently waiting a delivery from the manufacturers (there was a huge backlog due to Covid etc.).
The cabin kit arrived two weeks early, so I had to clear out one of the sheds to store it until ready to put up. It stayed in the shed much much longer than originally expected and became a pain being in the way. It would be a further nine months before it got erected, purely down to difficulties getting the balance of the building materials for the base.
I put down and compacted the MoT Type 1 as a base for the new main path.
The base has been cast and a start made on the edging stones. To the right of these stones will go a short section of two foot narrow gauge track which will have a disused wagon sat at one end as a bit of a feature.
Nature has been taking over the railway.
It was a good excuse to run a fruit picker special.
We had some visitors during the night who obviously did not like the initial track plan, so moved it around and left their muddy footprints behind!
They also chewed my builders line.
Cobwebs have appeared on some buildings and something has nibbled the corner of the chimney.
The crew came round during the week and we discussed the track plan for the main shed (28' x 12'), with two entry points, which may reduce to one in the final plan.
The dotted boards are module boards that some are building at home as a standalone layout that can be plugged into the garden line, also the four straight boards of our layout First Sunday in June can also be plugged in here (this idea was rejected later in the build). The garden line is being built for operation with plenty to do on operating days.
Finally I have acquired one of the 16mm Narrow Gauge Association Victory live steam kits which were released seven years ago (now 10 years). Luckily Roundhouse still do the bits that they offered at the time, but the original boiler manufacturer does not seem to be about anymore.
I contacted the 16mm NGA and by chance one of the original test builders of the kit wanted to build another one and hit the same snag with boilers as me. He has done some investigation and may have sourced an alternative suitable boiler with a few added advantages. He is doing some testing and will let me know the details if it is workable, failing that I will just make a battery powered version.
I have a fondness for Victory because I see the real thing most open day months at the Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway, where I am a volunteer driver.
Martin
