danielb
Active Member
Hello! First time poster here, so please be gentle!
As long time N gauge-r with a slowly growing USA set layout, I wanted something to bring me back to my roots - the grot and grime of Industrial England. I've always like 7mm scale due to the level of detail that you just cannot get in the smaller scales, and as it's the only scale where industrial locomotives are widely available.
As it was, I was browsing the web as I often do and came across a photograph of a layout called Moving Coal. I found a related forum thread detailing the layout and was hooked - I read through the whole thread from start to finish in one sitting - all 15-odd pages of it!
From there I went digging for more 7mm industrial layouts, and found Bury, Thorn & Sons, Reely Grate Manufacturing, and a few others, and was blown away by the quality of modelling.
Then I saw the prices of kit and my ideas were soon squashed - everything was so expensive!
And then I found Jim Read's work. I had - unknown to me at the time - actually spoken to Jim at an exhibition, and remembered what he'd said about his layouts and how he spent so little building them.
That's it then, I'd just HAVE to have a go.
With it being a new scale and with my limited room I'd have to start small. I've always liked the idea of a Glassworks, as it's not something you often see modeled. Thus, Stanhope Glass was born.
Why Stanhope? Well, it has been a tradition in my family that the first born child have the middle name Stanhope. I've no idea why, as I dodged that particular bullet by being a second son!
That, and it's my dad's middle name, and he's the one that got me into my love of trains. So you could say that it's my dads layout!
At any rate, less prattle from me, on to the juicy stuff!
I'm relying on the materials I have already to make the layout, so the baseboards are foam core board built up in layers. Track and pointwork were purchased 2nd hand cheaply on ebay and from local model shops, as were the rolling stock. My first loco - an Atlas Plymouth 0-6-0 diesel, should arrive within a week, and then I can start carving it up and making something British from it.
Here's the track plan and a basic sketch of what I am hoping it will look like when it's done:
And here is my work in progress of the loading dock used to store cullet:
The foam core baseboards have been cut and assembled, I am now waiting for the last of the glue to dry before I start adding backscenes and laying track.
Progress photos will come as I work.
As long time N gauge-r with a slowly growing USA set layout, I wanted something to bring me back to my roots - the grot and grime of Industrial England. I've always like 7mm scale due to the level of detail that you just cannot get in the smaller scales, and as it's the only scale where industrial locomotives are widely available.
As it was, I was browsing the web as I often do and came across a photograph of a layout called Moving Coal. I found a related forum thread detailing the layout and was hooked - I read through the whole thread from start to finish in one sitting - all 15-odd pages of it!
From there I went digging for more 7mm industrial layouts, and found Bury, Thorn & Sons, Reely Grate Manufacturing, and a few others, and was blown away by the quality of modelling.
Then I saw the prices of kit and my ideas were soon squashed - everything was so expensive!
And then I found Jim Read's work. I had - unknown to me at the time - actually spoken to Jim at an exhibition, and remembered what he'd said about his layouts and how he spent so little building them.
That's it then, I'd just HAVE to have a go.
With it being a new scale and with my limited room I'd have to start small. I've always liked the idea of a Glassworks, as it's not something you often see modeled. Thus, Stanhope Glass was born.
Why Stanhope? Well, it has been a tradition in my family that the first born child have the middle name Stanhope. I've no idea why, as I dodged that particular bullet by being a second son!
That, and it's my dad's middle name, and he's the one that got me into my love of trains. So you could say that it's my dads layout!
At any rate, less prattle from me, on to the juicy stuff!
I'm relying on the materials I have already to make the layout, so the baseboards are foam core board built up in layers. Track and pointwork were purchased 2nd hand cheaply on ebay and from local model shops, as were the rolling stock. My first loco - an Atlas Plymouth 0-6-0 diesel, should arrive within a week, and then I can start carving it up and making something British from it.
Here's the track plan and a basic sketch of what I am hoping it will look like when it's done:
And here is my work in progress of the loading dock used to store cullet:
The foam core baseboards have been cut and assembled, I am now waiting for the last of the glue to dry before I start adding backscenes and laying track.
Progress photos will come as I work.
