esngblog

Still standing!  Thought I’d actually have to meet someone today, as the church fire extinguishers were due to be serviced.  But they cancelled and rebooked for next week, so near isolation with Maxine and the budgie continues.  (Oh, I forgot the tropical fish, but they don’t talk much….)

Upstairs in the loft, the creamery is progressing well.  The photos are, of course, cruel as they are approaching full size.  It looks a lot better to the naked eye.  Really just the roof and the corner trims to add.

And a hint of the next project – a small Tim Horn laser cut baseboard.  Watch this space….

And an interesting link, all about Moorgate station….

Hidden London – Moorgate

Kuritu back in action.  So on to the next job – to complete the two N-club modules that I had started, that contain a small USA switching layout.  I had wondered whether to scrap them and start them over (and I guess that I may still do that), but a little playing around with the track layout, and the buildings that will go on the layout, has nearly convinced me that it is better than I thought.

The modules are set up now, as below but not bolted together.   I need to break out the ballasting on the left hand module, as it didn’t go down properly.  I’m also wondering whether I can raise the boards a little higher, that will make access to the wires and plugs a whole lot easier.  But I am then in danger of running into the sloping loft roof – and have I got enough timber tucked away to do this?  All these decisions, but at least there’s plenty of thinking time available!!

I had already built this craftsman kit of an ice house.  It will probably be used as a general store shed, after the milk traffic closed down….

And the creamery, from the same manufacturer, is under way.  The sash windows consist of three separate pieces, plus glazing.  Although they are self-stick pieces, a little superglue has helped construction.  A really fiddly job, to be done one or two at a time.

One issue I have with the modules is the weight of the 1200mm board.  It weighs a ton, especially as it has a transformer fitted to its underside.  I had also wondered whether to trim 300-400mm off the length.  400 would be better, as it would leave a standard N-club board, but 300 would suit the track layout better.  More decisions!  Now if you want a really light railway, try this…..

A lightweight shunting plank

The new totem (home printed) shows that the Kuritu Line is back in business.

As the UK goes into deeper lockdown, I have done more modelling in a week than the previous 6 months.  I completed the new shadow box for the railway, and gave it a coat of my favourite sage green.  I think I’ll have to junk that tin of paint.  It’s rather old, and is stick tacky in places after a day or two.  But it’s the best I can do in the present circumstances.

I superglued back into place one or two figures that had come adrift, and restrung a few overhead cables.  New LED lighting followed.  This isn’t quite bright enough, and I may well redo it when the world goes back to relative normality.  But it’s all looking very satisfactory, and good to actually (nearly) complete a project.

As the layout can be viewed from both sides, finding a home for it in the loft is a bit tricky.  I think this corner works – half of one side is tucked behind the door, but it is all visible and can be operated.

Just need to add trams and start running….

And now there’s this wide open space at the end of the loft.  What could fit in there?  To my relief, TrackShack have posted me some PECO track today, despite all shops closing.  I wonder….

No, I haven’t got it (yet.)  But what better for an introverted, anti-social railway modeller than social distancing?  Having closed down/suspended a model railway show, a model railway club, and a church in one 24-hour period, it was time to do some serious modelling.

As I recently blogged, the Kuritu Line is up and sort of running again.

As I had broken the layout cover, that doubled as a lighting pelmet, I’ve been building a new one.  This is to be fixed to the layout, in shadow-box form.  It will make the layout a little larger to transport, but will be a lot neater.

So construction started by removing the existing end boards, and building new ones.  The side pieces for the shadow-box were split into three, as my car wouldn’t easily take the 6ft of ply needed to do the sides in one piece.  And this way took less wood.  I’m painting the insides of the ends matt black.  I’ve lost the end backscene, but hope that this finish will allow the eye to ignore the end of the world.

The other end needed a viewing port to operate the layout from one end.  Getting the holes drilled in the end for the manual point operating dowels wasn’t as difficult as I expected.

And this evening, I added the first side rail.  The metal angle is there only to keep the wood straight until the glue goes off and I add some fixing screws.

Main problem during construction has been one of the trestles under the layout collapsing, but it survived….  And today, I ran out of 6mm ply.  Should I social distance, or is plywood an essential for life.  I settled for a quick run over to HomeBase.  Their timber isn’t as good as Champions in Dorking, but it will do the job.

More in a few days time!