kevinf

I’ve had ‘Family’ around this weekend so it’s mostly been ‘Playtime’ on the layout.  It has been good to see Michael having a real go with his Virgin 125’s etc especially in dealing with the inevitable derailments as he tried to break the speed record for a diesel train…….  

Thomas has had plenty of Track time – due to popular request of my brothers kids…
I’ve also had fun dusting off the BR Mallard and spinning it round the track for a while.

I’ve had a very successful week on Ebay and managed to pick up a Bachmann Class 44 ‘Penyghent’. I particularly wanted this model – not just because I really like the loco, but also am quite a ‘fan’ of the mountain having climbed over it a few time on my backpacking ventures. 

Been testing Burtons new arrival, a Hornby ‘Brighton Works’ A1X Terrier Tank Loco.
The loco is a real gem – it does not fit into any era or region of the layout but I could not resist getting one.   I do suspect that some time in the future I will get round to modelling the Southern Region since I live in it….. Especially as I live near one of ‘Lost Lines’ of Sussex ‘The Horsham-Steyning-Shoreham line which would make a great subject.

My  recent activities on Ebay has been getting hold of BR Blue and Blue/Grey ‘parcels’ coaches/vans etc to add a bit of variety to the modern freight operations of the layout. I have also been some selling off of the poorer quality bits of my stock, especially those that are about to be replaced by new ‘Super Detailed’ models eg Class 08 diesel shunter and GWR pannier tank engines. 

March has been a wonderful month for Burton Crumpnold..
I have managed to add most of the basic scenery to the layout so that Burton Crumpnold is beginning to look ‘real’. There is grass, hedges, bushes and even a couple of trees to add a bit of colour to the place. Nearly all of the baseboards are covered with appropriate scatter and other scenic items. There are lots of little ‘detail’ jobs to do, particularly to do with the upper station area, which will keep me busy for ages; but it is great to see the layout finally come together. I will probably take a bit of a break on the construction front  and spend some time simply ‘playing trains’.  

The scenery is coming along nicely. The first tree’s have been planted and I’ve started building up the hill that will make the tunnel entrance near the station a bit more realistic and to improve the scenic ‘gap’ between the upper and lower stations. I’ve also placed some line side fencing to improve add a bit of realism and detail to the front edge of the layout.  Whilst waiting for various glued items to set I’ve been experimenting with scatter, flock etc to get a better grass effect. Scatter by itself does look rather dull.