The Burnbake and Woodyhyde Railway

[clayliner]

      NOTICE TO ALL RAILWAY EMPLOYEES:

All staff are advised that this year the Christmas holiday will run from 25th to 26th December (inclusive).
The Directors have asked me to inform staff that they have decided on a most generous Christmas Bonus  of 4/6d which will be paid to all grades below Manager. This may be collected from the Company Offices on Christmas Eve.

All staff should also be aware that drunkenness, frivolity and impropriety of any sort, or the stealing of Coal from Company premises, will not be tolerated over the festive season and that any such behaviour will result in summary dismissal from the Company's employ.

Please also be advised that all staff should report for duty promptly at 7.00am on December 27th unless duty rosters state otherwise.

(Signed) The Operations Manager

N.B. Seasonal Felicitations are also extended to all other Persons having an interest in the construction and running of the Railway!

[clayliner]

First, I'm pleased to report that Christmas on the Railway passed off without too much frivolity, all the staff returned to duty on time (and more or less sober, if somewhat hungover) and the stock of loco coal was still intact.

During the break there's been some time to make a small amount of progress scenically. We've now reached the right-hand extremity of the layout:

P1000264a by clayliner, on Flickr

Any onward extension here is firmly blocked by a substantial bookcase (although it did occur to me that it would only need a small opening in the side which could lead to a small fiddle yard inside the bookcase!) I'm slightly gratified (?smug) that the line at this end curves towards the front, rather than away from it, as geometry usually dictates. There is of course a continuous run elsewhere on the line but here reversing movements are necessary to continue a journey (you can just make out the switch to make the electricity go backwards in the brown area over on the right, poking up through the baseboard). The bendy IKEA worklight was a small Christmas present to myself, by the way*.
So the next area for attention is therefore:

P1000266a by clayliner, on Flickr

The area over to the right - the brown patch - will one day probably be the site of a mine building, but that's still some way off. The side of the cutting has been finished off with a sprinkling of fire ash and next the area above needs grassing over. As it's rather inaccessible I thought I'd do some (more) experimenting and tried static grass on some previously painted paper towel:

static grass on paper 1 by clayliner, on Flickr

I wasn't too sure about the success of this but a side view shows that the fibres are actually reasonably upstanding:

static grass on paper 2 by clayliner, on Flickr

and as it won't be too closely inspected where it's going it's probably going to be okay, I think.

Hopefully more soon...

David.
P.S. Santa also brought me a copy of the new Fayle's Tramway book - what a nice guy!

[MickT]

Excellent progress David and evidence that your Christmas break was more productive than mine!

Hope to see you before too long

Mick

[tedp]

embankment2a by clayliner, on Flickr

...

I missed this picture last month. The tree on the backscene which you discussed last summer has come out very well. Also, the use of natural materials for trees etc. I have looked at grape stalks at some moment - perhaps a second look is warranted.

That 'hairy cigar' approach for grass you mention is something I must remember. I think a very thick 'cigar' will be needed to grow grass over a large area.

Anyway, the scenery looks good - it's developing into a very nice layout.

[clayliner]

Thanks for the comments - appreciated. I have had mixed results with 'hairy cigar' grass, Ted - it's quite tricky and as you suggest is perhaps easier for clumps than large areas. I find that tidying up the end of the cigar by cutting it off to get a new flat surface after each application helps (and the discarded fibres can be re-rolled and used again).

Here is the static grass in situ having been cut into three sections to cover the required area - I think it looks okay (at a distance). It also seemed logical to extend the fence on the left along the top of the cutting:

P1000273a by clayliner, on Flickr

Next, a large clump of instant willow bushes stuck to the backscene and some more associated foliage (including 'hairy cigar' clumps of grass around the base of the fence posts):

P1000277a by clayliner, on Flickr

The hill in the background, incidentally, is Creech Barrow, and our abode is hidden somewhere among the trees on the northern flank of the hill. To finish off I've planted a few more willow bushes against the backscene:

P1000279 by clayliner, on Flickr

I'm afraid these are rather mangy specimens as I was down to the last dregs of foliage, and the positioning isn't quite right, I think, so I will have a think about how they could be improved.

David.

[tedp]

But you did the right thing! Camouflaging the end of the 3D scenery where the backscene begins. I think it looks quite good. All of this is about illusion and fooling the eye. As Christopher Payne says, it's a theatre stage.

[clayliner]

While I will return to it one day and add some extra scenic bits - maybe even that mine building I've mentioned before - I think this end of the railway is more or less done for now (mustn't forget to paint those check rails, though...):

lump by clayliner, on Flickr

For now, though, a reality check - guests are coming next weekend and both the 'railway room' and the other spare bedroom are required! This has been quite a shock as I have been spreading myself (or at least all my scenic stuff, tools, materials, etc., etc.) generously across both rooms over the past year or two and having to clear everything away has been a major undertaking (others may have already been through this experience!) The silver lining is that a lot of stuff has been thrown out, long-lost tools have turned up and I've generally been forced to get everything organised, so no bad thing really. I've also made the long-planned covers for the railway - horticultural fleece with a pocket stapled along one side and what we used to call a curtain taut inserted. This tucks behind the backscene to hold it all in place:

ready for guests by clayliner, on Flickr

Finally, a request for some inspiration while the railway is shut down. Any ideas or suggestions for the long green 'lump' in foreground of the first photo? I'd like to do something a bit different rather than just end up with a grassy knoll, but as it's right at the front trees and buildings might be a bit vulnerable. I do have one possibility in mind but other suggestions would be welcome!

David.

[DeadHorse]

A manure pile. To add atmosphere as well as a source of traffic. :-)

[MickT]

A pond would look quite good there.

Mick

[tedp]

I like the scene in its present state. That grassy knoll looks just right - a bit of waste ground is only natural. I would leave it as it is.

The dust covers look good to me by the way. If you'd have a method to hook them up without having to remove them all the time it would even be better.

[clayliner]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I think I may pass on the pile of ordure, and also the pond - though having a pond on top of a hill is so obvious, Mick, that I can't believe I didn't think of it myself...

The curtain 'taut' is about 9' long, Ted, i.e.about the same length as the layout, so theoretically ideal. However, it was a bit unwieldy so I cut it in half so there are now two separate sections. There are actually four separate strips of fleece so I will probably cut each part in half again to give four independent sections. That way I can just remove one of the four to work on part of the layout and leave the rest covered. The room is not actually very dusty and the main purpose for the present was to make a visual cover for the railway.

The guests have now gone... great time but so much work for such a short visit! I now feel rather like Piglet after his unwelcome bath and just want to go and spread everything out over two rooms just as it was before (though some things have been so well secreted I may never see them again). But I think I must resist the temptation and resolve to be tidier in future, especially as most of the scenics have been finished. My next  challenge, I think, is to tackle some Greenwich couplings for which I guess all I need is a flat surface and a few simple tools, so there's really no excuse for another big mess just yet.

David.

[James Hilton]

David I've not seen this properly before, thanks for the message on NGRM, you should start a thread over there too! My own micro layout is also inspired by the area and I love your back scene!

[Krizzy]

James, it would be nice and beneficial to all if you put your NGRM postings on here too.

Roger

[clayliner]

I guess we 009ers we have a bit of a problem knowing where best to post stuff. I decided early on to favour the Society forum with my endeavours and only post B&W items on NGRM as and when appropriate - life's really too short to duplicate post everything on both sites, I think. I realise those who are not 009 Society members will tend to miss out on B&W news but - well, membership is open to everyone, whether they model in 009 or not... and there are plenty of other good things going on to entertain folk apart from mythical events in Dorset!

David.

[clayliner]

Something has arrived in the transfer siding... some new motive power for the railway, perhaps?

new arrival a by clayliner, on Flickr

Hopefully it won't take too long to unload...

David.