Monday, 21 July 2025

12th July - Darlington

A little late posting this entry, as we hosted our first full-on Writer’s Retreat at Longthwaite the following weekend. Much time spent cooking, baking and getting the house ready for the six people attending. After all the effort we received very positive feedback and all six want to return.

Anyway back to the main subjet of this blog...

I'd not achieved all I had intended to complete for the Scalefour Society AGM but at least some progress has been made. Eleven turnout were constructed, the hope was to have them all installed unfortunately only five along with the trap at the bottom of the coaling stage road were in place. I'd also rushed laying some of the plain track which on inspecting some sections need to be improved. In hindsight the deadline of the AGM was a big incentive which resulted in many steps forward with possibly, due to rushing, only one backwards.

At the AGM there were four other layouts, all worth seeing in their own right. It was good to see Richard Spratt's Challenge entry, The Bridge, and to understand the insperation and thought process behind the project. Another layout under construction was part of Rob Ward's model of Whitby. This is one layout that we might not get to see again due it it really being designed as home layout. I'd seen Duncan Willcox's Croft Bank and Chris Michell's West end before but there's always an unseen detail to catch the eye.

I was initially concerned about the just-under-two-hour trek to Darlington for a one-day show. But meeting some Society members for the first time, catching up with others, receiving encouragement for Rospeath Lane, getting help from Neil Smith with setting up and dismantling the layout, and once again proving that it all fits in the car with Neil as a passenger — all made it a very worthwhile day out.

All set up 

View from the back.
Did wonder if this is a better view of the layout
rather than from the front...?


Friday, 23 May 2025

A break from turnouts

Today may have been the last guaranteed day of  no rain for sometime. With this in mind, I decided to to erect the layout outside and look at solving two issues with the setup  that surfaced at Workington.

  • First being why the the support beams sagged at one end
  • Second is to solve the sagging top and pelmet

I'm hopeful that I've solved both. The beams seemed to be OK, so don't know why they sagged at one end at the Workington show...but I did tighten some connections. The addition of the cantilever cable has definitely helped with the sagging top/pelmet.

It's been an excellent exercise erecting the layout in its exhibition format again. Has given m chance to hone my skill in putting it all together. While I continue with constructing the track, I now have to give some thought to the back screen. Not just to which material to use but how easy or difficult it will be to hang it from the rear pelmet. Besides the back screen, there is the lighting to consider...

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Stuttering progress with track construction

Progress with track building has been very slow, in fact, almost none existent. Many other household tasks seem to have taken priority. Then, I realised the Scalefour Societies AGM in Darlington is fast approaching, and Rospeath Lane is booked to attend. In the last couple of weeks, this has given a little impetus to get more done.

I purchased and built two more FineTrax turnout kits to save time. I'll use these at the back of the layout for coal sidings. Again, as an attempt to save more time I purchased six 1:6 Vs off the Societies Forum sales. I'm not sure this has saved any time because the Vs have been built slightly tight and I've had to try to bring them back to correct tolerance and I'm note sure how successful I've been.

State of play on 7/5/2025
As I write this post I'm down in Hove. After being offered free accommodation in a flat for a week it would have been rude not to accept. When on holiday my wife likes to spend some of her time continuing with her writing, this allows me to spending time on hobbies. So I brought a partly built turnout and enough components to build a couple more to Hove. A good result would be to take home the part built turnout completed and another well on the way to be finished, anything else will be a bonus.

My intention was to have all the track laid down with droppers in place for July 12th. After which I could start to get my head around the wiring for the servos and DCC. What is now more likely to happen is what track I have constructed will be just laid in position. There area few more weeksto go so we'll see...

While I'm in Hove I took the opportunity to visit the EM Gauge show in Bracknall. It's a show I've always wanting to visit but is normally too far for me to travel to for just a one day visit. Hove being just over an hour away made the opportunity too good not to miss. Really glad I made the effort as well; it was a very good event, all layouts to an excellent inspirational standard, also good trade support. The MERG stand was staffed by two informative gentlemen giving me an inscentive to make better use of my membership. There were also a good selection of demonstrators covering almost all aspects of the hobby. The 3D software demo was very informative. 

I went with the intention of making a purchase from Squires of two files which was duly done. I'd also promised myself  I wouldn't succumb to my habit buying books but temptation got the better of me and a purchase was made from the GWR Study Group. This is their book on GWR Structure Colours 1912-1947.

Looks to be an excellent source of information
I noted many variations in the colors used on buildings and structures at different GWR preservation sites, and also how those colors were applied. This has made me confused as to how I should portray the buildings on Rospeath Lane. I'm hoping this book should shed some light on the subject and give me guidance to what colour scheme might be appropriate and justified.


Sunday, 16 February 2025

FinetraX P4 A6 Turnout Kit


Just being inquisitive, at Scaleforum last year (2024) I purchased one of FinetraX's A6 turnout kits marketed through the Scalefour stores. On Rospeath Lane, there is one off-scene turnout within Cassette Board Two. My thought was that if this plastic turnout kit came together well but didn’t look as good as the plywood-built turnouts, I could use it on Cassette Board Two. If, on the other hand, I make a 'pig’s ear' of it, then I'll have to build a plywood or copperclad replacement.

On first inspection, it didn't look too bad. The crossing V is not assembled, which, for the price of the kit, I shouldn't have been surprised. The switch blades look very reasonable and the moulding of sleepers and chairs looked nice and crisp. I began working on it.

Being impetuous, I installed the stock rails first… then quickly realised I had no idea how to build the V. At this point I did what I should have done at the start and downloaded the instructions off British Finescale's website. The instructions are excellent running to thirteen A4 pages including many explanatory images. They walk you through each step of constructing the turnout, simply and effectively.  Unfortunatelly, as these P4 kits are not available direct from British Finescale, nor is the appropriate template. Instead I downloaded the EM gauge version as a guide.

The first step is to construct the V, followed by the check rails. Both tasks require cutting one of the three rails to the required lengths, adding slight bends where needed, and threading them through the chairs on the base. I had slight difficulty in getting the knuckle of the V in the correct place on the base. Eventually, after a little fettling, everything fell into place.

The  FinetraX P4 A6 turnout after 1 hours construction along side a  GWR old-type 15ft heeled switch 1:6 turnout under construction.

Before installing the stock rails, two pins are pushed through the supplied tie bar and placed on the base. The stock rails are then threaded through the chairs, making sure they go over the tie bar. At this juncture in the build, with only the switchblades to install, I realised it had taken me less than one hour to put it together.

Later the following day I found a spare few minutes to continue. That is all it took to fire up the soldering iron, trimmed the switchblades to the correct length before fixing them to the tie bar with a spot of solder. Job done, turnout complete.

I have heard/read negative comments about the tie bar included in the kit. In my opinion, for someone who is new to Scalefour, nervous about building their own track, the tie bar is simple and works. For more experienced modellers who have constructed their own track, it will not be a problem to use a tie bar of their choice.

It's a shame I didn't accurately record how long it took to construct this turnout. At most, I think it took just over two hours, including downloading and reading through the instructions, then searching for and finding the EM gauge template.

In my opinion these kits are an excellent option for someone who would like to try their hand at P4 but put off due to having to construct turnouts. Currently, there are only four kits available through the Scalefour stores: left and right A6, left and right B7.

Complete P4 A6 turnout alongside an EM Guage A5 template

Unlike EM gauge turnouts, which can be purchased directly from British Finescale—allowing someone to try before committing to the EM Gauge Society—P4 versions require joining the Scalefour Society or finding a show where the Scalefour Society’s trade stand is present. This raises the question: is the Society missing an opportunity to attract newcomers, or is this simply the result of a commercial agreement with British Finescale?

Friday, 31 January 2025

First turnout

It's taken me far too long to complete this turnout, I just lost my way a little over the last couple of months. What spurred me on to get it completed it is setting a deadline of the end of January to have it installed. The hope was also to have it installed complete with turnout operating unit...


Well, it's not installed as yet but I'm pleased that it is finished and looking OK when laid in position on the layout.

On my previous layout, Tredethy Wharf, I didn't build any turnout with Stretcher Bars. I think as it was my first time constructing P4 track I didn't what to complicate the build any more than I had to. I was just please the turnouts came out OK without them. Don't think I received any verbal comments them being missing either. Since then I've promised myself that any subsequent turnout I build will have included them. I'd researched a few different solutions and thought Masokits looked good. Though marketed by Masokits as tiebars, I believe they are stretcher bars, but what do I know....


The instructions are very easy to follow, I especially liked the comment "Luvverly 'inin't", it made me smile.

In case anyone is wondering, the grey slide chairs I've used on the turnout are GWR 2 bolt chairs available from Modelu.

So, I have just ten 1:6 turnouts left to build. I've set myself the difficult target of early July to have them all built with some installed. A bit of a tall order but it needs to be done if the September deadline is to be met.

Thursday, 16 January 2025

January update - First turnout

I'd begun to construct the repair shop/turntable turnout when coming back to it there seems something was not quite right with it. Eventually when postioning the nose of the V over the template I realised it was in the wrong position relative to the sleepers.

The first attempt which Templot described as a half-diamond

When looking at the turnout in templot it seemed Ok but it was described a 1:4.5 half-diamond with 41" curves worryingly it stated that the switch blades were unknown. I'd no idea how I'd created this turnout or how it had morphed into a half-diamond. So rather than spending time trying to discover why the printed template  was different to what I was seeing in Templot I decided to redraw the turnout as a  1:5 turnout with GWR 10ft heeled which enabled me to increase the curve slightly to 42".

The replacement 1:5 turnout under construction

So, since Workington show, progress has been slow then over Christmas and the New Year it  stagnated. The hope now is this turnout will be completed and installed by the end of the month. After which I'll progress onto one of the many 1:6 turnouts either on the approach to the running shed or coal sidings..