In the Micro Model Railway Dispatch; Star Lane Sidings, 000 gauge- a folding shunting puzzle

The Micro Model Railway Dispatch The Home of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch – Just another WordPress site is an excellent source of inspiration for anyone looking to build a small railway. People from all over the globe showing their layouts, and they tend to be very much on the achievable end of the spectrum.  There's a lot to be said for doing a mini project, as opposed to working on some giant layout that takes years and years.

The editor put out a shout for people to submit articles on 'Inglenook' shunting puzzles- this is a type of model with a fan of three sidings, usually 8 wagons, a single loco, and you select a train of 5 to make up in as few moves as possible (you usually select the consist by shuffling cards with the names/pictures of the wagons on).

I'd had a plan to make some sort of portable, folding puzzle layout, and this brief fit the bill nicely. 

Here's the box that would be used for the project- an old wooden art box, no contents.

The hinges would need moving to the ends of the box to make a longer layout- one half for the sidings, one for the headshunt (and integrated storage for the rolling stock).

The original plan was for two longer hinges, hence the blocks either side of the end joints, but in the end the original hinges were good enough to re-use.

The removable cover for the tunnel/bridge to hide the line going off-scene.

Standard Lone Star 000 track was used, with the rest of the scenic details a mix of packing foam, plaster, offcuts of plasticard of various types.

And here it is; scenic work was very simple, a bit of scatter and some very basic bog-brush trees.

The donors for the rolling stock; Lone Star 000 models (these very early predecessors of N scale) tend to turn up in this condition. They're good, solid, but tend to have very battered paint finishes.

A bit of repainting, to keep them distinctive; Citadel acrylics to recolour them, then washed over with nuln oil to bring out the relief details.

The buildings are mainly some old Bluebird Thomas the Tank Engine playset items; a derelict station, a signal box, a water tower, and a crane (this latter was an original Lone Star item, taken off its wagon which was too long to be shunted on the layout).

I liked the idea of everything being contained inside the box, to keep this a portable playset; two wooden pencil boxes formed the storage, disguised as a car park...

Lined with foam, they -just- contain a set of stock to run the puzzle. The plan eventually is to remove the centre spine and fabricate a new lid, that would give room for a few more wagons for a bit of variety.

Showing just how portable the layout is- it can even be used outdoors (because these are push-along models, no need to worry about power supplies or controllers).

And here it is, in the mag.

This was a fun little holiday project in the end, even if it was a bit of a challenge to make something away from the workshop. It could do with some finishing touches, but that's something that can be worked on.

 

Garden Railway Saturday; P.S Models flat/open wagons

As the Engineers Train grows, a couple of flat wagons seemed like a good addition. And once again, operating on a budget, we turned to the excellent range from Phil Sharples. Partly because they'd match the two vans we'd already done, and partly because they're fun, simple kits that reward a bit of extra detailing.

As with the other vehicles we've built, we added extra rivet details from stick-on gems. A bit overscale, but it adds relief and keeps the stock looking consistent.

You can get some excellent detail parts 3D printed... or you can do what we did, and buy a big box of secondhand playmobil stuff very cheaply off eBay, which seemed to work just as well.

The train set up at my (Ben's) parents house, as our layout wasn't looking good enough to photograph on at this point.

And in the mag.

 

Railway Research Trip; Return to the Vale of Rheidol

We did the Vale of Rheidol Railway a few times this year and last, but only in the sense of calling in to visit the stations (and eat in the cafes). This summer, we thought we'd actually ride the line.

You absolutely cannot deny, this is a stunning line... as long as you're sat this side of the train.

This loco was both a blessing and an annoyance. I (Ben) had been really looking forward to the BR Blue tank loco, but it was in the shed. Still, the Garratt is always an impressive beast. Plus, for shots out the window on the way back down, it was really rather impressive.

One positive of the heatwaves having finally ended, the trains were actually running with steam haulage instead of the two diesel shunters.

No fancy pants first-class for us. But equally, we weren't tempted by the open-sided coaches we'd initially toyed with. Wisely, as it turned out.

Devils Bridge Station itself was a little bit barren; previously there's been things like 'driver for a fiver' experiences, a shop, a privately run cafe, but the place is in the midst of a massive re-build. If they get it to the same standard as the impressive facilities at Aberystwyth (and frankly, the toilets at Devils Bridge which they'd already finished are the best I have ever used at any preserved railway), then it will be pretty magnificent.

Waiting to depart Devils Bridge. We didn't get many pics on the way up, as the train was quite busy and we were stuck next to one of the non-opening windows.

As I said, we'd toyed with the open-siders, but decided we'd have one of the near-empty regular coaches for the way back down, as we could poke the cameras out the windows on either side. And this turned out to be the right choice, as the heavens utterly opened just before we got the right-away.

Moody; might as well have been shooting monochrome.

Then back down through the woods. This could almost be a line in the tropics, or something like the Puffing Billy in Australia.

Waiting for an upcoming service- you can sort of see the rain hammering down.

What you can't see in this shot is the crammed carriages, especially the open-siders full of half-drowned tourists.

Thoughts?  Disappointed we didn't see the BR blue tank loco, but it was a lovely ride. When they finish the rebuild of Devils Bridge next year, we'll be back for another go. 

 

Medical Monday; Off To Mad-Chest-Arrrr for the Sim Tech Sym

August saw us (myself and my fellow two Techs) on a day trip to... MAAAAAAAD-CHESTARRRR

Or rather, the inaugural Sim Tech Symposium, held at Manchester Uni.

So, this was a gathering of Medical Sim Techs, from the Uni and Hospital fields, from all over the UK and further afield, for a mega conference. Spoiler alert, it was bloody AWESOME and I absaloutely loved it. 

However, I had also been asked to present a workshop on using low-fi and upcycled stuff in Sim. Being as the NHS tends towards the 'embrace your inner Womble' end of the budgets for day-to-day training, I've become quite good at this sort of thing. I thought I'd be doing a bit of show and tell, up to the stage of the Teams call where I found I'd be running a workshop of up to 25 people. Something I've not really done since I worked in a school, though Scouts has given me a certain amount of experience doing this sort of thing.

First up, trying to come up with a project we could all do in about 40 minutes, with minimum tools and materials. I decided to do a broken-bone simulator.

A bumper batch of brushes...

I ended up building a simple jig to cut them all to the same sizes.

Thinking about my Life Choices.

More Thinking About My Life Choices, whilst cutting 25 wooden rulers to size.

Cutting up a popped giant beach ball. Thank goodness my Scouts are so incredibly destructive with their games equipment.

The parts which were handed out (with instructions).

And there we go. Taped to the human arm (and covered with one of those nylon tubes you hide tattoos with), or under the skin of a robot, they look the part.

Of course, it wouldn't just be making stuff. I had to give a presentation, and I thought it would be best to show off some of the stuff I've made too.

"Excuse me sir, why do you have your little girl in the boot of your car?"

"It's alright officer! She's not mine! No wait-"

Honestly, it's great we weren't pulled over on the way there or back. I ended up going on leave straight afterwards too, so Kitty here spent the week sat on my living room floor.

Manchester Metropolitan Uni, home for the day.

I was given an art classroom to set up in, ably assisted by my gaffer, Lead Tech Lee.

Hello Kitty!

Plenty of room to spread out the practical demonstration pieces.

The workshop went by in a blur; everyone present seemed to find it interesting anyway. I did ask if people at the back could sneakily vape or flick-V's at me, to really take me back to my days teaching practical's to Year 9's.

A higher class of Beige Buffet!

Look at this place...

...compared to our little hospital, this places looks like something out of a cleaner version of Blade Runner.

In the afternoon, I took part in a workshop run by a couple of very talented techs from a Czech Uni, where we cast some sections of spinal column.

I really don't like blowing my own trumpet...

...but there's my name, up in lights on the top left! I didn't win, but didn't mind, as I was in excellent company. Again, the day was brilliant, and I am really looking forward to doing this again next year.