Staple Hill Railway - New Line

[James from Devon]

Looking great! Really impressive and quality progress!
Is your Ragleth fitted with Slomo BTW?

Rik

Hi Rik

Hope you are well

The Ragleth doesn't have a Slomo, in fact, because it has inside valve gear, you can't fit one (although you could put one in a wagon) I have found that opening the regulator 50% and careful driving on the RC, I can get nice slow running which I much prefer. I can take 5 mins over a circuit!

All the best

Jim

Hi Jim
Well, I must say that I'm impressed. I doff my cap to you, sir!

Rik

Thankyou kind sir!

I now asipire to make videos likes yours...so far, a fail but I'll keep trying my friend!

[James from Devon]

Its unbelievable that so long has passed since my last update. I became unwell just after the last post in July and was out of action for the best part of a month...relegated to light duties in the workshop! My work over the summer also took me away from the garden so am just getting started again. Im happy update you all with goings on at Staple Hill...

Got bored with the crossings at the station, they were made from wood and I was never happy with them...they have been replaced with dyed concrete versions which I like much better



The second station at Ashbucket is taking shape now. The sidings on the right form what will be an aggregates depot. There is a warehouse building and station building to add here shortly. The strange debris in the background is to discourage the neighbourhood cat from using Ashbucket as a toilet while I put in the concrete base for the village!




The signal box is from Modeltown, just needs a nameboard to finish


I have also repainted and weathered the Accucraft Baguley, you can see in my previous pictures that it was the standard green and red chassis. It now has nameplates too so is officially Dr Sludge (yes it's missing a window....a little finishing job!)



Some small details like whistle boards and advertising signs at Staple Hill have sprung up



Some pictures to show how things are maturing in the plant world alongside the line:











A last shot of the shed and yard area at todays running session:



I have made some videos again today which are here if you fancy a look:

Dr Sludge with passenger train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMjqg4u4KFU

Regner Konrad with short passenger train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe_rxd4ka_k

IP Tram "Oscar" with a goods train - nice slow running:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWeLLRgP9HE

As a side note, I have just replaced the chassis on the tram. The IP chassis was not powerful and a little problematic, would not run slowly so I changed it for a Swift Sixteen adjustable length bogie...its amazing now, really powerful, steady and will pull a decent load at a slow speed.

Thanks for looking and I will try not to leave it as long before the next update!

Cheers guys.

Jim

[bazzer42]

The planting has come on nicely. Do you have your missing baguley window? I have some here (somewhere) after cutting the bonnet off a body to make a 7/8th loco.

[Peter Butler]

Hi Jim, I seem to have missed your recent updates so have been catching up with your excellent building work. Everything is looking just right, your
weathering, planting, buildings and ballasting together make the image work.... top marks!

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Jim,

What a lovely railway - and it's coming on in leaps and bounds.

I agree with Bazzer, your planting is coming on beautifully. There are some really good planting choices there. I shall be studying the photos a good deal more to try and identify the species and the type of ground they are planted in.

Please keep the picks coming.

Andrew

[LNR]

Wonderful pictures and videos, railway looks as though it has been there for years with all that lush growth.
Grant.

[philipy]

What a lovely looking railway. Do keep updating us, please.

[ge_rik]

The ballasting is top notch. Really enjoyed the videos as well. Everything is coming together really well.

Rik

[James from Devon]

The planting has come on nicely. Do you have your missing baguley window? I have some here (somewhere) after cutting the bonnet off a body to make a 7/8th loco.

Thanks Derek, that's really kind of you but I have the window, I thought it had vanished during the painting but it later turned up stuck the bottom of my laptop! - its now back in its rightful place

[James from Devon]

Thanks for all the nice comments chaps, its really encouraging and I will attempt to get some more done this week as I have the week off! weather permitting of course!

[James from Devon]

Here is the latest update from Staple Hill.

I had this week off work and I had planned how much I would be able to get done in the garden. The weather, however, had other ideas and since we have now reached the monsoon season, most of the week was spent in the workshop. Managed a couple of runs and by the end of the week, a certain new kit built loco was in steam

A lot of this update is some smaller details and workshop jobs but hope you like it:

A Modeltown warehouse takes shape:



The Warehouse in place at Ashbusket along with the station name board which is made with Slaters plastic letters on a plasticard back panel, with plasticard strips around the outside. The whole thing is then glued between 2 aluminium tubes with fishing beads superglued on top!



I managed to progress a few items of rolling stock in the workshop, here is a Swift Sixteen well wagon more or less finished but awaiting weathering:



And this is second MOD powder wagon from IP underway (fitted with swift Sixteen wheels)



Coaling stage with detail on the track. I am trying for realism around the engine shed.



I have been trying to make the floor around the sheds look realistic. Having coated the area with dyed black cement, I have been crushing coal, mixing the dust with thick oil and brushing it on every few days for a a few weeks...this is how it looks, I am pretty happy with this.







Signs on Staple Hill Station wall:



And last but not least...please welcome our new arrival:... I have started a new topic over on the steam loco forum to cover the build of this loco



As always, thanks for looking and thanks for all the feedback and support, it makes a huge difference!

Cheers

Jim

[Peter Butler]

Excellent James.... great work on all of your projects. You have nailed the appearance of the track in the shed area, it looks most convincing.
Everything looks just right, despite the weather trying to put a stop to it.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi James,

Well, you've made some excellent progress there. The shed yard looks fantastic, the size of the material it's surfaced in is spot on. I can only hope to come somewhere close when I reach that point myself.

I was on holiday in Devon at the start of the week before last and not a little disappointed by the weather. It sounds like we had a better deal than last week though so you've made me feel a little better about it. The weather up here in the Midlands has confounded me somewhat this week too, not least today which has been a garden write off, so I can share your frustrations.

All the best,

Andrew

[TonyW]

Superb. My loco yard is due a makeover this winter so method duly noted, thank you.

[James from Devon]

Hi James,

I was on holiday in Devon at the start of the week before last

Andrew

Thanks Andrew, your very kind as always...next time, drop in for a steam up and a cup of tea!

[James from Devon]

Superb. My loco yard is due a makeover this winter so method duly noted, thank you.

A pleasure! thanks for your comments

[James from Devon]

Excellent James.... great work on all of your projects.  You have nailed the appearance of the track in the shed area, it looks most convincing.  
Everything looks just right, despite the weather trying to put a stop to it.

Cheers Peter.

I would lead a very satisfied life if I could control the weather! There is nothing more annoying than watching the sun out of your office window on a Monday when it rained all weekend.

[tom_tom_go]

I hear you James regarding the weather. It has been alright this past week in Kent and then this weekend, utter rubbish!

I like the engine shed ground work as well as my efforts using crushed coal and dirt just get washed away!

[LNR]

Wonderful scenic work James, I have an adage when modeling, "If all else fails, do it like the real ones" Been using diesel oil in various places around my track for years. Your shed "ground" looks spot on.
Grant.

[James from Devon]

Really short mini update. Not much happening in the garden as the weather is pretty bad and I have been focusing on workshop projects which can be seen in other threads but a milestone was reached on Sunday with our first visitors. Mark and Malcolm brought along a car full of locos and a great afternoon was had by all!

I didn't take many pictures and my videos are not great but Mark did take some video so we will get hopefully have some to upload soon.

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A garden line full of lovely locos and great mates...perfect sunday afternoon!