St. Mary Hoo - a clapped out SR branch terminus in P4

[SouthernBoy]

Hello Simon,

the extension plans look interesting, especially: "... the baseboards to flow and have a rounded look."

I was wondering whether if you get moment it would be possible to have a few photos of the overview of the layout (the whole board in one or two shots) perhaps?
I'd understand if you'd rather not though - ground level close-ups keep the viewer within the bounds of imagination - overviews bring everything back into the cold light of the real world.

Either way, I'm following as always!

[Truffy]

EM is another possibility and is more forgiving than P4 but without the finesse of scale point work (check rail gaps and crossing dimensions). You don't even need to have compensated stock (a bit of a myth) as long as your track is nice and level.

Simon, congratulations, it's a lovely piece of work, and from my neck of the woods (ish...a little north, but hey-ho).

When you say for EM that "You don't even need to have compensated stock (a bit of a myth)", do you mean that the myth is that you don't need compensated stock for EM or that you do need it for P4?

I'm in the planning stages of a layout, and I'd ideally like to go in P4. But I have a number of steam RTR stock items that could become the mother and father of all headaches if I had to compensate the lot.

[Rustyrail]

Hi Simon

Good to see this is still going...now to catch up with everything

Nestor

Many thanks Nestor and great to see you here!

All the best
Simon

[Rustyrail]

Hello Simon,

the extension plans look interesting, especially: "... the baseboards to flow and have a rounded look."

I was wondering whether if you get moment it would be possible to have a few photos of the overview of the layout (the whole board in one or two shots) perhaps?
I'd understand if you'd rather not though - ground level close-ups keep the viewer within the bounds of imagination - overviews bring everything back into the cold light of the real world.

Either way, I'm following as always!

Hello SouthernBoy,

I'll definitely post some photos of the whole layout. The extensions are primarily to make the layout look more visually appealing as opposed to the linear alcove style it has at the moment. Work commenced today on the concrete listening mirror; the first thing for the phase 2 extension. Not an easy object to build!

Cheers
Simon

[Rustyrail]

EM is another possibility and is more forgiving than P4 but without the finesse of scale point work (check rail gaps and crossing dimensions). You don't even need to have compensated stock (a bit of a myth) as long as your track is nice and level.

Simon, congratulations, it's a lovely piece of work, and from my neck of the woods (ish...a little north, but hey-ho).

When you say for EM that "You don't even need to have compensated stock (a bit of a myth)", do you mean that the myth is that you don't need compensated stock for EM or that you do need it for P4?

I'm in the planning stages of a layout, and I'd ideally like to go in P4. But I have a number of steam RTR stock items that could become the mother and father of all headaches if I had to compensate the lot.

Many thanks Truffy! I was referring only to P4 stock which traditionally has used compensated and sprung stock because of the flange depths and wheel tread width (the latter is also very fine) plus fidelity to prototype practice. That's not to say compensation in EM is not necessary; it can be beneficial in any 4mm scale. It is possible to run wagons on P4 track without compensation, but the track needs to be spot on and the wagons will need weight. For the most reliable running compensation is best though. Coaches are less of a problem. Your RTR steam locos could be converted to P4 if there are suitable replacement wheels available; have a look at the Central London Area P4 Group website as it shows you how to do this and has loads of useful P4 info:-

http://www.clag.org.uk/

If you need any advice about P4 just ask away!

All the best and good luck with any P4 venture you embark upon - you'll really enjoy it
Simon

[New Haven Neil]

Hi Simon - finally made it on board here!

Can't wait to see the extension taking form, I'll just have a quick look at my Queenborough photos again....

Best regards

Neil

[Rustyrail]

Well hello there Neil! Great to see you here and thanks for your comments!

All the best
Simon

[Rustyrail]

The WWII concrete accoustic mirror that will be added to one of the new extensions at SMH. I scratch built this from card, plaster and PVA; the shape is extremely hard to achieve and took a week of careful sanding. The model is still in its base colour but will be given a more concrete look in due course and weathered. It will be surrounded by marshy ground and reeds, just like the one it's based on (not copied exactly) in Denge, Kent (see the link below).



[img]http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo275/oldlugger/c85c5d3b-c34b-407d-a357-8cb1cc8fa8e4.jpg[img]




http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/soundmirrors/locations/denge/

[Rustyrail]

I've also started constructing the Branchlines/Knightwing 0-6-0 Sentinel shunter kit in P4. This has a sprung chassis with hornblocks; the P4 version of the kit has extra parts to the OO one and has correctly shaped outside cranks. The inside frames (seen in the photos) are only tack soldered at present in case I need to adjust them to achieve reliable and level running. It will eventually look like the one in the link below:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmightycat/5595528385/lightbox/

[Dad-1]

Hi Simon,

Talk about the unusual ........ The accoustic airiel detection mirror ..... not unusual for many not to
even know they existed !!
Neat looking kit, very tidy work.

I'd wondered where you were.

Geoff T.

[Rustyrail]

Many thanks Geoff. I like hunting out strange features like this and the next one for St. Mary Hoo will be an old nuclear bunker (situated near the acoustic mirror with a siding connecting it) like that in the link below:-

http://beno.org.uk/forts/bunker.html

[SouthernBoy]

Good to see St. Mary Hoo is alive and kicking Simon!

Some unusual developments there, and I quite like the chilling resonance from times-past that accompanies them.

Your layout is one that definitely stands out from the crowd.

[Rustyrail]

Cheers SouthernBoy! Progress lately has been minimal due to family circumstances. I hope to press on with the extensions soon though and I'm even thinking of starting a new P4 mini industrial layout that could be finished in a very short time. It would probably have no more than two points, but the track would still be very detailed.

[End2end]

Great sound mirrors Rustyrail. I Don't think i've ever seen these being modelled before.
I do know and have seen pictures / videos about these mirrors at Denge i've just never had the opportunity to go and look at them up close.
Thought i'd add a an ariel veiw for those that haven't come across these before

soundmirrors.JPG (39.76 KiB) Viewed 2547 times

Thanks
end2end

[Rustyrail]

Many thanks for the photo end2end; much appreciated!