Making a New Start

To celebrate the closing of the Cattewater Chasm I ran a mixed train today from Cattewater. We went up the hill

 
and over the trestle

 
then did some switching at Hogwood, where we had to drop off a boxcar at the Freight House - but first we had to pull another boxcar that was in the way. This was the old 4-wheeled car from the early days of the line.



After that we picked up a reefer and left town for Southvale

 
(sorry I should have cleared up the fiddle yard before taking that last one) 

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Great scenes! It will be a sad day if you have to dismantle the line

C&S


Thanks, Vic. Glad to hear there's been some progress at your end (this is the walk-in layout?); hopefully some pictures soon.

Shawn,  This is the last of my stock of new images of the line. Nothing new to report on, I'm afraid - but as there is also the possibility of a re-location over the horizon I'm mainly working on my smaller scale portable layouts.

 
Uh oh, I hope it wont be too radical a "relocation" I know all about those
 
Yes I'm moving slowly, mostly working on building facade flats for the back walls of the layout.
 
Did another show this past weekend with the pizza layout, shows are fun aren't they

i have to say you really create a miniature world -
very plausible-
and has a feel that reminds me of malcom furlow's and john olsons ho narrow gauge-
 
intriguing-leaves the viewer with the idea that there is an entire railroad world beyond what you have built-
really impressed with the detail ground cover along and between the tracks as well as you lovely well scaled 'vignettes'-
 
what are the dimensions of your layout?

stevedenver


i have to say you really create a miniature world -
very plausible-
and has a feel that reminds me of malcom furlow's and john olsons ho narrow gauge-

intriguing-leaves the viewer with the idea that there is an entire railroad world beyond what you have built-
really impressed with the detail ground cover along and between the tracks as well as you lovely well scaled 'vignetttes'-

Have to agree with every word Steve, a fantastic railway.

stevedenver
i have to say you really create a miniature world -
very plausible-   and has a feel that reminds me of malcom furlow's and john olsons ho narrow gauge.  What are the dimensions of your layout?

 
 
Wow! Praise indeed!  Thanks everyone.
 
The Cattewater scene is about 9 feet long, the country section is just under 12 feet (across the room), while Hogwood is some 10 feet long. All this plus a fiddle yard about 6ft at each end. The total length of run is 40 ft I think. The room area is approx 16ft by 12ft.
 
The ground cover is mostly old carpet underlay - the hairy felt type. I make a nick at the corner of a piece then pull the top and bottom layers apart, which leaves a nicely rough finish. The old top and bottom surfaces are then stuck down with white glue, but leave some gaps so there is some earth visible;  when it's dry I apply colour (very, very diluted Humbrol paints) - about one part green to 3 yellow, scrubbed on with an old paintbrush.   When it's dried a stiff brush can be used to raise and roughens the pile.

1943 is looking to be a bad year for the C&SRR.  Now that America is involved in the war it means that Cattewater County is beginning to see men leaving for the armed forces, and local trade is starting to suffer. Worse is the fact that the bank is getting hard-nosed about the Company's overdraft and has appointed a pair of Attorneys at Law, Messrs Grabbitt and Runnov to administer the day to day business of the line.
 
On a brighter note, I'm expecting delivery of the results of the photo session held in December, so there should be some new pictures soon.
Edit:  The DVD has arrived but is so protected to beat video piracy, I'm not sure I can get anything off it to post here.  Shame as it gives a good impression of the line, with run-bys as well as stills of some of the details. I'll see if I can find a way of getting the pictures, but it won't be immediately, as I'm short of spare time and relying on the kindness of others to send me the pictures again.

Just found a couple of shots I don't think have been seen yet.

 
 

 

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Still waiting to know the eventual fate of the indoor G scale depending on where we decide to move, but meanwhile a rash promise some time ago to provide a layout for a show in early March has resulted in another New Start- this time in Sn42 (S scale         representing 3ft 6ins gauge) to portray a rural station in Java in the early 1970s, just before the end of steam-power there.  At present the baseboard is sitting on top of the G scale fiddle yard, so only some token shuttling up and down is possible on the C&S. Meanwhile here are a few pictures of the work in progress on the smaller line.......an chance to tackle something rather different from American 3ft gauge.
 

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Hi Giles
Having seen some of the great rolling-stock and locos in the flesh it is a real sadness to think that the lovely line, that they grace, will no longer exist. But knowing your modelling skills and determination I am sure that the Cattewater and Southern will rise again.

Yes it is sad. I think they stole the show last october out in the sunshine!

CoggesRailway


Yes it is sad. I think they stole the show last october out in the sunshine!

Here's a reminder of a good day out

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It was a very rare thing that Giles did, he made a Model of a Railway and did it very well. I refer to this in G Scale of course. I consider my self fortunate in having been invited to one of his running days, sadly I was not able to visit any of the subsequent ones before closure of the line.

Let us all hope that you build a new C&S as it would be a shame to get rid of all that superbly crafted stock. But as Giles says it is all down to where he moves to. Good luck with your search Giles - and keep an eye on out for a location for that new C&S.
JonD

Looks as if things may be moving on and the Last Train out of Cattewater may be sooner than I thought. When it happens I'll be sure to record the event here.  Meanwhile, keep an eye on the Sales listings after Easter.

Where are you moving to, Giles ?  Wherever it is, best of luck with the move (and the railway space !)
 
 

Oh man Giles thats a bummer. Hate to see this get dismantled again. Will you rebuild?

vsmith

Oh man Giles thats a bummer. Hate to see this get dismantled again. Will you rebuild?

Thanks for the sympathy, Vic.  I shall miss G scale but an afraid I have to bite the bullet and go back down a scale as the new house doesn't have a loft - looks like On30 indoors is the future; at least I will still have a train space, but just one that's too small for G scale.  The last trains on the C&S are scheduled for Sunday week with track-lifting starting by the middle of the following week.  There will be pictures! 
 
Expect to see the first items on offer in the for sale section around 17th April - if I can do it from this lap-top - our main computer has just died

Think smaller, I did, or at least consider saving your favorite items or making a small pizza type layout. just so your not entirely out of G. In my experience On30 eats up as much space as G trackwise, but keep us updated either way. Sad to see this one go away.

We will all be sorry to see it go Giles but hope that you won't stop posting the great pics of your efforts - whatever the scale

Given that a significant portion of the trackplans in my 'inspiration' file have come from you, Giles, I am sure you relish the fresh start.  For me, its been timely reminder thats its OK to start again, and that you can do G scale (with operations) indoors.
The great thing for us is that the whole life-cycle of the C&S is covered in one thread ! 
I f you're going down a scale, why not a spot of sugar ? O scale interurban, box cab & a few freight cars ala Hershey, then On30 for the smokey stuff in the mill. Many have tried, few have done it well.