As I said in a previous post, this was not what I had wanted, but the lack of scale materials hindered my progress. This Barn is very much made of G Scale Garden Railway materials and as such is treated more as ‘the scenic break’ rather than part of the layout.
I have also stencilled the name of the layout on the side.
Today I have added some boxes to the layout – I thought I had enough, but after planting them I think at least another two packets are required. These are items that typify the advanced position of the WDLR.
Having been discussing a respectful name for the layout we have almost agreed that it should be called ‘4000 YARDS’ as this is the distance this type of railway was from the front line.
When I sold Norton Wood to Graham and after our first Exhibition, it was decided to extend the fiddle yard before the next Exhibition.
Well, I have just completed the extension – we should now be able to run 3 or 4 car EMU/DMU formations and slightly larger engineering trains.
I have to admit this was not an easy job, especially the alignment between the old and new sections. Anyway after some trial and error I did it, I think the moral of this story is keep the spirit level handy and keep testing!!
There are at least two blogs on Norton Wood on this site – just put in Norton Wood and see the scenic section of this 3rd rail layout
I have to say this is not what I intended the Barn to look like. I intended for the Barn to be a complete shambles, but the only scale materials I could get were very much garden railway materials and were very thick.
Everything has still to be weathered and distressed, with guttering added.
I have added some sand bags and grass inside the Barn rather than have a blank space.
I have also added a little brick/tile debris around the tracks.
Another busy weekend with lots of items added to enhance already added items. I have added the below Photo’s in the order the work was carried out. This I hope gives an insight into the steps made.
Cross wood frame and barbed wire
Duck boards for the trenches
Two types of barbed wire defences
Sand/soil for sand bags
Added grass and skinny shrubs
Extra grass and bushes
The sandbags arrived yesterday and the barbed wire this morning. The sandbags were formed into a barrier, painted, weathered and added to the layout. The barbed wire was worked into a spiral, a three cross and rod carrier made, painted and also added to the layout. The embankment on the back of the layout is now also nearly complete.
The troops are posed in their likely final position.
After a couple of days work, I have completed the shed/hut that was part demolished by design or accident! I may weather it a bit more later, to blend. I have also made the first stack of sandbags, they still require painting and weathering, a sneak preview of them appears in the last photo below.
It was our original plan to cut three separate holes in the side of the Barn, but this was not possible due to the swing of the wagons and the width of the Tin Turtle. After much experimenting we had to have just one big entrance from the fiddle yard. This is OK looking from the side of the layout, but very open from any other angle.
I do intend to detail the inside of the barn with left over tools etc. This should at least give an insight into its original use.
Although not quite finished, I need a few more pieces of hedging and some bushes, I spent most of Saturday working with what I had. I think it has started to look the part and other than a few touches here and there the embankment is finished.
On Thursday Graham brought his almost finished Tin Turtle along for some photo’s. The layout is progressing well, the main unloading yard is nearing completion and the sky has now been painted. Work on the rear embankment has been started, but there is a long way to go with that!
Photographs in order of work completed.
