Through the Dog Flap..

Well its been a while, ashamedly due to one thing or another. Again, I blame the economy, I am back on with Mablethorpe 00.

First job is fencing and I cannot find any 00 wooden fencing anywhere, Ive bitten the bullet and ordered some from Ebay that is real wood, so lets see how that goes.

A signal box and station building are also on the way. I will post up updates when I get them and when a willing volunteer puts them together. (She doesnt know yet)

Grass is always greener on the other side

Well the first layer of grass went down well, all stuck and looks ok. Without fencing or anything it looked a bit isolated so I bought some finer grass of slightly different shade.

Had no clue how to get another layer down on top, who'd have thought the answer was 'worth it'. Thanks to the kind people on RMweb forum the answer was hairspray.

The tip was to spray the area I wanted to put the second layer of grass down with hairspray (cheaper the better - which is my motto!) Lay the second layer and then spray again.

So gave that a go!

J72 sits on the headshunt, next to blossoming fields

Green Green Grass of Mabo

Never done ballasting before, never done wiring before.. but got through those barriers virtually unscathed. now it was time for laying grass. There were talks of guns and sprays and static but Ive stuck to PVA and Hornby Grass.

The results are below.

Now just need some fine different colours to blend in and should be somewhere close to having greenery in Mablethorpe.

And then there was mud..

It was time to get back on with progressing Mablethorpe and so the paint pots came out to paint the fields a nice healthy brown and finish off the station car park and goods shed hardstanding.

I must admit when the paint was wet it didnt look all that good..

'Level Crossing' - High St, Mablethorpe and fields above.

North of the Yard

After not being very impressed with how the paint went down, I stepped away for a few hours to come back and it looking ok, almost field like.

 

 

There is one area that will need looking at, the turntable that should be sat on the end of the spur siding above. This was replaced in 1952 for a new structure brought from Doncaster so the original at the time of my era will have been a smaller turntable (and not much use for large engines) so will have to be on the lookout for one of those.

For research and a good walk, I had a look at the remains of Mablethorpe turntable

Remains of turntable wall, only back wall remains

Rail holders for accessing turntable. Once had Black 5s and B1s rolling on and off

 

Space - The Needed Frontier..

By the looks of the blog it looks as though progress has slowed down.. which it has..

As it got to the point where I could start playing trains, everything wired in together and working I did just that. Only issue I had was how on earth to manage this strange station with anything over five coaches long. This left me wondering something may have gone wrong with the plans. Back to the drawings, photos and books and it seems that the LNER may have had the same issues I had.

The layout of Mablethorpe is very restrained with no real storage for carriages of any description. It now seems from help on the LNER Forum that long extra trains will have been confined to Sundays, when the northern line to Louth didn't run. This meant carriages could be stored on the line to Louth. Ive read this could sometimes mean six sets of coaches would all be queued up from Mablethorpe which must have been some sight. With crossings accounted for, it must have got close to Theddlethorpe with lines of coaches.  

The turntable at Mablethorpe upto 1952 also is a strange story in that it wasnt much use for large engines (those coming with the long trains) so upto six engines could be coupled together after arriving facing North, pulled down to the Firsby loop, turned and brought back to Mablethorpe for the return journey facing South. A 15 mile round trip to turn the engine round! 

Seemed sensible to put in a new turntable which they then did in 1952.


Love this video..

Mablethorpe was strange but very interesting, must have been great for trainspotters on Sunday with all of these manoeuvres to watch.

My only issue now is I don't have a northern line to store coaches so space will be at a constant premium so thinking of my Stage 2 extension to provide a northern line to a fitties yard might be pushed on.

Next stage for my layout is to lay some grass. Looking through the forums for good ideas as Mablethorpe seemed to have long grazing grass either side of the station which should be fun to model. 

Then the Station Building, Platform Shelter, Water Tank and windmill to install!

The train on Platform 1...

Well after my partner spent a good few hours with cardboard and glue, we now have Platforms 1,2,3 and 4 with a Goods Shed alongside.

Im pleased the layout is now starting to look like Mablethorpe Station 

First I wanted to get the bit I was dreading first, wiring up the layout. I will be using one DC controller that will power all the system to start with, so its over to Maplin to get a solder iron, solder, wire and go for it!

Before: Holes drilled, droplet wires pulled through

After: Wires soldered in. Pleased!

Platform 1 & 2 installed

Temporary Platform Shelter on Platform 3/4

Activity at Mablethorpe

 Thanks to those at RMweb.co.uk for there help with soldering and wiring tips.

 

Train now standing at Platform 3 & 4

Im now pleased to get some buildings onto the board in the shape of Platforms 3 & 4 and the Goods Shed. Next up will be Platform 1.