The DVLR Mark 2

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Update on the new Aldeburgh station:
The arches have been cut, shut and painted. The window frames have been made and painted and it's all been araldited together.

I am making a wriggly tin roof for the station but have so far only eaten enough beans to make one side! It will look a lot better when it has rusted down nicely.

I've always pictured Aldeburgh station as somewhere between the Standard gauge Aldeburgh station - overall roof, Corris station with a bit of Camber Sands "Golf Links" station thrown in. (It is meant to look as if they ran out of money half way through...). It is meant to give an air of good intentions and faded grandeur, once the "great British summer" has worked its magic on the roof it should all come together. I still need to realign the track.

In other news - I've finally found a place for my engine shed - and its got a pit inside and everything! ) The track is meant to be slewed to one side, better for filming to have one side with room than to have two sides that I couldn't get a figure down.


All possible because the turntable is now at the other end of the station.

[ge_rik]

Great looking developments, Zach. You've achieved so much in such a short space of time.

Rik

[Peter Butler]

Quite a transformation there, much improved and well presented.
Must try harder with the bean intake though!

[philipy]

Must try harder with the bean intake though!

Hmmm... just wondering if a DIY gasworks is Zac's next experimental project?

[Alan P]

Update on the new Aldeburgh station:
The arches have been cut, shut and painted. The window frames have been made and painted and it's all been araldited together.

I am making a wriggly tin roof for the station but have so far only eaten enough beans to make one side! It will look a lot better when it has rusted down nicely.

I've always pictured Aldeburgh station as somewhere between the Standard gauge Aldeburgh station - overall roof, Corris station with a bit of Camber Sands "Golf Links" station thrown in. (It is meant to look as if they ran out of money half way through...). It is meant to give an air of good intentions and faded grandeur, once the "great British summer" has worked its magic on the roof it should all come together. I still need to realign the track.

In other news - I've finally found a place for my engine shed - and its got a pit inside and everything! ) The track is meant to be slewed to one side, better for filming to have one side with room than to have two sides that I couldn't get a figure down.


All possible because the turntable is now at the other end of the station.

I think Woodbridge looks great Zach. What you've managed to fit in to a relatively small space is remarkable.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Thank you for the kind words. I've always tried to pack as much in but have tried to not over crowd it with railway everywhere. How well I have succeeded in this I don't know. As to a DIY gasworks - although a small coking plant running a water gas reaction and supplying town gas to the buildings sounds like a lot of fun I fear it might be a recipe for disaster - besides I have no space left! There is still a Fer'lizer plant on the cards on a separate baseboard at Aldeburgh. I'd love to be able to MAKE super-phosphate properly rather than just pretending. That is way off for now though. Today I ran three up and three down trains all the way from Woodbridge to Snape Street with River Butley and the "ratty" carriages with mixed success. I fear I need to rip up the track on approach to Snape Street and start again with the peco stuff. Still, the momentum van is still doing sterling work and a train plodding between Snape Street and Woodbridge takes about 2 minutes now which is rather pleasing.

[Soar Valley Light]

Keep getting through beans at that rate and the problem of the gas works will be self resolving!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Spring has sprung in the Deben Valley.



Sorry I havn't posted much. About to enter the final term of my Chemical Engineering degree and its all got a bit serious. Roll on the summer I say!

[Peter Butler]

Yeah, yeah...... so its April fools day again and we can't believe a word you say! Pull the other one.

[invicta280]

Spring has sprung here in the UK, as perennial as the grass. Good to see that the DVLR has initiated their spring timetable.

Good luck with Chem finals. You are in the home stretch. The Periodic Table of the Elements should be a doddle for a man with a working knowlwedge of Tom Lehrer.

[James from Devon]

Spring has sprung in the Deben Valley.



Sorry I havn't posted much. About to enter the final term of my Chemical Engineering degree and its all got a bit serious. Roll on the summer I say!

This look lovely, everything a garden railway should be IMHO.
Good luck with the last term of your degree...seriously hard work I am very sure.

[Dwayne]

Very nice.

Speaking of the periodic table, this might be of interest to you.

http://youtu.be/A4ehaIqNMwk

[Soar Valley Light]

You've got some lovely trees there Zac. I've started training some myself, it's the only visible sign (beyond some minor, unrecogniseable earthworks), that miniature world is being constructed in my garden!

It's good to see some shots of the DVLR again, especially with a train running through it. Good luck with the final term..... and when you've finished messing about with the academic stuff, lets see some more of the DVLR please!

[ge_rik]

Great shot Zac. Really like that miniature tree in blossom - just wondered what it was.

Rik

PS - Best of luck with the finals. PhD next??

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Thank you all for the kind words. I've applied for a PhD for next year but currently I have no funding. If I get the PhD progress on the DVLR will slow down (if that were possible, I've been working on it at a snails pace already!). To counter that, the plan would be to work on a removable section I can take to Uni. This would likely be the Fer'lizer plant which could form an interesting diarama.

Rik - the little tree is a prunus or flowering cherry. I got it for a few quid a few years ago in the reduced items bit of the garden centre - I just yesturday picked up another for £3 rather than £9 which I'll put somewhere else. It really brightens up the garden at this time of year and its leaves are small. I've been gradually pruning this on in the summer to make the branch structure more realistic. Still a long way to go. I've put a small swing on one of the branches which really helps the mind to latch onto the fact that this is a large tree in miniature - not small bush in 1:1 scale.

I've been experimenting with various bonzai ish techniques such as wiring, technical pruning and removing the lower branches and have been quite satisfied with some of the results. I thought I'd done a video on the techniques but I don't think I have so I might do that this holiday.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Well, after several problems with the P-way delaying services this spring the crews began asking for a track inspection vehicle. I'm not sure they are terribly pleased with what I brought back from the Peterborough show...

Take the velocipede they said, it'll be easy they said...
Alfred takes a moment half way up Sandlings bank.


I'll be damned if they think I'm cycling this through there...


Oh for heaven's sakes!

[Peter Butler]

Some lovely pictures there... great plant cover and general scenics. The track inspection vehicle is wonderful, you spoil your team!

[KNO3]

What are the tiny plants growing around your rails? They look very nice.

[Dwayne]

Love it!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Thank you for the kind comments. The tiny plants is actually one very wide spread plant! It's called "Mind your own buisness" or Soleirolia soleirolii. It is incredibly invasive but looks rather nice as it has very small leaves. Mind came from one small cutting from DLR Dan and each time I've trimmed it back I've put the trimmings somewhere else on the line. Its take a few years but now its everywhere!