The Headshunt

Continuing the the 'Up-cycle' story is a diorama that re-uses some of the planned scenic setting, now entitled 'The Headshunt'. Whilst this probably isn't the other end of the Somerthorpe Miniature Railway, the setting is such that it can be a little ambiguous. Is this a small estate with a 15" gauge tourist railway or perhaps a corner of a 15" line built on an old Great Northern Railway trackbed?

The new name actually came from a day spent volunteering last weekend on the Sherwood Forest Railway, where I was privileged to have a root around at the far end of the line and even take the works train right up to the end of the line. By incorporating a dummy point to mark the end of a loop into the scene makes it clear that this isn't just a siding.

The diorama board seen under construction in the previous blog update is seen here with construction moving on. I added a layer of foamcore to the plywood and once dried glued the track into place, followed by various sections of card to raise the ground level up to sleeper height. Generally speaking, cream mounting card will be hard surfacing, the brown card soft:

A close-up of the van body and wall.  The Peco van has a corrugated iron roof and is weathered to represent a well-worn, flaking (in places) finish.  The walls have been painted to represent a cream/yellow brick effect:

At the other end of the scene I have added some Wills (4mm scale) setts in the area that represents a long-bricked-up gate, these must have been there a while and they will be partially buried in later surfacing:

The next step is to add some track detail, dummy fishplates etc (and some spikes on that dummy turnout!)

Colin