The NEW McHALE'S Yard    Gn15

UPDATE: 10th NOVEMBER 2016

Nicely recovered from my two years (or so) of my illness, I'm back modelling and hopefully exhibiting this and other layouts shortly.

I now have two four foot by eighteen inch boards for this layout, with track laid on one, so this week will be track laying on the second board and refitting the loco shed and adding the first of the reclaimed vehicles, along with piles of car 'bits'...
Also, I'll be finishing the 'just started' locos and wagons, which have been on my 'too do' shelf...

Last update of 2015...

New workmen, diesel shunter and "Katie" and a four wheel coach to appear very shortly.
Katie and the coach will also be available for my Gn15 APA Modules, The Sandhill Estate Railway




Above: The original McHale's Yard, start of reconstruction...

Looking at the boards I already have, there's two 18 inch wide by four foot in length, so I will reconstruct them in module style, so that exhibition managers could select a length that could fit into their plan and they could be joined together as required..  possibly with a couple of curved sections....




This is the first 'new' board, four foot by eighteen inches. The dots on the top right will be where the 'shed' will be fitted and the dots on the left top will be for another 'workshop', while the dots down the bottom left how where the line to the next board might go, or the point may be moved to the next board.



Not feeling too bad today, so managed to get another picture of the two boards together. I might make another board to include a workshop scene, with cars being restored, or perhaps a workshop for the preparation of Humanitarian Aid vehicles (something I have been involved with in the past and still work as a consultant). Should be very interesting for visitors of all ages!



Above: My Aid vehicle, a Land Rover 110 before we were known as "Aidventures" and below, my current vehicle, a Land Rover Discovery, currently undergoing refurbishment.
For further information, see: www.overlandtravel.org.uk



Hopefully, I'll be able to get on with tracklaying and sorting locomotives and wagons...



Not much wrong visually with most of these vehicles - probably ended up here with electrical problems, especially when you get a quote of 800GBP to sort them - cheaper to buy another car! 

The scrapyard is on the road to Greenfield Dock, just before the North Wales Coast railway bridge.


8th November 2015: Feeling reasonably well over the last couple of days, so I actually started modelling and completed three 1/24th scale figures from a Fujimi Mechanics kit. Pictures to follow. I also purchased a Gn15 kit of "Katie" from Smallbrook Studios for Jim McHale to drive around the yard.

Also in the workshop is an 0-6-0T diesel shunter roughly based on a Bachmann 08, an Ebay 'win' which will be converted to Gn15 from a On16.5 model. A damaged Lancia Stratos has also been delivered to McHale's Yard and will be stripped to its component parts shortly, along with another load of scrap.

The Humanitarian Aid Workshop (which will be built shortly) has also acquired a Land Rover Series Three LWB, Land Rover 90 and a Classic Range Rover which will be expedition prepared on the workbench and a Radio controlled new Range Rover has also been ordered - which should make operation of the yard more interesting for viewers. Also work has started on the third board, so the layout will now be 12 foot by 18 inches. 

9th November 2015: Three reasonably good days on the run was a bit too much to expect and the 9th wasn't. However, I have now got another four foot by eighteen inches board done for McHales Yard, so the layout is (wil be) now 12 foot by eighteen inches, although they will be worked on "four foot" at a time!  So I need to amend the trackwork on the first board by removing one of the points, then continue it across to the next board which will have one point, then on to the final board, which will have a point into the Humanitarian Aid Centre and a roadway into the Aid centre and out over the track, and down the side of the centre to a turning/parking space. That's if the radio-controlled Range Rover will work as I want it to, when it's eventually delivered.

Pictures to follow, as it was rather wet outside today and I need to take the picture of the full length layout along our footpath, when it is dry and light (sunny would be better!).

10th November: Feeling reasonably well today and, no I didn't make an O9 locomotive last night, but I did have a look at an 'Ebay win' of a On16.5 model of a diesel shunter adapted from a Bachmann 08, which considering its fragile construction, wasn't packed to survive our postal system and reverted to its component form, which made the decision a lot easier to convert it to Gn15 during its rebuild. It just needs a seat and back rest for the driver and some weathering!

So, we now have another locomotive for McHale's Yard to be added to a Pepper7 Hawe motor truck, when it's built and a Smallbrook Studio 'Katie' as Jim McHale's own locomotive, a Bachmann Davenport Shunter with a Pepper7 Gn15 cab conversion and another Bachmann Porter built as an open cab Gn15 loco with a tender.

So, I need to change the track on the first board and get it to join to the second (with a pont into the workshop) and finally lay track on the third board, along with building the Aid centre and roadway.

After changing the track on the first board, I'll be adding scenery in the form of bushes, grass, mud, dirt, small trees, brambles and scrap, followed by more scrap, cars, scrap cars and car parts... Oh, yes, I'll need some wagons as well. Some I already have... Photographs to follow...

11th November: Not too bad today, so got to work on the two layouts, Hockenhull Platts and McHale's Yard. Progress is shown on the diesel shunter below - just needs some fettling, priming, paint and weathering, along with  a test run to see if it still works!