'1943, Somewhere in England', N scale Monster Layout


Several officers on the tower look on towards the Lancaster.

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At the hangar, the Station Hack C-47 transport plane is unloading some cargo, but appears to have had a problem with the port engine. Mechanics are already starting work to sort the problem.

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Another GMC truck is waiting to take the C-47 cargo away.

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At the other end of the hangar, there are piles of crates. So much material and spares arrived in wooden crates, there were often piles of boxes seen around the tech site. These boxes were often recycled to make shelters around the dispersals, work benches or even just burned in the wood burning stoves in barracks. Cold was always a problem in the temporary accomodation on airfields.

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Another view of the right end of the hangar showing the crates and Catalina Air Sea Rescue plane.

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More crates are stacked up on the loading platform while another GMC 6x6 truck is parked near by, waiting to be loaded.

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One last view past the Hangar Queen to the loading platform.

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The next step for the fire crew was adding a curve of thin multi-strand wire to the end of the fire hose, bending towards the Lancaster engine and wing. The fire is out now, but with the heat from the fire and engine, plus what ever fuel is left, the fire crew isn't taking chances. Once the wire had glued firmly in place, a mix of gritty sand and PVA glue was used to simulate the foam from the hose. This was painted in and around the thin wire supports creating a nice arc of foam.

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The RAF crew make their way our of the rear exit of the Lancaster while US crews assist.

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On the road up to the station, a small military convoy turns off to head over the bridge. Other trucks are heading up to, or down from the station.

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Another view of the tank convoy.

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Back in the Tech Site, some officers are milling around between the nissen huts.

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Back to the guys loading or unloading the GMC. Close by, a man with a flag signals to the vehicle towing the Catalina that the wing tip is clear of the hangar door. There isn't much clearance for the 104 feet wing span aircraft.

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Another greyscale shot of the B-17 preparing for flight.

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The Hangar Queen.

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A general view of the Lancaster crash showing the rescue crews and vehicles. The fire fighting foam has now been painted.

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Steve
How are things going?
We can tell this project is chuffing up the last rise and we are waiting with baited breath for your next installment
 
I've been busy for a few weeks doing jobs around the house, so haven't touched the railway since adding these pictures.
 
I'm back working on the railway again, eventually, which I'm sure Rob ( my customer ) will be pleased to hear. I'd hoped to be back sooner, but I've had a chest infection and have been coughing my lungs up since late November. Wood dust was never going to help that! In December, I did manage to do some repairing of some second hand mine buildings, that will be used on the next section. More of those when the time comes.

Anyway, over the last few days, I began work on the boards for the runaround along the back of the main sections. The line of the three tracks had been marked out months ago, when the airfield section was started. The two main lines are at the same height, but the branch line is still climbing up from the quayside to meet the main lines, and at the join, is about 3/4 in lower. The 4 inch wide MDF board would need cutting along most of its length, and the timber support would also need tapering.

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I dislike using jigsaws for long straight cuts, as they usually end up anything but straight, so decided to use the bandsaw instead. Unfortunately, it's location in the workshop while fine for most jobs, isn't ideal for an 8 feet long strip of wood. It is located near a window, but the angle is wrong to push the wood out through the large opening.

Due to the bizzare hinge design, it leaves a gap of about 4 inches along the hinge line when open, which was just big enough to get the wood through if the saw was positioned just right!

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This run around section and the backscene are removable, to make the sections smaller for getting up through a loft hatch to the final set up location. Three M8 bolts hold the runaround in place. In this picture, you can see the MDF has been cut and lowered for the branch line.

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The view here shows the runaround on the back of the airfield. The branchline will split off the main line near the label on the wood at this end of the board.

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Space is tight, so a couple of coaches were used to test clearances, as passenger coaches are going to be the longest rolling stock with the greatest overhang on corners.

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With the inner line tacked in place, the outer main was placed on and shuffled around to give a gentle curve and maintain clearance.

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By the end of yesterday, the two main lines were fitted and the branch laid out to check clearances. I'll need to trim out some of the curved board at main line height on the outside of the branch, just before the join. The curve from the airfield section is quite wide, and to maintain a smooth curve, there isn't quite the clearance just yet. Copper clad PCB was glued to the end of the section to solder the rails to, so that they keep alignment with the next section.

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This picture shows the height drop of the branchline, which is about a 1% grade. The raised wood on the right of this picture is the part that needs trimming out to give a greater clearance.

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