In A Bit Of Estate

[Bilco]

A couple of weeks ago I created an album in Flickr of photos showing the build of a battery loco in Gn15 I did some years ago - PB had destroyed the photos I'd posted in the relevant thread on the Gnatterbox. Although I've been feeling like something the cat dragged in over the last couple of days, I thought I could just about manage to make another album of the lost photos of Berger Hall, and the first results can be seen at
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4Ev9aQ

I still have a few more to add, but maybe they will be of interest ...

[DCRFAN 3]

Unfortunately the Flkr link is not working but I do get a warning 'we know the problem and are working on it'.

[PeterH]

Is working now! Thanks Bill

[docnjoj]

thanks Bill. That was very instructive and the work is wonderful!
otherDoc

[lesmond]

Cheers, Bill - bookmarked for reference / inspiration

Les

[DCRFAN 3]

Great pictures and overall presentation of the layout.

[Bilco]

A couple of albums of the missing PB photos of Kaffie and Ettie are now on Flickr

Kaffie https://flic.kr/s/aHsm89anNw

Ettie https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6SjvoK

[DuffieldBank]

A couple of albums of the missing PB photos of Kaffie and Ettie are now on Flickr

Kaffie https://flic.kr/s/aHsm89anNw

Ettie https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6SjvoK

Cheers Bill.

DB

[Bilco]

Finally shook off the bronchitis, but haven't done much modelling while feeling crook. However, I have managed to do some work on the two Preiser figures ...



This is as they arrived. I felt that the lady could lose the bag and cover up her décolletage. Her companion definitely needed to lose that hat, as well as several inches in height. The final result ...



Apologies for the image - poor light allied to poor technique = poor photo ...

The gentleman is Sebastian Berger-King, Sir Macintosh's cousin, while the female is Lady Frideswide, Big Mac's wife. Sebastian is a bit of a cad, though the ladies seem to like him. Lady Frideswide is suggesting that he knocks on her bedroom door tonight at half past midnight. Sebastian is thinking that he will have just enough time to visit Mlle Etoile Michelin beforehand ...

[Bilco]

I have been reminded that Narrow Gauge South is just a week away, so Berger Hall has been roused from its slumbers in a very large vacuum bag on top of a wardrobe in a very dark corner. Here it is, blinking in the uncertain Oxfordshire sunshine ...



J D Wetherspoon is taking Ettie out for a run on its new chassis - a few little hiccups have been sorted out and all now seems hunky-dorey. Dr Atkin is keeping his habitual gloomy eye on things ...



Gari Biscuit has taken Legger Lamb to the Cascades to show him the bridge and tunnel mouth that Gari built and creosoted last year. Legger is politely impressed, but is more interested in finding out about Gari's failed liaison with Lucy Larstick - he has his own hopes in that direction. "Wha' went wrong then, our Gari?" he probes. Gari is still rather despondent about the whole episode - he still can't understand what went wrong ...

At the time of the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897 Sir Macintosh had laid on a big fireworks display for the estate workers and villagers. These were the first fireworks that Gari had ever seen, and he was entranced. Of all the different fireworks he saw, one in particular was his favourite.

When Lucy Larstick promised to show him fireworks he very much hoped to see this particular one again. His Ma stopped him going with Lucy on New Years Eve, but Lucy said he could have them later, so he couldn’t help asking rather excitedly if he might get to see her Golden Rains. Lucy liked to think of herself as a woman of the world, and she had heard of all sorts of strange goings-on - she had done a stint as bar-maid at the 'Roast Beef' inn in the near-by market town, where the commercial travellers stayed - so she thought she knew what he was after. She was very insulted that he should think she was that sort of girl, and flounced off after slapping his face, vowing never to speak to him again.

“That there Gari Biscuit is a pervert!” she told her Ma when she got home. “Just like his Pa!” her Ma replied, with a little smile on her lips as she remembered the fun she’d had with Arfur when they were young. He was a stable lad, and used to show her what went on in the stable hayloft. She had hopes of wedding him herself, but then that stuck-up bitch Gari’s Ma upped and married him right out of the blue.

To make matters worse, she’d discovered that she’d fallen pregnant with Lucy a week after the wedding. She’d had to grab Harry Larstick, haul him up to the hayloft, then demand that he made an honest woman of her. Known in the village as ‘Broken’ Larstick, Harry hadn’t been a bad husband – a bit dim (couldn’t count up to 9, for a start) but he’d looked after her and Lucy well, until the unfortunate accident when he fell into the new-fangled threshing machine at harvest time. She’d felt that Reverend Donats had been a bit insensitive when he spoke about “separating the wheat from the chaff” at the funeral – he’d thought it appropriate to insert a few harvest references, given the time of year. Poor Harry had been pretty thoroughly separated by the machine, according to his workmates - ‘Broken’ Larstick indeed. It never threshed properly again, either - “Haunted by old Harry”, was the popular verdict of the old boys at the back of the snug in the ‘Leg O’ Mutton’.

Now she occasionally met Arfur behind the haystack of a summer’s evening, and she’d have been quite happy to see Lucy hitched to Gari, but his stuck-up Ma wouldn’t allow it at any price. And her giving herself all those airs and graces, after what happened to her up at the Hall ...

To be continued ...

[chris stockdale]

‘To be continued...’

Looking forward to it!

Cheers,

[Grum]

So annoyed I can't come this year.

I am having a nasty procedure at the hospital (on a damn Saturday of all things!)

Hope all goes well,
Graham

[Bilco]

Hope all goes well Graham. If it's an endoscopy I strongly recommend that you have the sedative they should offer - it definitely isn't as traumatic that way (and I've had it without and with)!

[Grum]

No, Bill no Endoscopy this time, I have to have a bit of surgery.

I have had an endoscopy though, and THREE colonoscopy's in the last two years, no sedation's, no problems. I prefer a few uncomfortable minutes to all the recovery time and coming-round properly. I can drive home that way (the wife can't drive).

I'll be knocked out on Saturday though.

Graham

[Bilco]

AND NOW, LAYDEEZ ‘N’ GEMMUN

for your delectation and delight

we present:



not one …



not two …



but THREE ‘Katie’ look-alikes!!


So why, I hear you asking, have I perpetrated this strange act of model-making overkill? After MOMING‘17 I had to replace the original Hornby motor in ‘Kaffie’ after prolonged slow-running with a feed-back Gaugemaster controller burnt it out – rather late in the day I read the instruction sheet and found out the danger. I decided then to make another one so that I could switch locos around at 15-20 minute intervals, so bought another set of castings from Smallbrook. Then I was asked to build one for someone else* – and voila!

This wasn’t the winter project I’d planned, but several bouts of lurgy, holidays, Christmas, and inertia meant that the whole process was distressingly protracted, but now, finally, they’re done.

The awesome-threesome from the front …




… from the rear …



… and in line astern.



The sharp-eyed amongst you will note that ‘Jessica’ has no works-plates, and ‘Ambrosia’ (named after Sir Macintosh’s daughter), has smaller ones than ‘Kaffie’. This is because some numpty – come on, own up - ordered the wrong size from Narrow Planet. A properly-sized set are now on order.

The even sharper-eyed will note some odd whitish deposits on the drivers' seats of ‘Kaffie’ and ‘Ambrosia’. This is not because Harry Ramsden had an unfortunate accident, but because I use Tacky-Wax to secure him in place so that he doesn’t get projected into the shrubbery when taking my 6” curves at excessive speed.

*Please don’t ask me to make any more – I’ve reached peak-’Katie’. I thought that I would be able to avoid all the mistakes I made on the original, but I found I was able to repeat them perfectly, not once but twice, and even invent some new ones. I also found that making the original was an enjoyable process of making it up as I went along, but trying to repeat to the same style was much more difficult, and rather wearying.

[Bilco]

I've had a set of Preiser figures - set 45053 - on order for ages. I had almost forgotten them, when they turned up in the post. They are another couple in vaguely-1900ish dress ...



As with the last pair, the lady just needed some flesh covering up, and the gent had to have a bit cut out of his upper thighs and a repaint ...



They made their debut at Eastleigh - Sir Macintosh's sister Virginia 'Veggie' Berger, and Lady Frideswide's brother Wellington Wimpy.

[Grum]

Congratulations on two more lovely-looking "Katie's", and figures.
Graham

[Bilco]

With the Warley exhibition hoving into view I've retrieved Berger Hall from it's vacuum bag hiding place, so that I can check it's all still working and in good shape. I took advantage of the weak sunshine to take a couple of photos of the two new locos on the layout ...



Lady Frideswide under the control of Peter Monjay, looking even bigger in the surroundings of the Stable Yard ...



... and Sir Macintosh having an outing - right out of the space-time continuum, but looking freshly out-shopped.

Not unexpectedly, these two, with their large size and long wheelbases, found Berger Hall's tight curves and clearances beyond them, but they did manage a very short shuffle back and forth before being put back in their boxes.

Duffield Bank (Chris) - if you see this please get in touch - Jessica is getting worried ...

[Bilco]

Sir Macintosh had the bright idea of having an unveiling when 'Lady Frideswide' was delivered. He asked his wife to do the honours, hoping that the surprise of seeing her name on the loco would please her ...



... so a small crowd gathered in the Stable Yard to see the event. Lady Frideswide (the wife, not the loco - this could get confusing) certainly looked rather taken aback. Little Ambrosia tugged at her skirt and announced "I have a wailway engine with my name on it, too, Mama" - and she did ...



"See Mama - my name!" she piped - when Sir Macintosh (the man not the loco- I told you this could get confusing) had 'Ambrosia' brought out for her to see.

Sir Macintosh had been getting increasing amounts of grief from Lady Frideswide about the amount of time and money he’d been devoting to his railway. In a bid to appease Her Ladyship he named his newest (and most expensive) loco after her ...

However, in bed later that night, in post-coital conversation with Sebastian Berger-King, she let fly:

“If he thinks that by putting my name on one of his b****y smelly engines I’m going to change my mind about his b****y railway and ignore the expense and disruption it’s causing, he’s got another b****y think coming!”

“Quite right, old thing” Sebastian said absently – he'd just been wondering if Mlle Etoile might be amenable to a discreet knock on her bedroom door – say, in half an hour or so ...

But Colonel Sanders had got in first ...

[Bilco]

This was my first time at the NEC and Warley - blimey, it's big! I had a great time in the MOMING enclosure in some very distinguished company, including the winner of the David Glascott Trophy - congratulations Christopher.

Berger Hall performed well with very few hitches - 'Ambrosia' developed an annoying squeak and had to be withdrawn from service. Every time I exhibit it I learn new ways of doing things - this time how to swap locos in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. The reaction of the GBP was overwhelmingly positive, and ladies and little children seemed to get special pleasure from it, which was nice - it was great to see bored-looking wives break into a smile of delight when they looked at this funny little layout on the corner.

On the first day a chap with a very spiffy gyro-stabilized mobile phone holder spent about ten minutes photographing the Hall from all sides. Finally he told me that he had built the Perrygrove Railway, and liked the atmosphere of Berger. On the second day a chap and his little son came to look several times, and I noticed that the son had a hat with Perrygrove Railway written on it, so I sidled over and mentioned that I'd met the builder of it. To which the father replied "And I'm the chap who bought it from him!" I thought that they seemed very knowledgeable about the Heywood locos ...

[MickT]

Sounds as if your Warley experience was very positive Bill!
Wasn't the guy who purchased the Perrygrove the one who evicted the Heywood museum collection from the railway as it was taking up too much storage space?

Mick

[Bilco]

Wasn't the guy who purchased the Perrygrove the one who evicted the Heywood museum collection from the railway as it was taking up too much storage space?

He never mentioned that ...

[chris stockdale]

Wasn't the guy who purchased the Perrygrove the one who evicted the Heywood museum collection from the railway as it was taking up too much storage space?

Mick

Mick,chaps,

For info: There wasn't enough storage for both the Heywood collection and the Perrygrove rolling stock. Since the Perrygrove stock was leased at the time, not owned by the new operator, David Nelson-Brown, he felt he had to ensure it was protected. If anything had happened to it he would have been liable. There was space for more storage to be built, but as the cost this would have fallen solely on James Waterfield it was time for the parting of the ways.

Cheers,

[chris stockdale]

It was great to finally meet Bill yesterday (thanks for the chat). I'd throw in a pic or two but as the layout has developed with plenty of views I don't really think I could beat anything Bill has already dropped into this thread.

Cheers,

[Bilco]

Yes Stockers, it was great to be able to put a face to the name, and have a long chat about matters of mutual interest. A grand day (or two) out ...