Help with buildings and setting the new theme on my railway

artfull dodger

artfull dodger

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The remodel of the railway is underway, well the planning stage as the ground is frozen here for the next couple months. The railway will stay 45mm gauge for now(ease of finding second hand track localy). Motive power will be my Merlin Mayflower(have bought new valve chests and pistons for when I wear out the originals) and for now my RH Argyll. I have him tenativley sold pending evaluation and price of a Merlin Major from a dealer in the UK. Planning to haul peat in several LGB green side dump wagons. As I am fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I am considering setting the railway in the Shire where the hobbits lived. (sounds like an area where peat might be harvested). So I need some help resetting the buildings to better represent that theme. I want to retain the brewery complex, but the rest can be replaced or just removed. I do remember seeing some concrete "hobbit houses) from somewhere that would be nice to get a couple of. The depot is an Aristocraft victorian style(not sure if it should go or stay. I have the LGB station platform plates as well. The covered platform next to the station in the last pics, I was planning to remove, replace the curved part of the siding with another turnout to set a single stall engine house on a bluff overlooking the pond. The beer garden resturant and Austrian looking building near the deck bridge can stay or go. I also need to lay a siding to set out peat cars for loading someplace on the layout. One thought for a name is Rushock & Hobbiton light railway. Rushock being a bog to the north and west of the town of Hobbiton. Need to rewatch the movies to get my mind set into middle earth. Here are some pics of the railway from last summers operation. I did move the covered platform to the other side of the depot from the first pic and add a short siding. It is from this siding, sans platform I had planned a second side track back to a single stall engine house that overlooks the pond. Any help, suggestions or where to (affordably get) different buildings. Mike





 
The nice thing about using the hobbit as a theme is it's fantasy so whatever you think looks right will BE right.
 
Check rule 8 ...
 
Are your 'rules' still available Mike. Maybe you
should re post them for newer members.
 
Rule 8..
It's my garden..it's my railway..I will run what I want. how I want. when it want..if you don't like it .
Please shut the gate on your way out
 
mike said:
Rule 8..
It's my garden..it's my railway..I will run what I want. how I want. when it want..if you don't like it .
Please shut the gate on your way out
Click to expand...

That last sentence is different from a previous posting of the rules (is that for family viewing?);)
 
I know about rule 8, it was more trying to set the theme with the little houses with round doors ect. I have found some wood and resin "bird houses" sold on my side of the pond for "fairy gardens" that would fit the part of Hobbit houses. Need to find a nice little Pub to put on the layout so the workers can get thier brew after a long days work. Mike
 
Prancing Pony at Bree should fit the bill.
a344c91632380c68a8fe80e83558e00c.jpg
 
I WANT THAT PUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like the water feature..

(still) Want an 'Aero' windpump..

Think the station in the second picture could become Hobbiton Station with arch-top window overlays??

Want to find a source of the shaped blocks used for retaining the layout.. OR.. Believe there was a block-system over here a few years back, where the blocks interlocked in some way??
 
That would be so kewl in large scale. WAY beyond my building ablities and I cannot imagine how much it would cost to have a bespoke model made that could tollerate being outdoors. Mike
 
minimans said:
The nice thing about using the hobbit as a theme is it's fantasy so whatever you think looks right will BE right.
Click to expand...
That's why mine is called Gnome Valley Railway.
 
At my local Garden Centre, Scotsdales in Cambridge, they do a range of resin buildings by a company called Vivid. They do a lot of the large animals for gardens too!

The buildings are a fantasy range, and they also do a look alike VW camper van and an Ice Cream Van as well.

Prices are fairly good compared to a resin kit. They are a little bit twee, but might be what you are looking for....

http://www.vividarts.co.uk/products/miniature-world/
 
Last edited:
PhilP said:
I WANT THAT PUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

............

Want to find a source of the shaped blocks used for retaining the layout.. OR.. Believe there was a block-system over here a few years back, where the blocks interlocked in some way??
Click to expand...

Is this the stuff you're thinking of, Phil?

http://www.marshalls.co.uk/homeowners/view-croft-stone-garden-walling

Each layer locks over the previous layer, with a cast tab on the back of each block - works great for making curved raised beds, blocks are loose-laid with no fixing required, when the bed is backfilled with earth or whatever then the whole thing is self-supporting.

Jon.
 
Hi Jon,
That is similar to the product I have seen on the Forum, mostly from overseas, it seems.. This could probably be a solution. - I never have much luck with mortar!

A few years back now, there was a product which was more like a rectangular block, but it had an extra strip cast along it, and a corresponding slot cast in the bottom. - Went together a little like Lego.
?Think they did corner blocks as well??

Was a 'brand', and they did many other products, but not sure if it was a UK product??
 
mike said:
Rule 8..
It's my garden..it's my railway..I will run what I want. how I want. when it want..if you don't like it .
Please shut the gate on your way out
Click to expand...


And by the way, don't let it hit you in the arse on your way out.....!
 
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