A much needed update 1

In some ways it feels like ages since my last update in October but in other ways it doesn't.  A new job meaning working away in Barnsley & Sheffield four days a week and until very recently having no internet access while away has meant that the Blog has taken a very back seat.

In the limited time I have at home I have been doing lots of little things to Abthorpe but as with most things lots of little things don't show up much!

One project I picked up at a collectors fair at the Lincoln Showground was a Lima Clas 40 in BR Green as Atlantic Conveyor.  After seeing a photo of a 40 at Lincoln and at Cleethorpes (the same style with disc style headcodes) tempted me to try to improve it a bit.  I was amazed how well it ran considering the bad press a lot of Lima mechanisms get. I have a quite a few old Lima models and on the whole (apart form a couple which are always a little sluggish to start with) they perform well if a little noisily.

As Lima made it - not mine but didn't take a photo before I started!

The 40 was rubbed back to remove the printed numbers and name (the bodyshell is in a yellow plastic) then primed. I then had another go with Dad's old airbrush and some Railmatch enamel BR Green.  The overall affect is quite good - the roof colour is a Phoenix Precision diesel roof grey but to me seems rather brown but too late....

I've picked out various bits on the bogie sideframes, fitted pipework to the front and removed the hideous Lima couplings replacing them with Bachmann style narrow tension lock using the same hole and mounting point.  I've got to track down some new diesel number transfers as the one I have doesn't have enough 'D's of the right size left!

Finished photos to follow soon when I find where I've saved them!

The First Post...

So welcome to my Blog and to Abthorpe Central.  I'm hoping through the coming months (years) to document the progress of my layouts construction and hopeful completion and exhibition.  The layout was initially designed to fit into my last flat which had a nicely sized spare room but on moving the plan had to be 'shrunken' down quite a bit and as a result a lot of the curves are tighter than I would like and the platform lengths aren't quite what they were meant to me.

General end of platform/entrance to shed view (really need to tidy up as I go...)

The eventual aim is to have a terminus station based in North East Lincolnshire set in about 1958-63 which was part of a (non-existent) line from Lincoln to the coast in the 1880s and was constructed by the MS&L (later Great Central Railway).  The basic premise of the line was a mixture of tourists for a seaside resort (much like the real life Cleethorpes and Skegness) and also the fish docks and shipping imports. The Cental part of the name is a hangover from the other competition in town (the MR later LMS) which had a small terminus and shed but which had come under BR(E) control and closed in 1956 - this gives a good excuse to run ex-LMS types with a valid reason of a route to Lincoln and Nottingham.


The trackplan is something of a mix of the real Cleethorpes with bits of Aberyswyth  (ex-Cambrian Railway) thrown together as both have interested me for differing reasons.  The shed at the back (operating side of the layout) is not quite the size I initially intended but will have a twin road Northlight Shed (currently being kitbashed from an old Triang/Hornby model) with extra storage lines, a turntable, coaling stage and ash plant along with a 'new' servicing line for those new fangled diesel things.

Site of shed (and turntable - under the boxes eventually)

I will add more background and ideas as I progress along with other photos from the initial design and planning stage (when I can find them..) along with ongoing construction of the layout, building, locomotives and rolling stock as time / funds permit!


These are a few of my current projects -


Crownline Conversion kit (with Airfix tender etc) for LMS build 4-4-0 Compound - still to be finished and renumbered/lined.

Station Building - based on Aberystwyth plans/pictures/visit/drinking in!