Today on the CFHC

i have a thing for h vans

I didn't know Orangina had made it to the NORTH

o they do get about, my favoiurt version

I noticed this on US eBay yesterday- 1980 Citroen H - in Tom's River, New Jersey.

I'm tempted, but still rational.

GWhizz wrote:

I didn't know Orangina had made it to the NORTH

Aye lad, even thirty miles further north.....

although I do have to say I prefer the Citroen H to the drink.
I might keep my eyes out for the C4 to go with it, but they seem to be a lot scarcer.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

With this in mind, I tasked Caroline to find a suitable model.

Unfortunately, this is what she came up with ....



It's 2,500 Euros, 1:1 scale and possibly influenced by her equine interests?

Horse Box

Well, Brian, it says the price is negotiable....

Buy it..... 2.500 euros for a decent one is a real snip. They can fetch 10k euros.
Just imagine going exhibitions and shows with that.

If we had a spare 2,500 Euro's we would !

I can't believe this run of luck - fourth week running another Bric a Brac, another find - Les Pins North of Chasseneuil this time.

Photo's and more details tomorrow.....

Before I reveal details of our latest Vide Grenier find, I should report the welcome visit of an old friend from the UK last week.

Richard, Gail and MIL Pearl made the round trip from the South Dordogne where they are holidaying.

Richard has a superb old walled garden back in the UK and has been buying bits of LGB and track for the past few years. However having viewed the Edrig in full r/c controlled steam he is a convert to live steam and planning a purchase on his return.

Richard may also be joining us at the Paris Expo in November.

You both look very comfortable sitting there in the sun (playing trains)

Now to the latest purchase - I bought a farm - yes a whole farm including 3 tractors and various animals and buildings for the princely sum of 5 euros.

The buildings are a little undersized for G but look OK at the far end of the layout.


Including the milking stalls for three cows ...


The same couldn't be said of the all the animals unless I was going to do a GM research station diorama....


Some of the figures are nearer 1:32 so I've used them to try and force perspective at the Abbey ruin....


The pigs and sheep however are great and copying yet another of Mikeys ideas, now have a shelter made from a bisected can...


What will the next weekend bring? It's nearing the end of the "car boot" season here!

French Chuffed wrote:

You both look very comfortable sitting there in the sun (playing trains)

The conviviality was also helped by the previous two hours of lunch and drinking wine!

Good bargain...That building (or one strikingly similar) was 29 euros alone in Carrefour a while back.
Corrugated pig pen looks good except for some real natural rusty weathering.....
That may be difficult down where you are though.

Bati LeClerk have their annual autumn promotion on miniature conifers right now.

Snapped up a few this morning, so now the new farm area has a boundary tree line...




and the church has a tree in the yard...

Brain,

I spent an hour reading this thread all from start to end and enjoyed it very much! It was real fun to watch it develop from a rough terrain to this great looking and inspirational layout.
And I just love that Gare at Domaine de L'Etang!! Nice job!!

Looking forward to new posts!

Hi Paulus

Thanks for your kind comments and a belated welcome to this forum from me!

One of the pleasures of this forum is sharing our joy in this hobby with others

I have been struggling with ballasting my line for sometime now!

I tried the "Mikey" ash method but even with cement mixed in it just washed away

Fortuitously our commune have just been resurfacing our local roads and in the process have left large piles of 4mm granite chippings by the roadside. So sneaking out with wheelbarrow and shovel have gathered enough to probably do the whole layout.

At 4mm it's probably a bit large to be scale but it looks OK to me and it's FREE !



It survived the first rain downpour last night so I'm hoping I may get away without gluing?

In other developments I have extended the siding towards the proposed "fat controller's shed".




One side efect of the ballasting was for grit to lodge underneath the catenary pylons in the passing loop and lift up the rail to which it is clipped. This was always a dodgy area so I have detatched the pylons from the rail and screwed them down independently. I will also re-concrete thisarea so I have put up shuttering and am just waiting for a dry spell of weather...

Spot on ballasting Brian. Mine IS too big yours looks about right. I wish they would resurface the roads here.....!

Good scavenging Brian. I imagine that the birds will probably help themselves to it as time goes by, but as long as you've some in reserve!

I have been experimenting with a mix of wood ash, aquatic soil and sharp sand - the rain has failed to wash it away as yet.

The different results with woodash ballasting dont surprise me/ The 'heap' that I got the majority of ash from had been there for at least three years and seemed a lot 'heavier' when i used it/ This still hasnt been washed away by the rain, in fact some of it went during the really hot spells/ i guess its best if its slightly damp ~The newer wood ash from last winter did indeed wash away quite quickly but i have mixed some peat into it and it seems fine now

Its a catch 22 situation; if the ballast is too big. or not glued in some way there is a risk of it entering the 'works'/ If its exactly the right scale that problem increases!

Mikey

Yep. There's no easier answer to ballasting.

I glued some of my 'chunky' down with exterior PVA and the it goes all white in the wet and looks terrible!
I never had this problem before.

My ballasting in a channel dug in the ground and lined with membrane seems to work well. I know it has to be topped up each year, but it retains the track well and I think looks acceptable. On the concrete I just replace it as it washes away.

It's early days yet and I haven't seen the latest ballasting effort survive a real deluge, although we had some pretty persistant rain last night. I think a quick tour of all the turnouts with a pair of tweezers will be needed before any serious running, as Mikey says it's all too eay to get grit in the point mechanisms.

I think the trouble with my ash effort was that it was only 12 months old and the lumps hadn't really set, I was hoping cement would do the trick. The good thing about it washing away though was that nothing had permanently adhered to the tracks.

Like most folks I guess? I've been forced inside by the snow, so not much to report of late! Also the railway has suffered a mole invasion with earth mounds cascading soil alongside the tracks.

Forced into the workshop idle hands begat a strange creation - the "Stramasaine" the unholy marriage of two Stainz cabs and a Playmo motor block. It has an LGB loop one end and Chopper coupling the other to mate with my other rolling stock! ...........