Elvenhome Model Railway Finished?: Elvenhome EP 157

[@petertownsend8276]

Hi Stephen. Very nice work. Have a great Christmas and a wonderful Hogmanay..Pete.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Pete. Merry Christmas to you and yours also. Stephen

[@wd23st]

Great video - Happy Christmas

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much. Merry Christmas. Stephen

[@stephenriley9084]

Stephen, congratulations! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Regards, Stephen.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Stephen. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you also

[@colinnewmarch1106]

A merry Christmas Stephen, love your layout

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Colin. Merry Christmas to you too. Stephen

[@mikeuk1954]

A Very Merry Christmas to you. A very enjoyable year watching the progress of your build. 👍

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Mike. I'm pleased you've enjoyed watching. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@kst1958]

Well done Stephen, looking back the layout has come on in leaps and bounds. All the best for you and yours for Christmas and the New Year Keith

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Keith. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@roystudds1944]

Congratulations on this video Stephen. It must be a great feeling when a section looks complete as this does. A great running session as well. Have a great Christmas and very happy New Year. I look forward to seeing your next update. Thanks for sharing. Roy.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Roy. It is quite a strange feeling. I can’t quite believe I’ve reached this stage. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@afm1948]

Hi Stephen, a couple of suggestions come to mind to help you with your couple of minor projects. 1/. to repair the hole in the Quarry wall; cut a square of cardboard slightly larger than the hole, knot a piece of string at the end and poke the tail through the center of the square, leaving a couple of inches of length for you to grip. Feed the string tail thruogh the hole from the back and tension so the cardboard flattens against the back of the scenery. Next plaster the hole whilst keeping tension on the string. When the plaster is dry and the hole no longer exists cut the string tail flush. Blend to match. 2/. Possibly not prototypical, but to me as you don't seem to have the space for the beams to operate the lock gates, what about a hand wheel on a rod the operates hydrylics buried in the lock walls? Have a happy safe festive season. Looking forward to more Elvenhome in 2024. Arthur

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Arthur. I must confess I am beginning to rather like the hole, and I wonder if I might just leave it. It is a rather unintended scenic feature! Thank you for the idea about operating the lock gates. A friend of mine who used to do a lot of boating has shown me pictures of a number of systems for opening gates which are based on the bank. So i will be saved from trying to model something to go on each lock gate. Thanks again for the idea about the quarry face. I am so indebted to you for that idea. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@nigelh3253]

The running session gives a great view of the overall layout - really fantastic now. Very enjoyable video!

[@Elvenhome]

Thank you Nigel. It has been a long while since I put train cam around the layout, mainly because it did look odd when it ran out of the scenic area. I was pleased with the footage when I saw it. Stephen

[@Nat-AVMR-N-gauge]

Hi Stephen, you have made incredible progress this year it’s amazing to see how far your layout has come and makes me wonder what mine will look like next year. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Hears to 2024🥂Nat

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Nat. I was watching your video when your comment arrived. I'm pleased with the progress this year, even if, at times, it seemed I was getting nowhere fast. Very pleasing just to stand and look at the layout out now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. Stephen

[@davidrauger]

It looks fantastic, Stephen, so inspiring. When watching the last shot, I remembered you unpacking stuff and getting baseboards ready right back at the beginning. Wow. I'm not sure the pill box is quite in the right place. Are they trying to protect the cliff edge to stop poor Germans falling down it? 😊 I know the travails of track laying. I had been laying a junction and an existing point that had been in situ was fine until I went to join up to it to discover a switch blade missing. I must have knocked it off in the last day or so without realising it! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year at Elvenholme!

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Dave. I did think of using a clip from the second video. I still have to look twice to be sure it is all now built. The pill box is where it is because the local Home Guard Captain during the War was to keen to be able to give withering fire to repel any amphibious landings from the canal basin. It was said the idea was given to him by a cousin who was a Captain in the Home Guard at Warmington- on-Sea in Sussex. More prosaically it will help me lift out the middle section if I need to get under the baseboard. Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@SimonLivertonCentral]

Hi Stephen, I have been very impressed with all of your videos and skills during 2023, looking forward to seeing them in 2024...Simon

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Simon. Thanks very much. Lots of scenic work to be done, and then there are the parts that I look at and think I could do that much better now. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@Wickford_N_Gauge]

Greetings Elvenhome and hello Stephen 👋 A fantastic year of achievements 😇 and still time to save Euan from turning into Scrooge 👻 I do hope that dram 🥃 was Merry Berry Sherry 💃Excellent running session with a great tune 🎵 the perfect ending to the year 😎 Very best wishes from the Emerald Isle ☘️

[@Elvenhome]

Hello Paul. Merry Berry Sherry my eye. That was a fine dram from Skye - cask strength too. I enjoyed putting the running session together. Now I can send the track cam around without it suddenly going into a white foam desert, it's worth doing. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@PiddleInTheMarshbyMarkIreland]

​@@ElvenhomeNone of that gut rot from Wickford around Elvenhome ! Probably with Rab C Nesbit in Goven ! Merry Christmas Stephen.

[@Elvenhome]

@@PiddleInTheMarshbyMarkIreland Quite so Mark. Merry Christmas

[@SC68]

Hi Stephen, Elvenholme finished, never, I thought you'd be never uttering those words, a layout is never finished!! Layout looking great, especially like the tunnel entrance above the canal lock, it will look great when you get the scenics on! Nice running session on the 'finished' layout 😉 All the best for Christmas and New Year, its been a real pleasure watching you videos this year and finally meeting up with you at Warley! Cheers Gary

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Gary. I thought I would tease a little with the title. Still lots to do, and as you would I,agile bits which I look at now and think that needs updating or changing. I’m really pleased with the tunnel entrances at the canal. I’ve always liked that shape and it was good to get it on the layout. It was good to meet you. If you are ever in Edinburgh for work and fancy a coffee, or something stronger! Let me know. Merry Christmas to you and yours Stephen.

[@highlandersixtysix]

What an absolute delight, as always. Thanks for taking the time to put so much into the production of your video productions, always interesting and informative. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy Hogmanay - I should be able to catch up with you at Model Rail Scotland!

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Donald. I do enjoy making the videos, it's almost part of the hobby for me now. It would be good to catch up at MRS. I am likely to be there on the Friday. Merry Christmas and Happy Hogmanay to you too. Stephen

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Stephen. I was sorry to hear of the arrival of the dreaded lurgy, but you seem to have recovered quite nicely (I hope Mrs Elvenhome is OK, too). The path of true love (of model railways) never runs smoothly. What on earth were you holding in your hands (LOL)? Wishing you and Mrs Elvenhome a very Merry Xmas, Hogmanay and all best wishes for the New Year.

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Paul It was good to get the lurgy out of the way before Christmas. The glass contained apple juice - or it might be flavoured water - whisky flavoured water. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to your and yours Paul. Stephen

[@chrisjubb-hearnborough]

All the best for Christmas and the New Year Stephen. You've accomplished so much this year so you deserve a break. See you again in 2024!

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Chris. It was a surprise to see how much has been completed this year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@MichaelHenfrey]

Hi Stephen, Great progress on the layout this year. Shame you had to rip up some of your track, luckily it was only a small section where it went wrong, but I know the pain of having to rip it up all too well! Hope you have a lovely Christmas. Cheers, Michael

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Micheal. I was more than very miffed when I realised my mistake with that section of track. But it was easily mended once I accepted I needed to lift the ballast. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@exehavenharbour]

Hi Stephen, I’ve had a strange feeling towards the end of the video and it was that I’m not sure I was happy or not that basically the layout is done. I know that there’s still stuff to do but I’ve been with you since that empty room way back when. I almost want you to scrap it and start again, lol! I’m looking forward to more and I know a layout is never complete but it’s getting as close as it can be, I’m not sure Exehaven will ever be that close (I hope it will by the way!!!). Have a lovely Christmas and New Year, at least you got the lurgy out of the way in time, cheers for now Stephen, John🥃🥂🍻

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks John. I do know what you mean, there is part of me can't quite believe I don't have something major to build. That said all I have completed is the structural work. The scenic work at that end isn't done, in particular the thing I really want to get on with, building the canal and its basin. There are bits of the layout I need to return to because I know I can improve them. Exehaven will get there John, and I shall enjoy watching it happen. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Mrs Exehaven. Stephen

[@ngaugefouroaksstreetstatio6932]

Excellent Stephen, the whole section looks great and above all believable. Really enjoy your commentary, very drole in parts. All the best for Xmas.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Chris. It really has come together and I'm pleased that you think it looks believable. Merry Christmas

[@davidb4040]

Well done Stephen and thanks for all the inspiration and enjoyment you've provided through the year.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks David. It’s great to know you’ve enjoyed the videos. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@iansngauge]

Hi Stephen! Well that's one huge step to end the year on, getting all of the railway structure in place! Can't wait to see what builds you get up to next year to complete the scenic elements! That bit of naughty track must have been a bit soul destroying, especially after you'd thought your ballasting journey had been completed! I like the idea of using different coloured ballast to represent new track though! The two shots at the end, showing how much work you'd completed since February was quite revealing! You never think you've done as much as you have, do you? Glad you got over the lurgy before the festivities begin, and on that note - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to yourself and Mrs Elvenhome! Cheers, Ian.

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Ian. It is a very strange feeling to walk into the train room and see a 'completed' layout there. My heart did sink when the train stopped dead and then, having been given a push, leaped off the track just before the point. It turned out it was reasonably easy to fix but it did have me worried for a bit. I did feel the i really wasn't getting anywhere around the middle of the year, but once I worked out what I wanted it has come along in leaps and bounds. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@Amberlea-Model-Railway]

More great work Stephen, thanks for the inspiration through the year - I'll keep going with Amberlea using your tips and hints. Merry Christmas, Chris

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Chris. I'm pleased if you've found things I do helpful in the build your layout. I learned so much from others on KZbin, it's great to be able to pass that on. Merry Christmas. Stephen

[@Amberlea-Model-Railway]

A question if I may? I remember at the start of some of your early videos there was mention of the Model Railway KZbin Community Group and the Model Rail Network. Are these groups still active and how would I go about joining?

[@Elvenhome]

@@Amberlea-Model-Railway I did used to reference both groups. I think they are both still going. You will find them as Facebook groups. Originally there was just the Model Railway KZbin Group, but after a falling out among the admins the Model Railway Network was created. As I suspect you have discovered its all to easy to be in lots of groups on Facebook. I didn't find much interest in N gauge and they were all mainly modern image modellers so I left both groups to concentrate on other groups. Stephen

[@Amberlea-Model-Railway]

@@Elvenhome Cheers Stephen😁

[@grahamcuthbert4115]

Thank you Stephen for all the time you have invested in another year of layout building, it's come a long way in that year. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and productive 2024.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks Graham. I do feel as though I eventually achieved a lot, but at times it felt like wading through treacle trying to work out what to do. All worth it to stand back and look at it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Stephen

[@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge]

Hi Stephen - what a fantastic layout you've created. I'm in awe of those twin tunnel mouths and the folly at the other end. Scenery is always very handy to hide large thumb holes 😅. Most enjoyable running session into the bargain. Hope you and your good lady have a good Christmas and a Happy New year. Looking forward to meeting up at MRS in February. All the best, Euan

[@Elvenhome]

Thank Euan. I do keep having to look at it just to make sure it is structurally complete. I do like the tunnel mouths and they showed up well on train cam. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your good lady. It will be good to meet up at MRS. Stephen

[@wheezypalacemodels7726]

Hi Stephen, glad you are on the mend and looking at the work you have done, it’s a great achievement to finally see it in its nearly landscaped form. You have made some excellent modelling work of creating it and should be very proud of it. Merry Christmas to you and yours from all at the Palace… All the best and will be back with you in 2024….Chris

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Chris. The layout really is something to look at now. With that one section completed my little world does now look complete even if there is a lot of work yet to be done with scenics and lights. Merry Christmas and and Happy New Year to you and your family. Stephen

[@TheHeritageLine]

Hi Stephen, You have certainly made some great progress on the layout this year! Nice to see the layout running once again. Still plenty to do to keep you out of mischief 😁. Enjoy your short break, and I wish you and your family a Happy Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay! All the best Tony.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Tony. I was a surprised when I compare the two photos, because I didn't think I had made much progress. As you say still lots to do and thats before I decide to upgrade some of the earlier stuff. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, and maybe we can meet at MRS. Stephen

[@philbrown3685]

A celebratory drink is in order, cheers. Have a good holiday, looking forward to even more next year. All the best 😊

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Phil. Lots still to do so plenty of videos for next year. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@SimonMarshall-Jones]

Thank you Sephen for a great year of Elvenholme. What great progress you have made. I really look forward to your videos. I especially am looking forward to seeing how you tackle the water in the canal. Will ipa give the best finish or could you go down the resin route? I'm so looking forward to your next video in 2024. Have a great Christmas and a very well earned break !! God bless. Simon. 😀🎄🎄🚂🚂

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Simon. I pleased you find the videos enjoyable and I do seem to have made quite a bit of progress this year. I think I will have experiment with a larger test piece for the water in the canal. I've seen PVA used on other layouts and it works well and I would prefer to avoid resin, which has a habit of finding the tiniest of holes to leak through. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@karlsage3064]

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd dda! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. Thank you Stephen for your great videos and wise words. See you in 2024!

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Karl. I'm pleased you enjoy the videos and there will be more in the New Year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also. Stephen

[@MossdaleNGaugeRailway]

What a great way to end the year and finish the layout. Is it finished or just the start of a rebuild of the oldest parts. Have a good Christmas, Dave.

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Dave. There is lots still to do scenically at that end, and then as you guessed there are some bits of the early build the I have my eye on to revamp. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@lynganddistrict]

Love the comment re "fat thumb hole"! Glad to see that even experts can make mistakes! I feel your pain with the Sharky's End ballasting issues - happens to me all too often that after ballasting do I find there is an issue with alignment and connectivity. These days I ballast and leave it loose for at least a week and am so very very careful when fixing it down, almost paranoid about it. I agree with you regarding the lighting - definitely the more lights the better the layout looks, and have been doing the same thing on my layout which you will see when I publish the next video this week. I will be looking forward to seeing how you model the lock gates and how you complete the scenic work. As 2023 comes to an end, I just wanted to thank you for all the advice and tips and constructive comments you have given me over the year. Have a very Happy New Year. Regards Steve

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Steve. I must confess I am growing rather fond of the hole. It may become a feature. I was so cross about the ballast. I may even have given way to a flip and tut or two. Still it's done now and working. Only to happy to help Steve. I learned so much, and still get help, it's great to be able to pass that on. On very useful bit of help from Mark Ireland, who knows about thinks navigational and canals, is that there are a number of different systems for moving water out of the lock which have different mechanisms. So I will not have to fashion four very small mechanisms for locks with paddles. Happy New Year to you and yours Steve. Stephen

[@JoshMallard96]

Great video. It looks fantastic indeed. Well done Stephen. Happy new year. Cheers Josh

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much Josh. Im pleased with how this has turned out. Happy new Year Stephen

[@KnugenMooMoo]

Smashing video Stephen and have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year

[@Elvenhome]

Thanks very much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you also. Stephen

[@markmckergow2327]

Thank you for the name check Stephen! Happy new year to you and hope to see you for a pint in the Golden Perch one of these days

[@Elvenhome]

You’re welcome Mark. Another friend of mine, also called Mark, who has in the past been a keen canal boatmen has also suggested a much simpler way of representing the means of opening the sluice gates so no trying to make equipment to sit on each lock gate. A pint I the Golden Perch sounds a lovely idea. Mind you have to avoid pay day for the bargemen. It can get a bit lively. Stephen

[@hayridgemodelrail4046]

Good evening Stephen, the finished rock face looks excellent and it's great to see trains running on the layout again, now it's just the fine details, but is a layout ever truly finished? Looking forward to seeing more videos. Allan

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Allen. There is still lots to do before I start looking at upgrading some of the earlier work. I was being a bit impish with the title. I am really pleased to be able to see the layout built though. I still just stand and look at it. Merry Christmas Stephen

[@hayridgemodelrail4046]

@@Elvenhome Merry Christmas to you to. Enjoy the holiday season.

[@robappleby2359]

Just a general question, Steve: What’s the longest reach from your normal operating position to the back sections? I have a baseboard of 6’ x 3’ prepared but some friends are suggesting that the 3’ depth is too far?

[@Elvenhome]

Hi Rob. My baseboards are all 3' deep and I can easily reach the back with the scenery on them to be able to clean track or reach locos. My baseboards all stand 1 meter high because I am 6'4 and I didn't want to be bending too much. It does get trickier once you have scenery at the front of course. I have a small collapsable step which I use to help me get some height and avoid hitting things if am having to do a lot at the very back. By and large my approach of working on the scenery from the back to the front saved me from most of that, but you always see something you might want to change or improve.