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  • SouthernRegionSteam

    Coastguard Creek - 15 months of planning!

    By SouthernRegionSteam

    Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)   I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted
    • 8 comments
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Avonwick South Devon in 2mm (Kris' Blog)

Thoughts on fiddles

What makes for a good fiddle yard?   I suspect that there is not a single answer to this question but I think the closest I will get to an answer to this question is "One that works for the model in question". Now this is not a huge amount of help when you are trying to design one.   With the redevelopment of Avonwick I need a new fiddle yard. I have managed to impose some restrictions on what I can build through my desired operating location and maximum radius (caused by a wish to run Avon
Kris

Kris

9
Kingsbridge Branch N

Delays to PW works..

I said I would update today, sadly no pictures- will add them to this block as soon as I can take them. So far- Controller has arrived- I can now test some wiring and scrimp for a decoder. The ballast is all laid on the scenic section and I added the finer cinder edges around the track. This was then dyed with black indian ink added to the PVA mix, which will form the basis for paint fx- Will try to illustrate this with my pics. The tricky join between the curved throat board and the mai
devondynosoar118

devondynosoar118

0
Whitemarsh Yard

Flange lubricator: Grease blades

More scrap etch and superglued fingers have resulted in the following progress:       The grease blades are pieces 4x1mm (ish) scrap brass glued to the inside of the rail below the railhead, with some finer scraps folded into L shapes and slotted in under the rail to make the brackets that hold them in place. I had to make a tool (well, a piece of plastic filed to a wedge) to hold them in place against the bottom of the rail while applying glue, then carefully withdraw it before it too got
Will Vale

Will Vale

4
Somewhere in Germany

Logic madness

Two nights ago, I was sat scribbling in my notebook when my wife came to see what I was doing. She took one look at the product of my pencil, gave a disappointed sigh and declared "I don't want to know. I'm going to bed." and left me to my muttering accompanied sketches...   I mentioned back when I was trying out a Viessmann signal that I was considering designing a solid state interlocking panel for point/signal control. The idea just won't go away. I can't quite settle for individually contr
Taigatrommel

Taigatrommel

5
Fen End Pit's Blog

Demonstration video of locking frame

Over the weekend I constructed a simple locking bar mechanism which is operated by a servo which locks and unlocks the levers. The operation can be view in this Youtube clip. I think the basic mechanism could be expanded to cover a larger frame without too much difficulty.     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8KJZ4BlT_s   David
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit

2
Paxton Road's workbench

Building the ultimate Shed?

Inspiration comes in lots of forms, who would think the humble shed - the engine that marked the beginning of the end of heritage traction in regular revenue earning service with EWS - would fall into this category! Add to that huge potential in the lovely Bachmann model it seemed a no brainer for Paxton Road. Then it happened - Martin (Pugsley) showed photos of his Class 59 project and the decision was made... one day I'd do a 66! Tony's beautiful SD50 build showed a fabulous range of
James Hilton

James Hilton

22
Calshot 4mm - SRS's Blog

The construction of Calshot - Part Five - Sluice and quays

Well another day into my summer holiday and another bit of progress to share. This is my first proper attempt at making quay walls out of DAS modelling clay and they look pretty decent if I may say so. The reason they are all at funny angles is because they have not been glued due to obvious reasons. These photos aren't very good, but they are adequate for now. I have tried to recreate worn looking stones with some stones missing and cracks appearing. I am pleased with the results so far, but I
SouthernRegionSteam

SouthernRegionSteam

6
Avonwick South Devon in 2mm (Kris' Blog)

A developing circle

It's just over 2 weeks now since the 2mm soc's golden jubilee exhibition, and the realisation that in it's current set up, Avonwick was not practical to operate at an exhibition. As previously discussed the poor running in the fiddle yards combined with the inability to run a sensible service with just one operator led to my decision to convert Avonwick to a continuous run. Things have not stood still in these last 2 weeks. Firstly I started to build some new baseboards utilising foam insulati
Kris

Kris

5
harkins77's Blog

lines on a shelf from a wardrobe update

After the problems of the track testing and problem finding update I last put on I left it for a day or so but did have 1 or 2 comments from friends who told me to check and check and check again my wiring. Ok so I'm a numpty as when I went to check the wires I found that the positive bus wire droppers were wired to the + point on one board and I thought I had done the same on the other board but to my surprise I found that on one board I had done it to the red bus wire but on the 2nd board I ha
harkins77

harkins77

2
Bw Leipzig Hbf West

Lady in Black...

This evening at Frankfurt Central:       MRCE Dispolok engine ES 64 U2-001/182 501 getting under way with IC 2297 to Stuttgart Central. There currently are six MRCE ES 64 U2s under lease by the DB in order to augment their long distance motive power fleet, in light of the ongoing issue with the ICE-T and ICE 3 types being subject to significantly shortened maintenance cycles. The engines in question are ES 64 U2-001, 026, 030, 036, 061 and 072.   Yes, I do think this here certainly was n
NGT6 1315

NGT6 1315

0
Pugsley's Workbench

Paying the (sand)piper

Lack of progress on here doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything, far from it, I've spent hours and hours (what feels like an eternity!) soldering bits of brass together, and ended up with these:     It hasn't been going very well - these are the best of the ones I've made, I've scrapped at least two, and the ones that remain have been re-soldered many times to reach this point.   Each one is made from 1mm brass wire, a small chunk of 2mm hex brass and 0.8 wire, also brass.   Unfortu
Pugsley

Pugsley

3
Watkin's Wharf

Watkin's Wharf...A long time ago, in a Community Centre not too far away...

....and almost 20 years later, I've actually got it back up....   .... only to take it down again, because we're moving house in 2 weeks time.....   So..... what's the point?   well - like a lobster bisque - it's purely shellfish.... I'm hoping that this will spur your 'umble scribe to resurrect the skeletal remains of two decades of fear of failure, and make some headway into the pile of etched brass and plastic (not to mention copperclad sleeper strip) that I have invested so much in...
Jan

Jan

7
Watkin's Wharf

Watkin's Wharf...A long time ago, in a Community Centre not too far away...

... I was persuaded to enter my nascent minimum P4 opus - originally called "D Wharf" but subsequently renamed - into the Gloucester Model Railway Club Exhibition. This was October, 1991 (I think) and I had the idiocy to presume the bare boards and plethora of copperclad pointwork would burgeon into a fully-functional, living, breathing entity that would keep me entertained in the years to come.   How wrong a boy can be... not so much "opus" as hopeless....
Jan

Jan

0
Grahame's dining room table

On my dining room table.......

..... is a lot of junk and many half started and half finished projects including some not exactly railway related modelling. However, one is the scratch building of an N gauge coaling tower based on the OO Hornby one that is curently featured in all the commercial magazine reviews and question threads here. As I actually posed a question on the question thread about it, I thought I'd post up a picture showing progress so far; there's still plenty to do including adding steps and railings, makin
grahame

grahame

4
Killybegs' Blog

Bruckless Junction Phase 2

Day off today as the builder is knocking a hole through a wall to provide access to Stage 2 on Bruckless Junction which will provide a lot more storage sidings for stock. Spent Saturday morning taping plastic sheeting over everything to keep the dust out. Hopefully, when we get back from holiday next week, there may even be a baseboard erected! Thought I was going to have a lazy day today doing a bit of packing but the boss gave me a big list of jobs to do as she is having to work! Might pop ove
Killybegs

Killybegs

0
barrowroad's Blog

Barrow Road - Workshop 3

Having completed the front elevation I had a short break before starting the wall adjacent to the sidings by assembling the end wall. With only one window this proved to be an easy task until I realised I had forgotten to chamfer the upper layer of bricks. A few passes with a craft knife later and this is the result.... followed by some paint....   Moving on to the sidings wall here are some pics of the interior elevation with the second crane girder in position... and the exterior wal
barrowroad

barrowroad

2
87 101's Blog

Another year older !

Had a good laugh this morning when I opened my cards. Im going to frame this one and hang it in the railway room..     Now that I have some funds I think a shopping trip is on for some people and details for finishing off the layout.
87 101

87 101

5
halfwit's fantastic workbench!

High Level RSH 'Husky' - Chassis part 2.

Today I fitted the brass overlays that are attached to the front and rear of the chassis. And here they are;     The next job that I tackled were the brakes. These are detachable, they slot into lugs on the sides of the frames and are screwed in place with 14BA screws. There are holes in the chassis for the lower inward facing .5mm rods to slot in. I assembled these on the fret, they comprise of a pull rod overlay which sits along the top of the assembly, half etched brake shoes (held in p
halfwit

halfwit

0
Calshot 4mm - SRS's Blog

The construction of Calshot - Part Four

Just a small update. The layout has been moved to MkI's legs with a drape around it to win Brownie points! That way I can have it tucked in the corner and can work on it where it is out of the way. Having it like this makes me wonder if I actually need a backscene. Then again, it is not going to be very photogenic without one. A sluice and little footbridge have been built from left over scraps in the scrap box (funnily enough!). Still needs the mechanism and a spot of weathering. If i
SouthernRegionSteam

SouthernRegionSteam

7
Brackhampton Snow Hill

Getting back to Work

Well we've been moved almost three months now and tonight was the first night I've done any modelling - althoug whether you can call daubing a bit of paint about modelling is questionable.   I've not been idle the last three months, but unfortunately other things have been keeping me busy. Including trying to sort out the garden (it now looks like the Somme - whatever happened to GroundForce - I must have a birthday surprise coming up), extending the old pond, starting a new one. Once we can a
rovex

rovex

4

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