There was some discussion this week on one of the forums relating to the ex Dapol / Hornby twelve wheel restaurant cars. I have lowered the ride height of mine to run with Bachmann stock:
In order to get the buffers of the Hornby Restaurant Car to match the height of my adjacent Bachmann Mk1s it was necessary to lower the underframe on the bogies.
First it is best to take the whole coach apart. This can be done by sliding ones finger nail between the coach side and the underframe an
After praising Airfix Castles in this 'Blog', I have to now admit to purchasing one of Hornby's new Castle Class locomotives, Ince Castle.
Historically I had one of Dapol's engine driven castles, Dorchester Castle. More recently I tried out Cadbury Castle, the Hornby version. Neither could cope with seven coaches and the grades on the layout, quite a disappointment.
Ince Castle seems to be a different proposition. It has quite the longest 'can' motor that I have seen. However st
I have long admired the ex LMS rebuilt Royal Scots. This little note details some improvements that I have found necessary for some of my Bachmann models.
First a couple of views of the prototype from the 1960s, 46132 at Carlisle Citadel (04/08/62) and 46154 at Lime Street maybe in 1962.
No surprise then that when I returned to the hobby that my first purchase was a Mainline Royal Scot. This came from the Morpeth Model Shop in August 1980 and cost £19.00. This was followed in Nov
Time to reminisce? Well done to Hattons celebrating their 65th Anniversary. Most of us will at some time have bought from Hattons. Two of my earliest purchases which still live on are a Hornby Dublo 8F and an Airfix Castle:
The 2 rail Hornby Dublo 8F was advertised by Hattons in the early 1960s in the Railway Modeller. There was to be a family visit to Chester from the north of England and my father was prevailed upon to drive back through the Mersey Tunnel so that I could visit Smi
The last Blog entry dealt with adding the electrics for the new siding. With the electrics completed. I have returned to ballasting and have now completed the 'corner':
It is a start and having added the ballast it highlights just how much more scenic work needs to be done.
The picture below is an update of the earlier unballasted view. The poppy seeds form a relatively thick layer and hide the cast metal base of the old Tri-ang water column.
Finally another view o
Following on from extending the board and laying the extra siding it has been necessary to add a couple of additional switches to the control panel - bottom right:
The panels are made from 3mm thick high density fibre board, hardboard as I used to know it. After drawing the line of the new siding on the front of the panel the next task was to drill two pilot holes where the new switches were to be located.
These initial pilot holes were gradually opened out using ever bigger s
As originally envisaged the top right corner was just an empty space:
However whilst playing trains it soon became apparent that a passing loop would be useful for the branch line - and if this could be combined with some sort of 'halt' / station for the autotrain, then it would be doubly useful. The wood work was changed and some track layed:
However - why did I cut off the piece of board into the corner? Maybe the corner of the room was not square? It certainly wouldn'
Back in August when I started this Blog I made a back of envelope calculation based on a test length of 150mm which indicated a requirement for circa 3.5 kg of ballast.
Four 1kg bags of poppy seeds were purchased. and I set off ballasting. Now some four months later all four bags have been used up and the work is not yet complete. Not a bad calculation given that I have increased the spread of ballast for parallel sidings and some open spaces around goods and engine sheds. My back of
Not a new embankment but the same paper and paste techniques used to replace the coving and cover the opening for the old Central Heating flue!
The last fortnight has been dominated by swapping out the oil fired boiler for a heat pump, and making good the plaster and paintwork. Crawling around in the eaves makes a change from ballasting. Not sure which I most prefer!
Since my last post, ballasting of the mid-level single track junction has been completed. It is maybe reminis
This week has been dominated by the removal of our oil fired central heating - so not much railway modelling. The single track junction is now ballasted:
I think the track was laid before the rest of the layout was completed and access to the ends of the sidings now requires great physical stamina and not a little patience! Hence the Blog title 'A stretch in time!. As usual I have provided card bases for the Goods Shed and Engine Shed:
A picture with work in progress and then
Time to inspect progress at the main station. All the ballasting is complete, just need to get on with some Station canopies. That will be a job for next summer!
This is a view of the 'bay' platforms with a Bachmann 22xx on a branch train.
As originally conceived this was The Terminus for an 'out and back' layout. In fact an 'out and back' double track mainline and a single track branch line accessed from both The Terminus and a junction on the mainline :
The layout was c
Back to ballasting! Managed to finish the track to the branch terminus. First an atmospheric view:
The buildings are the well known Hornby Skaledale, whilst the rolling stock are a Dapol 14xx, Mainline autocoach and a Lima railcar on a Hornby chassis (I don't like the colour of the Hornby body shell).
And for comparison, an earlier view showing the layout under construction with an Airfix 14xx and some Mainline wagons in evidence:
Instead of ballasting track, this week has seen some playing with trains:
This is my 'new' Hornby 14xx. However as received it was not a smooth runner and it been given a replacement Dapol chassis. The Hornby model replaces an older and much loved Airfix model.
The suspect Hornby chassis has been given to my Airfix model. As an experiment much time has been spent delving into my 'box of bits' and I have replaced the centre driven axle (with the traction tyres) with a pair o
No heat wave here in the west of Scotland. In the meantime ballasting has passed under 'the bridge in the middle'.
Two pictures looking up and down the line.
And a more general view which highlights where some of the 'civil engineering' works have still to be finished off.
The bridge itself lifts off to alow access to the tracks beneath. Further details are provided here in my photogallery.
http://www.rmweb.co....789-the-bridge/
I have also added a picture f
This week there have been conflicting interests, so not so much ballast and instead a bit of history:
My old Superquick engine shed in its latest postion - a rare picture with no engines.
The shed dates back to the early 1980s and my Bracken Ridge Layout. It was part of a pair of sheds which were customised to fit my track spacing. The sheds were made narrower. This was achieved by separating the gable ends from the walls. If you look carefully you can see where the brick arch f
As someone said, Summer is next year! In the meantime the ballast has reached the loco yard:
Where there are to be buildings I have glued a piece of cardboard down to the board prior to ballasting. The cardboard is cut ever so slightly smaller than the building footprint so that it doesn't show beneath the finished building. I also took the opportunity to make a 'concrete' floor for the engine sheds.
Here is the footprint for the old Superquick shed:
And here the footpr
This week has seen lots of rain so there has been lots of progress with the ballasting:
On the mainline the ballast has reached the main station. 'Upstairs' ballasting has progressed in both directions, towards the branch terminus:
- and some more at the junction:
A back breaking task reaching across the layout. This week has seen the second 1 kg bag of seed used. Must be approaching half of the visible trackwork. Still on target for a Christmas completion
Good progress and the 'ballast' has crossed the viaduct and arrived at the junction:
The 'branch' is ex GWR but the 'junction' provides a connection to the the old LMR. The foot bridge is the ubiquitous Hornby model cut down for platform use:
A view from the main line, the engine shed will have wait for another day!
Another wet week so the potatoes are still in the ground! However good progress with the ballast on the mainline:
As originally constructed the exit from the goods yard / station was a simple diamond crossing with dead frogs:
This was then changed for a single slip. There is more metal rail on the single slip which gives superior running. However the rather abrupt 'turn left' is too tight for some engine / tender combinations and is in restricted use.
The change from '
Mixing and pasting track ballast currently looms large and I am attaching details of the procedure that works for me. I prefer the small poppy seeds to gritty mineral sands. I use wallpaper paste as the adhesive. It should offer less resistance than PVA should there be a change of plan or track repairs needed.
I use simple tools, a small plastic bowl (ex Christma Pudding basin), stainless steel spatula and a small screw driver:
I use a heavy duty wallpaper paste which has been ch
Four weeks ago a back of envelope calculation indicated a requirement for circa 3.5 kg of ballast. Four bags of poppy seeds were purchased. Now four weeks later the first bag has been all used up.
My wife confirms my suspicions. Instead of four bags, the visible trackwork will probably require at least five bags. Four weeks to use one bag, 20 weeks to use five bags. A Christmas completion is still a possibility?
There have been discussions on this web site regards the optimum w
Longsheds layout started life around 2005. Base board construction and track laying is complete but as a number of observers have noted the track is unballasted and the scenery is lacking. This blog will detail progress with these tasks.
Last week saw completion of the ballasting to the mid level junction station:
This week has seen a start to ballasting at the branch terminus:
Ballast is blue poppy seed otherwise known as maw seed and it is mixed with wallpaper
.thumb.jpg.60c53fcbcaa34017b05b8919d1a9e6d2.jpg)