Jump to content
 
  • entries
    27
  • comments
    47
  • views
    22,765

About this blog

from train set to ???? A voyage of discovery.

see more here

Entries in this blog

Nothing to see here

As all the pictures have disappeared and I’m not doing much with the railway due to other commitments the blog has not been updated for a while. there will be a clearance soon due to downsizing and needing to shift my Dad’s layout and stock plus the other bits I really don’t need 

ess1uk

ess1uk in Blog

Stock check

Stock taking is in order and a clearance will begin soon after Dad’s layout has been dismantled 

ess1uk

ess1uk in Blog

Ruby Road to nowhere? (part 7)

Well 5 years on from my first blog entry where are we? Still nothing permanent apart from the test plank and the operating sessions are fewer and further apart. Not bought any more rolling stock for a while and not had much time to do anything with what I already have. Hope now the nights are drawing in that I may be able to change all this. Still sketching plans though. Keep coming back to the excellent Ting Tong Yard or Down Sidings layouts or similar. A yard with potential for shunting. Mayb

ess1uk

ess1uk

Ruby Road sidings, the saga continues (part 6)

After contemplating the track plan a little more using points i had to hand, I've now come to a final decision. It's still going to be the 4 sidings as before, but laid out not so straight and parallel as the last incarnation. Peco SL-89 leading to SL-96 and SL-95 Undecided if I should swap the SL-89 for SL-87 curved left hand? the test board is just in the pictures as an aid to track spacing. After the pictures were taken the ply was cut roughly in half along it's length so now I can see jus

ess1uk

ess1uk

Ruby Road Sidings part 5. Another go.

Having changed my mind countless times I decided to have yet another go at planning the sidings. So out came the track and points and paper templates to see if I could come up with something I liked the look of that would hold my wagons and still be able to let me shunt. each siding must be able to hold my longest wagons, 2x PWAs, as a minimum this is a bit of ply 4x3 that i found i will probably cut it down the middle to give two 4x1.5 boards so that i can put them end to end to giv

ess1uk

ess1uk

Wagons galore! They keep on coming.

The sidings are filling up fast with new arrivals at Ruby Road.   It started with a Bachman VBA bought at the 2012 Trains4U open day and then after working in Ford and a visit to The Engine Shed resulted in a Bachman VDA I found myself still wanting more!   So yet more new arrivals to Ruby Road on the 2nd December 2012: Railfreight VDA Railfreight Distribution 20 ton brake van Yeoman POA all Bachman and weathered b

ess1uk

ess1uk

Ruby Road sidings part 2. Test board expansion.

using some old Hornby set track lying round in the garage I'm trying to come up with a plan to extend the test board into something useable as a mini layout. I'm liking the idea of an engineers yard like Kingsmill so i have room for all the wagons I've collected over the years. here's what i've come up with with the few bits of track I have.     Obviously it does not have to stay like this and the points will be new and not the battered and broken ones in the picture. I've got some peco

ess1uk

ess1uk

Ruby Road Depot. Trying it out for size. Should I or not?

I thought about a small servicing depot for my locos so I've been having a try of the depot track plan to work out how much room it will take. Allowing for the 2 shed roads to take 2 locos each and the fuel area to take either 3 TTAs or a loco I reckon that i can fit what i want onto a 2m by 30cm board. I've laid the track out roughly on the kitchen table to get an idea, what do you think? 47378, 50043 and 56 try the depot for size. obviously the setrack will go in favour of flexi.

ess1uk

ess1uk

Deeping Show 2012

Back from visiting the Deeping show (after a good chat with Neil and a proper look at Deeping Lane Depot which is even more impressive up close than it is on here) with a couple of items. Mainline BSK coach in blue and grey as M34571 for the passengers. Not listed in 1989 Platform 5 book so may not stay. Hornby MSV wagon to add to the collection Hornby 12T Brake van Hornby power controller so the second loop can be used independently at last which should hopefully stop some moaning And the

ess1uk

ess1uk

Ruby Road. Signs of the times.

I've been making signs for the layout.   Here's the first attempt on the shed. not brilliant i know, but neither is the shed! and with all the handling it gets from Ruby it won't last long anyway. just trying a site i'd been told about to see how they would look. a little bit more work and i'll have a few more for the station and car park areas. Now need to make a pole to put the station sign on. one thing i'm still not sure about though, is it red arrows on a white background, or white

ess1uk

ess1uk

Hornby class 47s repair options? Help?

I need a 47 for a freight train so i've dug out 2 Hornby class 47 bodies from the garage that need some work.   the first though has damage on the buffer beam and i was wondering if this was possible to repair easily   or should it just go in the bin?   is it worth the effort?   the second needs the paint sorting and then new motor and bogies finding as these are beyond repair     what would be the best way to strip paint from the second example??   thanks in advance for the help

ess1uk

ess1uk

Learning from my mistakes. Coaching stock research.

oh dear, it appears my bargain second hand mk2b TSO was not so much of a bargain   seems that not only has it had passengers put in it, but someone has swapped the correct B4 bogies for incorrect BR1 type. oh well! should do my homework before jumping in! every day a school day.   the good folk of this parish have come to my aid and several offers could mean I have a nice rake of coaches running on correct bogies shortly. best get some more track laid to run them on!   Source: my lay

ess1uk

ess1uk

Another class 33 joins the fleet

just before Xmas 2011 i visited Trains4U for a look round and to get my present. came away with the 2 BR Bedford trucks by Hornby Scale Autos and a second hand Lima class 33 with some detailing on it. the loco is pre TOPS numbered so is going to need a number change but apart from that and the roof detail coming away with the selotape used for the price label and a missing wiper at one end, it is in good condition. there is buffer beam detail with snow ploughs and a driver in one end, and it

ess1uk

ess1uk

good runner, very happy. What next?

good news! the latest member of the fleet (33055) runs really well it is currently pulling 26 wagons i would add more but the loop is not really big enough just need to make it look a bit better now. all ideas considered. is there a good detailing kit available?

ess1uk

ess1uk

new purchase (previously owned)

been to the showground today for the National Festival managed to walk out with only one purchase i got a secondhand Lima class 33 from Ivel models for only £17.95 33055 in BR blue with white roof just need to get a bit of test track out and give it a quick run. I don't actually think 33055 carried a white roof, certainly no pictures i can find to show it did. it will get a repaint and renumber at some point and after reading an article about a £20 project on a 33 think i may have a go a

ess1uk

ess1uk

poor running locos

had my box of stuff out today to see what worked and what didn't. never realised that i had so many locos chipped for zero1 now if only i knew what the numbers for each was the only locos i could find that would run on the old DC controller was a Hornby GWR Pannier tank and my detailed Hornby 47490 in large logo as Bristol Bath Road. the tank was too small to fit a chip and i never bothered with the 47 the tank took ages to get to run smoothly, i had to drag it round the track with another

ess1uk

ess1uk

Top of the Pops

Evening Pop Pickers. In amongst the box of goodies i have brought back from my Dad's loft is a Hornby HST power car that has had an indentity change. it's not the best job in the world, in fact it looks battered, but it is carrying a cast name plate Top of the Pops and is numbered 43002. I have several 43010s so decided to change it, but as the InterWeb was not around and I didn't have a picture to work from i guessed about the nameplate and have since found out I guessed wrong

ess1uk

ess1uk

shocked, but pleased.

i've just been looking at my gallery and i'm shocked by how many views it has had. not bad for a cheap work provided digital camera. Mind you the mods are not so impressed with my photography so far it seems. glad that my efforts are appreciated by others though. Also i can't believe that so many people read my ramblings on this blog! it's not even like i've got any real news about the real layout yet !! Sorry some of you have been a little bored with my input so far, things will get bett

ess1uk

ess1uk

stock move. Wonder what I will find?

off to my Dad's today to pick up some more of my kit. hope to bring back all my locos and wagons so i can sort out what I'm keeping, what Ruby is allowed to play with and what can go as it is no good. in reality it will probably be 2 piles, 1 for Ruby and 1 for me, doubt very much that anything will go!! sure that some will be of more use to Dad though as it doesn't fit my time frame of 1987. i hope it has survived many years in the loft I'll post some pictures of my more interesting items late

ess1uk

ess1uk

Impulse buy. Do your homework next time!

yes i know i should have done my homework a bit better....... today i bought a Hornby R9664 signal box and now kind of wish i'd bought a R8005. when i opened the box was a little suprised to see there was no floor in the signal box. OK it's something that can be sorted but would have thought it would have one. now i'll have to mess about and figure out how to add one myself and try to find a something for the levers. any bright ideas out there? apart from scratch building which is not my t

ess1uk

ess1uk

interesting train

whilst out and about in Norfolk/Suffolk recently i keep seeing the DRS top and tail class 47s working to Lowestoft from Norwich. wish i had a train like that, 2 cl 47s a DVT and 2 coaches, quality. pictures in my gallery must be costing the TOC a fortune to run, but nice to see something other than a Sprinter

ess1uk

ess1uk

to weather or not to weather?

those of you who follow my ramblings and have looked at my poor photography in my galleries will have noticed that some of my old wagons have a really crude attempt at weathering, mostly done one bored day as a child in school holidays. now the question is should i attempt to tidy these wagons up and see if i can make them look a little better or just leave them as they are and not worry? if i want to clean them up wondering what would be best to use? sand paper has cleaned up the

ess1uk

ess1uk

another oldie see the light

dusted off the old Mainline class 56 yesterday, still looks brand new http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile3.gif Dad brought it over from out of his loft as the loco currently running was struggling with all the wagons that Ruby wants it to pull. hope the 56 is up to the job!!! Not a bad model I think. Should look good with some PGAs behind it.

ess1uk

ess1uk

Adventures in Woodwork

I'm planning the woodwork this weekend so I know how much I need to buy. with an idea of a track plan I'm working out where to drill for droppers and point motors whilst trying to make sure that no bracing will be where a hole needs to be, want to get it right before glueing and screwing takes place. advice i have been given is to use 9mm ply. not sure what to use as brace though. don't want it too heavy also toying with foam board edged with wood. Need to chat to my carpenter now (hint)

ess1uk

ess1uk

electricary, how do i do it? Help

now thing that's bothering me is how to wire this up. at the moment it is simple, loop with one Dc controler. When I add the inner loop i'll need a second controller, no problem. insulate at the points where the loops meet and run 2 trains no problems. the sidings off to the shed and where i want to put a fuel point are my problem. a third controller? how to do it?   last time i did this was with Zero 1 so have rough idea what to do for DCC so will probaly wire for th

ess1uk

ess1uk


×
×
  • Create New...