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Good evening, An update on progress of late. I have still trying to tackle some of those smallish bits and pieces I have been putting off but once I got stuck in I kind of enjoyed it. It began with completing the lining to the clay settling tanks in white plasticard and I can now think about how to best try and represent the clay...I'm currently thinking resin mixed with milk of magnesia The last piece of roofing has been made and now covered in profiles sheeting in the same manner as described previously (I had to check my own blog entry to remember how I did it as I had so many goes at it!) This roof has been made removable just in case any train failures as the access from behind is a tad limited. This roof will be primed soon and then painted and weathered as of those recently described. I then started work on the smaller structures comprising the clay dries. Unfortunately, most of this has disappeared now since becoming a cement terminal so I am working off a small selection of photos cobbled together over the years researching. Whilst I would have liked scale drawings etc, I think that if we can capture the appearance of something then that is a good compromise. Scott (Stoker) kindly marked up a photo I had the other year which has helped give names to some of the equipment at the dries area. Firstly, I add some steps to the fuel oil tank. These are curving away into the background to meet an access deck but I haven't thought whether I will make the curved handrail yet. I started to add a curved handrail to the top but stripped it off as it started getting all 50p piece like ...save that for another day that one. Secondly, a smaller deck structure which protudes from an opening halfway up the cladding in the rotary dries building. This has been formed from Evergreen I section and various plasticard offcuts. Next, the structure which supports the steam exhaust stack and exhaust scrubbing unit and this again formed of Evergreen I section and plastic sheet/rod etc. The tube of one of my sons felt tip pens seemed to be perfect diameter for one of the cylindrical elements....hence the writing on it at present! The steam exhaust pipe has been connected through to the roof of the rotary dries building and will be fixed in due course. Then the walkway that connects the old clay dries with the rotary clay dries. The access to the old clay dries is through the small 'add on' structure in the roof whilst the deck spans across the tracks to the rotary dries building. Finally, a small exhaust vent added from the roof of the rotary dries. There will be a few other small stacks (some large ones too) added so this one was more of a test to see how it looked. The handrails are made from Evergreen styrene rod and whilst it would be nice to etch them, it would take a month of Sundays for me to draw them all out, organise them and order them and it will just prolong progress on the layout. Besides, I kinda like the slightly wonky not quite perfect effect...reminds me of some Contractors I know... Enough of all that waffle...lets see it in pics...albeit unpainted and whilst individually they don't look like much, when placed together insitu it hopefully helps to capture the scene of the clay dries. Still quite a bit to add but what I thought was going to be a chore turned out to be quite fun. Roof completed...awaiting grey primer to flush out nasty bits!... Fuel oil store with steps added...freaky shadow eh? The propeller of the Titanic perhaps? Small protruding access deck structure... Support structure for steam exhaust stack... High level deck structure connecting old dries with rotary dries buildings... And then gradually placed insitu to show position and build up the scene... Walkways in place... Fuel oil store positioned... Steam exhaust stack positioned... Overall showing the test exhaust vent at the roof of the rotary drier in the foreground... Lastly, a tree shamelessly stuck in the earth temporarily to help try and set the scene...static grass and foilage will be a separate exercise... That's all for a little while from me as the end of next week we will be heading for slightly colder climes in the form of a week in Cornwall and I hope its as good as our trip their last year. Whilst dropping in on my folks I will also collect various strange railway related goodies that have accumulated mainly 2mmFS related...and a few senior scale elements which are best not discussed on this here blog...

Chilton Iron Works made a very interesting range of wagon kits which have been unavailable for a long time. The range included 4 types of Chaldron. This one is kit C4, a 4T Lambton design. Some might think it a waste of time describing the build of a kit which is no longer produced but I hope that some of you may find it interesting. The kit consists of 6 whitemetal castings, a small piece of planked plasticard and a nickel silver etch; Here's the chassis, on the left is the etched coupling, bent over at the inner end to make a stronger joint, and one of my handmade couplings on the right (the instructions tell you to use a piece of bent wire at this end); Both couplings are drilled and pinned to the chassis as I did with my RT Models Seaham waggons. Remember that chaldron waggons had a chain at one end only and a forked coupling at the other so they could only be coupled up with the brakes on the same side. The etched baseplate; These kits were designed for S4, but different base plates could be supplied for OO or EM gauges. Mine (an Ebay purchase) came with a OO baseplate, not a problem as washers can be used to space the wheels out. Look carefully and you can see 3 tabs which are folded back and soldered flat, this provides 3 point compensation. The small tab is for the brake shaft. Wheels in place, I still need to file the ends of the axles down; Wheelbase is 16.5mm. Note the brake shaft. And a couple of shots of the body glued together; Paul.

Such a nice day here at Dukedog Manor I decided to have a modelling session outside on the front deck. So, after returning from our Sunday lunch at the pub I set to and made up a few little bits that I am going to need soon for a little "project" I have on the workbench at the moment. (more on that as and when) One of the jobs was to make a replacement Brake standard (Well water scoop standard actually) to replace one on a Bachmann GWR 3500 gallon tender that got dropped by me( Clumsy so and so as I am!) Here's the result of a Sunday afternoon's work. Not much to show for it but I enjoy making little bits like this. As well as the standard I made 2 x Steam heat pipes with shut off cocks, 2 different types of Vacuum brake pipes and a set of fire irons. Materials used are 1.5mm brass tube, brass or nickel silver wire 0.7mm dia, 5Amp fuse wire and some scrap brass from etches. I know I could have just nipped down to my local model shop and bought all this stuff but, what I like about railway modelling is actually making stuff like this. It adds to my satisfaction when a loco, wagon or coach is running on the layout with home made bits like this. Then there is the cost, I'm not tight (Even though I have Scottish blood) but that little lot above would have cost me about a Tenner! As it is, it has cost me coppers and time that's all. Maybe this post will encourage some of you to have a go and save money whilst enjoying your hobby. More soon Frank

Continuing with rolling stock, I won 3 Cavendish coach kits on the usual auction site, £25 for a 70ft compo, 57 FB and a Siphon H. There were one or two bits misplaced, but nothing serious. These kits are still available in improved format, from Ultima. I thought I would start with the full brake. Here it is still in the box, carefully glued back together by the seller. I laid out all the components, these use printed sides, which saved me doing the lining out and the lack of relief is less of a problem as you only notice in extreme close up. Ultima produce a range of bogie options if you want more detail. I started by looking at the instructions, which were not too bad, a pleasant surprise. I stuck the main bits together, omitting the corridor partition as again this is invisible (to me anyway!) I will put one in the 70ft as it has more windows. I may even put an interior in that, we'll see. The roof has a white overlay with some surface detail printed on. This is best held by masking tape whilst glueing. There were a few gaps around the white metal ends, but not too bad for the age of it. Supplied under frame detail included the battery boxes and truss rods, fitted to the cleaned aluminium with super glue. I then assembled the bogies, which was tricky as the axlebox covers were missing. At about 2mm square it was no surprise that they had fallen out the box at some point. Fortunately there were some in the siphon H, which I pirated as this needs a new end making so will be done later with Ultima replacements. A hold and fold would have been handy as the top fold is a little bit rounded. This were the first etched bogies I have attempted, so the learning curve was a bit steep at times. I painted them and did a basic highlight and weathering job on them, then varnished them prior to fitting up. I was then ready to paint the body, including the roof as all mine are grey for wartime. I did the under frame dirtying again and weathered the ends. There is a bit of detail to add to the buffers and maybe some transfers later. The corridor moulding is basic, I will not be adding vacuum pipes as they get in the way of the DG couplings. All this got varnished yesterday. This morning I cut out and fitted the printed sides. The colour of the top is a little yellow in pictures and I couldn't get the bottom to bend down much as the plastic had curled in a bit with age. I suspect this will be more of an issue on the 70ft. Any suggestions for contouring the plastic a bit would help. I also fitted the wheels, which was interesting as it was hard not to catch the truss rods with ends of the pinpoint axles. I did break 1 bit, how do you fit these, especially metal ones. Supplied were plastic thankfully. Do you do it when assembling the bogies? A shot end on, not quite enough depth of field but you get the general idea. Any comments or improvements that can be made would be welcome. I haven't worked out how to get any weathering onto the sides and make it stick yet, and the roof could do with a little soot streaking, but not sure what else needs sorting as coaching stock is not something I am very knowledgeable about.

Take one Hornby 08, add two sugar cube speakers in the nose and the result? Gronk heaven! Over the past few years I've tried about 6 different combinations of v3.5 chip and speaker (standard & micro chips, 23mm round and micro speakers. In the nose, in the cab etc etc) and have never achieved a sound even approaching acceptability. Having heard the superb sound from the sugar cubes in Paul Chetter's 03 at the LYDCC show, I thought I'll have to try these. They sat in the speaker box for six months but today I got round to fitting them, along with a standard v4 chip. To say they are impressive is a complete understatement. I put two 8 ohm ones in parallel, in the nose, behind the grille which is acoustically transparent. The resulting volume is around twice that of any of any other fit I've tried and more than adequate. In fact the engine sound volume had to be turned down a bit to match the level of the other sounds. Mounting them was a piece of cake, I simply stuck each one using a dod of black-tac on the front of the motor assembly, one above the other. It doesn't seem to matter if they are touching anything around them, in fact they are pushed tightly up against the nose when the body is put back on. Still a bit of work to go before the v4 sound project is released on an unsuspecting public but I'm really pleased with progress after trying for so long.

Morning all A little later than intended but a quick catch up before another visit to Greystones this weekend, and pictures i'm sure. Yes the last few weeks have mainly been pannier overhaul, most of it covered in the last post. The frames have gone from rolling chassis to flat pack and back in a matter of days, with a layer of paint in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Qg-yjXxyg&feature=plcp The air test, a short clip above revealed the expected niggles. The biggest problem, revealed just by rollling it over on the bench was tightness in the frames. Its perfectly normal for a locoto be tight after being built, i'm sure many will be familiar with running in. But this tightness was patchy, nad while most would wear out, as much of it did under air, just half an hour of running had freed considerably. A partial solution is to take a fraction off of the right hand big end bearing surface, frees it up further. Another solution is taking a little off of the axlebox faces, so that there is a little movement sideways.What many model engineers have failed to understand is that a loco needs a bit of slop all round, and cannot be made absolutely tight, like this one is. Elsewhere a few bits are being disassembled, stripped down and painted in preparation for the final modifications to the chassis, and reassembly in the next few weeks. A few things like tank suports and tool boxes have been painted, but i wasnt happy with the finish so they need to be re painted. Rods have also be reassembled, painted and ready to go. Another project in the workshop has been our riding truck, now a fully fledged Milk van, a ventilated van for carrying milk churns before tankers became widespread. We found that we were using it so little now for its purpose, that we decided to make it look a bit more presentable. So with the addition of semi scale footboards and a new roof (we are retaining the old padded one of course) it looks like this. Also added is a water tank for the ever approaching pannier tank, so we can draw cold water from a seperate tank for the injectors. Injectors dont tend to like warm water, and if you were to draw water for them from the side tanks, the injectors would most likely stop working. I may put a tank in the bunker for use of injectors on a raised track where they are little used when you have an axle pump. On top of all this tinkering, we went to the brent house railway once again. Pictures below. Over the day i drove a friends little great western saddletank.The class escapes me but its a fantastic model. A clinkered fire is my excuse for battling to maintai n pressure, so in the end bynthe end of the day we retired it, though for a small 0-6-0, it did fairly well with the heavy lump of myself, 2 rather old passenger coaches and two parcels vehicle. Right, later maybe down to greystones and have a play there, into the evening and stay over to tomorrow, and come back after a good catch up. Cheers all Mark

Neat work Frank. Nice to see that the art of making vacuum pipes from brass rod and fuse wire is still alive. Paul.

You did this AFTER a pub lunch. I could definitely see myself attempting what you've done Frank but the only result I would have after a visit to the pub would be burnt pinkies.

Thanks all for the kind comments...let's try and take on the SQLisms.... Thanks Tom - Have been putting that walkway for some time now...need to add a midrail to the handrails now... Thanks also Tom...coming from the Master of small detail that's a nice compliment... Thanks also Tom - This year its Fowey not Looe...not sure my wife could stand another field trip to Moorswater... I'm bringing sun...how's that?... Thanks Ian - Yes it was a split second decision to try and cover the end wall which is unfinished... Thanks James - Hopefully it has moved on since you last saw the layout...good to see you on here again... Thanks Steve - Yes, I still have a bit of Sterling on standby...you never really know what will become of the €... Thanks Kris - How's IKB progressing?... Thanks Don - That would be the *mm scale book you are referring to...many thanks for that again...

Things have been a little quiet at the club for a while as decisions are taken on where to go next. Restrictions over storage and the type of layout the club wishes to embark on resulted in a number of proposals being suggested. In the event, an initial phase of smaller layouts will be considered, with something a little more ambitious in the longer-term. There are currently two new club projects now under way; Warehouse Yard and Petworth Town, plus a member's layout with club participation being planned. Warehouse Yard - H0 Two of our members have embarked on a small H0 layout set in 1950s Milwaukee, to be called Warehouse Yard. It will be just under 8' in length, featuring a small station (or to get the terminology right - Depot!), plus some sidings. This will be a DCC operated layout, using code 83 track, based on an adapted plan from Model Trains International (Issue 88/June 2010) Work has already started on the baseboards, and track templates have been out in force over last last couple of weeks! Petworth Town - N Finescale I have had this idea for the last few years...made more viable by the arrival of the Dapol Terrier! This is a small LBSCR terminus set in about 1890. The station area will be quite small, and feature a run-round loop, plus a couple of sidings. A very rough plan is sketched out below...although the board sizes actually chop out most of the town along the front of the layout for now... As with Warehouse Yard, the boards are in existence, although these measure 9' x 1'. The layout is designed to be assembled on tables, as opposed to having legs, and will make use of code 40 Easitrack and finer-scale points. Apologies for the deeply suspect photograph quality...the lighting in our club room is not conducive to good photos. This will be a finescale N gauge layout, but will use a number of techniques for 2mm modelling, paving the way for at least one of the membership to further explore these dark arts!Control will be DC for the time being. LMS Depot - 00 This is a layout still in the planning stage, but will be a small depot layout set somewhere in the LMS territory in the 1930s. It will be DCC. On top of these new activities, Yamanouchi Oshika is still very much in evidence, with some remedial work being timetabled into the near future in readiness for a couple of shows next year... the Crawley MRS show in April and Wycrail the following November (2013). The layout had a quick spin a couple of weeks ago at the local rural fair...performing well, but giving us some food for thought with some wiring and a few areas of track work... More details of all layouts concerned will no doubt crop up on here over the coming months...you have been warned!

As you say Pete put it all together and it really comes alive. Very neat work. I think you may be lucky as the weather seems to be a little better. I will post that book off now. Don

Those little bits are bringing it all to life Pete.

Nice work Tom - Did you try any weathering powders on it yet? Perhaps some gentle scratching with a fibreglass stick might help give it a key first?

Really nice Pete, some very intricate work done exceptionally well. Threw me a bit with the £1 coin, was expecting a €1!

If you are building those old bogies it's a good idea once they are the right shape to solder the insides of the folds between the top/sides, otherwise it seems they sometimes crack along the join over time. Looks like the kit was perhaps missing the bag of white metal bits - vents, axle box castings, underframe gubbins or it may be sold old it didn't have them

It's looking superb Pete, really coming together, and that last shot shows an awful lot of promise. I'm struggling to process that this is 2mm!

I remember these kits, I think I may have one or two kicking about somewhere myself. I was going to suggest scribing the back of the lower sides lengthways to impart a turn under (but Richard beat me to it!) For a kit that must be almost 30 years old the result is pretty good. Ian

Pete, That's all coming along rather nicely! Not convinced that the tree helps set the scene - I think it was already set! Ian

Like Tom says bring waterproofs I think we've had about 4 days without rain this month!

Hi all, a quick update to say that my Victoria Bridge diorama (with its round the back fiddle yard that elevates it to the status of 'train set' ) will be on show alongside a flotilla of micro layouts from the Wyre Forest MRC in the upstairs room of the museum at the Severn Valley Railway's Kidderminster Station. This mini-exhibition is part of the railway's behind the scenes weekend. A five pound wristband gains entry to all manner of usually off-limits areas along the line, the event supports the restoration of Prarie Tank 4150. In other news... Progress on the latest evolution of the Class 139 model, which I hope to print in both N and OO varieties. If nothing else it is an excuse to prove that although dear old Sketchup does not really 'do' curves, that should be no impediment to creating complex curved surfaces, you just need to draw several thousand little straight lines.... More to come on this soon!

That is looking so good. Its those details like the walkways and exaust stack that really take it too the next level. And the last picture is hard to tell if its the model or the real thing. I know what you mean about it maybe being a chore, I often put these little jobs off once the main buildings done but once you start its all rather engrossing. Enjoy the trip to Cornwall, hope you've packed waterproofs and a kayak! Sorry I didn't make it to Wenford for any photos - a bit optomistic as to how far we could cycle!!

Awesome stuff as always Pete. It's the little things like this that suddenly bring the scene together, and thats evident in that last photo. Love it! Tom.

Wow, that tower is really good. The walkway looks great as well!

You see there's two kinds of people in this world my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig. A classic line from a classic film, the relevance being; which of the three are these two in the photo, taken at Newton Heath during a recording visit in April 2010? The 180's are notoriously unreliable and the front end design could be good, bad or ugly depending upon your point of view. And the 142's, what can you say? Two Leyland Nationals on train wheels with no suspension. Their only redeeming feature is that they're full of character! Anyway, the reason for this interlude is that I've been bringing the 142 project into the 21st Century in readiness for Charlie & Arran's long-awaited model. It's coming along quite nicely (the sound project that is, you'll have to ask Charlie about the model). Thanks to Mick Bryan who took the photograph on the day (and another 20Gb of them for reference!).

mmmmmmmmmm 142 with sound in N gauge. i'm warming to that idea on Welham Green. :-)

Thanks Guys I dont care! It does what I want it to so it doesnt worry me! There is no reason to do that other than I love how quirky it is. There is still LOTs to do on it though, Im treating it as something to practice on using my solid modelling software. I am expecting you to 'persuade' me to let you have one at some point! I am guessing at Stormex? I will try to get one printed in time so you can take a close look. The words Couchere and Porte spring to mind, dont know why.... I am going to hold off saying that until the plastic bits are in my hand. Swanky screen grabs are one thing, seeing the model 'in the flesh' is another... Dont you dare measure mine and compare it!! You are right about the City of Truro too, its one of my all time most wanted engines, fingers crossed it lives upto its appeal to me. Im not looking forward to lining it though! Shall I put you down for one once its all finished? Hahahaha! I dont know, too busy modelling perhaps? Maybe we could come to some sort of deal with your SRM? I remember you mentioning on a previous blog post of mine that you didnt think anything would come of it too, shame on you! M

Over the past few months, I've been constructing the baseboards for my new exhibition layout called Almere Road TMD. The project began when, a few months ago, I felt like putting a small, compact, cheap and hopefully simple exhibition layout together. I've always been interested in the 80s/90s era of diesel traction and so I instantly chose to model small, fictional Traction Maintenance Depot. The name is made-up but I imagine the scene to be set somewhere in the South of England. As I've said already, I've always been interested in the 80s/90s era of diesel traction and the majority of my stock is in the Railfreight Distribution Livery. So in conclusion, the layout is a compact model of a late-80s - mid-90s era Railfreight Distribution Traction Maintenance Depot. As I've always used DC (and quite honestly haven't got the finance to enter the DCC world), DC is for definate, despite the fact that it's very outdated and not quite as ideal for exhibition exhibiting as DCC is. The plan (attatched below) comprises of an Engine / Maintenance Shed, a refuelling facility, a wash-plant and possibly a wheel-lathe shed. There is also a small storage siding. For a lot more info on the general information on the layout please take a moment to visit the larger website dedicated to the layout... I'm primarily using RMweb as a blog Updates and progress pictures to follow. Ta for now The most likely, final trackplan... NOT TO SCALE: