Leaderboard

Before continuing with my journey around the layout I thought I would share a few pictures of the Main Junction Station populated with some rolling stock that might have graced the north east of England in the 1960s. Bachmann Mk1 Pullmans, Hornby L1 and Bachmann WD 2-8-0 The original theme of the layout is BR (LMR/WR) perhaps near Chester or there again maybe Shrewsbury or even somewhere further south. However I also have fond memories of growing up in north east England and with the availability of so many splendid ready to run models I have indulged in a few north eastern and Scottish types. Coincidentally the buildings for the Main Junction Station are those early Hornby Skaledale models based on Goathland on the North York Moors Railway. This was done purely for convenience until I can construct some more appropriate types. So some views with north eastern rolling stock should be a good fit. Bachmann V2 60964 suitably weighted and with blackened wheels First a view of my very first Bachmann model, purchased from MG Models of Sheffield back in 1996 for what was then the immense sum of £62.95. I think it still looks a good model and can be relied upon to run well. This early model came with larger diameter carrying wheels beneath the cab rather than the undersize wheels fitted to some of the later Bachmann variants. Another view of Bachmann V2 60964 after a trip around the reversing loop In the 1960s the north east of England was still dominated by heavy industry, particularly the huge steel works that used to be Dorman Long on Teesside. The predominant inward rail traffic was iron ore, coking coal and in return steel fabrications and castings. Bachmann J39 with Bachmann Austerity 2-8-0 Lighter freight trains were handled by 0-6-0 J26 and J27 types. However as these types are not yet readily available a model of a J39, which were occasionally seen, will have to suffice. For heavier trains there were Q6s and WD 2-8-0s – so the Bachmann model is a good fit. Bachmann A1 Kings Courier on express, note Hornby WD 0-6-0ST shunting Express passenger trains on the East Coast Mainline were hauled by A1s, A2s and A4s with plenty of A3s in evidence on the lighter loads. The view above shows a Bachmann A1 passing a Hornby WD 0-6-0ST, another engine type used for short haul heavy goods trains in the Darlington Teesside area. Bachmann A4 Dominion of Canada passing Hornby WD 0-6-0ST No North Eastern experience would be complete without a view of a Gresley A4. Over the years I have owned a number of these models. With a bit of added lead they produce a model with a truly representative haulage power. Dominion of Canada was a recent purchase and I have to say that it was one of those models that was ‘nearly very good’. In hindsight I should probably have returned the model. The engine ran well and the bodywork was unmarked. However the more I studied the engine the more I realised that the front buffers were pointing skywards. Time had gone by and I couldn’t bring myself to return the model – so what about some hot water and some gentle manipulation? Bachmann A4 bodyshell – disassembled? I must have been lucky because with the influence of the hot water the ‘buffer assembly’ was readily detached. It was then a straightforward job to clean off the old glue and to reattach the buffer beam with the correct orientation. Bachmann A4 William Whitelaw - chassis I will just add two more views of Bachmann A4s. Well actually the chassis plus my additional lead weight. Bachmann A4 Dominion of Canada - chassis When I first purchased William Whitelaw I was surprised that the motor was totally enclosed – might it over heat? Now with Dominion of Canada there is a gap in the chassis – is this an acknowledgement that there might be problems? Bachmann J39 and Bachmann WD 2-8-0 A final shot of two freight trains to remind us of the industrial heritage that was the north east.

Good afternoon, I managed to get a good modelling session in last night and made a little more headway on the coaling plant. First off, I finally found a photo on flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/40052043@N03/7720626360/in/photolist-cLfeeA which showed the top half of the Eastern face of the tower and once I had zoomed in on it, I managed to make out the two doorways that I thought were there on the middle and top sections. So, I then marked out the locations of these on the model and carefully cut out the apertures which was fairly straight forward. First off they were drilled out and then finished off with the craft knife and some careful filing. The middle section doorway was marked out a little too wide and high which shows on the following photo, Next up were the ledges that support the stairs leading up to the top of the tower. These were made using various thicknesses of plasticard and plastic strip. There is now only the ledge to the top of the tower to do. Here are a couple of photos of the ledges in place with the stairs also fixed into position. I was hoping to find some nice and finely etched stairs but after a long search online the only option that I could find were the plastruct stairs, which, in all due fairness, aren't too bad and once painted will look the part. My plan is to spray the whole structure in a light grey/concrete colour and then pick out all the details and then weather using powders. As always, any comments are most welcome. Best regards, Jeremy

I managed to get a few hours in on the layout in the last couple of days. Much pondering of how to approach the crossing of the Medina, and at least one false start. Track coming in at the top of the photo is from the hidden loops. The first stretch of viaduct will be hidden behind 1) Cowes Station approach and 2) Newport Gas Works. The line will become visible as it crosses the twin drawbridges. These were what I had to engineer in order to get the track into Newport. I hasten to add the drawbridges will not be operational. The challenge was to replicate the real thing which appears to have been flatbottom rail bolted directly to transverse timbers with occasional timber spacer bars. Having rejected the first thought of superglueing the rails to wills timber planking sheets I worked out the following layered method. Bottom layer - 6mm plywood (standard on my baseboards) Second layer - 1.5mm cork sheet glued down Third layer - 1.5 single sided pcb sheets glued and screwed to the plywood through the cork The 2nd and 3rd layers get the trackbed up to the 3mm cork standard for the rest of the layout Double sided pcb 1.6mm thick sleeper strips soldered to the pcb sheets - this brings the height up to the required rail height above trackbed of 1.6mm which matches the C&L track and turnouts. These appear as the pink bars in the photo Infill between the widely spaced sleepers is the aforementioned Wills timber planking sheet, glued to the pcb using impact adhesive. The rails will be soldered to the pcb sleepers. So fulfilling the requirement for solidity and height. Tomorrow - lay the track! Chris

Hi All. I am attaching another three drawings. Did any of you see BBC Breakfast the other morning regarding Yorkshire being the New Hollywood. There was piece on about the making of the Great Train Robbery drama , aired this week.The presenter was on the Keighley and Worth line showing the diesel loco used in the film which he referred to as 105 ton TRUCK. I have just got used to Train Station instead of Railway Station, what next. Just in case my next post is late.. All the best for Christmas and the New Year. Derek

Hi, With had our last club meeting of the year at the weekend, so it was a good time for everybody to get together and make some headway on the layout. Bridge Excellent progress is being made with the Bridge and things are really taking shape now. Brick cladding has been added to most of the main structure and the piers are looking fantastic. Buildings We also have a few industrial units and a signal box being constructed. The basic structure of the buildings is being built in thick card, then the building is being clad in textured plasticard to add relief. You can see the signal box in this picture and I will post an update with the industrial units in a few days. Catenary As we are modelling an electrified line we are making use of N Brass Loco's excellent Mk1 Catenary etched brass kits. On the main scenic boards, we are using the 3 track portals and on the end loops we are using the 2 track portals. As the 3 track portals have already been built, I volunteered to put the 2 track versions together. I haven't done much if anything with brass before, so for me this ended up being a bit of a steep learning curve. Forming the legs and the main gantry was quite easy, but I found that with the legs being so small, it was hard to get an accurate bend around the former and more often than not a little attention was needed to square things. To assemble the kits I decided to solder them together. This was relatively simple, but I found I had been using way to much solder to start off with, but once I started to be more sparing with the solder (and flux) the results got better and I had to do less filing and cleaning up. When the portals are together though, they seem to be quite sturdy, which will be good for us as we intend them to be lifted off the layout when it's being stored. To make them removable, we have designed some 3d printed bases which accept the portal legs and also a 3mm dia. x 1mm high magnet in the base. When a washer is glued to the baseboard this provides an accurate and stable fixing, without having to have any pins etc. It also looks like the portal is fitted to a concrete base. With the Portals together, the next job was to fit the Register Arms and Cable Supports. This is quite a time consuming and fiddly job. The arms come in two pieces which have to be soldered together, then you need to add the insulators. On average it's taking around 2 hours to fit the arms to 3 portals and there are another 14 to do The result is rewarding though as they look pretty good when done. Just need to paint them now. Cheers, Mark.