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  1. Some photos from trips to Carlisle once again for this afternoon. Carlisle Class 108 Carlisle to Appleby 27th Oct 89 C13809.jpg Carlisle Class 143 and Class 108 27th Oct 89 C13827.jpg Carlisle 87035 and 86425 up steel coil May 90 J10931.jpg Carlisle Classes 08 31 26 31 60 24th Oct 90 C15413.jpg Carlisle 90001 up 24th Oct 90 C15423 David
    30 points
  2. Sunny and windy today. Plenty to do, but will I do it? I will do the morning images, the first of which is again of a WD and coal for London. I've been cropping this view lately, but I thought we'd have the full panorama for a change. In contrast, we have a very close crop of an L1 passing Crescent Junction box with the 2.45 from Hitchin.
    29 points
  3. Just popped out of my little wooden hut where I am self isolating to take some pictures of Ewer Street. All the best & stay safe, Adrian.
    28 points
  4. Last of the station views, but this time a bit further back
    23 points
  5. A small part of the urban scene is starting to take shape:
    20 points
  6. 1100 again already. I have spent most of the morning trying to read my "smart" gas meter, on the basis of " I wonder what happens if I press this button". It would help if there were some instructions. Anyway, pressing the red button blew nothing up, and when I hit the black one afterwards, I got a reading. Her's the L1 again to go with our mug of tea.
    20 points
  7. I had a cunning plan today. As showers were forecast, I decided to run and photograph trains during the lighter spells, and do more tidying up when darkness descended. Thus , some of both occurred, and I have more photos to process. And while sipping our mug of tea, we can have another look at that L1, now at rest having completed its journey.
    18 points
  8. Well todays Blast from the Past came after the House move to our present location in May 2014. Just 3 weeks after moving in I had a mild Stroke that put me out of action for a short while, and then I had TOPS built by Derby Sheds, and fitted out by my mate Lee, with me acting as Project Manager and General Dogs Body as I was unable to see strait and do any lifting etc. Once done I already had the idea of a Layout, and it was to be Bitton, just outside Bath. The Project taught me a lot, such as Planning, Building Points, and also the fact that I can't do Prototype Projects.
    18 points
  9. I'm starting to get low on decent photos now, but I still have a few previously un seen, and here is 37183 and 08173 sitting in the early morning sunshine in Seven Mills Yard.
    16 points
  10. Four from Manors, the first station out of Newcastle heading north. At one time this was an important suburban station on the coast loop, but with the transfer of traffic to the T&W Metro, now only one or two trains an hour stop here. 55017 heads past a mostly oblivious group of passengers waiting for a train for the coast on 17th May 1975. As this is travelling on the slow lines it was possibly empty stock for Heaton. This is the view the other way on 18th May 1975 as 55021 takes the main line through the station and slows for the Newcastle stop half a mile further on. The view from the footbridge as 55015 also heads for Newcastle on 6th August 1975 55015 again - it has just passed the end of the platforms at Manors on the last lap to Newcastle with the up 'Flying Scotsman' on 20th March 1976 Trevor
    15 points
  11. Great to see the selection of O4s. I think the O1 is a handsome looking engine. I've almost finished Annesley's 63854, made from a David Andrews kit. It doesn't look quite right without being weathered. I would never ever build anything with a live chassis, DC or DCC it just opens up too many problems. All my locos pick up from the loco and tender - you can't have too many pick ups. I remember the lads spending an hour completely dismembering a flying pig on Kirkfield Central as it was playing up, it turned out to be the leading van on the train with a brass underframe and a rubbing brake causing a short via the couplings.... As for the American system, I've only ever had trouble with it, the lazy option! Engine picking:- some O1 had cinder guards, some not. Maybe the Annesley ones had them fitted for running the Windcutters. Regards Tony
    15 points
  12. The 'Badger' made it to Nottinghamshire today as it was towed to the Toton Paint Facility by 60046...quite an odd looking combo! Jack.
    14 points
  13. A nest of Rats at SP depot in the early '80's.
    14 points
  14. 55001 'St Paddy' at Kings Cross, unusually in one of the suburban platform roads (15?) during March 1974. Maybe work was being done on the stabling point, because a 47 and a Peak are behind the Deltic.
    14 points
  15. More from Simon! STOP PRESS Your readers have blown the 1000 so as to avoid disappointment and to support the NHS we have increased them to 1500. This means that the railway modellers and your readers will be donating £60k. I have never known such kindness and support.
    13 points
  16. Thanks Rug - well, they say a large collection of Deltic photos is the sign of a miss-spent youth and I've uploaded about 150 on this thread (not bad for a total of only 22 locos!) but I've still got a few left (but not many more pre-TOPS)... 55005 departs Newcastle on 8th March 1975 This was a lucky shot on 27th December 1975 as the ash carrier vessel 'Bessie Surtees' was heading upriver to collect another pile of waste ash from Stella South power station. The Deltic was too far away to identify at the time but I reckon it must be 55013 'The Black Watch' by the size of the nameplate 55018 comes off the bridge on 29th November 1975 - I didn't make a note of the Class 40 on the right 55014 at the same spot in October 1981. In the background work is well underway on construction of the new Redheugh Bridge which replaced the one behind it Trevor
    13 points
  17. This may not look like progress, but it is - first a little history in case you've missed my whinging on other groups.... As regular readers will doubtless, remember the previous Waverley Route Project had to be dismantled in something of a hurry at the end of 2017 as my dodgy lungs drove us in search of a bungalow with a nice flat garden where we could also park our caravan. AS it happened we ended up buying a two-storey house, with no garage, in a hilly village, with views to the South Downs, which SWMBO has been wrestling with since we arrived. For the first year after arriving I too got involved, albeit on a small scale, but the dodgy lungs and a ruptured Achilles last Summer put paid to that! As part of the works programme we built a garage with a rather splendid 7m x 3 metre (usable) loft, which we all thought would turn rapidly into a railway room Sadly our daughter got divorced, moved into a rental, and needed somewhere to store her fragile stuff. We also brought everything back from storage and the loft rapidly became rather full and used as a dump for the whole of 2019. Then in March this year, just as I had got back to some form of mobility from the Achilles and decided it was Time To Do Something, I got pneumonia. Five days in the COVID Ward, despite not having it, and I came home feeling wretched after being pumped full of antibiotics. Two weeks of misery followed, basically feeling like I'd been run over by one of Aveling and Barford's finest. After I started to feel almost human, I had a big dose of steroids to recover lost lung capacity, which didn't work, and an awful reaction to them, which saw me in bed for another week. On top of that I got a condition called Hypokalaemia, which basically means 'not eating enough bananas' which took another week to get over and meant I couldn't do anything except sleep! The whole thing left me weak and wobbly, but nearly 30lbs lighter and has meant I am no longer hypertensive, or Obese, as my BMI is now comfortably below 30 for the first time since I started dating! So now I'm back in the land of the shielding, but have sod all energy and even less strength, so every movement has to be calculated. I refuse flatly to get a mobility scooter though, so will just have to keep buggering on. albeit slowly and for not very long distances! Anyway enough moaning, back to the progress report. While musing through PN, Over Peover, Grantham., SOSJ, Little Bytham and several other inspiring layouts that inhabit RMW, it struck me that perhaps with a little 'tidying up' I could free up enough space to set up the old Engine Shed and get some tracks on that, so I could be ready for when the time comes and daughter buys her own house again, and I can reclaim t'other side as well! I also looked at different ideas to get in a fiddle yard and lots of useful activities as well as not cover the entire board with track ( yeah right!) So several iterations later I came up with this idea... It basically takes everything I had at the last railway except the fiddle yard and the reproduction of the Eastern End of Waverley and adds in a four-track mainline station along the lines of the old Cupar Angus station which had the arrangement - down slow, Down Fast, Up fast, UP slow, with the two outer roads being served by platforms. THis will allow me to have freight trains lumbering around, and you'll notice it also has a wee distillery in one corner, as well as the ability to load/ unload cassettes ( Thank you Gilbert for that bit of inspiration!) THis is Cupar Angus today BTW To give some scenic interest I plan to play with different levels - not sure of the best way yet, but I'm sure something will come up. It will only be +/- 1=1.5 inches, but should add some operational interest. The railway should be able to comfortably host a good half a dozen trains visible at any time, not including movements, and by using the slow lines of the second station as terminal lines as well, I can do loco swaps, turn trains around and generally enjoy a bit of playtime! SO I can hear you all thinking 'Smiffy's been planning again, where's this so-called progress?" Well in the style of a TV reveal - look no further. As you can see I have actually tidied up enough and moved the shed baseboards enough to start to build that second side! (Note to self - get a decent camera - iPhones have limitations) Now I have a 7m x 2.8m wide length onto which I can erect baseboards. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted a couple of pics back some ready made ladder racks which were part of the old railway, so I'm hoping I might even be able to get away with very little carpentry. As I'm frighteningly allergic to sawdust this is probably a Very Good Thing, and as it happens I've discovered that we moved in opposite a very keen O Gauge modeller who will happily chop down any bits of 2x1 I need shortening - The joys of living in a small village with a lovely Church community! This is from the other end and even though it doesn't look much, there's a railway under there bursting to get out. More progress reports to follow.....
    13 points
  18. After the last few posts featuring 4 mm. figures you could be forgiven for thinking that Granby was a static diorama. Its time for a few locomotive shots During the last few weeks I have also been developing and testing the 4 different passenger services that I want to arrive and depart from the south end of Granby Junction. Last year, when I first started this exercise, I think I mentioned that I had a problem storing some of the trains that I wanted to run. Two had to be stored in the carriage sidings that run alongside the Engine Shed: On the left is a GWR two car B Set and a small Prairie already to back into Platform 6....not entirely prototypical but.....no problems On the right is an LMS 4 car suburban set......here the siding is not long enough to accommodate a loco as well. To set this train up for an Up departure a pilot will have to couple, back the train into P6 and uncouple....the train loco will then leave the shed and couple to the other end of the train. Not quite as easy as it sounds. The shed exit road enters the P6 road and thus shortens its effective length. It can be done but it is a bit complicated to do automatically and involves pulling some wool over Train Controllers eagle eye........but thats for another day! Right now, lets assume mission accomplished, so we can see the LMS train departing from Platform 6 (the Down Relief line) and in the act of crossing over to the Up main line With cosmetic signals in fixed positions there are occasions, like this, when something will look fundamentally wrong! Moving swiftly on......the train is hauled by an Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T . They were introduced in 1946 and look very different from the pre grouping "Lanky" tank and ex-LNWR Webb Coal tank that I use on the Northern suburban services to Birkenhead I have a bit of a soft spot for these locos......as a boy I lived near the Liverpool-Southport electric line.....these were the only steam locomotives I ever saw, as once a day (weekdays only!) they hauled two blood and custard coaches from Southport to join up with the Liverpool Lime Street-Euston train at Edgehill. Sadly, close ups reveal that HMRCS straw lettering doesnt match Bachmann's lettering! The relief Loco waiting in the storage yards is the original 1202 In historical terms, these two locos would have been among the newest to run on Granby.........in real terms they are veterans. I guess I bought 1202 over twenty years ago. The re-numbered 1206 was bought more recently...actually in B.C.....it is nevertheless of the same vintage. They are the last split chassis locos operating on Granby. It is, perhaps, a bit of a leap of faith that they will be capable of consistently performing with the precision that this complicated routine will demand. More on this next post.......... ......meantime, lets go back in time to 1948 as an 18 month old 1206 crosses Granby viaduct Amazing what you could achieve with a Box Brownie! Stay safe...keep well Best Wishes John
    13 points
  19. This lunchtime I was getting plastered. Well not really plastered, more papier-mache'd. I've filled in the missing corner at the back: And I've extended the bank the other side by a bit: Then I dismantled the fiddleyard and so on, so I can get a good run at the paintage and static-grassage. That will be this evening's little job... Thanks for looking, Al.
    13 points
  20. 13 points
  21. Deltication Street Mike Wiltshire
    13 points
  22. True story. Before Mrs M became Mrs M she would accompany me to railway related things. We went to the Norwich Crown Point open day and there was a big blue thing with a pointy front on display. "Oh look there is Sir Nigel Gresley" I said. "You know someone with a knighthood?" she asked.
    13 points
  23. I visited Hereford Models today...
    12 points
  24. Many thanks for all the recent pictures of those wonderful 2-8-0s. A further selection of the type available for service on LB.......... Some of these have appeared recently, but these are all new pictures. The two Austerities I acquired from Tony Geary, originally built by Allen Hammett. These are so natural. Having built several DJH Austerities for customers, a decade ago I decided to build/paint/weather one for myself; and this is the result. I don't own any Bachmann ones. 41 years ago, I scratch-built this O1 (or should that be I built it and it got scratched?). It tows a K's ROD tender. A product of its time? I very much think so, but it still runs well. Though a model of the same class, this example is in an entirely different peer group to my superannuated scratch-built one. I detailed/renumbered/weathered this Hornby example and, apart from the wobbly footplate, I think it's a marvellous model at source. The best RTR 2-8-0? I think so. An O2/4 (63925, Crownline/Wright) and an O2/1 (63927, Nu-Cast/Wright/Haynes). The differences will be noted. An O2/2 (63934, ACE/Wright/Shackleton). If I asked you what you might think of something if I described it as 'ace', what would be your conclusion? Think again! An O2/3 (63948, Nu-Cast/Wright). Another O2/3 (63980, Nu-Cast/scratch/Wright). Another over-40 years old creation of mine, and doesn't it show its age? Remember, at the time, five-pole equivalents of Tri-ang's XO4 were the motor of choice, but it's so obtrusive. Still, it runs very well and will pull anything I stick behind its tender. One of Heljan's O2/3s, detailed/renumbered by me and weathered by Geoff Haynes. Despite issues with this product, this one does run exceptionally well, and, as a 'layout loco', good enough? I think so. According to its number, this should be an O4/1, but Tony Geary has given it an O4/3 identity. It's heroically filthy, but entirely typical. He built it from a Little Engines kit. One of Bytham's oldest locos - 45 years and counting! I built this ROD from a K's kit (though, apart from the frames, nothing mechanical about it is K's). No doubt it's not as good as a Bachmann equivalent; I don't own one, so can't compare them. Another O4/3, again K's in part, this one built by Rob Kinsey and weathered by me. Bytham's O4/7 (63843, Little Engines/Kinsey/Wright). And Bytham's O4/8 (63738, Scratch/K's/Wright). I wonder why so many of my O4s are in the 637XX section? Do I have a clean 2-8-0? No!
    12 points
  25. Not much progress on the J6 in the last couple of days. I've been busy subbing and proof-reading for BRM. I'd forgotten how much of the loco's dragbox/dragbeam had to be removed before the chassis would fit. And, that the holes in the frame spacers for the fixing screws didn't match those in the castings! I also had to nibble away at the firebox ring on the cab to get a snug fit. The dummy frames and lubricators were soldered in place at this stage. A fair bit of solder-filling will be needed underneath the smokebox, mitigated by the eventual fixing of the cylinder ends and the sandboxes. The visual gear will no doubt displease some, but the drive is well balanced, if a trifle noisy (the body acting as a sound box). A lot of metal needed removing from the insides of the firebox to accommodate the Mashima motor. On test this afternoon; visually very nice in motion, and not so noisy on the layout. I might try a different gearbox, however. More progress reports later.......
    12 points
  26. Today's walk (in between rain showers) saw that the crane had been reassembled and that a hiab type machine was reducing the first section to rubble etc. (second picture) by picking away at it. This clearly explains the role of the demolition contractors. Looks like the crane has been moved ready for the removal of the next section.
    12 points
  27. In addition to running and photographing trains, I have also been cleaning up the railway tip, I mean room, and I'm now really beginning to see the effects and the benefits. Here's where my toolboxes now live, under baseboard at north end of the fiddle yard, for those interested. This area was a chaotic mess, so I'm very pleased to have transformed it into this. Moving the two toolboxes has also created much more free space under the island baseboard. We are under the station buildings here. apart from looking a lot better, this now gives me a second duck under to access the window side of the layout, and one which is easier on the back than the existing one. It also provides space for one of the guest's chairs. Was this worth the effort? Absolutely.
    12 points
  28. Continuing the 2-8-0 theme, my newly finished 2-8-0 which is newish Hornby with Brassmasters detailing and some of my own too. To quote a programmer collegue it wasn't hard it just took a long time. 48739 has joined my two commissioned 8Fs in the allegedly dustproof case, and my biggest disappointment is that I just can't top and tail them with my two Hurst etched snowploughs - which were the hardest kits I have ever completed. Three 8Fs and two independent snowploughs, just the job for the 62-63 winter. And no prizes for spotting the one I haven't painted Tone
    12 points
  29. We should consider ourselves lucky they weren't based on this one
    12 points
  30. It's all down to the phase of the fluorescent lights at any point compared to the shutter speed used in the video. Normally fluorescents are 100Hz here so there's a 100 on/off cycles per second; not enough for us to notice but a camera may do so (again based on the shutter speed being used). The only way to mitigate against it is to be able to manually control the shutter speed (and the fps) within the video) to ensure there's a consistent number of cycles within frames. Therefore shutter speeds of 1/100, 1/50 and 1/25 should end up with equal cycles/light whereas anything in between gives an uneven number. In the earlier video it starts off OK and then starts phasing over the viaduct onwards once the camera has automatically adjusted the shutter speed due to light levels. I've managed to achieve far worse results on occasions! The annoying thing is it's often not discernible on the camera screen but it certainly is when you get back to base. It makes still photography look easy by comparison. [Edit - sorry, you did say LEDs but the same principle applies]
    12 points
  31. What next ? Well I've painted the basic grey colour on this Wigan private owner wagon I made 2 years ago so I thought I had better finish it while the weather is kind to us. The wheels on this wagon were solid spoke and I did have a set in stock. I modified them again by removing excess webbing which gives a finer appearance. I have also looked at another early Midland wagon because I like the look of these short buffers and strange brake racks. Things like that and how to make them give my old brain a workout which is what we are constantly being told to keep dementia at bay. I found some parts that may fit the bill, and let's face it it's no good having a large store of parts if we are not going to use them. ( this is my take of the pile of unbuilt kits behind the door ) I have the springs that are close enough and some white metal buffer bodies that I tried to drill out but they were badly cast are they were off centre so I have some brass ones that I can shorten. If I cut off the collar at the front and take a slice out and resolder the collar I can make them to the correct length. The W-irons will have to be made by modifying some etch brass ones but as yet I am not sure which ones. The brake rack with the curly pin part will I think have to be cut by hand. Food for thought.
    12 points
  32. Not much done today, but then there was no requirement to do anything in particular. Hair is still attached, and will wait until at least Friday, to allow the weekly clapping to take place without unnecessary embarrasment. Into Platform 6 comes a Doncaster based 9F. It heads another York bound parcels, and stops here for a while, which allows another rake of empties to come along side on the slow, and give us two 9Fs for the price of one.
    12 points
  33. Another day nearly gone, and at least I got more done than I did yesterday. Another B17 for you tonight, Kimbolton Castle. It will be taking the 4.32 to Harwich for part of its journey. And now another experiment. The camera is on Spital Bridge again, but more towards the centre. We know that the parapet was too high to see over in that area, so someone must have found something to stand on, and it must have been quite tall. Here is the result. The 9F at platform 6 is departing, and this is the view we get. Oh, and it is zoomed as well. What do you reckon?
    11 points
  34. I have just finished as of today a comet / Hornby 8f kit with fowler tender. I have always liked the build Quality on the comet kits and I have done a few chassis kits from 3fs to brits. here is a pic of my 8f and I’ve just need to weather it and tweak the cvs on the sound chip then I can use it on Bucks lane (when we can go back to the club rooms )
    11 points
  35. Photo by Nigel Tout : D8181 and 8136 passing over the main road through Coalville on 18th April 1974....
    11 points
  36. Lady Luck has made a visit again today. Looking to modify the set of brass buffers I went and looked through my bits box and found another set of white metal buffers complete with buffer heads and springs but the bonus was there was a spare body. So I had one extra to try before butchering the brass ones. So I cut off 1.5mm and then tinned a 10 BA washer before soldering on to the front of the body with a cocktail stick to hold it in place. I tinned of the normal solder with low melt solder and just held the soldering iron on the washer at 190 degrees. It was a complete success without getting excess solder on the body.
    11 points
  37. A bit more progress on the MPD. I've done all the footboarding and finished the turntable surround. Not all Midland sheds had footboarding in front of the coaling stage but some did; the extent of it varied tremendously where it was installed and I may have overdone it somewhat but I think it looks OK. I've also chosen to put some in front of the office block and across to the turntable. The turntable surrounds also varied a lot with some having stone slabs whilst others had wooden boards (pieces of sleepers?) or a mixture of both and there were sometimes but not always raised wooden strips for foot purchase. I've used wooden boards without extra strips. The point motors have all been boxed in and those intended to be inside buildings are matt black so that they don't show up through windows. I'm having a bit of a break from the layout now and dealing with a D&S Models 15 to steam breakdown crane kit that Jill bought me for my 50th birthday - I was 73 last Saturday! Ah, well, better late than never I guess. The next stage for the layout will be Slartiblartfasting the topography and making a start on the buildings. More bulletins in due course. This is the footboarding in front of the coaling stage and down to the ash pit. It is actually quite a bit darker than the photograph suggests but my photographic skills are somewhat akin to a fish's cycling ability and try as I might I can't get the bl**dy camera to darken it. Conversely, the ash pit is actually lighter inside than shown... Bu**er. Next is the turntable and well with the wooden surround. Once again it is quite a bit darker in reality than shown here. The little square patch bottom left is a grating covering the steps for access to the well. This is the footboarding in front of what will be the offices and stores. The black box houses three point motors and will be inside the building. A lot of MPDs had the stores and offices attached to the shed but if I did that they would be hidden behind the shed itself as I want to have a siding in front on which the breakdown train will be parked. Therefore, since there were some places where the stores and offices were separate from the shed so that is what I have chosen to do. I must confess that part way through installing the footboarding round pointwork I was tempted to ditch the idea and just settle for ballasting up to rail level but I persisted and eventually, after a lot of fiddling and swearing, managed to get it all done and still have the locos able to run through it. It's all 1/16" ply scribed to represent planks and stuck onto balsa wood strips that are in turn glued to the sleepers. The turrntable surround is also pieces of 1/16" ply stuck onto balsa strips that were steamed and bent into curves then stuck to the baseboard. All the woodwork is painted with Precision track dirt paint and weathered with Greenscene powders. The turntable well is surfaced with oven dried soil sieved and ground into dust and sprinkled onto thinned PVA then painted with washes of dirty brush cleaning turps and again finished off with weathering powders. The ash pit has lumps of balsa wood stuck on the floor that are then covered with thick matt varnish and a mixture of ash and coal dust sprinkled on. More in due course. Dave
    11 points
  38. A quick progress report. I can’t believe it’s two weeks since I posted something! The layout has reached the pleasing stage whereby a different type of task can be performed at each session. When I’m bored with ballasting (which I actually find quite relaxing) I can make some walls or build a wagon kit etc. So, ballasting. My first real attempt. I found the traditional way, applying PVA with paintbrushes, worked best. After some trial and error a mix of DCC concepts 2mm & 4mm worked for me. Mainly the brownish blend but mixed with darker or lighter occasionally. Very much still a work in progress but I’m happy so far. Another task has been various stone walls using the Wills products. Dry brushed and with a wash to represent mortar etc. Weathering and blending in still to do. For colour reference I’ve used photos of some old barn walls which, fortuitously, I took in the area some time back. A bit of static grassing is under way at present then it might be some wagonry or maybe research into more example train formations. So far my trains have been based on weekday workings but I’m finding some the shorter Saturday trains - there were some! - quite interesting.
    11 points
  39. The Americans decided that they wanted to distance themselves from Britain by initiating a system of spelling words incorrectly. They have succeeded in this since now Britain and the countries of the former British commonwealth consider them to be illiterate idiots.
    11 points
  40. With the number of turnouts on the layout, it was inevitable that one would cross a baseboard joint so that had to be dealt with. I also have a personal dislike of copper clad sleepers at baseboard joins, especially where the track crosses joins at an angle and the copper clad is fitted at 90 degrees to the join rather than the track. So, at the board joins, and this applies to the plain track as well, I've drilled the sleepers out in line with the rails, inserted panel pins, laid the rails across the join and then soldered the rail to the pins as shown below. In this case, the turnout does not line up with the underlying Templot plan as I discovered I had it in slightly the wrong place and the crossing V ended up right on the baseboard join. I used to cut the rails using a cutting disk in a Dremel but this time, in an effort to make the gap as small as possible, I've used a razor saw to split the rails at the joins. The excess solder and the pins are then ground back using a Dremel allowing for half chairs to be fitted either side of the rail. This is what the finished article looks like with a first coat of paint (apologies for the quality of the photo but it was taken against the light). Not as strong, perhaps, as copper clad as the actual soldered joint is quite small but, for me, it looks a lot better and, whilst the layout is transportable, it won't be moving too often and I'll be fitting end boards to protect the track during transport so I reckon it'll be good enough to keep the rails in place and free of damage...
    11 points
  41. Good evening all from rural France where we're into I think, week 6 of lockdown. Apart from modelling, I've also been scanning negatives. I've got the negatives or slides of most photos that I've taken since I started taking photos back in the late 60's. Over the past week I've been scanning colour negs from 1974 and 75. I had a 35mm camera before that but it wasn't brilliant, an Ilford Sportsman. I mainly took slides with that but in Mid 74 I had started work as a policeman in West Yorkshire and spent some of my first wages on a Yashica TL Electro SLR. That's the camera that I used until 1977 when I bought an Olympus OM1 but more of that when we get there. The first one was definitely taken with the Ilford and shows, Huddersfield Junction at Penistone, there are I believe some 76's in a siding just beyond the signal box. I spent most of my youth living across the valley from Settle. After I left the Ilford on a train near Broxbourne I bought the Yashica from the Chemist's in Settle. That shop is famous as the Chemist's used in the Film Calendar Girls. Anyway after buying it I went out for a bike ride and went up to Langcliffe and en route took this photo of a peak heading north with a coal train. My childhood house was just out of shot to the top right. I think the next day I heard on the grapevine that there had been an accident near Langcliffe so went up to have a look and this is what I saw. Whoops, the lorry had been testing it's air brakes. That's just north of Langcliffe before Stainforth Sidings. I'd also bought a telephoto lens and this gives a better picture Apparently the lorry driver escaped without serious injury. This was only a few years after the quarries at Helwith Bridge had lost their rail connections and ironically most of this gritstone traffic is now back on the rails via the new connection at Arcow granite. A trip out to Milnthorpe was next to photograph the Electric Scots as they were known, and an 87. 100 mph downhill, And 100 mph uphill as well. That's it for tonight I'll do some more tomorrow. Jamie
    10 points
  42. Nice to see the modern GWR shewing a bit of class by naming on of the Class 800's 800025 Captain Tom Moore on his 100th birthday.
    10 points
  43. Bit of a retro respray over the past few days. Always liked the redstripe railfreight livery, so a suitable split box 37 is going to become 37355. Bodyshell has had the boiler steps filled in. The nose ends are correct as being the plated over version. The aerial will be replaced with something finer. Here is are some progress shots. Cheers Simon
    10 points
  44. I've been doing some digging and have finally found my pugbash hiding with some wagons in a box. I can take almost no credit for this other than cab painting, glazing, and converting it to DCC as I bought it at a swapmeet in Derbyshire for a whopping £15 a year or 2 ago. It's based of the caledonian pug with a new spectacle plate, square saddle tank, whistle etc but more unusual is the custom valve gear with new pistons and working slide bars attached to the cut down original connecting rods. All of the painting, lining and letting was done by hand. As I understand in H Lovatt was a railway contractor around Leicester but Loco No2 was an 0-6-0 not an 0-4-0 based on the few pictures I've seen. It runs nicely and the valve gear has held up despite the pocket rocket speeds
    10 points
  45. This has been quite difficult even with my patience which have certainly been tested I admit that at one point (no pun intended) I nearly give up but as well as been patient I’m also stubborn So here it is, third time lucky I needed a straight linkage so had to improvise with a left over rod that’s used for the FPL assembly and some round bar. I cut the clevis ends off and drilled a hole in each all the way through which allowed me to adjust the length in situ Modified the FPL ramp to cover the less than perfect joins The ramp is on stilts so hopefully when ballasted it’s not buried I’d like to say it was a labour of love but it wasn’t it was a right pain in the ar.... I’m going to have a lay down now and give my therapist a call
    10 points
  46. Newbryford may get a little excited by the next picture - a yellow 325! Just the primer and warning panel yellow ends though! I’ll leave this for a few days to harden off before masking for the red. In the meantime, one side done - all handrails and door handles added. Now for the other side! kev.
    10 points
  47. Thanks Al All that’s left to do is the rodding into the signal box This is just a rough mock up using some offcuts (of which there are many)
    10 points
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