Brian D

Totally agree, emulating the tamper on the full size railway. Great stuff Andy. Keep it coming, we all enjoy reading about and watching your layout's progress.

Before proceeding further, I couldn't resist a quick trial run (it's been a while ) so this is the latest "Haulage Test". When the loco is finished, this would be its train on the layout, i.e. four Hornby "suburbans". Regards, Brian.

Well, it's been a while since the last update entirely due to a lassitude on my part to get on and finish the job. I think I have been discouraged by the the fact that the kit parts require so much fettling and also the errors in the kit as advised by your generous contributions to this thread, such as the tender frame apertures mentioned in the last post above. My error of gluing the wrong safety valves in position also dampened my spirits somewhat. However, the old mojo is back so I'm making a new start by removing the safety valves. Having researched on line (good old Google), I have discovered that nail varnish remover, provided it contains acetone, will "dissolve" superglue. So, I've given it a try and the "wrong" safety valves have been successfully removed - see below. There is a large hole to fill, as can be seen, before my preferred Ross Pop valves, now on order, can be fitted. This will represent the BR condition of my chosen prototype, at least as far as safety valves are concerned. More news as and when. Regards, Brian.

Not much to report except... ...after a DMU arrival... ...the L1 was due to depart with a local stopper. Meanwhile, over at the colliery, a J27 and a train of coal hoppers was waiting for the right away... ...while the colliery shunter took a break. Regards, Brian.

Well, blow me down. I revisited the pages you mentioned only to find I had already 'd them. It's the age, you know.

Actually, there should be another button to press for "hysterical". Keep up the great modelling and the new "narrative". Mucho chuckles this end.

That's exactly what I thought viewing the pics on my phone! I thought he never mentioned the barrow crossing which made the penny drop that perhaps it might not be a model. Durr!!

Hmm, Andy, I thought you were a freight addict....and now all these commuter dmus and emus. Your working timetable will have to reflect the preponderance of such traffic with only the occasional freight movement, or does rule 1 apply?

Sorry, missed that Andy. So much for my speed reading. Regards, Brian.

Wow, great improvement Andy - I didn't think you had anywhere near enough passenger services in the previous version of Bute Road. Looking forward to seeing this develop. A couple of suggestions if I may? Perhaps a name change for Bute Road to match its new location. How about "Eastly" haha? You really must have a rail head treatment/sandtite train. There's one on my local line (London Tilbury and Southend Line) which goes down early afternoon and back up a bit later this time of year having reversed somewhere, Pitsea I think. Multiple choices of locos to top and tail it with (our local has a Shed at each end). The necessary wagons are still available from Hattons I see. Got to keep those rails leaf free haha. You obviously got the grand kids vote for the new format so what's not to like. Best Regards, Brian.

After spraying the poles, the insulators have been picked out in white and the foot rungs painted grey, both colours matt acrylic - see below. They have now been planted on the layout as shown below... ...and in this short cam truck ride video from the fiddle yard to the footbridge. Regards, Brian.

Thanks very much Andy, yours are great too.

The latest mini project involves lineside telegraph poles on the main line. I wasn't sure whether such poles were fitted to the sides of viaducts so did some research on-line. Having googled the topic I came across (can you believe this?) "The Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society" - well knock me down with a feather . Anyway, there seems to be examples of poles hanging off viaducts so off I go. The raw materials are..... The article is from the August 2018 issue of BRM. The Dapol poles are a bit of a faff because some of the cross pieces are missing from the main pole moulding and have to be added or the necessary holes filled. I chose to add the cross pieces as shown below. The pole on the right is without the cross pieces, that on the left shows the chosen variants fitted. The poles were there then inserted into a spare piece of timber drilled to suit and spray painted outside, see below. They will now be left to dry overnight. More progress to follow. Regards, Brian.

The latest stock acquisitions, a trio of Accurascale 21T mineral wagons, have been given a run on the layout, seen here ascending the main line bank over the viaduct by Little Easington. To say they need weathering is an understatement. As with the Accurascale 21T hopper wagons, the grey body plastic is very much towards the white end of the colour spectrum compared, say to the grey that Bachmann use - see below. I might be being a bit picky here but to my eyes the door moulding on the Bachmann wagon looks better than that on the Accurascale but perhaps its the colour of the plastic that is influencing my judgement here. Regards, Brian.

Hmm, interesting word and pic puzzle to solve but it's late here and can't be bothered. Night night.

Did I spot this loco on your layout a while back? The reason I ask is that (1) I'm a Sunderland fan and nearly bought one but resisted because it's grossly wrong era for Deneside and (2) I've just spotted it down the road (Thames side Essex) on a rail head treatment train. Being named as it is I would have thought the loco would have been based up north and I wondered at the time I saw it on Bute Road whether you were using rule 1 but it seems to get about a bit. Great work on the layout BTW. Regards Brian

Taking advantage of an offer in "Model Rail" magazine I purchased some Geoscenics speed limit signs which were duly positioned on the layout as below. The upshot of this is that the masonry (main line) viaduct is now speed restricted to 25 mph and the metal (colliery branch) viaduct limited to 10 mph. These speed restrictions are at the bequest of the Area Chief Civil Engineer to preserve the infrastructure from further damage and all local and visiting enginemen have been informed. Regards, Brian.

I live close to the Tilbury Loop on the former London Tilbury and Southend Railway and the whole line is over head electrified for commuter emu services. Down the road a newish port has been built (Arab money) so half mile long Shed hauled container trains are a welcome break, train spotter wise, from the emus but a bit of a pain with the level crossings hereabouts. They are great to watch thundering through and I keep meaning to make a video to share on here and the usual upload site. Probably not many deep water ports in Cornwall though but you could always apply Rule 1 and surely you might have spotted such traffic at Eastleigh, albeit in ain't Cornwall. Regards Brian

Really enjoying the videos Andy, so much better to see the trains get a bit of speed on rather than the creeping 7mm locos. Of your loco types, the only ones I see round here are Sheds on container traffic. Any container workings planned for Bute Road? Keep up the good work Andy. Regards, Brian.

The latest video featuring a recent stock acquisition is available here. Regards, Brian.

Me thinks you've got a thick thumb Jeff, as in Rule of Thumb.

I'm fairly sure it doesn't matter Andy, aslong as the resister is in the dc circuit somewhere.

Belated pictures of the coal load and loco follow. The coal has been glued over the plasticard base whereon some steel washers had been previously superglued. Some of the coal has not adhered properly and you can just see the edge of one of the washers. So, "before"... ...and "after". The loco has also been close coupled which you can also see below. Regards, Brian.

Oh, you mean the teenie weenie amount left after a hard slog from colliery to Staithes, or have I got a different Oxford Rail J27 than you have?

Well, what a faff that was! The screw holding the tender/loco link seemed to be seized in the plastic spigot on the underside of the tender "footplate". Lacking any suitable WD40 type stuff I was forced to use a bit too much torque on the screw driver which unfortunately sheared off said spigot at the root. After screwing and unscrewing the screw into the spigot many times until I was satisfied the screw would not get seized again, the spigot was duly super glued back in place and left to dry overnight. Today it has all been reconnected in the close coupled mode but I also took the opportunity to bend the link downward slightly which has solved the tender wheel skating issue. I am working on a removable coal load incorporating some steel washers to add additional weight. I'll post pics in due course. Regards Brian.