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warpy

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Everything posted by warpy

  1. @markwilson you’ll also have to remember O gauge is harder to sneak past the good wife than N gauge!
  2. Having placed an order for the RevolutioN class 59 I purchased 10 of the NGS PTA kits a few months ago to provide a suitable train. It was my first kit since attempting basic Airfix Spitfires when I was a kid - and they turned out terribly. Finally plucked up courage to start the first batch of 5 a few weeks ago. It’s taken a long time to build them and the transfers were probably 2 hours of hair pulling stress per wagon. My first attempt was pretty rubbish but by the 5th one I’m pretty happy with the result given my inexperience of kit building and painting. Hopefully weathering will cover the poor paintwork and transfer mistakes on the first couple. Went for the earlier Yeoman livery on the wagons as it simplified the transfers and matched the whiter paint better. I couldn’t find an offwhite in an aerosol as I don’t have an airbrush. However looked at Paul Bartlett’s great online photo library I think this livery was still in use by the time the class 59 arrived. I’ve taken them for their first run on the layout with the first photos. I think with a bit of weathering and a suitable load they’ll look even better. The load might just provide a fraction more weight to improve the running. Now for the second five and looking forward to the Class 59 arrival.
  3. Apologies all for the slightly boastful post but delighted to have made it into print for the first time, with Warphampton appearing in this month’s Railway Modeller (Dec 21). @markwilson thanks for the brilliant photos that really bring the layout to life. It’s 10 years since I first started planning Warphampton (longer with procrastination) and I never really thought I’d finish it and see it in print back then. I chose RM to submit to as it was my read of choice when I was a teen in the 80s/90s. I still kept the RM edition with the layout that inspired me to get into n gauge all those years ago - Maybury, July 89. Thanks Dave and I hope you don’t mind I pinched so much of your design.
  4. Enjoyed a good running session over the weekend with all the track and stock behaving well. Decided to shoot some new footage which includes some of the recent purchases. I hope a few of you might enjoy viewing it over a cup of tea or something. Sorry for the shaky closeup shots. I need to find a mini tripod that can stand on the scenery without damaging it Also in two minds as to whether music adds anything.left it off for now but the change in noise from scene is a bit noticeable. Currently I’ve only got the default windows video editing software which doesn’t offer any transitions to reduce the impact of this. Alternative suggestions welcomed for those with more experience.
  5. Feels like quite a productive week for Warphampton. Preordered a Revolution 59 in original Yeoman livery as I’m sure I remember occasionally seeing those around when stood on stations in the late 80s. Anyway it fits my era and given I’m reasonably fluid on region and it’s something different for my fleet decided to go for it given a very competitive early bird price. Then spent some time looking around for something for it to pull. Very limited choice in RTR Yeoman livery so I’m braving my first kit and have ordered some of the NGS PTA wagons. Excited to start building them as a project before the 59 arrives. Have to say though the size of the transfers look like they will slowly drive me insane - see photo with UK penny for scale - makes you realise the work that goes into RTR! Also finally got around to fitting some Dapol easi-shunt magnetic couplers to a couple of 24s and a rake of coaches. Had these for about 6 years I think, as originally Warphampton was designed for some loco hauled trains to terminate in the bays. Replacements would then come from the MPD but I wanted something reasonably automated. Up till now I’ve never felt like l had the spare locos available so the couplers sat in their boxes but finally decided to try them. A little rejigging of the other rakes freed one loco up. Now means I’ve got one formation to run into the bays and the spare loco from the MPD to form the return leg. Along with the DMUs this really adds to the operational enjoyment of the layout when I’m not just watching trains go by. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the Dapol system. Fortunately the stock had NEM pockets so the couplers swapped in very easily but they seem to work pretty effectively. It’s a shame the magnets are visible but weathering helps. With a bit of practise the uncoupling hand of God has disappeared and spent a fun hour this afternoon running trains on two loops whilst practising the the loco hauled terminating service back and forth on the other.
  6. Thanks although I couldn’t seem to access this link. Would you mind seeing if the privacy settings allow sharing please as I’d like to see the video. I see the BBC published some photos at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58271871 but not the same as a moving image.
  7. I think the location has been mentioned before but couldn’t resist this photo from Bude tonight whilst on holiday - the section of narrow gauge rails still showing in the path down from the canal to Summerleaze beach. I believe used to transport sand from the beach up to the spur from the line to Bude station. High tide tonight
  8. Evening all. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to showcase Warphampton on the N Gauge Forum virtual exhibition (see https://ngfshow21.weebly.com/). It was never intended to be an exhibition layout so I was delighted to get the chance for others to see it running, albeit if only virtually. A big thanks to the organisers of the virtual show as it was a great collection of layouts, interviews and guides. Also, thank you to any members here who viewed it, gave me a thumbs up or comment etc. Really appreciated. Having spent a few hours preparing the video I thought I'd also share a copy here. I've actually uploaded a slightly reworked version with no background music allowing you to hear the commentary more. The scenic shots were also just a couple of seconds longer as I realised the previous edit didn't really allow you the time to view each scene. I hope you enjoy watching it as I certainly enjoyed filming it. It was filmed a couple of months ago so I'd like to do another one soon with the new rolling stock recently acquired as hopefully that adds to the variety.
  9. Enjoyed a morning last weekend running a few trains with a good friend who due to lockdown hadn’t had chance to see the completed scenery. He also spent some time taking some photos with a much better camera and skill set than I possess so thanks Mark for the time. Look forward to seeing the results. as a result realised there are still some niggles in the running so spent a couple of hours this week replacing the track join between the flip-up upper fiddle yard and the ascending ramp. As you can see from the before and after photos the original looked pretty horrendous and it won’t surprise you to learn the lack of rigid track alignment, slight dog leg etc led to quite a few derailments. Having seen a post ages ago about how to do it properly I finally made it to a local model shop to pick up the necessary brass tubing. I’m sorry I can’t credit the author of the original post as I can’t find it now but if you recognise your recommendation - thank you. The new join works a treat. At the same time I also managed to squeeze another cm or so into the radius of the curves on the ramp leading to the yard. That’s also improved the running particularly of co-co bogies on the inner most curve. Delighted with the overall improvement. Now to sort the other side. Just wish i hadn’t procrastinated for so long!
  10. Since finishing off the scenery earlier in the year I’ve been spending time sorting out a couple of niggles in the track and just enjoying some running sessions. Over the last couple of months I’ve also treated myself to several purchases from that well known auction site for the first time in ages. Firstly, a red parcels 47, two parcels GUV and two TPO wagons to make up a new parcels train. The 47 is my favourite loco so I couldn’t resist another one in a different livery. It took some inner persuading that I wasn’t being disloyal to the 80s as I believe the RES livery is more like early 90s but in the end it was a 47 and rule 1 won. More recently I was finally successful in bidding on a batch of a TEA tanker wagons at a price I was happy with. I’ve wanted a train of these since I was a teenager but never got around to buying them. I couldn’t justify the beautiful but pricey recent models so was just satisfied with the older Grafar one. I rejigged another formation so that my blue 37 can haul them whilst I wait for the promised Farish petroleum sector 37 that may one day arrive. Again apologies to the purists as I appreciate the wagons probably aren’t period accurate and predate the 80s. If you’ve read my thread you’ll know I don’t model an exact region or time and I haven’t yet bothered with accurate train formations. I prefer just the pleasure of watching a nice variety of trains running around and these two new trains have provided a bundle of that. A few snaps below - apologies the angles are similar to before. I’ll try and get some new angles next time.
  11. The station looks superb Michael. Well done and definitely worth the hours put in. As others have said the gentle slopes but with the level windows works really well. The clock tower looks suitably imposing enough to represent the sort of railway folly so common from that era. And as usual the attention to detail with the VCTB, the cafe and all the signs, posters etc really makes the difference. I’ll look forward to the videos when they’re ready.
  12. Shame to see those holes in those lovely units you built but like a cutting through the hillside a necessary evil for railway progress! 4 broken blades - I assume there was a visit or two to Wilson’s then ;-) good to see some track down and look forward to seeing the overall plan. The longer platform will suit all those new Mk2s!
  13. Nearholmer, I’m also local to Olney. I knew about the proposed but abandoned railway line linking NP but I never knew about the tramway. Fascinating. As you say it’s quite a hill around Emberton so it would have been some climb. Is there any remaining evidence of the tracks laid or were they all lifted to your knowledge?
  14. I’m hearing Inkscape (Inkscape.org) mentioned more and more on a couple of YouTube model railway channels I watch. It’s free to download and I’ve given it a quick go and it seems to offer a lot of potential. Michael Scott from the Chandwell model railway YT channel has posted several videos on the package itself and his projects using it. He’s created some great scratchbuilds using this and free textures from Textures.com. I’ve still not had time to really get into it but it looks reasonably straightforward but with lots of features. if you search YT for Inkscape tutorials there are other sources of help.
  15. I think my approach could definitely simplified as I’ve basically got three sets of wiring under each point - the peco motor, the LeD feedback and the frog power switch. Metres and metres of wiring. At the time it was my first proper layout and the book I read (I didn’t really think to research the web resources 10-12 years ago, if there even was much out there) suggested best practise was to separate the DCC bus from all other circuits. Certainly with 54 point motors the fault finding is much easier when the DCC, LED feeds and point motors are all totally separate electrical circuits. Point taken though, if I had my time again I think there are simpler approaches particularly with more tech out there.
  16. If I remember correctly Mark the PL13 is a single switch so works well if you just want to control one circuit that switches when the point moves. So would work well to flip the polarity to the frog OR to provide a feedback to say an LED panel. You can’t do both as you need separate circuits. They’re pretty simple to fix under the point and have proved pretty reliable for me. Think I’ve only replaced one or two. The significantly more expensive and very fiddly PL15 provides two separate switches in the same unit so you can flip the polarity of the frog AND provide a feedback to an LED. On Warphampton I have 54 point motors including the fiddle yard (crazy I know) and initially just wanted the LED circuit for my panel. I’d bought electrofrog points but decided to rely on the blade contact to drive the frog. So I went for the cheaper PL13 for all points simply to save money. I only used the PL15 on the 6 double / single slips I have where you have to have an electrical frog switch as a minimum. So I needed the twin accessory switch to drive the frog polarity and LED circuit. I’ll be honest they drove me mad as they’re quite fiddly in n gauge. You have to adjust the angle of the micro switch at each end so they just make / break contact and with n there isn’t a lot of throw. If you had a second pair of hands to help test as you adjust that would make it easier. But under a baseboard on your own was not always easy! Having said that I did soon find blade contact alone wasn’t sufficiently good for electrical contact so running over points wasn’t brilliant. Eventually I decided to wire in a cheap 2nd micro switch (not much on eBay) for each point which was glued on top of the PL13. Retrospectively soldering feeds onto a ballasted point wasn’t the best and it was a little fiddly but it transformed the running and I don’t really notice the small solder joints near the frog and feed rails. Hopefully with the uni frog the wire is already there and you can do that more efficiently upfront. So my conclusion would be - definitely take the time to juice the frog rather than rely on blade contact. If you never see the need for a second circuit like Panel LEDs then I’m sure the PL13 would work well attached to a peco point motor. As mentioned I’ve never actually used those for the frog juicing as I’d already used them for the LED circuit. If you need twin circuits then might be working looking at motors which include a twin accessory switch included, as the Peco point motor plus pl15 is not that cheap and is pretty fiddly. Hope that’s useful from what I did but give me a call if not or let me know if you want any photos.
  17. Great to hear you’ve finally sourced some track and hope the build goes well. It will make so much difference having its own dedicated space. Looking forward to seeing the progress and once this lockdown is over running some trains together. Thanks for the shout out and link BTW
  18. Thanks for the kind comments Teabag. The road surface and platforms were both Scalescenes downloads just printed on good quality inkjet paper. Fortunately in n gauge the textures themselves seem to give a good impression and I didn't seem to need any actual texture on the paper itself although I haven't actually tested this. For the roads I actually copied the textures into powerpoint so I could manipulate them to get the road markings right or add some extras in e.g. for junctions and corners. Took a bit of time as powerpoint isn't a particularly good tool for this but it was all I had at the time and I was pleased with the result. I think there are probably easier ways to do this now with software like Inkscape which a lot of people seem to mention
  19. Really good running session so took the opportunity to take a few snaps from a few angles. On inspecting the close ups it proved I really need to be braver and take on weathering the rolling stock and the buildings. Any suggestions or links to suitable n gauge tips and tricks would be very much appreciated. P.S. Anyone tell the class 47 is my favourite loco? Forgive the rule 1 photo staging.
  20. Took the chance of a couple of cold lockdown weekends to do a really good spring clean. Vacuuming around the scenery isn't an easy task but saw a good video from Miniatur Wunderland where they used a small, soft brush to gently release dust. Seemed to work quite well. Fortunately the better half was in a good mood and sacrificed a pair of old tights to put over the nozzle to avoid losing anything to cyclone Dyson! It's amazing how even the smallest blob of tacky wax seems to hold the figures in place - only a few casulties pulled over the force 12 gale. Once the scenic side was hoovered the tracks got a good clean although it's a lot harder now all of the trackside details are in place - it sure is easy to destroy a speed sign and signal without realising :-( Once the scenic side completed I was just about able to cram all of the trains in to free up the two fiddle yards. Doesn't happen often enough but those tracks were also given a good clean. Whilst the top yard was up I also took the trouble of positioning some lane end markers to the bottom yard. Not quite as clear as I hoped but the cameras can just about pick up where to stop the train. Still, quite amazed what the £15 reversing cameras and screens from Amazon do show and that they're still going after the year or so since installation. I had pretty low expectations given the price but so far I've been proved wrong. Finally I also decided to get creative and create a simple loco roster using some magnetic strips, images from the Farish & Dapol sites plus a cheap memo board from eBay. Quite pleased with the result and now means it's much easier to keep track of what is where underneath and what DCC code to punch in. Some pictures below if it's of interest although apologies for the poor quality of some of these. I'll post some more running pics soon as the clean has worked wonders.
  21. Thanks Steven. I tried eBay a while ago and didn’t see any at the time. haven’t tried lately as been trying to source some lorries but great there’s some there now. I’ll take a look.
  22. Nice tip Steven. Now that I look at them you're right, those windows are very small. Do you mind me asking where you got yours? I picked mine up second hand but wouldn't mind a couple more. Unless I've missed them I've never seen them at the main stream suppliers
  23. my layout is 300cm by 85cm. It’s a little cramped as you can see but just about squeezed in enough for some operational interest although not overly prototypical. i would have liked just a little more scenic distance before the station as currently that takes up a lot of the visible track work. Ideally I’d have liked the odd gentle curved section thrown in as it’s a bit straight but overall still gives me plenty to watch. The double decked fiddle yard helped with storage but did introduce complexity and a few issues in running. Hopefully with 12’ x 3’ you’ve got just a little more space than me so good luck with the planning and hope you can take the plunge soon. Let me know if you want any more dimensions or have questions.
  24. Thanks all for your kind comments. Really appreciated. I’ve realised the tracks do need a good clean and I probably need to service most locos to get it running really nicely. A lot of focus lately getting the scenery finished. I’d also like to start detailing them with all the bits that came in the box as I never got round to that. Weathering is on the agenda but need to be feeling really brave there. If anyone has some good suggestions on where to find tips weathering n gauge stock it would be much appreciated. Lots out there on OO and O but feels like a wrong brush stroke in that scale doesn’t risk wiping out the whole model! To answer an earlier question the model is 300 x 85cm. Split into two boards of equal size. There is a height difference of 7cm between the two fiddle yards although the gradient was reduced by having the scenic side sat at 3.5cm with one double track rising and one double track dropping. You can see this by the tunnel portals. Ultimately it’s a little steep particularly on the tighter inner loops. One or two locos struggle but overall it works. On another layout I think I’d try to find space to avoid the double deck option and go for longer or wider fiddle yard to accommodate the stock. In the end I decided to rebuild the top fiddle yard to accommodate a hinge in as without it cleaning underneath and rescuing stock was just impossible. Doesn’t get used too often as of course it’s normally full of stock but there for occasional emergencies. I’ve improved visibility on the bottom level with some LED strips and two cheap reversing cameras from Amazon. Think they were only £15 each including a modest screen.
  25. A few more photos as this is my first post - sorry, I've perhaps been a bit enthusiast but I hope they're of interest
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