Les1952

Enjoy the break, and the 648 extra items added to the wishlist while you're away..... Now where are those plans of Bouch's Stockton & Darlington passenger engines..... Les

Great Central Event and since An enjoyable three days, with only one or two problems- When they brought the electric supply to the layouts in the middle they started at the South end- and we were at the North Pole, so no testing until the morning of the show- and a wire had been dragged off again which it was too late to repair- no signals again Loading the car to go gome the tower got bashed and is now in several bits awaiting repair. Fortunately it came apart along the glue lines. Views of the layout in situ and of things happening. Geoff Warren is the operator in the picture. The team consisted of myself, Ian Dodds and Geoff, with Chris Burch substituting for Geoff on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the Modemo trams did most of the running- the two Combinos had a troublesome weekend while the little Tomix car was kept as spare. On the railway the diesels did the work, with the vintage train being a railcar. the broken tower. I've lifted it off the layout entirely while it is stuck back together, and am taking the opportunity to replace the tram track under it with the latest type. Assuming the new parts come in plenty of time I'll also do the top curve before RMWeb Live, but I won't dismantle this until the track pieces arrive from Japan. One thing that did arrive the day after the show finished was one of the new 3-section Tomytec cars. A working chassis for this is also on its way from Japan. Plenty to get on with - like rebuilding a tower.... All the very best Les

External details the totem for the proscenium arch is now made and delivered- at the GCR Steam event Furtwangen was next-but-one from the totem man, so it was easy to work out sizes and get the thing made. Trevor isn't very well at the moment so I'll have to delay getting the proscenium actually built for a little. Meanwhile black paint (gloss) for the frame. Much to do Les

A curved ball this one.. With TINGS and RMWeb Live being on the same weekend, are you going to be able to do both? All the very best Les

More close-ups. A busy few days- first another big batch of essays arrived to be marked, keeping me out of the shed for three days, then Bingham Town fair- and playing trains in Bingham Market to try to attract new members to BMRC- followed by a full day rehearsing in Lincoln on Sunday. This weekend is the GCR bash at Quorn, which will take out Thursday to Sunday. Hopefully I can get a name totem done. This might be the last chance before Grantham in September. I'm still liaising with trevor and Geoff to get the layout over to Whatton for the proscenium to be added. A man and the weighbridge added to the weigh hut- the weighbridge needs the paint finishing. Another bike found on the workbench, now paionted and added to the allotments- most of the allotment owners use their bikes to get there. Another figure leaning up by the pallets near the big tank. Hopefully it isn't a petrol tank if he's going to have a crafty smoke. A safety wall extends out from the end of the screens, just to make you have to try a little harder to get run over by a loaded wagon descending the grade.... A couple of oil drums have been placed beside it. Plenty still to do- another A3 just bought. This one will either be NIGHT HAWK or DICK TURPIN. All the very best Les

One more small addition. With the layout off to Quorn on Thursday for the GCR bash, I thought I'd add a water crane that was attached to the lump of assorted junk I got at the NGS Symposium the other week. Most of the junk (barrels, gantries etc) went into the colliery yard on Hawthorn Dene, together with the figures. However there already is a water crane, so a second one wasn't needed. I've also repaired the wire to the signal that was broken before the last outing so we should be able to run with full signalling. Much still to get on with Les Thinks- must turn the no smoking sign on the shed entrance the right way up.

Greetings. On the O2 thread you mention "what will be my 'Standard' coreless motor". Is this in fact a range of otherwise identical motors in more than one size (which is the way I read it)? A "standard coreless motor" that will fit in an N-gauge Austerity seems a little undersized for a O-gauge Type 2 diesel..... All the very best Les

Thanks for that- BTW the Matador is in "Erie Lackawanna Red", a jar of paint left over from a US project that never really happened.... All the best Les

More details in cruel enlargement Having got rid of most of the exam board stuff- absent from modelling, but WITH leave on the grounds I have to earn money twice a year to supplement my pension- time to add more bits to the layout. I'm still trying to fix a date to take it over to Trevor's for the proscenium to be added. The Sea Coal trader's AEC Matador is now finished (which didn't take long), painted (which took forever), grotted up (which took less than forever) and in position under the bridge. I needed an excuse for it not to be moving- I don't like too much action amongst the figures. Pauses in the action I can cope with. See below... The wagon has stopped and Ernie is lining up the starting handle for another swing while Eric looks on. They could have let the brakes off and just let it run down the slope, except that is how they got this far. Grandad sits on the tailboard and waits. Some more spare piping has given a water supply connecting the screening house with the baths building. Very cruel enlargement. A couple of miners are trying to move a hand truck over the rough ground. More to follow. Les

A loco returns.. 60501 COCK O'THE NORTH back from a service at BR Lines and DCC fitting by Digitrains. Not the smoothest of runners, and since the photograph I've replaced the front Bogie with an older Fairsh one, which seems to keep the loco from random wobbling much better than the scale one does. It will get outings on parcels or fitted freight, the prototype was at York and only rarely saw a passenger train except when they were hard pushed. Significantly Thompson's rebuilds, even as failures by ECML standards, ran 10,000 miles per year MORE than the Western's top link Castles....... Next part of hiding the hole in the backscene- a gantry. This will have rusty pipes routed over it to hide its origins as an oil gantry. It needs a bit of muck applying, also - the sort of muck that neglected stainless steel goes. A stores building to fill some of the spare space at the pit end of the yard. All for now- men to repaint ready to plant. Les

Railbus as promised Actually I've just remembered the layout isn't entirely unscathed - I'd snapped a wire on the underside before I set off, so there was no red aspect on the signal at the tunnel end. Solved by running wit the signals dark- a repair will be carried out in the next couple of days.... As promised the MAN railbus. Right type for the Bregtalbahn but a more modern livery- if the line had remained open after the seventies this combination would surely have been seen. Needs a bit of roof weathering, however..... All the best. Les

Details and Pacifics I'm finally getting round to putting details in the colliery yard. A visit to the N-Gauge Society's Worldwide Group symposium in Retford last weekend with Furtwangen Ost has yielded a piece of ex-layout junk which is currently being stripped and added to Hawthorn Dene. Quite a few workmen waiting to be painted out of their hi-vis, circuit boxes, gas tanks etc- each needing removal, a bit of cleaning, and re-siting. By the drops, a tank for that new-fangled stuff gas. Boxes by the former pit head, bags of coal for the open-hearth fires in these buildings- and the men over the bath building no longer in hi-vis (and the wagon toned down). The gantry needs toning down. In the yard assorted junk appearing, with switch boxes by the buildings. Another secondhand A1. This one has had a chip transplant and now runs very well. Renumbered and renamed as 60116 HAL O'THE WYND, a long standing Heaton resident. This one worked mainly between Newcastle and Edinburgh, but did get used on Leeds services round the coast at times. The plates have arrived, and the A3 seen in the 7th May photo has now beome 60085 MANNA, "Manna from Heaton", photographed at West Hartlepool on parcels and at Sunderland on passenger. Still needs its cab roof painting black to the edges, and a light weathering. One of the other A3s will get full Gateshead grot- around 1960 Heaton's locos were usually a bit cleaner. Lastly another A4. The first model A4 I saw was a Hornby Dublo 3-rail 60030 GOLDEN FLEECE, owned by my good friend Mike. This one (bought new as 60005) is a homage to that model- I don't really care if it didn't find its way round the coast- I have found a pic of it at Eaglescliffe. In this reality it turned right at Norton rather than left for Ferryhill....... Still a lot to do. At least the bulk of the exam-board work is done, though the "tail" of this lasts to September..... All the very best Les

More Rolling Stock Back unscathed from the N-Gauge Society Symposium at Retford, a nice pleasant low-stress day. One railbus and driving trailer added (pic to follow). An eBay purchase that arrived two days after Retford is this- The story is that SWEG are looking for a railcar to order, and have this one on hire from DB. It has replaced the BEMO railcar which will now be sold. Also sold is the SNCF diesel, a loco that hasn't actually been used since new. All the very best Les

No pics but I have one of the crane tanks in my showcase, not being used as I'm currently working in N. It ran as I remember the prototypes running at Doxford, attached to a plate wagon, coupled at the chimney/jib end. Mine is a whitemetal wagon, the purpose of which has been to keep the loco on the track. The problem with is that the wheelbase is less than the gauge. This in turn causes it to derail at frogs, even on finescale track. The heavy wagon, attached with 3-links, kept the loco straight. All the very best Les

Still waiting the move We went to see the new clubroom, or rather inside the building where it is going to be. We've just (!) got to build some internal walls to separate us out from the rest of the building. Time for a quick meanwhile.... Trevor has been busy at home. This is the terrace that runs from the Top valley board towards Rise Park Station (last seen in post 61). TV board isn't in place at the moment. Green stuff is Warhammer, sourced by Jim. Note Hodkin & Son on the left, light engineers, and J.Ross & Co at the right. We're not sure what goes on in that factory, but Trevor will no doubt enlighten us eventually. More when there is some.... All the very best Les

Another newsflash- must remember to shut my eyes when these go off.... Mr Simon will be operating at RMWeb Live. All the very best Les

Not a great deal happening. .... but a few pics to whet the appetite while we prepare for the big move. A view along the whole layout with the extension boards off- note that we've got basic grass cover on the extension boards parked on the workbench at the left, and quite a bit of colouring done on the main layout boards. Mostly we've stopped ready for the move. At the other end of the clubroom Phoenix Park has been dismantled by the Orribly Oversized mob. At the far end to the left is stacked Brenton Midland. Shame its coming down- we'd thought we would have a few more years in this building. At least we now have a new room, and in a building with a much longer life expectancy. Lots to do, marking season is upon us...... All the very best Les

Despite their unavailability in OO I'd shy away from the D20, J26/27 and J25 simply because the UM models are out there. Nobody seems to be looking at the B16 (70 locos, unrebuilt ones lasted to 1962). Although the class was concentrated at York and Leeds in later years this meant they ranged over the Trans-Pennine routes (confirmed reports in Liverpool and Blackpool) and reached both Kings Cross and Marylebone on passenger, and there is a nice pic of one leaving Oxford Northbound on a fitted goods. For a nice NER 0-6-0 there's always the J21- wide range as they got out of their home region, pretty for an 0-6-0, one preserved in green. Vacuum fitted meaning unlike the J25/6/7 can be justified on passenger. 65033 was even allowed to take a railtour Northbound over Shap without a banker! For tank locos the A8 was a big hefty beast but doesn't reach back into NER times as a 4-6-2T, being rebuilt from H1 4-4-4Ts in the thirties, while the G5 is a nice loco with a long life and allocations outside the NER area (Saffron Walden line was a G5 stronghold for instance). Hope this is helpful for 2015.... Les

Not a lot happening at the moment except... The Government has leaned on Rushcliffe Council to get houses built, so we've been given 3 months notice to get out of the clubroom so they can demolish it for a housing development- despite the fact the previous houses on the extended site aren't exactly selling due to it being in the middle of nowhere..... So far we've been offered another building that turned out to be given a demolition order (with ours) before we could sign for it, a second one next to the Control Tower that has no prospect of getting running water or an electricity supply, and now a rather large room in a building close to one of the hangers and outside of the "planning permission for housing" zone. Watch this space....... Les

News Flash I've just sent back confirmation documents for two more shows. Lincoln MRC at Lincoln Showground 28-29 Feb next year and something called RMWeb LIVE....... must get on with some work. Les

Pacifics? DCC fitted (12) - A4 60010 Dominion of Canada, 60019 Bittern A3 60045 Lemberg (with sound), 60051 Blink Bonny, 60070 Gladiateur, 60075 St Frusquin, 60088 Book Law, 60094 Colorado, 60106 flying Fox, plus the anonymous one A1 60124 Kenilworth 7MT 70004 William Shakespeare plus 60501 Cock O'The North A2/2 waiting fitting, and another A1 coming- this has a chip reserved for it but won't get a new identity until after I've seen what plates Ray hansen has managed to dig out for me from the list I've sent him. He's bringing the plates to the Worldwide Group symposium at Retford on the 31st. I'm there with Furtwangen Ost, and the NGS shop is there also.. The showcase now has the three LNER liveried ones. Frame colour- I did think of NCB blue but decided against, as the shade seemed to vary too much between areas, and I never saw any sign of it at many smaller pits. I'm still thinking about whether to go orange or black- Dulux have a nice bright orange that isn't too far removed from NER- another silly name but that seems to go with the territory where paint is concerned. It can wait a few weeks, until the proscenium has been made. Still trying to get some wheels for the pithead wheels- these will be in process of scrapping in the yard- which at least should explain the lack of a pithead...... Still plenty to be getting on with. Les

Painting the outside I've been looking at what colour to paint the front, sides, proscenium and end tops of the layout. Do I do it black, gloss black or a colour.? I'm tempted either to go for gloss black with the name on a North Eastern Region totem or to go for NE Orange. Disadvantage of the first is that it might imply a station at Hawthorn Dene. Problem with orange is that the paint would need to be specially mixed. The nearest colours on the chart rejoice in the names of "Hot Shot", "Halloween Wedding", "Vitamin C" or "Mimi's Kimono". Who picked these names I ask? For that matter can I please be paid to suggest some more....... All the very best Les

Slightly more progress. Easter out of the way, Grantham Operatic Society show finished, and a two week gap until the exam board beckons.... Still not a lot of modelling done, though I bought a set of wheels (unseen) that I thought might go into the yard as old pithead wheels with another welder cutting them up. They have proved disastrously big- the search for pithead wheels to scrap continues- I'm now thinking of Airfix (Dapol) 9F kit wheels, or Rocket/Stirling Single wheels from the same source. 9F drivers would scale as 10 foot diameter, and the Stirling Single would scale as 16 foot. Plenty to think about. In the mean time the weigh house is nearly done- in situ ( too much wide open space round it as yet) and final paint and weathering still to do. The flat area between the rails in front of it is a Dapol magnet. The weigh plate will sit over this. Also arrived three, yes THREE more pacifics- a Lemberg now unnumbered and waiting for the NGS to supply me with new plates. I'm hoping it will become Manna aka "Manna from Heaton", but there are other options. The other A3 started off as a Flying Scotsman, but has gained the Gladiateur identity given up by a blinkerless sister. Gladiateur in final condition had a high tender and banjo dome. It was another of the Darlington pilots, with spells at Gateshead and Heaton. Moving to Holbeck in about 1960, it passed to Nevile Hill in final condition, and would have worked to Newcastle via the coast, and finished up at Gateshead again. Third of the set is a Gateshead A4, Bittern. Gateshead treated their A4s as second-class citizens, preferring A1s for front line service. Bittern will be weathered, but not to full Gateshead horrible. I have 60018 Sparrow Hawk in mind for that if the money is available to buy another A4 later. After all, one can never have too many Gresley pacifics......... All the very best Les

May already Not a lot to report- I've been sorting out a box for rolling stock- and managed to get all but two main line trains into it- and one of those is the inspection saloon. I've a small plastic box that can take the remaining freight train and the "loose" wagons for the top, while the inspection saloon can live in the other box with the locos. The only scenic bit has been adding a few figures- notably a welder sitting dangerously atop the safety netting- fall one way and he's going to break his neck, fall the other and he toasts himself. Where are Health and Safety when you need them? All the very best Les

A couple more pics from Cotgrave. I took a bunch of pictures to add to the ones from Sheffield and Mansfield to get some decent ones to send off to the N-gauge Journal when I get round to writing an article. They are all too big to put up here, and a lot of them duplicate what I've posted already, but here are a couple more shots of details. Looking at the top houses a 2CV has joined the row of parked cars- has someone got French visitors, or is it just one of the inhabitants of the flats bought a nice cheap bouncy car? Meanwhile above it Frau Schwarz is hanging out her washing. Three hikers can just be seen between the buildings coming to join their mates off-pic flaked out by the sunflowers. Looking under the wires people can be seen inside the pedestrian arch, and there is a skip beyond. In the foreground a street band have a jam session on the steps, perhaps depriving the hurdy-gurdy man of some business. Both these views are taken from wheelchair user height. All the very best Les