Les1952

The only issue I might find with a decoder socket in the belly tank would be if you did the same as happens on one or two Minitrix locos- the decoder goes on the side of the PCB you can't see! The result of that is having to guess which way up to fit the decoder as the labelling is also on the side you can't see....... All the very best Les (still after an NE class 17 in N)

I'm still thinking small tank/industrial. There is a definite gap in OO and N, but I'm not convinced the same loco would fill both gaps- In OO smaller industrials have more appeal- and 4-coupled better fit the space available to most. In N you really need six-coupled for pickups with enough space to fit DCC. Against that you don't want to take sales away from your own J94. In 7mm the Ixion Hudswell and Fowler diesel take up a lot of the slack. Sticking with Hawthorn Leslie/RSH could I suggest the 14 inch 0-6-0 Hawthorn saddletank ("Stagshaw" at Tanfield is an example) would probably work in N and OO. Smaller than the J94 but with a decent-sized cab to hide decoders in. All the very best Les

All still in existence for laser-scanning! Though I would prefer THIS RSH saddletank- which is a little bit bigger, also two still in existence for laser-scanning (this one and no.47) Q6 has wider range than Q7. J26/J27 were almost identical- cab windows different on some J26s, and some J27s had balance weights and a few had longer smokeboxes for superheat. In N the Union Mills J26/J27 are let down by their tender.... All the very best Les

Binned the bridge.... I've looked again at the bridge I've been building (4th November post) and it has gone in the bin- or rather two thirds of it has! The front abutment is salvageable but the back one and top will have to be re-done. The problem is that the real thing looks like this- - and there was I thinking I didn't have a picture of it and the sides were brick. At least I'd not got as far as cladding it. Back to the drawing board.... Good news is that it slopes down towards the sea- which is what I want the model one to do. I'm also thinking that the banks should be left grassed rather than trying to build steep allotments onto them. I'll keep the allotments on the top, and have the pigeon creels near the top also. I've looked for a suitably ancient van body and haven't got one. The N-gauge Society do a kit of an outside-framed van so I'll get one at Warley. The two 0-6-0 saddle tanks are now back- the Geisl WD has had a brass overlay added to the cab back and looks more like a WD from the back. Once I've got it coaled and dirtied I'll post a picture of it. I've also bogged up the last of the sky sheets adding it to the sharp corner of the backscene- fortunately the grot bit will have the screening house abutting right up to it. Still plenty to do. All the best. Les

Trying to omit what the other manufacturers might do- A new K3 (as BachFar have said it isn't on the cards) or a K1 instead- a K1 could possibly share drive with an L1 tank....... A decent proper LNER tank loco- J72 preferred but could live with a J69 or J50. - oh, and some celerestory roofed stock when finances allow for it......... All the very best Les

Another week- a few more grains of ballast. A lot of time spent this week discussing how the Top Valley Goods board was to interact with the three Rise Park boards. We think we may have got that figured out at last. Alf decided to start by vacuuming the ballast, then got carried away with the pointwork and the lifted crossover imprint, so we didn't get the layout upended to do the underside. That looks likely to be a fortnight away as part of the morning was spent making a shopping list of bits for the Gaugemaster stand at Warley. Still, the finished areas of ballast don't look too bad- even Alf thought so, though his glasses weren't on his nose at the time. Geoff brought the hall back for further consideration. I've not managed to find an internet picture of the prototype, though a search for Watson Fothergill in google images does find a picture of Geoff's model and of Trevor's warehouse front, which might suggest Google reads this thread even if nobody else does....... All the very best Les

Thanks for the compliment- always appreciated. HOT NEWS. Hawthorn Dene has been booked to appear at Grantham Railshow on September 6th to 7th 2014. No excuse for not getting on with things! All the very best Les

Dr Al has probably understated the Farish Mark 1 problem- nearer a nightmare trying to keep them coupled to other stock of any make on a curve, even to other types of Farish coach. The couplers not only don't track the next vehicle but don't track bogie-mounted couplers either, so you have the worst of both worlds..... All the very best Les

What a difference a sky makes. Made a start on getting the sky backscene done this morning. One or two wrinkles I want to cover up and a 0.5mm gap (I measured it) that looks wider, but the difference even with these defects is amazing. I need another three house backs to continue the road with the start of another block. A knightwing kit I built is too small and looks wrong. I also need another pack of sky- the sheets are about 6 inches too short at one end and 4 inches too short at the other. Still, they'll give me some bits to cover gaps and a bad wrinkle at the Hawthorns end. I'll have to see gaugemaster as well as P.D.Marsh when I go to warley on Sunday week. Lemberg crosses the underbridge with an express as 12011 is still on loan to the NCB on the top level. The difference to the view of the shed is clear- even unfinished there is beginning to be some life.... Enough for now. Les

Very many thanks. Progress is a little erratic but beginning to get there....

Weekend progress- slow. A weekend involving a trip to Braunstone show has meant only two slow days of modelling- and those have been interrupted by two chip failures (both cheap Bachmann ones and both in newish Farish locos) and trying to find a correct number for a late crest J39. The only one available is 64840, which definitely had a repaint in 1960. What an Ardsley loco would be doing on the Durham coast I don't know- I'll keep it on fast goods. The other two areas of progress are the pit yard base and the carcass of the overbridge. For these cat pouch boxes have provided a suitably thick medium- rather than balsa on the pit yard floor, and plasticard for the bridge. The bridge pic also shows the two rows of hawthorn trees that hide the holes in the backscene, and the cottages placed in their final position so I can build the road and track to the overbridge. Next jobs are to use either brick plasticard or brick paper to face the bridge, and finish the yard and measure up for the screening house. Trevor's low relief building for behind the shed will either be the granary from West Allotment sidings or the castellated screening house from Backworth B pit- there was a similar one on the Lambton system but I haven't yet got a picture good enough for Trevor to build from. Must get on. No building now until Friday. All the very best Les

Be aware- when I wanted to add my new shed (16X10) to the house insurance I was left in no doubt that if I connected the shed to the house by ANY means that did not involve a compliance certificate issued by a qualified electrical engineer not only would it invalidate the insurance on the shed but also that on the house. £906 is a lot of money- I paid about £800 two years ago, but before accepting insurance on my layout the insurance company had a copy of the certificate faxed to them. Mine involved a new consumer unit (there was no spare circuit in the old one despite it only being 15 years old, a cable about 30 metres long by the time it had gone the long way round to the far end of the garden, and a consumer unit in the shed with three circuits- power, lights and PIR lamp- the security system has its own separate power supply. All the very best Les (who can't afford half-a-million to rebuild his house after a major disaster)

Plastering and other bits I started the day vacuuming the loose scatter off the layout - this time not saving for reuse as there is too much stray ballast in the sweepings. Next job was to get out the ModRoc and make the flat surface the terrace and road will sit on. Once this dries- probably Sunday- it will get a base colour coat, after which the cloud layer of the backscene can go on. In the meantime I'm going to do a bit on the ground surface at the pit end. This arrived in the post today- one of Davfen Miniatures allotments- I need something that will lift out to hide the board joint at the bridge. This needs backdating a little- the metal mesh and the conifer will have to go, and the ladder needs to be painted wood colour, but it is a start. I'll get one of his other shapes to see if I can make that one fit the space better, and maybe keep this one up by the terrace at the back. Enough ramblings for now... Les

Progress and arranging. Digitrains rang up on Monday- the Geisl Austerity is now chipped but the Peckett doesn't have a removable cab roof so is proving more difficult to do. In the meantime diesel 12011 is on loan from BR to the NCB to handle traffic- must remove "Merthyr" from the sides of the hoppers. In the distance the new terraced houses have arrived and I'm trying different positions for them before putting them on the bench to customise. The terrace is the new Lilliput Lane one- it is too fancy on the front, but terrace backs were pretty generic. The road will cut the corner beyond the terrace with a track coming from it down to the beach. I've also now got a clearer idea of how much space there is for allotments or similar to the right of the terrace. If the allotments are up here I'll have to rethink the flat space to the right of the bridge in the foreground. Trying out some of the small buildings at the back of the shed. The clips on the backscene are holding it together while glue sets. Trevor has decided to build me a low relief building to hide the join in the backscene- I'm thinking of a brick and corrugated iron structure- I remember something corrugated iron by the locoshed (it may even have been the locoshed) at South Hetton, and there was plenty of the stuff at Doxford's shipyard. Last but not least, D5013 gets a turn on a mixed rake of 16-tonners, probably on their way to customers South of York from one of the collieries along the North bank of the Wear. Much to think about. Les

Almost November- haven't this lot been working? Oddly enough, yes. The panels are taking a little longer than expected, so we've decided to start the ballasting while the electrics are proceeding above the baseboard. This shows the anticlockwise panel nearly wired up. There will be no signal or point wires to go in this one, so once all connections are finished (about three left to do at this point) it will be connected to the socket for the hand-held controller. The dowel is to act as a guide for wires passing between the switches in the lid and the tag strip in the base of the panel. When the lid is opened the dowel allows the wires to move smoothly and helps prevent any tangling that could lead to breakage. Design by mechanical engineer Alf. This one shows the platform being installed. Each half (it crosses a board join) was drilled and countersunk to allow the holding screw to sit with its head low enough for a flush surface to be added above. Meanwhile at the far end Geoff is cutting plasticard lengths for filler sleepers at the rail joins and on the left Alf and Jim continue wiring. At the far end of the clubroom Phoenix Park is worked on by some of the Orribly Oversize mob. Apart from the usual coffee making and tidying I spent this morning seiving small ballast so that anything more suitable for OO gauge didn't make it to the ballasting team. A nice low-stress job. Towards the end of the morning ballasting begins. Note that Trevor and Geoff are both experts with small brushes. Not one stone is allowed to be in the wrong place before wetting with photo wetting agent and having the usual 1:1 mixture of PVA and water applied- in this case brought pre-mixed from home by Trevor. Next week, more ballasting and more wiring. Les

Thanks for that- Digitrains rang this morning about the Peckett 0-6-0ST, so I picked their brains. The Hunslet will go there later this week. My Peckett is a rasonable representation of Lord Salisbury on a J94 chassis. The query was that the cab roof doesn't come off. However the little Hunslet tank has its cab roof detached at the moment after being dropped, which apparently makes it easier to do. Today's progress was all about getting the layout onto its legs and getting the PowerCab to talk to the entire layout. The controller pocket has been drilled out so that it can belifted off for transport. All parts of the track are now talking to the PowerCab- time for a little playing while scenics dry..... All the very best Les

They are the Arnold chassis- the Hunslet 0-4-0 side tank is the one I'd really like done- any idea which fitting service would be the best to use? I'm too ham-fisted (RSI and dyspraxia) to do hardwired decoders. The Manning Wardle is vastly overscale so I'll probably do up to make it respectable and send it off to eBay. All the very best Les

Layout boxed. Pic as promised to show the two halves of the layout boxed together for transport. Cropped a bit close because the image had to be cut small enough to upload. I've fitted the two UTP sockets I have, and the NTP? socket. The latter is daisychained to the first of the UTP sockets as a permanent connection. The third and fourth sockets are on the bridge board (master and first UTP are on the colliery board. I've also acquired some matt black paint to do the insides of the ends before the lids are attached. The ends are quite open so no access holes will need to be cut in the end panels. I'll do that tomorrow once the wind drops enough for me to be sure I'm not going to get a shed full of apple tree. Loco developments. 65726 has come back from Wickness models having been chipped with 65860 the next to go. I've started to renumber the Farish J39/2 as 64843 which was a Sunderland engine in its final two years and which did get a late crest (unlike the Farish model of 64838 which had its last repaint 8 months before the first late lions appeared.....) Plernty still to do, hatches to batten down etc. All the very best Les

Thanks for that- I'd figured the colliery sidings but didn't know about the allotments. As Hawthorn Dene is a ficticious colliery in the area I'm going to put allotments on the flat area at the front right and at the top of the bank to the left, with a row of four houses facing the backscene. The pigeon lofts (probably about half-a-dozen including the van conversion will mostly be along here also. The layout now has its end boards fitted for transport (photo to follow) and I've fitted the UTP sockets for the Powercab (or at least two of them- the third I'll get when I pick up the two 0-6-0STs from Digitrains. These two- sadly there isn't anywhere to put decoders in either of the 0-4-0s. A pair of WD saddletanks from DJ Models will fill the colliery roster. These will be able to shunt the screens without a runner wagon to convert the couplers. Time to go and get on with wiring adjustments. All the very best Les

Very many thanks for that. No intention of applying modeller's licence to put Penshaw Hill in the background if it isn't there- though it would have been a different matter if it WAS visible. The photos I have looking inland don't show a lot of detail I can't add either from photos or generically- there didn't seem to be a lot that was too distinctive, thank goodness. Anything I do add will be on a layer of backscene about 1mm in front of the sky. the layout is now waiting transport to Trevor Webster's tomorrow to have slots cut in the frame for the controllers and a pair of ends making to hold the halves together for transport. Then home again for a little adjustment to the wiring and scenic detailing can begin in earnets- (earnest even..........) All the very best Les

Just to show the effect of replacing the UM tender on the D20 and J25 with the smaller UM Midland tender then adding coal rails (in my case not very well as I'm ham-fisted). Posed on Furtwangen Ost. The lower picture was taken on my Hawthorn Dene layout (under construction). The J25 is off for chipping. All the very best Les

Quick question Hopefully someone will know the answer and save me a 250-mile round trip to check.. Can Penshaw Hill be seen from Easington Colliery or is the hill in the way? This is on the basis that if it can be seen it has to be on the backscene somewhere..... All the very best Les

First layer of grass. Small jar of diluted PVA and paintbrush at the ready, and with Gaugemaster puffer bottle filled with scatter it was with trepidation I tackled a trial area of the bank yesterday. The results are seen in the photos. The difference between the left side of the bridge cutting, which is done, and the right side which I've yet to start, is quite something. It still needs a lot of detail adding but the signs aren't bad so far. I was surprised to find some black bits in the scatter- ballast picked up with the minivac and returned to the mixing box. I like the effect and will add a lot more to the slopes below the washery and landsale yard. A trip to the BRM show at Peterborough today was fruitful. Three Bachmann decoders to do more locos, and a trio of backscenes from Gaugemaster- two plain cloudy sky and an open country field to do the front layer. I'll stand the middle ground (from some photos of the real area) off the sky by about half a millimetre and put the open fields another half millimetre in front- rather like I did on Furtwangen Ost, but hopefully without the mistakes. Talking to PD Marsh their conveyor kit is to be released at Warley- and the first parts to be ready are the ones I need, so the holes at the North End of the backscene can be plugged by the end of the year. The loco in Picture 2 was previously LNER 2000 used on Trevor Webster's Parnhams. Now he is selling the layout this J25, plus a K3 and a D20 have gone into BR black, with a J26 and a pair of J27s on decision- I already have BR versions of these. One Union Mills J39 is now chipped, and other UM lopcos will go off as I can afford them. Digitrains will get the Geisl Austerity tank to do sometime next week. Must finish now- cat feeding time.... Les

I lost the will to live painting P.D. Marsh pushbikes for Furtwangen Ost, but a couple resting against the parapet of the overbridge at the South end, with sacks over the crossbars and a pair of shady characters mopping their brows, that I like.......... All the very best Les

Further North than I managed on my field trip - the persistent mizzle and not taking a coat with me did for that- it was warm and sunny when I set off from Newark...... You can make out something when looking at the area on Google Earth. I'm aiming for an impression rather than reality (which I just haven't room for), so there will be steps down the bank below the landsale drops, but it isn't a full cutting at that point. At the other end I've had to invent an overbridge to hide the fiddle yard exit, though it will be about 4 inches in from the backscene holes and there will be a double row of hawthorn trees to hide the hole. The overbridge will just carry a track (rather like the one just North of the underbridge by the colliery site. All the very best Les