Les1952

Just to prove Simon's dad does actually work on his own locos from time to time. The Crab tender lined out (fox transfers) and awaiting weathering. It is now in the queue for soak testing on Top Valley & Rise Park. Les

Another week, another problem Progress this week has involved getting a heat reflecting surface on the window- the picture shows the size of the window above where the layout will be. Alf volunteered to clean the windows (without a safety net) then Jim applied the paint. The work bench had its first coat of yacht varnish applied. Buying from a builders' merchant rather than Boyes prevented the usual conversation of "Yacht varnish, what do you use that for?" "Varnishing my yacht " " Ooh- have you got a yacht?"...... We've also got the tea and coffee cupboard up on the wall, provisioned of course, with the set of "Rise Park Top Valley" individually named mugs on top (not that we want to gloat, but.....) Also done enough strengthening of the fiddle yard trackwork to be able to cut the rail gaps we need. However Trevor's cutting disc has worn out so it is delaminating track. We're having an extra session on Thursday evening to finish the cutting and start soak testing. Repairing damaged track is next week's job. All the very best Les

Another visit to Trevor's and a rewire. The two aren't quite connected. After Sheffield show I noticed some damage to the ends from the Proscenium not quite fitting properly. As a result the layout and proscenium went back to Trevor's last month for some strengthening and the fitting of the proscenium to be adjusted, I took the opportunity to get a small shelf included as part of the strengthening- this gives a little more space to park railbuses etc, as these seem to be breeding. The pics show how it fits behind the backscene. Currently the trackplan has been removed so it can be re-done before being stuck back again. To try and get more sections into the railway a partial rewire has taken place. The two dead-end roads (the shed and the brewery) are no longer separately switched, and are isolated purely by the points. This has released two switches on the control panel. I've used these to make two of the fiddle yard roads two sections each- leaving the longest one as a single section for the vintage train. This now allows five trains offstage (and 4-wheel railbuses can still be plonked on at either end as extras). One new addition is an Arnold Kittle railcar. I've also finally got round to servicing the VT98 set and have weathered it. This will share one of the split sidings round the back with the low floor railcar. The MAN and the Kittle will live on the shelf and can run with all fiddleyard roads switched off. All the very best Les

Very many thanks for the nice words. I'll pass them on to Trevor and Geoff- the scenic team. Alf is the engineer/tracklayer and Jim and I are thinking through the electrics at the moment- though each of us assists in an area where another might lead. It does help that Trevor is currently barred from entering for the buildings trophy at the N-Gauge Society AGM, having won it too many times. You will see other examples of his work on Parnhams (waiting bookings), Stamford East (now in the care of a member of Manchester MRS and with invites to exhibit in that area) and his new one Whatton Parva, which makes its debut at Grantham Railshow in September and will then be at Sileby. Since Furtwangen Ost is also at both of these shows the whole team will be in action there... We are looking to get the Rise Park part of this layout ready for the 2015 Cotgrave show, and then concentrate on Top Valley Goods, which isn't yet started but will sit over the right-hand end. All the very best Les

Very many thanks for the compliment. Period will be late fifties- early sixties. There is a pic of the O1 and the Crab on Mr Simon's workbench- and some of the stock (mine) is shared with Hawthorn Dene Colliery- pics there. Once we get the layout set up next week and the rails cut where we have currently got short circuits we should be able to start soak testing. At that stage I'll get some videos and pics made. All the very best Les

Week number "Lost Count plus 4" We've finally got moved into the new clubroom- as have the rest of Bingham MRC. The workbench is complete- the structure of it can be seen below (this was while we were waiting for the MDF for the back wall to be delivered. At the other end of the room Phoenix Park is now erected and at the other side of the room from us is Ashtow with the club's N-gauge fiddle yards, and Jeremy Burrows' Yeaton. The second of these shows the reason why we've not yet erected the layout- the big picture windows let in far too much light and far too much UV- we'll have to do something about the UV before long. In the mean time Trevor has finished the Metropole Cinema (which is a low relief version to go along the back at the Top Valley end of the layout) . Next week, varnishing the workbench to seal it, and erecting the layout if we've got the UV problem sorted out. All the very best Les

When new class 27 was allocated to Cricklewood and Thornaby amongst others, class 26 to Hornsey. Class 33 worked North in pairs on a cement train that worked as far as Teesside. Quite OK to see GREEN 26 and 27 working alongside Class 33 and SR EMUs in the London area, or GREEN class 26 and 33 alongside each other on Teesside for a few years. Hope this helps. Les

Even more worth getting your controllers checked- I understand Gaugemaster have a lifetime warranty, so it should be cheaper to get your controllers replaced if there is a problem than replacing your locos..... Les

Week number- lost count First time in a few weeks that all five of the group have managed to get to meet at the same time. I'm not sure if I've posted Geoff's warehouse end before but here it is ready for the rest to be added. Also seen this week for the first time was the first of the Watson Fothergill buildings. This one by Geoff again, and I can't remember which church hall it is.... Not yet finished but coming along nicely (and much better than I can make). On the electrical side the short circuit between the centre board and the end boards has been traced and sorted, and one set of the section cuts needed has been done. Thomas the Test Engine has run about half-way round the anticlockwise circuit so far. Short morning this week as we all went to see the progress on our new home. False ceiling now in place and the walls have been scraped ready for painting. We've decided that the floor covering is good enough just to give a couple of coats of yacht varnish. More next week (hopefully). Les

I can't see a problem with a 1-Bo-Bo-1 provided you don't have too much weight on the outer axles. After all the fabulous (for their day) Life-like E-units were correctly A-1-A A-1-A and they are excellent pullers. All the very best Les

No- but there is one in a nearby building, accessible 24/7 as it is a guardroom manned round the clock by Ghurkas. It does have a separate kitchen and plenty of light and electricity- and is dry from above and below. Rise Park will have a 19' by 8' area divided off with workbench and storage racking. Our dividers will be screwed to the floor. Les

Week 21. At last a controller brought into use that is up to the job. The centre board has been connected up and Thomas the Test Engine has been put thorough his paces on every line. Fanfares etc (silently). The first movement of Thomas the Test Engine on the Rise park Centre board. When each of the end boards is added there is a short- so some gaps need creating before we go any further. New Home Behind the scenes negotiations have been taking place for Bingham MRC to move to a new clubroom. The tenancy agreemant has been signed and we move in a few weeks time. Work needs doing but this is our corner of the new space. The engine is to go out this week. Exciting times ahead. Les

Week Umpteen Only two of us there this week. All temporary wires added underneath the middle board, with quality connector to a stand-alone controller. Switch on - dead short! Guess who hadn't gapped the tracks at the board edges at the front of the layout..... Still, power is getting to the right places on both the inner and outer. Slitting disc next week should result in trains moving. All the very best Les

Update All droppers are wired in, as are most of the connections across the board joins. We are now in the holiday season but testing will begin over the next couple of weeks......

News- Furtwangen Ost is to appear at Model Rail Live at the GeorgeStephenson Pavilion, Newark Showground, on September 21-22. Website is here http://www.modelraillive.co.uk/ but pics etc aren't yet up... Les

Many thanks for the compliment- no shows booked other than those in my strapline, but got two more enquiries from Sheffield so may yet venture a bit further North next year.

Pics from Sheffield show. Not a lot in the way of captions to go with these- the show went well, though the Glaskastern, the big Combino and the Waldbahn railcar all developed faults- the two from the railway now fixed and the tram waiting doing. Shame there weren't more punters as the show definitely deserved to be better supported. Lots to get on with. Les

The NCB ran three (at least) in Northumberland that were sbstantially unmodified.... Les

Week Twelve OK- week eleven went the same way as week nine, and I suspect a few more as we are definitely in a non-photogenic section of the business. Fixing pins. The boards are held in line with patternmakers' dowels and then secured by split pin hinges. However at a recent show wit Stamford East (may have been Sileby) we were back to back with a layout where the pins of the split hinges had been replaced by large split pins. A few weeks later Trevor has found some..... Jim has had a go at soldering up the next pair of SCART leads. The Thing-um-me-jig has developed into a mark 2 version with the plugs held vertically. Using print-offs from the spreadsheet to mark the circuits on the tag strips has proved OK, but relies on me getting a consistent size out of the printer (then remembering what it was for next time....) To explain the colours- black/red are any circiuts for clockwise and pink/blue are the corresponding wires on the inner (anticlockwise) circuits. The main line is sectioned A1 to A5 and C1 to C5 respectively with the loop at the front being CL2 as it is opposite section C2 on the main (CL=clockwise loop) Fiddle yard roads are numbered 1 to 10 from the board edge, prefixed with the direction of travel and the letter F for fiddle yard. Each is divided into two sections with the rear one in direction of travel having a suffix A- so section AF8A is Anticlockwise Fiddle yard road 8 second (long) section and CF3 is Clockwise Fiddle yard road 3 front (short) section. Logical and theoretically simple provided every wire is marked at both ends. Les PS- I've just spotted a misprint in pic 3 - AF1 should read AF10.......

Proscenium lowered I took the proscenium over to Trevor's yesterday and 5 inches has now come off the height of the proscenium. A wobble has needed correction but here it is in the workshop with proscenium attached and Hawthorn Dene Washery standing on its end behind it. I've had a go at the trackwork at the top end and most trams have no problems with it. However the Hiroshima combino is currently withdrawn for a rebuild as it doesn't like quite a few places on the layout, and I've identified a couple more surplus Tokyo types that will be sold off before too long- with a service that needs four trams to run it I only really need eight. Sheffield will run with the Erfurt combino, the little blue Waggon Union tram and two of the Tokyo cars, with two more as very reliable spares. I'm still waiting news of the Kato Hobbytrain Stadtbahn car- one of these will be added when it finally appears- to replace another Tokyo car. Show night tonight- second performance of Sweeney Todd - I'm knackered after just the first one (and technical, dress rehearsal etc). Still, there's only three more performances including tonight and then I can hang up my tonsils for a while and get back to modelling..... Les

Friday update Hawthorn Dene Washery is now on its end and Furtwangen Ost has been brought out of its corner and is standing on its trestles again to be prepped for Sheffield Show in three weeks time. Jobs to do- 1. The proscenium is to be lowered by about 4 to 6 inches. If it ends up too low the trsetles will be lengthened after Sheffield show to raise the layout a couple of inches.. 2. Running of the tramway to be improved at the top end where it passes under the houses. 3. Goods stock to go back to Rapidos as I now have three locos with Simplex uncoupling mechanisms. The Dapol buckeyes released will go onto hopper wagons etc for Hawthorn Dene Colliery. So far I've tested the railway and it is ass running well even before I've cleaned the track! All the very best Les

Friday update Layout is now standing on its ends while I get Furtwangen Ost ready for Sheffield show. Surprisingly just running Stan the Knife through the bits where I'd sceniced across the board joint was enough to allow me to split them first go. While it is in two pieces I'll take the opportunity of getting ant protruding trackpings out from the underside, and wire in as many drop wires as I can reach. Hopefully it will be back on its feet in June. Meanwhile still plenty of work going on to improve the trains. All the very best Les

I hadn't seen them - will investigate further. Very many thanks. Les

Week Ten - Final Spasm A prototype control panel box has been sourced- we decided that using ready-made boxes was likely to be more efficient than making out own. Two of these will sit above the clockwise tracks of the fiddle yard at either end of the middle board. Each is about A4 length. They will be mounted upside-down as the securing screws are in the bottom, with the switches on what was the underside. Wires will be brought in through the back, rising in looms between the clockwise and anticlockwise tracks of the yard. The panels will be hinged at the front to allow access to casualties and for track cleaning. Drilling and cutting the slots for the looms to pass through the main board. First Trevor drills two large holes, then opens them to slots with a power saw. Some filing of edges from Geoff completes the job. The final slot The wires will be guided upwards so that they don't catch passing trains. That's all for this week. Les

Week Ten Continued Again Trevor and Geoff have been looking at the rows of houses that will sit on the wall behind the railway on the centre board. As they look at different prototypes Trevor has been making plasticard mock-ups of the front walls. These will be positioned roughly before being passed for completion. Some won't make the cut. In the meantime Geoff has been looking up buildings by Watson Fothergill, who was responsible for over 100 public buildings in the Nottingham area. The downloaded pics are some that may be built- Trevor has already started on the terrace that rises up the hill........ Part 4 to follow. Les