Les1952

Week Ten OK, I hear a chorus of voice saying (there must be one person asking, even if only me...) what happened to week nine? Simple- I forgot to take the camera! Stupid boy....... There is enough this week to take up more than one post, so I'll divide the bits into groups. First group this week- trial fitting and near-completed bits. To start with, a better picture of the brewery front. At least this one is in focus, though Trevor thinks the missing window is either in his box or on the work bench at home. Note I've got a better focus on the Fleur-de-Lys on the right-hand gable. The front of the bridge at the platform end- this sequence minus the platform under the buildings, which is also on Trevor's workbench at home....... The other side of the bridge- which is just about complete apart from the road surface on the top, which will go into position when scenics start on the baseboard, some time well after Easter. The stub end of track is where the sand drag at the end of the loop will be. One I was asked to take- looking through the bridge to see if the camera can focus the drill sitting on the far end of the baseboard. More to follow... Les

Looking closer at pylon 1 Basically there are two ways the cableway can leave the screening house- either in front of or behind the screens themselves. That means there are probably two sites the first pylon can occupy. It can either sit behind the colliery line and in front of the roads coming from the screens or it can sit behind the roads from the screens. I've placed it both ways and am presently thinking. Fortunately the final decision is several months away. In front of the screen roads Advantages - easy to get at. more room in front of the screens than behind to get the cable end into. Disadvantages- the pit head baths were going to be somewhere here. Removing these means the area becomes a little too open for my liking, and the bath house has few alternative positions. Cables pass over main shunting area One solution could be to sit the pylon on top of the baths. Cables still pass over main shunting area (disadvantage) but at a higher level meaning less conflict with the "hand of God". Problem with this is I'm certain it is totally unprototypical. Alternatively the pylon could sit behind the screening roads. Advantages of this- the cables are now clear of track cleaning and "sorting out" accidents etc. Pit head baths can go back where they were and still give hand-room while interfering with the sight line to the screens. Disadvantages- the cable end becomes cramped BUT it is behind the screen house so limitations of my modelling are harder to spot...... The backscene is extremely close to it so will need to be installed first- difficulty keeping it clean given my hamfistedness.. Overall I'm beginning to come down in favour of putting the mast behind all the tracks- the cableway will be almost the last thing to be installed and there is little important or fragile that can be knocked while installing it- most of the colliery buildings are Lyddle End or Scenecraft, and those that are going to be scratchbuilt will be near the back and end. Looking closer at pylon 2 This one turns the cableway through almost a right-angle, and the runner at the back will need extending a long way before and after the pylon- the forward runner is inside the bend and needs much less extension. The question is, whether or not to sit it on top of a square machinery house. This shows it without. The snag is that the cableway passes over the colliery line at a low level. If I place the pylon on top of the machinery house it gives more clearance where it passes over the line, and a steeper angle going down to pylon 3. I'm going to have to see if there are any examples of a ropeway pylon with a plant room built under it. The steeper cableway is probably better aesthetically and gives the impression of heading for the beach. This one needs a slightly earlier decision as the plant room goes in the ground at an earlier point, though still not until after the summer. Another consideration is that there will need to be protective netting where the cableway passes over the track to the beach, and over the main line. Ah well, back to the research..... All the very best Les

Friday- Pylons arrived. A pack of three pylons for the cableway has arrived from Germany. Looking at the Brawa cableway the expansion pylons for this were almost the right shape- and the differences are mostly in the cable guides at the top. One is going to have to turn the cableway through a big angle. This will be pylon 2. The three pylons placed on the layout to see if three is enough (ie should I send for a fourth?). I think three is the maximum number. At this point pylon 1 is sitting on the baths building, and pylon 2 on a plant room. Pylon 3 is the one forward of the tracks, and this is where it will finish up (within a couple of centimetres in any given direction). More to follow Les

Waiting for glue... As there is quite a bit of paint and glue still setting I've turned my mind to locos and stock for a time. The push-pull brake might be good enough to photograph in a few days (or maybe not) and I've been making some progress with the Hunt and the V1/3 tank. The V1/V3 has been lined out on one side, with the other started. I've got buffers ordered for it. It needed a go at the track tp get it to run across the front as it has deeper pizza-cutter wheels than the Hunt. I've also been running-in A3s, which are now all quieter than any of the V2s- as is the A4 now. Pic shows Colorado after being given some more weight to the Cortazzi truck to keep it on the track. All the best Les

Friday again- the vacuum cleaner strikes.... Actually this was pre-planned. Off came anything portable and the whole top was given a good going over with the vacuum cleaner nozzle. About 95% of the ballast has survived- I made a much more thorough job of glueing it down than I did with Furtwangen Ost. I then got out a pair of locos with pizza-cutter wheels (the Hunt and a Baby Deltic that has been hiding in Stamford East's shed at exhibitions until I fixed it last week) and ran them round and round on the hopper trains until they ran smoothly with no bouncing on bits of stray ballast. Everything with finer flanges runs nicely, and looks a lot better. The South end of the layout- progress overview. Note I've still got to fill in Trevor's saw cut just North of the bridge. Slightly soft focusing hides the missing bits of ballast just beyond the bridge. Looking the other way- the train hasn't moved, the 4MT has stalled through lack of decent pickups. Having to keep the motion swimming in more oil than the prototype uses in order to stop it locking up doesn't exactly help pickup either. I'm debating whether I actually need a 4MT. It will go for "sorting"- probably next month sometime. If it behaves when it comes back I'll keep it. The stalled 4MT is passed by a Nothbound DMU. Ballasting has improved this aspect. The new billboards have arrived- Blackpool is the brighter one of the two. The other one is for The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which is nearer the period than Get Carter. I'll keep that one in reserve, however. I'm still looking at ways of hiding the holes in the backscene at the ends. These are hawthorn trees, at least according to Busch. There is an overbridge to go just to the right of them, with a level crossing on the colliery line about where the loco is standing - ungated as the NCB often didn't bother with such things- a flagman for a road and a loud whistle for a farm track. This will be a farm tracfk. I've another group of Hawthorns which might go on the near side of the cutting between the bridge and the baxckscene. However I'm still not fixed on this, and will play with a few other ideas. Off to the right, starting behind the hopper wagon, will probably be a row of terrace backs. All the very best Les

Week Eight Only two pics this week, largely as I spent much of the time talking to a prospective new member while soldering to one of the tag strips. What I thought was the bad news was that of the extra bits I ordered last Wednesday the SCART leads (which we didn't need today) had arrived while the tag strips (which we DID) hadn't. The latter were waiting for me when I got home- of course..... As it happened we didn't get as far as needing the tag strips on the second board. Soldering was a divided task, with Alf doing most of the soldering above the board, and me doing the soldering to the tag strips, largely as it was quicker to do them that explain which one went where. Lighting isn't a strong feature of the BMRC clubroom so the anglepoise came in useful for us to be able to see what we were doing. Trevor and Geoff spent a lot of time planning the backscene. This is a prototype former. The hillside will continue half-way over the fiddle yard and there will be little or no sky at the top of it. Trevor is checking reachability under the prototype to see if a coach standing on the furthest track from the board edge can be reached under the proposed angle of the bank. The top edge will actually be at a small orange pen mark about two-thirds of the way along the former. All the very best Les

Many thanks for that- we're moving into a much less photogenic stage, putting wiring in place will take us through weeks eight to twelve on current estimates.... All the very best les

Thanks for that- I knew it was along the coast but was told it was here. I'm replacing Carter with a Blackpool billboard when it arrives- I was also a little concerned about the cigarette in the poster- not wanting to get into arguments with punters about promoting smoking (I never took up smoking)- bad enough having a woman complain the sunbathers on Furtwangen Ost were rude- and she didn't know about the bonking bankers behind the blue glass window, thank goodness....... I'm sure there was a coach company in Easington that used to run a weekend express to take holidaymakers to and from Blackpool. Certainly I remember seeing one of Select Coaches from Horden in one of the Blackpool coach parks- shame I didn't get a picture at the time. I'd originally thought of doing the Blackhall area and turning it round to look out to sea, but was told that would be too difficult. Looking inland Blackhall is still on the part of the land where the main line runs on embankment, which is more difficult to hide the ends convincingly. I can remember looking out of the train window on Sunday afternoons as we passed Blackhall Colliery to see if the WD "Delta" was still standing outside, and to see what diesels were visible. Blackhall had the first diesel I remember with a Durham plant number painted on it- that was 20/110/702, a North British 0-6-0DH they got from Appleby Frodingham steelworks. They also had similar 20/110/701 but I never saw that one. I seem to remember a Barclay 0-4-0 saddletank, but only caught a glimpse of it once. All the very best Les

Monday- main line ballasting day 1 Today's music by the Shadows and Status Quo. No visitors. One thing I didn't do was check the PVA supplies. I managed to mix enough PVA/water to do the bridge board. I'll get another lot tomorrow on the way back from the railway club and do the other board on Wednesday. Ballast down, but plenty of loose to get rid of before trains run again. I'll vacuum both ends on Friday together with the workshop floor. All the best Les

Sunday Morning Day out of the shed altogether- eBay and catching up paperwork this morning then off to Nottingham to rehearse "Mikado" with the Raymond Gubbay chorus- first time I've sung with them, though I've sung with most of the members in other companies.... Yesterday I finished the green areas in front of the main line- just the part behind the colliery line to get the ground in. Still not drawn the route of the ropeway but it will come out of a forward extension of the screening house (probably a "wiggly tin" structure) then rise to a pylon by the left end of the run round loop, continue left to a second pylon on the green mound just to the left of the coal drops (passing behind the drops. At this second pylon it will turn sharp left and drop across the main line to a third pylon by the board edge, with just a couple of pieces of plastic strip jutting forward from this pylon to represent the ropeway continuing off the board and down to the beach. There will need to be netting over the main line below the ropeway. I've found some good pics of a cableway in Northumberland I can use for source material. The green in front of the railway has made a difference. Not the final colouring but it gives me an idea of where it might be going scenically. Lemberg on a down express for Sunderland and Newcastle. The washery end- the conveyor belt will pass between the two buildings above the wall top and cross the railway heading downwards. A little belt-and-braces this but I may model the conveyor as out of use. The alternative to a conveyor is a pair of pipelines heading the same way taking waste water from the washery to the sea for disposal. Whichever it is eventually it has the purpose of hiding the exits to the fiddle yard. Also in the background are the winding house and a fan house where the shaft used to be- the old headgear has been removed and coal is no longer wound at Hawthorn Dene. The washery remains and one shaft is now use to ventilate the mine, the other having been capped off. Hawthorn Dene coal is wound either at Easington (just a little South) or Hawthorn Combined Mine to the North West. The screening house will be behind these two buildings. I've found two more pics of coast line trains- a B1 on a train of all-Stanier stock forming a Liverpool to Newcastle express, and a Hunt on a Newcastle-Saltburn working with a non-corridoor rake of very mixed stock including two celerestories.. All the very best Les

Week Seven Working this week from 10am to 2.30pm, later start because Jim is on early shift and can't get here at all. New driveway to the clubroom looks nice but they've left a step to fall down off the roadway edge. I proved it by falling UP it in the evening after an exhibition meeting that finished after dark...... As expected Trevor brought along a part-completed brewery front. Work today involved getting the rest of the track laid across the front. A breakaway group to put the point motor under the track laid last week failed when we realised we'd no screws short enough, though we did get the tag strips put under the Top valley end board. Flattening fingers A view along the front of the board- all trackwork for the Rise Park roundy-roundy is now laid. Wiring commences next week with droppers and temporary connections to get trains running for a soak test of the track in week ten. Stock used to clearance-check the platform and overbridge while the track was positioned, with two coaches used for running checks (play "hotwheels" by pushing along at speed to check the rail joins and cross-board points are smooth.). Loco is a 9F as the widest we've got measured at platform height. The short bit on the point at the loop exit will run into a sand drag. More next week. Les

I've just looked at the Trackside Signs website and ordered BR period billboards for Blackpool and Whitley Bay....... Pics when they arrive- the bank will get two signs probably as they are different sizes.

I've got my eye on a few assorted billboards that would substitute. The problem with running early seventies is that in banger blue time there was one express each way per day, one parcels with a class 40, and 2-car class 101s on passenger with everything else handled by Class 37s, coal in 21-tonners or light engine plus brake. I will probably use a billboard for Blackpool- every coach company in the area ran Summer express services there in the sixties.... All the very best Les

Thursday Still staring at the Get Carter hoarding, and still unsure either way. This week I've plastered in the end of the slope by the concrete walling and also done the cutting side in front of the main line. However, I might have worked out how to get the aerial ropeway in - the conveyor will stay either way as it is to hide a hole in the backscene (the tall thin one clearly visible in the last post). If I bring the aerial ropeway out from the screens and diagonally across the tracks there is room fot a pylon close to the front of the baseboard. This would turn it through an angle to head out off the board at the front- the ropes can be in on the first bit but not from the front pylon onwards. I'll try to draw it onto the revised plan and post it shortly. Meanwhile another batch of ten hopper wagons have entered the workshop for weathering and fitting Dapol couplers- the WD might get weathered at the same time. With the front edge of the layout largely drying plaster there is a period where oddments can be done. Time to get some eBay sales off to post...... All the best Les

Week Six It is actually the start of week seven, but I've not had chance to sort out the photos... We had week five off as the snow was threatening. Week six was notable for the contractors appearing to relay the drive to the clubroom, and for us running out of Code 55 track. To the pictures.... Trevor has now finished the signal box. This will probably stand where the main line diverges from the lifted connection on the Top Valley board. The mock-up for the brewery front, though there are two prototypes of this in different scales to get a feel of which will look better on the layout. The final version will be a little smaller than an exact 2mm scale replica. Testing clearances round the platform before actually laying any of the track round it. The bridge arches are both to double-track clearances. In the down direction there is a loop to hold trains waiting for a space at Annesley yard, and a sand drag for those foolish enough to over-run it. In the up direction either vegetation where the second track was never built or vegetation taking over where it has been lifted.... The sweep of the up main laid and tested for smooth running. This is the point we ran out of streamline....... More in Week seven. Les

The end of Get Carter was shot on the beach below the headland just North of where the layout is set- the idea is to use it to set the location. I'm not sure how many will equate the date of the film with blue diesels- and can always invoke Rule 1. I've had to lose the ropeway as it ended up coming straight out from the board edge, which wasn't on. The conveyor belt will work, but I need to set the location fairly firmly. However I'm not decided- and won't glue the billboard in- I'm looking at alternatives so leaving it removeable/interchangeable would allow this. I'm also a little concerned that it is on the big side- I'll have a chat about getting a smaller board if possible. Pics show the hoarding in place. Definitely more appropriate are the pigeon lofts- I'm still trying for other designs- the Faller summerhouse kits are far too modern. Each will need propping up at the lower end, with steps up to the entrance and vegetables on the slope below, rather like the ones that featured regularly in "Supergran" some years ago, though I believe these were close to the Collingwood Statue in Tynemouth... Lastly, the concrete walling for the cutting at the right-hand end below the washery, which will form the basis of the conveyor belt supports above. The conveyor will angle downwards with a pier at the top of the walling. The idea is to hide both backscene holes. Still plenty to do. Les

I've so far managed to get all of series 1 to 8 of Navy Lark on CD- so start at episode 1 and play 2 per evening when on Ebay until I get to the newest, then go back to the first. Currently taking about 6 months to work through, so each second pass I lengthen the process by another series....... I'm going to have to put the pigeon lofts onto the bank to get pictures, as they've defeated the autofocus on my camera for now. I did manage to pick this up - referring back to a couple of the posts about Get Carter on page 1 -. I can't work the ropeway in as it would be heading directly out at the punter, so have had to settle for a conveyor. The film is ten years wrong for the period of the layout, but I'm thinking of placing this billboard somewhere on the bank- it might help set the scene. Comments anyone? Back to modelling tomorrow- the worst disaster we had at Sileby show was the superglue holding our Dapol uncoupler magnets in place on Stamford East failing (we use four tiny rare earth magnets placed across the track), so a rapid return to Rapidos and a shunting pole kept the parcels and RCTS trains running.... At least on Hawthorn Dene the magnets will be the long Dapol ones hidden under the weighbridge (one) and the screens (two more). These shouldn't be attracted off the surface of the layout by passing trains. Grand evening, isn't it? All the very best Les

I do TRY to oblige....... First day of Sileby show today. Good show, and so far quite useful. I've managed to get hold of two (different) pigeon lofts, a garden shed and a weighhouse kit- there is a selection of assorted allotment privvies to get tomorrow after I've visited a cash machine. All the very best Les

I thought greyhounds sounded too big- I'm originally from Darlington, which is just about at the South end of the whippet club and leek show belt. I think in N greyhounds from Noch can pass for whippets (possibly with a little surgery), painting pigeons is definitely more daunting, and an odd greenhouse or two with pot leeks in might just be doable- I seem to remember some of the exhibits at the leek show at the Royal Oak in Darlington were enormous (I worked there for three years part time when at college). Somewhere I have a Brassmasters cab to put on a OO austerity- if I ever get round to it that would complete a set in my showcase-- high and low bunker 51A engines, 49 from Backworth, a geisl, a producer gas top and a Cromford alteration are there already. My favourite was number 7, having had a ride from Lambton engine works back to the shed on it, the only six-coupled Lambton engine I managed to ride (the other two were 11 and I think 31, both 0-4-0STs). I'm not sure if No.10 counts as it wasn't really a Lambton engine- I had a lift on that one at Morrison Busty colliery. Your favourite and mine- 58 and 7 at Derwenthaugh. This one is 58 again- there is a very similar pic of it on the front of one of the Oxford Publishing Co's industrial steam albums, taken by E.C.salthouse, who was standing just a little furter along the line (I'm the idiot in his pic taking the photo). Dr Salthouse had a better camera than me and knew how to use it (which is more than I did at the time.....) I did cut the cab off a Farish J94 body at one time- it is still in the scrap box somewhere. I might summon up the energy to try and make something of it one day. All the very best Les

Many thanks, Simon. Good idea the greyhounds, but there isn't enough flat surface left for the dog track. I wonder where I can get greyhounds or whippets? I think I've managed to find a source of pigeons- just need to paint them (or pass them on to Mr Simon.......) Not a lot happening at the moment other than using the layout as a test track to get Stamford East's stock ready for Sileby show this weekend. At least it will give the paint time to dryn properly before I mess around any further. All the very best Les

Many thanks for that- I hadn't, but that is definitely a runner for the left-hand end away from the colliery, to the left of the wall and out of shot. Above that end there's going to be a row of terraced houses (backs of) behind the colliery railway so putting pigeon crees on the slope in front of them certainly makes sense.. There will be some ash tipping on the bank nearer the locoshed and I've just sourced some concrete walling for the beginning of the cutting at the right-hand end. I had a long chat with the guy from P.D.Marsh (is that Mr Marsh himself?) at Doncaster show on Saturday about the conveyor belt kits he's bringing out later in the year- these will be customisable so I can get the conveyor line I want leading from the colliery to the beach. I also had a chat with Ray Evans who might have a solution for the underbridge railings. He's going to bring me some stuff to look at at Sileby show next weekend. I've just noticed- Lambton 58- do you mean this one by any chance? Seen at Derwenthaugh after leaving the Lambton system. All the very best Les

Friday 6th, first green colouring done The colour may be a bit variable, but at least putting it on the plaster has allowed me to get some idea of the slope. Now I can pause and think about how to add to this- where the fencing needs to be, and what is happening on each part of the bank before adding appropriate scatter etc. I've got remarkably little plaster or paint on the bridge (so far). Tomorrow is Doncaster show, so the shopping list includes railings for the parapet nearest the front of the board. The dark grey paint in front of the staithes has largely dried, so next week I'll be able to sand that flat and make a start on cleaning and detailing the staithes themselves. Trevor is coming round tomorrow as well, so I'll pick his brains about what to do with the front edge and the area on the bridge board behind the colliery railway. I fancy a row of terrace backs up there. Meanwhile the mark 3 version of the coupler boxes is done- this is a pair fitted with slightly shorter. Not yet down to datyum, but the maximun rake will be short so I might just get away with this distance. Much shorter and the axle starts to get in the way. I'll keep an eye out at Doncaster for a set of shorter coupler heads as well. Meanwhile a video showing the effectiveness of greening- a Hymek on a SLS special runs North passing the WD on a long train of fulls. That cat is telling me she's hungry again... Les

I find the best way to avoid losing springs is to apply a small dab of superglue to one end. The easiest way to lose springs is to forget to do it..... Farish Mark 1s are the hardest "NEM" pockets to fit them to- despite protestations (which will no doubt be repeated loud and hard here yet again) they appear not to be made to true NEM dimensions. The articulation is incorrect for true NEM standards in that they are steered by a depression in the end of the bogie- true NEM swing mounts are steered by following the next vehicle in the train. They also seem to be too tight to tolerance- I've found that not only do they not like Dapol couplers but try putting a Brawa or Fleischmann Rapido coupler head into a Farish mark 1 and it just doesn't want to go. All the very best Les