Les1952

April 2

On the positive side it does mean I can put off the UK outline TT layout for at least a year, and spend the intervening time getting the standard of Bregstadt raised. The latter goes off this week to its first show without the 08, which has tangled a pickup in its wheels and broken it off.

One piece of Hornby failing to look sideways across the group. I currently have Hornby points in my fiddle yard (because they were shorter than the Peco ones available at the time. Arnold's Kof won't even look at running through them, yet they are both made by the same group.

At least someone has looked sideways and seen a container wagon they already make....

Les

March 29

First loco to get a little weathering is the class 106. Kept relatively clean as a loco that is a recent arrival and looked after by the Bregtalbahn. I will probably add some more soot to the cab roof, it looks cleaner in the pic than in the plastic. Note the Easi-shunt couplers, this loco is the first call for shunting duties.

Next up the 112. This needs a bit more soot and a bit of dirt on the running plate.

Then the 212. Probably more cab soot and spread the footplate crud to the end. The steps at the long hood end have taken a bash but I might leave them bent, just adding a touch of glue to make sure they don't fall off altogether.

Cruel shot of the exit at the Furtwangen end. Still some refining needed, but not until after the first outing at South Notts Show.

All for now

Les

March 27

Coaxed it back into life

This is the pic that the uploader wouldn't accept in the previous post. Start a new post and try again and it goes in first time- the wonders of modern technology. Cruel close-up of the fountain shows the pavement very uneven and needing a bit of pokery to flatten it. The purpose of the fountain is to distract the eye from the grotty pavement underneath it....

Something I learned as far back as Furtwangen Ost is that if stuck with a grotty join in plain sight making a feature of it could help. Workers are repairing the concrete at the side of the goods station. The fence is still a bit too clean. I wonder if I can find a suitable painter figure to be working on it and help explain why it is so shiny. Easier than weathering it...

Person and small child on one of the balconies, hiding behind the flower boxes.

Layout overviews March 26th

Firstly, looking towards the Donaueschingen end. Work for the next week will involve track cleaning, soak testing the locos and trains, and weathering stock. In the background some of the vans in the yard have already been done,

Looking the other way towards Furtwangen. The light coloured board hung on the backscene will be posted to explain what a Plandampf is for Sunday running. A few jobs that will be done after the first outing include weathering the fence round the goods shed (or adding a painter), ageing the wall at the back of the yard, and doing something about the roof of the loco shed, which to me is crying out for tiles.

Come along to South Notts show and see it working, April 6th and 7th at Cotgrave Welfare Social Club.

I might get some pics of weathered stock taken over the next two or three days (he says hopefully).

Les

March 27

A couple more of the locos.

First, the identity pic for the BR95. A beast of a loco but just about OK for a preserved engine on Plandampf days. Arnold, of course, and an excellent runner. Arrived analogue but not that difficult to chip.

Arrived yesterday and the last loco before the layout goes out on its first show, this BR112 which the Bregtalbahn will have purchased from the DR around the time of reunification, when the DR were trying to get rid of surplus locos and cash strapped lines were still loooking for anything cheap. Now fitted with a decoder (it takes a next18) and run it, it has been lightly weathered since the picture.

Some more detail pics

there WOULD BE some detail pics but RMWeb's picture uploader has just gone on strike!

Les

March 24

Some more details etc.

First for those who still don't know them, the Hunt couplings.

Seen here fitted to one of the four wheeled ex-DR coaches. The logo on the side is a slightly trimmed Highland Railway crest rotated through 90 degrees.

The toy immediately before the BR93 was this BR106 shunter to take over goods yard duties from the 08, which I didn't get a stay-alive inside that worked. More research needed here.

The BR798 railbus (by Kres) is next in the queue for a little very light weathering, to be confined to roof dirt and a little on the underframe and around the buffers..

In the trees near the tunnel end is this large nest with a bird of prey of some sort. Like most birds of prey it doesn't like being photographed- third attempt and still not quite in focus.

Looking into the canyon in the town end plenty of cars parked to hide the over-height kerb a bit, a guy with suitcase waiting for someone to release the door catch before he stubs his toe trying to kick it open, and foliage on some balconies and a couple enjoying the view of the roof opposite...

All for now.

Les

March 23

Going into some details.

I picked these up online- a set of 3D printed crates with green bottles. The whole thing is about 5cm long, all ten parts. The idea is you paint the sides grey or brown, wipe cork colour onto the tops of the bottles, then put the bottles into the crates. How successful was I?

There they are on the platform having just been delivered by the Jagermeister van. Someone will need to cart them along to the station buffet. All it needs is someone at a show to say Jagermeister bottles are brown....

Pesky pigeons attempt three- this pair are sitting in varnish, A small amount of matt varnish on the apex of the roof then an attempt to sit the pigeons in the varnish. The further one is straight, I'm not entirely sure about the nearer one, but with the naked eye you can't really even tell it is a pigeon...

Queueing for the bus- what is wrong with the train? They'll have a long wait as I don't have a 1:120 scale bus. The pooch is a standard poodle.

Slightly out of focus but the signature dog-cat standoff. Also to be found on Croft Spa and NO PLACE. Oddly not to be found on Bregenbach im Schwarzrald. The building sits over the board join so it won't be bedded in.

Lastly for now, the building site. I'd got grot on the truck windscreen and was in a bit of a panic before I remembered it is left-hand drive. Perhaps I should have removed the Japanese lettering from the side of the digger. Artic has had its awning dirtied a little.

More to follow. Today has been spent fighting the drawer handles I got to fix onto the end boards to make the layout easier to carry.

Les

March 22

Some new pics part 1

Firstly- round the back

The Furtwangen end of the fiddle yard, showing class 86 on heritage passenger, class 280 on freight and class 215 on through passenger from Ulm. Also shows a couple of levers for the points out front.

The control panel - all of it, also showing the chocky connectors that are the only power connections between boards.

The three pairs of push buttons work the semaphores, and the two pairs of switches below work the colour lights- red-off-green for the main, and off-amber for the subsidiary lights.

With a fiddle yard where trains might not return to the same place each time and a variety of locos I decided to have a pair of mimic panels behind the backscene- shows each loco with its address. All you need is to work out which of four centre-can Bo-Bos is which.

The big screw with thread is tensioning the elastic threads of the overhead power cables out front.

The latest toy- a class 93 by Piko. Fun to get into in order to chip but runs nicely. One mainly for Plandampf days (Show Sundays). Must remember to check it is on the track before photographing....

Les

March 17

1 hour ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

I'm not sure why the Jinty is regarded as the most likely. The J94, 57xx and Jinty all have in common the fact that they would all have to be designed from scratch — it is a long time since any of these were introduced to the range, and the "current" J94 was acquired from Dapol. The only recent 0-6-0Ts in OO from Hornby are the J50 and the "Terrier", and the Terrier is clearly the more marketable of the two. However, there are no Southern coaches even planned.

I'd like to see the 57xx ahead of the J94 — it's a more versatile loco that could haul branch-line passenger and freight trains, shunt, and was also used by LT and the NCB. They were also about 16 times more numerous and longer lived in main line company service.

For the opposite reason I'd like to see the J94 first. The 75 in LNER/BR service were a minority of the class, 309 others never worked for BR. , The J94/WD survived in NCB service into the eighties, and were represented at the 150 year celebrations for both the Stockton and Darlington and the Liverpool and Manchester.

As to passenger work, there are 40 of the class preserved (at least three times as many as 57xx) so a goodly number of punters out there are much more likely to have hauled by a WD than a 57xx, or to have seen one working passenger.

Les

still deciding whether to build Broken Scar in TT:120 or a different scale- and Broken Scar needs multiple J94s to be a viable project.

March 17

3 hours ago, AY Mod said:

Manufacturing isn't necessarily a problem; decoration and assembly is.

Which is why Dapol are working to make theirs even better. Their wagons already compare well with some others twice the price.

Les

March 16

9 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Bit generic as there was only 422 of the things and 60 of the MR version....

I'll up the ante with 484 or 485 (depending who is counting) and 800 plus 57xx/8750 class...

The J94 also got onto the Continent, admittedly the part where TT isn't really an active scale.

Les

March 13

Updating-

Stand 16. Limby Fields OO gauge, David Fletcher

Stand 23 Bridges OO9 gauge, Greg Chilton

Stand 28 Victoria EM Gauge, Dave Tailby

The list had better be right as I've just sent the show guide off to the printer....

Les

March 5

3 hours ago, Michanglais said:

lol

Fortunately not! I took an executive decision to remove the body of the powered car and noticed that the blanking plate didn't seem to be sitting right. Once removed and reinserted, the car functions fine. I've not put the body back on yet because I want to fit DCC/sound but I can't see anything in the shell that would have pressed on the blanking plate.

Just one of those things, I guess!

Sounds like not quite pushed in firm enough and vibrated out again in transit.

Les

March 4

On 02/03/2023 at 11:42, natterjack said:

Out of curiosity, I wonder how these perform going over a hump such the crest of a slope?

I use them on my N-gauge Bregenbach im Schwarzwald which has 1 in 25 gradients (the prototype is 1 in 17) and has very tight curves. They were bought to eliminate breakaways that occur at the top of the slopes with Rapido couplings. In that respect the Hunt coupling has been 100% successful.

Les

March 2

On 01/03/2024 at 11:45, Roy L S said:

In terms of actual shunting, the physically larger wagons and the additional weight could be an advantage for TT120 I agree, but it is only one of a number of factors in the mix such as whether points are insulfrog or electrofrog to aid good pickup for reliable slow running, how carefully track has been laid, the type of uncoupling system employed - I would think Dapol Easi-Shunt couplings in N would knock the spots off the mechanically actuated TT couplings that the Hornby models come with but by contrast traditional Arnold "Rapido" type N couplings would be a different matter entirely 🤔.

Regards

Roy

As a user of Easi-shunts in both N and TT:120 I will say that the ease of shunting with these in TT:120 is an order of magnitude better than in N. The extra weight of TT stock means that wagons are vastly more able to remain in the right place during shunting, and the stronger centring spring on the kinematic pockets means the jaws of the easi-shunt open wide much more successfully in TT than in N. It is also possible to do something I never achieved in N, which is for the jaws to open and lock allowing a wagon to be pushed to a point remote from the magnet and parked- difficult enough even with Kadees in OO.

The vast majority of my stock in both scales has been replaced by magnetic couplings, Easi-shunts for anything that is shunted and Hunt couplings for trains that need to stay together. In both scales the proprietory couplings part company in the wrong place too often. On Bregenbach a Rapido coupling that decides to uncouple at the top of a slope means a rake of wagons (usually the tankers) hurtling backwards down the 1 in 25. This train is the last to get Hunt Couplings as it has taken WHWW quite a while to get a fitting into the Fleischmann box with the flat spring. In TT:120 both the Hunt coupling and the Easi-shunt fit into the NEM pocket with no issues at all.

On insulfrog points I'm looking to get a stay-alive into my 08 so it is less susceptible to exhibition dirt out front and to my (unwise in hindsight) Hornby pointwork in the fiddle yard.

Les

March 2

It looks from the video fitting everything into the 08 that the plastic channel above the motor screws in and can be removed without affecting the integrity of the motor. My 6-pin chip with a stay-alive connection has now arrived, with a couple of quite bulky stay-alives. Maybe I'll get chance tomorrow to do it. Otherwise it will be next Thursday .

Les

March 2

Not sure how you managed to miss a pic of the Peter Witt cars in Milan, they are half of the fleet....

Have this one to compensate (by Central Station). A youngster this one, a mere 96 years old, the earliest ones celebrate their centenary this year.

Les

March 1

1 hour ago, Michanglais said:

One argument I haven't seen come up for a while is that in TT:120, everything is to scale. Correct gauge to scale. Both British OO and N are 'incorrect'.

The only British OO locos I've got are AC electrics given I doubt we'll see them in TT for a long time.

Oddly enough with classes 86 and 87 now being mostly located in Eastern Europe (and being overhauled and repainted at last- one even sporting a fresh green livery AND its UK nameplates...) these are the types I could see the likes of Tillig having a go at. They already cover one of the classes the 86s and 87s work alongside.

Tillig appears to see TT:120 as their property as successors to Berliner TT Bahn, and I would place them as the most likely to have a stab at the UK market in retaliation against Hornby.

Les

March 1

7 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

Tongue-in-cheek.....swap them for Peco points.....

It is a last resort- but it involves a complete rebuild of the fiddle yard. I used Hornby points as they were shorter than the Peco ones available at the time. Not possible before the end of the year as the layout has four shows without a long enough gap between them to do it. Better to get a stay-alive into the 08 (and a Roco BR80 and Piko 0-4-0 diesel if possible).

Les

February 29

Partly to bump this topic in advance of some green ones appearing.

Has anyone got a decoder plus stay-alive into an 08 without taking a knife to the sides of the channel the decoder sits in? The decoders I can find that have stay alive wires seem too wide to fit.

I'm getting sick of having to charge through Hornby points at about three times an 08's top speed for it to not stop dead.

Les

February 28

It is moving in the slot. Removing the pieces from the front of the bogie may allow me to glue a Hunt coupling to the front end- I remember seeing 60004 on trains three times, all freight and two of them running tender first.

Progress backwards today- it is now stalling on the R2 bit with smoke rising (hopefully NOT from the motor....)

Les

February 27

I'll dismantle the bogie tomorrow and see if I can remove the guards at the front. Hopefully that should work. It would be nice to operate it on Bregstadt occasionally- it isn't as inappropriate as some of the European "preserved" stuff that might appear, and looks quite good on a rake of 6-wheel Umbauwagen.

It is a bit of a showcase queen at the moment- only really bought because 60004 was the only A4 I photographed in BR service. I also saw it TWICE working tender first on goods trains!

I'll post how I get on. At least mentioning it has bumped the thread more into the collective consciousness.....

Les

February 27

Stand 2. Ashtown. N gauge (sixties) BMRC club layout.

Stand 7. Blue Heron. HO gauge US, Andy Gautrey

Stand 8. Newton Folly. OO gauge UK, BMRC Club layout

Stand 12. Boxworks Wharf. OO9 gauge. Ian Jones

Stand 14. Little Point Wharf. OO gauge. Tim and Matt Stevens

Stand 15. Cumanavago OO gauge Thomas layout from BMRC, With Sir Topham Hatt himself.

Stand 16. Limby Field

Stand 19. Harbourne St Mary O gauge, Market Harborough MRG.

Stand 21 Burdock. N gauge UK, Dave Westwood

Stand 22 Hawton Lane. OO gauge. Tomas Tomblin

Stand 23 Bridges OO9 gauge

Stand 24 Doe Lea N Gauge Derek Gelsthoprpe

Stand 25 Bregstadt TT:120 West German, Les Richardson

Stand 26 Denton Sidings O gauge, Jon Boot

Stand 28 Victoria EM? Gauge, Dave Tailby

15 layouts in all. Still some details not passed on to me yet- making getting the show guide together "interesting", but I'll update them when I have them.

Les

February 27

On 21/02/2024 at 20:48, 298 said:

Should "Blue Harbour" be Blue Heron?

HO, Pacific Northwest themed inglenook, ~30 years ago.

It should. Wrong on the list given to the club committee for info.

Updated list following.

February 27

OK, so the glue spilled and I've some retouching to do, but the Silver Tay nameplates do make a big difference to Whitelaw.

Now, a question.

This one runs clockwise round Radius 2 curves, but not anticlockwise, and not in either direction slowly. I remember seeing somewhere a post about where and how to carve round the bogie area to get enough play for the loco to take R2 happily. It doesn't derail- a small amount of lead on the underside of the bogie has seen to that. The issue is that the bogie can't swing out enough as it is prevented by the inside of the front fairing.

Les

February 27

12 hours ago, Chris M said:

Until the range increases dramatically TT:120 will be very much a train set scale; it won't be possible to build a serious model railway for the foreseeable future. I still haven't got over the Dawlish layout running nothing but LNER pacifics. Could have been a good layout if they had done it in N and used suitable stock. The HSTs and 50s will improve that layout no end but that layout will still only have two classes of relevant motive power and there doesn't appear to be anything else suitable in the planning stages. You just can't make a proper model railway from the stock announced so far. TT:120 remains ideal for train sets though.

It will be interesting to see whether other manufacturers bring out any locos. It would be a big risk but it could just be a good move.

OK so it is German, but it is a serious TT:120 model railway- with its first show next month. Note the 08 in use and at least 2 other items of Hornby group rolling stock visibe.

Perhaps the words "UK Outline" should have been in the post.

Les

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