paulr1949

I also thought it was a good show (as usual). I made it down from Kent via Eastleigh and the service bus as it arrived before the heritage one. I was amazed at not having to queue at all at 1100 on Saturday, I hope it doesn't mean that the numbers were down a lot. I have to say I didn't notice an particularly long gaps on Wimborne - maybe I was just there at the right time. I tend to go round the hall(s) looking at the trade for what I need first and then return to look at the layouts loinger. I managed to find most of the bits I needed, including "Percy" for grandson from the club secondhand stall (oh and an M7 for myself to replace one that no longer runs very well) Eastwood as has been mentioned looked very good to me.

Thank you chaps. I decided a while ago that it would be nice to build (and hopefully complete as far as possible) a layout of my own: Trezeath was bought from the late Richard Lane. A photo of the last "ACE" arriving a couple of weeks ago.

I have now sold Trezeath and it has moved to a new home in Hampshire. I hope to start constructing a new layout soon. I am waiting for a quote on some baseboards.

I knew the engineer well, he lived less than half a mile down the road. Knew his son quite well too, but not the daughter. The Bulls Head has just reopened after being "refurbished". Not been in there for a loong time

Hello, Is it still possible to get at individual layout topics on the old RMW forum? I've tried entering two key words and using the "site:rmweb.co.uk/forum/" method mentioned by Martin Wynne a couple of years ago, but can't get the posts from my old O gague layout - which I wanted for information before I dispose of it. Obviously, the link in my signature no longer works because of all the various software updates. Any help welcome Thanks

And work is under way to build the 8 or so shops which will be on the bridge in the background in the top photo. The last two signals are under construction, although btaking considerably longer than I would have liked

Very nice too - well done everyone

Most of the topics I follow I no longer get an update for. I swithced everything off about 11 February before going to New Zealand for a month and switched them back on again when I got home, but I only get updates for a few of them. Is there a logical reason for this, am I doing something wrong? Paul

A long time ago I updated this thread. Life has got in the way in the shape of two club layouts. Trezeath performed quite well at Tolworth in November 2016 and some of you might have seen the "What happened to..." article in the Railway Modeller in summer 2017. Very little has happened since then except the occasional movement up and down the layout to impress/please my 3 year old granddaughter. I did build a new fiddleyard and a 90 degree arc with a single track 2' 6" radius curve so that I could use the layout in the shed. Given that the layout currently has no exhibition invitations, and everything else that is going on, the layout is likely to be up for sale later this year.

Thanks for the comments. We are at our club's show, the Orpington model railway exhibitiion on 12/13 January 2019, a small exhibition at Pratts Bottom, followed by the Epsom show in April

Meanwhile, work continues on the signals, more specifically, the gantry, which is proving frustrating as it is extremely fiddly! Work starts on the framework on one side The bottom crossbeam is added and the uprights are trimmed to size The second one is started Both crosspieces ready for the next stage Which is adding the diagonals And finally for now, the fiddly bit prior to assembly - adding the top horizontal supports. Meanwhile, the side supports were done earlier (and not subject to stage-by-stage photos)

And work has started on the 13 signals needed for the layout. They are built from slightly modified Train-tech kits, with truer colour LEDs sourced by one of out electrical wizards. There are 2 3-aspect, 7 4-aspect, 2 4-aspect with route indicators (feathers) and 2 4-aspect which will be gantry mounted. Both of the 3-aspect and 1 4-aspect have got to the stage where they can be test mounted on the baseboard. This is an original head, a scale 2' 6" wide, which looked too wide for the layout, where most of the signals are "old" style. So 1mm was shaved from each side This is a "spare" head. The two 3-aspect signals are shown here, with the 4-aspect one behind. and one of the 3-aspect signals was tested. The other one is not drunk, just leaning gracefully. Unfortunately the photo does not show the true colour of the red aspect...

I couldn't possibly say, Ian, but - yes! I've been laying some of the conductor rail - and a fiddly job that is too.

Excellent as ever Giles: nice to see the layout "in the flesh". If it works, some photos will be attached ;=)

Ah yes, the A team! Having returned from the wilds of Nepal, I'm looking forward to seeing it in the flesh at Uckfield on Saturday. Well done for winning the trophy at Farnham.

A few photos from our first day visiting the Crawley exhibition (in Horsham). All was well after an early gremlin caused the power supply box to fail.... Very quiet today - there are some good layouts there, hopefully more people tomorrow

We've already had a couple of show invites, so watch this space! Thanks for the comments

Hi Most of the layout runs to a sequence of 6 moves (although some of the moves encompass two separate trains) and the route is set for the move automatically when the sequence is advanced using MERG equipment. There are 9 trains which operate in turn from the rear fiddleyard and 3 NG/3 SG which use turntable fiddleyards on the front of the layout. We also use MERG controllers. The industrial area at the front of the layout is operated on an ad-hoc basis if we have enough operators. At the moment, the lorries were a one-off guest appearance at Tonbridge (as was the Garratt) - they may appear again but can't be guaranteed! Thanks for the comments

You'll be lucky if you can prise the controls for the lorries from their grip.....;-))

Brilliant, Giles!

I will also try and get to Ally Pally, having only seen the layout in an "under construction" phase (Warley a few years ago IIRC?)

Oh dear!

Well the Ilford MRS show has come and gone and once again, the leg gremlins attacked me, this time in the shape of badly bruised toes and twisted ankle - when carrying (fortunately lightweight) bits into the hall on Friday night it was rainign, and we were in a hurry after a 2½ hour journey for the 20-odd miles from Orpington, I slipped on some muddy grass and went a over t. I spent most of the show sitting, trying to get comfortable and hobbling round. The layout performed reasonably well except one point would not switch into reverse and the frog on that point was electrically dead - despite there being continuity all the way from the power source on the control panel! A couple of locos just stopped working - then when I took them to another section of track worked fine, and continued to work fine when I put them back where they should be. Hey ho. The next outing is at Tolworth in November.

Once again, I have been somewhat foiled - this time by an attack of gremlins on my right knee and foot, both of which swelled up to resemble a flabby balloon. It was very painful for 10 days and prevented me from getting around the house let alone getting out to the shed! No excuse really, but everything was going roughly as it should and then all of a sudden I've lost over a week of modelling time. Anyway, prior to the outing at Romford in a couple of weeks time, I have tested all the locos and they all now work reasonably , having had some time on the rolling road and some oil. I have altered the back-to-backs on my Heljan AC railbus, which means it will now run all the way round the layout without falling off! My O2 is running better (see the Kernow O2 thread for more) although still not perfectly. I am going to try a small amount of weight in the smokebox and see if that makes a difference. One of my M7's was running very jerkily but, after some oil, wheel-cleaning and time on the rolling road it appears to have improved. A friend has very kindly adjusted my Sprat & Winkle couplings for me and I have replaced a station running-in board (the letters just fell off - honest, guv, I didn't touch it!). Had to replace two as otherwise it would have looked a bit odd. The knee problem has put paid to my signalling efforts for the time being, I have just run out of time. I have done a bit more work on the bracket signal (the one I started about 18 months or more ago) but I don't think I'm going to get any more done. I've tidied up some scenery, done a bit of weathering on a bridge, re-glued the sides of the long plate-girder bridge and one side of the river bridge.... No more new engines - when I was tetsing them this week I had them all in the station and found I had 14 of them which is enough for the moment!

Thanks Dave I oiled the coupling rods and bearings on Saturday night and the loco ran betterat the exhibition on the Sunday, but it was still not perfect. I will try oiling the gears when I get a chance and see what that does.