Timmy84

Hi, So the other key project I completed before Christmas was the re-numbering of two more EWS 66s. Following a previous post on here regarding the transfers I was using, Steve from Railtec picked up on my comments about the EWS logos and was able to offer me some re-sized replacements. Amazing customer service I must say (you never know who's reading your topic...). In all seriousness without companies like this we would be able to achieve our modelling goals so I was very grateful for this resolution. Unfortunately, as with the start of the project and the previous two, there was more faff to come. I had applied some Fox logos which weren't a colour match (stupidly) so when the replacements came I went to remove them. This damaged the paintwork underneath again, which amazed me as they had not been varnished leading to another respray over the top. Due to the corrugations you cant sand back so I knew they weren't going to be perfect. What I have ended up with is two models that look OK at normal viewing distances but cruel photos show up the imperfections. You can see where some yellow paint has gone astray, despite my best efforts as well as the thickness of the paint where I have resprayed twice. Even more bizarrely in some shots the body side stripes appeared gloss which is totally invisible to the naked eye. I will live with them but not my best work. All in all not a project I'll be rushing to complete, but in the spirit of sharing here they are!... Lurking in the shed is my next project and there's one of the full fleet for completeness. Tim.

Hi Alan, If you flick back through the early pages you can see the full extent of the layout. The fiddle yards work for loco moves or a couple of wagons shunting with the 08. The longer rakes are for the photos only, although you could extend the layout as long as you want if you have space which I may do in the future, or even use a design like this as part of a continuous run. The layout is unashamedly for photographing stock whilst creating multiple scenes in a small space. Tim.

Hi, A few more bits... I've enhanced the weathering on Farish factory weathered polybulk although I think it might still need a bit more to pass for the mid-late 2000s. I'd quite like to do a few of these including respraying some into Nacco grey to bring them more towards the right era. They are crazy expensive though so likely to stay on the wishlist for a while! Another one of the blue IWA which is another very smart model and will add some variety to my rake of vans. Finally the rake disappearing into the yard at Speke east. Tim.

Thanks Duncan. I like they look you have achieved. It's similar to the shade I have on some silver IWAs. I have seen some pics of IZAs like that but I found that in more recent pics they have taken on a delightful sludge brown colour (as below) which I what I went for, albeit toned down as I find less is normally more in N Gauge. They would probably look great in a rake together for a bit of variety!

A couple more of the cargowaggons and an IWA I did at the same time. Tim.

Hi all, As promised a few weeks ago I have finally got round to taking a few pics of the latest projects I have ticked off my to-do list, starting with the Revolution Cargowaggon twinsets. I had to be brave to get going on these superb models and I have gone for a relatively uniform look across the three. I hope if the guys from Revolution see these they wont think I have wrecked them! Due to the 10mb upload I will keep posting pics over the weekend! As ever comments gratefully received. Tim.

Hi all and happy new year - just a few shots from the last running session from 2019 before I get round to taking some new stuff.

Hi all, As I still haven't sorted my second pair of EWS 66 re-numbers this one is still running round in DB livery - it is quite smart! Hopefully the re-numbered ones will appear here soon along with my Revolution cargowaggons, which are finished but just need to be snapped. Seen arriving at Speke East with loaded ballast trip while 60078 watches on. Tim.

This is one of the only OO layouts I follow. I like the era/location/stock etc. I'm quite impressed with what you've fitted in to "only" 19 feet in this scale. Sometimes I think this would hardly be enough for N! That's before I remember my layout is only 5' 5"... What are the scenic plans for the layout? I do understand though that just running trains must be very tempting! All the best. Tim.

The 08 shunting departmental wagons whilst 60078 sits on the maintenance point.

It looks good to me Duncan. The camera can do funny things (remember your comment that my weathering had improved and I said it was more my photography skills!). I’d always rather undercook the weathering than over cook it because if on reflection you decide it’s not grubby enough you can always return to it. I’ve had some success with this, especially on wagons, because you end up with layers of weathering as per the real thing. It’s also most important how it looks to your eye. If it feels right to you it probably is! great discussion as ever from the n community and I think it’s a good point about “likes” versus making a constructive comment. Tim.

I've been working on my Revolution IZA twins which should appear here soon, however in the meantime here's 66178 which some IWBs that they will hopefully augment in the future!

08873 rests outside the maintenance shed as 66952 makes its way down the reception line. It will layover in Speke East for half an hour before continuing on to Garston.

Hi Dave, Thanks for the feedback and I am equally impressed with how well Maid's Morton is coming along! It's nice that there are some really good N Gauge layouts on here producing regular updates at the moment. I would love to have something like that to run my stock on. Depots aren't easy and I am pretty happy with how this one has turned out, especially the feeling that it is part of something "bigger". I had 2 or 3 really poor attempts before this one and learned each time. The hardstanding was a method of my own invention. I used layers of cork underlay to build up the height and get it as close to the rails as possible before filling the gaps with model filler and "skimming" the top surface as it you are plastering a wall. I had no idea what would happen but it has left a convincing texture! It even crumbles away at the edges. I then sprayed it with Railmatch acrylic "weathered tarmac" before adding the stencilled markings. If this doesn't make sense let me know and I will try and describe it better. As with everything on Speke it was small and manageable and part of me feels this is why this layout has gone OK. You can really focus on detail and get bits finished on a smaller project. Tim.

More Sunday action at Speke East. This week 66623 is seen bringing de-branded autoballaster wagons out of the yard to head to a worksite near Chester. Shortly after 66054 "Charles Babbage" and 66005 "BP Gas Avonmouth" appear light engine from Arpley ready to kick off the Fiddlers Ferry coal circuits first thing on Monday.

Sunday working at Speke East. 37043 on departmental duties.

37154 is still knocking around the local area and appears here with a local empty tank trip from Speke East Yard to Ellesmere Port. With the tanks blocking the reception 60006 leads a Warrington to Newport enterprise working through the yard. Additional cargowaggons have been attached in Speke East Yard, however the front portion of the train is made up of China Clay empties ultimately bound for the west country. 66042 rests near the fuel point.

Another one of 66101 on the fuel point.

Anything with buffers is going to be an issue with the tight radius curves modellers need. I have managed to get my HST set to pretty much touch and run ok but that’s it. If you think about it in real life if the buffers touch they compress where as ours our rigid so they just derail the wagon. it doesn’t excuse own goals though such as on the Dapol MJAs where they have a bigger gap between the fixed pair than between the end wagons! Tim.

I’ll come clean, in this case it’s just for the photo! Both have a detailed front end and no coupling - so they aren’t coupled at all just “buffered up”. Tim.

Forgot one...

Here's a few more pics of 37154, including a couple with 37043.

I agree entirely - not only does picking an era save you money so does picking a location. I quite like freight (shock horror) and quibbled whether there is enough on the GWML south of Bristol to keep me going. However if you modelled Severn Tunnel or Bristol Parkway you would have to spend thousands on intermodal/steel/coal/petroleum rakes to get it right. If you want to capture a real feel then limiting your scope is not a bad thing. I could do with an N Gauge JIA covered clay wagon and maybe some better bucket stone wagons to run on mendip flows but apart from that I'm well catered for..! Tim.

Hi all, I've been quite busy with some modelling of late. My Class 66s remain on hold but more on that when the time comes... In the meantime I have lightly weathered the underframes and done the nose end detailing. Here we see ex-works 66101 at Speke East Sidings. A very smart livery this - I bought two to be donor chassis for EWS locos as previously mentioned but thought it was worth a reference shot. I have already listed one body shell for sale and will decide whether I want to keep the second at some point. Also fresh off the workbench is 37154 in Transrail livery. The round buffers will be changed when I source appropriate replacements. 154 actually had rectangles which seems to be quite unusual! Messing with these two locos has made me think about era. The first pic I have found of a DBS 66 is 2009 and the latest pic of 37154 I can find is 1999. A lot changed in only ten years! My stock was built up for my old GW mainline layout and aimed at about 2007-08, mainly driven by passenger liveries (FGW dynamic lines, Arriva xcountry etc). At that time EWS/FL 66s had a monopoly on freight traffic in the west country and even my 60s are used with modellers licence. 60s worked a lot of clay traffic in the late 90s early 00s but were well out of favour in 2008 at a time when even 66s were being offloaded to France by EWS. Speke East is less rigid - the scenery and location is deliberately vague - and the 60s are happily explained by their prolonged use on Fiddlers Ferry coal traffic in the northwest. I would say it is aimed anywhere from when the first 66s landed to about 2003-04. I intend to do some 56s eventually which would be OK. I guess the main question is, does any of this matter?!... Tim.