thegreenhowards

I’ve had a few days of trying to fit decoders to kit built locos and finish off a few projects. So the operational loco stud for Gresley Jn has just increased significantly. First, the kit built locos. These have all been purchased built from eBay or at shows but, as always, needed a bit of tweeting to get them running smoothly and sometimes a bit more tweaking to get them to run on DCC. 60842. A Nucast V2 on a brass chassis with (whine free) portescap. It’s got ‘american’ pick ups, so I was worried about short circuits, but it seems very reliable. It’s missing front footsteps and I’m inclined to fit plastic ones for fear of short circuits. Does anyone know of a good source? I don’t really have a use for a NE V2, so she will become 60814 when I get round to it. 60052, Prince Palantine. DJH with Portescap (low whine). I had to redo the pickups as they were brass and not springy enough. Now with nickel silver she runs like a dream. I think I’ll keep her in ex works livery as the paint job is so good. 60513, Dante. This one had all the trimmings glued on, and they’ve been falling off with Monotonous regularity, but I’ve stuck or soldered (where possible) them back on. She's fitted with insulated drivers both sides and pick ups to all drivers - just what I like for DCC. Motor is a DJH GB1 mashima can and gearbox. Now runs very smoothly. Those who follow Gresley Junction will have already seen her in action. 60108, Gay Crusader, a KX regular. DJH kit. Fitted with DJH GB1 mashima can. This one has American style pick ups and runs well so far. Needs front foot steps (plastic I hope) and a smoke box door number, but has entered the operational fleet pending cosmetic finishing off. Look out for them making their debuts on Gresley Jn over the next week or so. Andy

It’s my birthday today and my wife took me to the theatre to see ‘Touching the Void’, so a late update this evening. There were two evening peak outer suburban trains from King’s Cross which consisted of Peterborough and Cambridge sets combined and splitting at Hitchin for their respective destinations. The formation was basically a standard Cambridge 6 set and a Peterborough 5 set combined. The first was at 1700 with the Peterborough portion leading while the second at 1752 was the other way round. The second train tended to be double headed to Hitchin with the two engines working forward on the two portions, but I think the 1700 was a single engine. The 1752 will be featured in a few days, but today we have the 1700 headed by A2/3, 60513, Dante (DJH). I bought this engine (ready built) over a year ago, but I find chipping kit built locos quite problematic and tend to put the job off, so I only got round to doing it over the weekend (with a few others which will feature soon). There were some problems - bits fell off and needed reattaching - but it was easier than many others. Here’s the train. You’ve seen the rake before in it’s separate portions, so I’ll focus on the loco and the leading artic which is the most interesting part of the formation. And here’s the video.

Today we feature a brand new engine (it must be new because there isn’t a speck of weathering on it!) arriving at Gresley Jn on a parcels train. It is crossing from the down slow to platform 4 where it will recess while parcels are unloaded and it’s overtaken by an outer suburban train (which will be next to feature). And here is the video. I really must put a division into the tunnel to black out the view of trains leaving the fiddle yard! While, I think I know what the various passenger trains should consist of, I’m less clear on parcels trains. I’ve seen photos of mixes of vans like this, but I’m not sure whether a type 1 is appropriate power. Any comments welcome. Andy

Agreed. I don’t think you could get away with it being that thin all the way along.

I used superglue as he recommends. It works very well and grabs almost immediately. I also tried the gel type superglue to give me slightly longer to adjust parts, but that didn’t seem to work. Luckily the fit is so good that you don’t need long to adjust things. The sides have insets for the windows on the inside, so I think one is supposed to cut individual windows. Sounds fiddly! I’ll let you know how I get on. Andy

As I mentioned over on Gresley Junction, when I was at the Stevenage show last weekend, I bought an Isinglass 3D printed resin kit for a Gresley D.307 steel twin artic TO. These are similar to the tourist stock twin artics but made from steel and there were only two of these built. Last night I got it out for a play. The body kit looks like this. You also get an Isinglass drawing and some basic instructions. It all goes together very easily and no instructions are really necessary. The chassis just clips into the body and the bogies are designed to clip into mountings line on Hornby Gresley coaches and are interchangeable with Hornby’s. Provision is also made for MJT bogies if preferred. So after an hour or two in front of the telly, this is where I’ve got to. This must be the easiest kit ever! I’ve tried Hornby bogies on the left hand end, and Isinglass for the others. The middle one is Heavy duty. I suspect the ride height is too high, so will need some filing, but other than that, I think it looks the part. It’s very light so will need ballast. The chassis has the angle iron but no other detail, so I will add white metal MJT bits to give some ballast and then see what else is needed. One word of caution; the instructions tell you not to use a knife to clean up the bracing parts which have to be cut off, but instead to file them smooth. I got bored with filing so tried a knife and the window frame chipped (far left above) and will need filling. These kits are not cheap (£85 for the pair with under frame), but you get everything you need except for wheels, interior and under frame castings. So as a quick way of getting an esoteric piece of rolling stock for the layout, I think they’re fantastic. Although for those that like to measure value for money in kits in terms of £/ hour entertainment, they’re not quite so good! Andy

I certainly didn’t mean to diss Zimo. They are my decoder of choice, hence rejecting the Dapol one. Hopefully the noise is mechanical as you suggest but it did seem quieter on DC. I’ll remove the decoder tomorrow and see if that makes a difference. If not then a good oil round. As for the lights, I naively thought that as it said NMRA standard settings on the Dapol instructions that it would work the same on the Zimo decoder. I obviously need to do more puzzling! Andy

There has been a lot of discussion of the ECML cement trains on Wright Writes recently, so I thought now would be an appropriate time to run mine (it doesn’t have a fixed place in the schedule as I don’t know what time it ran). I’m modelling the presflo era train - I.e. between 1960 and 1961. I have seen photos of it with two brake vans, possibly because it served two destinations in Scotland, so that is how I have chosen to model it. The train is about half made up of airfix kits picked up for next to nothing at toy fairs and rewheeled and, in some cases, repainted with the rest being Bachmann. I’m not sure about liveries. There should definitely be some yellow wagons and probably some bauxite, but I suspect the grey ones were slightly later. I have a lot more Airfix wagons to resurrect, so will harmonise the train then. Here is the video:

Tony, That looks wonderfully complicated and very professional in the way that I would expect at Churminster. I have no real need for protection as my cassettes are all reversed onto and the point is manual. So I just pull the rakes on by hand. I can see that the aluminium will keep the ply from warping and offer side protection for the stock but I think my side strips of ply should do that as well. I will build a few more and then evaluate both. Andy

I’ve been playing with my D6120 this week. It seems like a lovely model, but I’ve been struggling with decoder fitting. I opted for a Zimo decoder rather than the Dapol one, perhaps that was a mistake as I have two problems. Firstly what was a nice quiet runner after running in on DC is now rather noisy, although still very smooth. And secondly, I’ve tried inputting the CV changes suggested in Dapol’s instructions to control the lights. However, while the function keys turn lights on and off, the sequence bears little resemblance to what the Dapol instructions said that should do. For example on one key I get white lights at both ends! Has anyone else had similar problems? On the plus side, one thing which really impresses me is the way the detailing pack and coupling fit on the buffer beam which seems to allow for tension lock couplings with full detail. Andy

Thanks, that sounds like a way forward. I think I'll start by seeing if I can get into the Deltic. Then order some stuff from Fox (as I think Modelmaster have pulled out of doing decals or are in the process of doing so). I'm on a decoder fitting fest at the moment so it won't be for a while.

There is no evidence that I know of that 9Fs struggled with the train when it was formed of Presflos. As you say 20 wagons of 36 tons is not overly demanding for a 9F. Andrew’s photo sounds like it is a short Presflo train with an A2/3, but we don’t know whether this was a test, an on the day substitution or a regular occurrence. The comment in Townsend’s book referred to the Cemflo era, when the train changed to Cliffe to Uddingston and loaded to c.28 wagons. The Cemflos were a similar weight loaded to the Presflos but in their case, 8.5 tons of body and 27 tons of load. A 28 wagon train would weigh c.1000 tons which might tax a 9F on Stoke Bank especially if the timings were tight - perhaps the performance experts could comment? I’ve seen no other photo of an A2/3 on either Presflos or Cemflos. So the evidence as I see it is that an A2/3 worked the both Presflo and Cemflo train at least once each and possibly on an occasional basis, but was not a regular on either...certainly not on the Presflos. With regard to brake vans, I think the brake van at each end started with the Cemflos and was required because it reversed somewhere in North London. I think the Presflo train sometimes had a second brake van in the middle because it split on route. There is a good picture in ‘Focus on Freight: Eastern Region since 1960’ (p34) of 9F 92188 with 15 Presflos including two brake vans, one after the 10th wagon and one at the rear. Admittedly this is captioned as a test. The same book has a good picture (p39) of 92040 on 28 Cemflos with a brake van at each end and (p42), V2, 60845 With a longer rake of Presflos with the brake van(s) out of sight. Andy

Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of the sprung point. Do you have to physically hold it over while the train is being loaded into a cassette?

Today we have the return of the Tees Tyne Pullman headed this time by monster power in the form of D9006, as yet unnamed. I haven’t found a good way of changing the 4 character headcode on my diesels - has anyone else? The video is on max zoom in my iPhone to emphasise the S curve. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not! Andy

I think mine should be pretty robust as 9mm ply glued and screwed to 9mm ply sides should be pretty bomb proof.

I agree. But if I'm spending more I want to be convinced that it's actually better. Apart from elegance (which doesn't matter in the fiddle yard of a home layout) I can't see any advantage in the aluminium. That's why I'm going to pause building any more until I've tested what I have.

Today we have the up Norseman. This train was a different formation on most days of the week, but I have chosen to model the 1958 MO formation. I’ve given you a choice of a lower ‘trackside’ image which results in an out of focus background with my iPhone and a higher viewpoint which has a better depth of field. The formation was all Thompson until at least 1956, but I don’t have crimson and cream catering vehicles, so I’;ve had to go later when Mark 1s had started to infiltrate. There was still a four car catering core of Thompson stock: FO/RF, and RSP/RSO I’ve also included a three compartment Thompson BSK vice Mark 1 at the rear which Andrew Neale (Headstock of this parish) tells me was a regular on the Norseman. The coach roof boards come from the excellent Pacific Models range (attached this evening before taking the photos!). Sadly, I seem to have mislaid my headboard. Here is the video which shows the full formation.

Tony, Many thanks for your comments. I certainly agree the aluminium angle is an elegant solution, but it’s more expensive and takes longer to make compared with my ‘three planks of ply and a bit of old track’ method. So I’m still weighing up which way to go. I think that my cassettes are shorter than yours which makes them easier to handle, but means I need more to make up a train. What size of aluminium do you use? I used 19mm x 11.5mm angle 1.5mm thick. The 11.5 is very tight in terms of fitting in the side of a vehicle’s body, so I would go for 19x19 if I use any more. I like the idea of a sprung loaded safety system on your cassette road. Was this prompted by the ‘flying loco’ incident on my last visit when I had to catch a loco in mid air as it run off the cassette road at full speed?! Andy

Peter, Many thanks for your kind words. I find 40-50 wagons the limit before derailments become commonplace. I think I get away with that number because I’ve kept the minimum radius to 36”. Andy

Thanks, I’m quite pleased with them. I made them from laser cut kits by Modelux. The kits are great but the instructions are non existent, so you need to be a bit of a detective to build them. They come ready Painted and weathered. I’ve already admired your twin artic - looks great. I started on my second one while at the B&B last week, but I doubt much more will happen until I’m away again as that’s when I get concentrated soldering sessions done.

Well I’ve finally got round to running another train. Next in the sequence is the 1619 King’s Cross-Peterborough. This was formed of a fairly standard Peterborough 5 set with a BG on the front. The photos I’ve seen often have a Stanier 50ft BG on, so that’s what I've used. The 5 set itself should be a pair of BSK/SK steel articulated twins with a mark 1 CK in the middle. However, I’ve only built one of the twins so far, so there’s an ordinary SK/BSK Standing in and the CK is a Thompson as happened from time to time. These trains were often headed by a New England Thompson Pacific and it’s a chance to run my DJH ‘Wolf’ before Hornby ruin its relative rarity value. This was one of the first complete kits I built with a lot of help from Tony Wright. She seems to have lost her smoke box number plate which I will have to hunt for. Andy

Well if you want a 65ft sleeper drop him an email. He freely admits that emails bump things up his to do list!

I’ve also just finished off weathering this Heljan Class 16. It’s my first attempt at weathering diesels as I think they’re rather more difficult than steam engines. But I’m quite pleased with the way it’s turned out. It will now enter service on Gresley Jn on trip freights. I’m not sure I can justify it working onto the GN, let alone getting home again without breaking down(!), but it makes for a bit of variety, so I’m going to run it anyway.

A Tale of Two Horseboxes. I haven’t done much rolling stock work recently because I’ve been so busy running trains and taking videos on Gresley Jn. However, I was away last week at a B&B and that means getting the soldering iron out. I managed to finish the structural work on my D&S LNER Diagram 4 horsebox. This was easily the most detailed kit I’ve ever built. It was fantastic in terms of how it all fitted together perfectly and the instructions are great, but it took a long time. I reckon it took me 12-15 hours which is quite a lot for one wagon. By contrast, I also built a Parkside diagram 5 horsebox just before Christmas. This was also a lovely model which went together very well as one expects from Parkside. Clearly not as detailed as the D&S kit, but it only took one evening in front of the telly, 2-3 hours in total. Here they are: They are both lovely kits, but as a fairly impatient modeller who likes to see results quickly, I think the Parkside one wins for me. Next step is a good wash for the D&S kit and then priming tomorrow. Andy

I wish I had witnessed such sights. Must have been fantastic.