manosfromgreece

Hi John, thanks for your kind words. as they say, life got in the way and I haven't done anything recently to the layout. Your comment I hope to work as a wake up call!

I can't believe I have not done anything with my trains since June. Usual excuses apply: life got in the way. But it is Christmas today and Santa brought me a present! A nice weathered tank wagon with OSE signs bought from Greece through Ebay. It is a PIKO wagon. So I hope this will now ignite my interest to return to my layout. Merry Christmas everyone!

So as I'm preparing for my next steps on the hill side and trying to set up my mind on that, I thought of giving a try on the points. The idea is that curently I'll create a panel with switches to operate manualy the point motors as I'm not commited yet on working with them on DCC. This is curently the rail diagram altough I'm considering adding another siding to the fiddle yard. As it is, it has 8 points. This is my small selection of point motors. I bought them over the last couple years on my occasional visit to the local model shop or model shows. The first thing was to dig them out and solder wires on them. I have a small collection of Peco and Seep in various models each, a CDU by https://www.modellingelectronics.co.uk/subcategories/1/model-railway-circuits/ and various switches etc. The idea of the Seep point motor was that since it is smaller in size than the Peco, I could use these under the layout and close to the frame that there is not enough space for the Peco to be fitted. In reality after checking, the space is not enough even for the Seep as I wrongly put the front rail very close to the edge of the layout but I believe that after a little surgery will work fine. And this is where you do a step forward and then 10 steps back. I thought of installing the first point motor to the right side front point but somehow the hole underneeth was not big enough for the point to work properly. No problem I thought, I'll just use the drill to make it a little wider. Yes sure! Before I realized, I destroyed the point and obviously I had to remove it so as to replace it. And that is not the problem, I'm used on learning by destroying! The problem is that I have no more points and of course the local model shops are closed due to the COVID-19. I'll have to wait for an internet order... Anyway I cleared up and prepared the space for the new point (not showing properly on the above picture) and left to do the ordering. More on my next post as usual...

Thanks Vecchio, that's very useful info I was not aware off. I'll check it now. Manos

So today I started working to the hill side. What I did first was to remove the piece of the backscene that will be hidden by the hill just in case it proves usefull in the future. Anyway it would be lost... Then I started stacking pieces in an ascentic way towards the back corner side. The hot glue method obviously didn't work as it was melteing the foam so PVA was used instead. And this is where it stands at the moment The idea is to form three gradually ascenting levels and these will be formed with the hot wire and knife before the application of plaster cloth and other similar terain forming methods as I discover them...The tunnel entrance has been purposely left wide open so as to prepare the interior of the tunnel before the entrance. The road is going to have a typical Greek mountaneous form of an S shape, starting on the forward side, turning left on the second level and finaly turning right on the third and last level. But more on my next post.

Hi Fezza, I understad that they are working on the new standard gauge and some parts are already available to traffic. Some parts of the metric one are going to be kept for heritage railways. I'm going to find more in due time as over the social media information is not always trustworthy... Manos

So today I thought of experimenting on what the hilly side of the layout would be. You might remember this picture from some time ago: The concept in this picture is three or four different levels with houses, tavern, etc with a single file road leading over the tunnel entrance and then a narrow path to the top of the hill where the chappel stands which is a very typical Greek image. Today this is version one with the rocky tunnel entrance and the rocks on the side of the hill. Probably going along with the idea of the army radar camp installation on the top of the hill rather than the chappel. This will find it's place nearby the station which is also something quite common in Greece. Version two is with a stone entrance and a mix of rock and dirt on the hill sides. Version three is the above without the rocks. I'm browsing around to see how all this hill formation should be held together. Probably I'll go forward with packed polysterine pieces sticked together with glue gun, then plaster cloth and then some additional plaster for the formations. Any hot tips you may offer would be appreciated. But more as always on my next post.

The postman brought me today my order of sitting passengers so I had to see what was there and start putting them into the railcar. Bought from the well known auction site I paid 2.5£ for 100 of them (sitting as I already had the standing ones) and these were in six different colours and each colour in three different poses both for men and women. I did try not to overdo it but also not to let the railcar looking empty. I had to add a standing child running up and down the railcar... ...and of course a ticket inspector preparing to make his run. This one I had to paint blue as per the colours of OSE (Greek railroads) at the time. I installed also a driver but I forgot to take a picture of him. Probably because I had to abutate him in order to fit his chair... I then temporarily closed the railcar and had a run around the layout to check on the instalation of the decoder. Everything is ok and I'm waiting now for some leds to install internal lights. I'm considering changing also the buffers to something closer to the prototype if I can find or make. The postman also brought the red quick connectors I needed to finish the connection of the dropper lines to the main so now all rails provide current to the rolling stock. I do get the odd stop in a few places but I believe this will be sorted with the proper cleaning of the rails. At last I vacuumed all the rails as I have now ballasted completely the scenic part of the layout. Obviously there are a few points in need of a touch up as shown in the picture of the railcar above but this will be done during the installation of the platforms. But more on my next post.

It is a small world Vecchio. My wife is from Lamia and whenever in Greece we make sure to visit family there. Agia Marina is a favorite local place to go out especially during summer! Let me know if you ever return, I'll get the latest insider information on where to or not to go! Manos

HI John and Vecchio, as John says the double electricified main line is fully in use now and the single mountainous (which I'm inspired off and try to model) between Thiva and Domokos is only sporadicaly in use especially now under the Covid19 situation. There was a lot of protests especially around the Bralos area not to let the line neglected and before the pandemic they had achieved in having a local train from Lamia. As you know Greek railways have now been privatised and the company that runs the trains offering the service is called TRAINOSE and it is owned now by the Italian FSI. The infrastracture and the rolling stock is still owned by OSE that is public owned and offers the use for a fee. Currently there are a few more companies renting from OSE rolling stock but offer only delivery services rather than passenger services. Trainose is now getting their own rolling stock (five trains) fom mother company FSI which are some older Italian Pendolinos that are currently renovated in what finally will be supposedly an almost new class. Before the pandemic they were supposed to arrive in Greece before the end of the year but I don't know what is the current schedule. Manos

So today I did try to finish up with the painting of the inside of the railcar. I masked as best as I could... and then painted the chairs blue as this is what I remember them to be. I'm happy with the result and happy that I found the courage to make the attempt. I did install and programmed a decoder and now I'm only waiting for my passengers to arrive so as to (install) sit them and close the model. I did continue with the ballasting too. I mixed a couple of different ballast products I had in stock so as to try and give a varriety to the scenic part and gave another try. This time I did a better clean of the ballast on top of the rails and used a pipette instead of a syringe to apply the pva glue mix. This time I did add both a little fairy and IPA along with the water. I did apply less than my previous attempts but more targetted with the pipette. I think there is a huge difference for the better this time but I'll be sure as soon as it dries. I think having a better control with the pipette rather than with the syringe made a lot of difference. At last I'm having a rethink on how to create the cement station platforms. Initially I was considering to make them out of polysterine pieces but I did try painting one to see how it would look and I don't like it. It is the bubbly surface that even after painting with a very thick coat of acrylic paint doesn't look conviencing. I'll have a try with a piece of hardboard to see whether this with some scratching and painting might look closer to the real thing. But more on my next post.

I don't know the reason why, but the desire of acquiring this Renault railcar was something I now realize was important to me. In general I liked the shape of the model but there are others out there that I like more and still don't have, and this is not a "problem" as it was for me to get this specific one. So I have had a discussion with my brother that remind me of good memories of a family day trip to Edessa city with the famous waterfalls in the north of the country in the very early 1970's. Apparently this trip was from Thessaloniki to Edessa and back with the Renault railcar. Picture from: https://www.e-kalfakis.gr/electric-trains-locomotives-1/87-railbus-renault-9,ose,-p-6761.html?language=en The good memories were touching and even brought to my mouth the taste of the fresh cherries that my father bought in a kiosk just out of the station in a handmade traditional basket made from reeds like the picture below. Picture from: https://www.spititoumeliou.gr/product/παραδοσιακό-χειροποίητο-καλάθι-από-κ/ But more on my next post.

So I have been busy today messing with the layout and doing various little things here and there. First of all, I addressed the problem with the power feeders to the sidings that I realized they didn't provide connection as they supposed to. In reality the problem was small and easy to identify although it took sometime to rectify. Somehow in the front siding I have had used the blue quick connectors instead of the red ones that I have used in all other connections of the layout. Probably I have had run out of reds or I couldn't find them back when I installed them. As you can see in the above picture, the thin wire of the feeder "bites" to the metal connector but apparently in some cases it didn't make contact due to a remaining very thin layer of the plastic insulation. I did replace all the blue connectors with red ones that are to be used with smaller size wires and the problem was rectified as seen below. Further to that, I did work a little on the right side of the layout where the tunel under the hill will be. Using a sharpie and the longest coach I had available, I marked both sides of the minimum safe distance to the tunel sides as the radious of the adjacent turn is quite small. Last but not least, I worked with the new additions to the fleet. These items were bought used and I believe they belonged to another member of the forum, Baz Ward who had Megalo Horio and who sadly passed away. I have not had the chance of knowing him or even seeing his layout but at least I hope that a day will come that some of his fleet will run on my layout. This is a Renault diesel railcar ABJ-9 by electrotren in OSE colours. These are three Interfrigo refrigerated wagons, similar to was quite frequent in Greek railroad. All the wagons are weathered and the railcar has some minor damages that I hope to rectify soon. As I need anyway to install a decoder and I had to open it, I thought of giving it a try on some customization. So the idea here is to paint the cabin with colours that matched the prototype, install internal lighting and of course a driver and passengers. This is my first try ever and I started by applying a white primer before masking and trying with colours. Time will tell what I'll achieve! But more as usual on my next post.

Hi Paul, many thanks for your comment, I'll certainly look for that paper, Kardamyli is a very interesting place that we have visited many times over the past. Keep safe! Manos

Hi John, it helps in more ways you can think. Many thanks for that, I always appreciate your help! Manos