NickBrad

This is looking really impressive, I was wondering if it would be possible to turn my Grimsby trams into working models and now I have confidence that it can be achieved.

Aren't they just delightful too. I have another two on pre-order in the form of the J70 teak pack, so i'll end up with more coaches than the real railway, but then I pre-ordered the Titfield pair before the tram pack was announced

If I had to guess, I'd say it was an LMM t-shirt, quite popular in my group of friends. I personally have one saying "Oh look, Gubbins".

Sadly no barns remain at Upwell, my sister lives on a housing estate on top of where the yard used to be

I personally just place a piece of lint free cloth, (cut up old t shirt is perfect,) over a small block of wood and put some IPA on it before rubbing down the tracks. Never needed or want to use anything more harsh, even track rubbers can cause micro abrasions in the rails which in turn can trap dirt etc, meaning more heavy duty cleaning which leads to more micro abrasions which leads to.... you get the idea 😄

That's just amazing, shame you don't do commissions, other wise mine would be in the post tomorrow. I am going to take a wagon or 2 with me on holiday and give this weathering malarky a go, if it doesn't go the way I like, then it's just a couple of wagons to clean off, no harm, no foul. If it does work out though, it may give me the confidence to weather my own J70 when I take it apart to fit a decoder.

Now, I shall be watching closely as I have a J70, (along with another on pre-order) which could do with a weathering tickle, but seeing it laid out like that makes me nervous about whether I could reassemble satisfactorily

If I come across one at around the £100 mark, i'll take the risk of buying another and fettling it if need be, but the full £170 was too much judging by the lemon I received.

I'm on the hunt for a cheap Peckett W4, for a chassis, if I happen to find one and it has a Dapne body, consider it yours as i'll have no need of it in my plans Edit: On reflection, it seems that particular body is desirable if the inflated price over all other examples is anything to go by.

Will you be able to resolve the issue now the chassis is no longer required for the show, or is it beyond reasonable repair?

Some great progress there, it may inspire me to tackle the 2 Grimsby trams I have currently in the post.

Yep, went last night, ended up with 2 on pre-order in the GER stratford livery and somehow a Ruston 88DS as well

I think I may have to order one of those Hattons coaches, looks just the thing for replicating the grounded coach that once resided at Outwell Basin

That is so atmospheric, exactly the type of thing that attracts me to US stuff, (alongside my W&U fascination). I think if you keep looking at stuff like that and find a 44 tonner loco at the right price, there's hope for N-ewe Sheepton in the future yet ;)

Looking in the books, they don't unfortunately, it's the age old problem of rolling stock not being considered of interest at the time, something I wonder will happen in the future with all the multiple units we have running now, so many people write the modern scene off as being boring, but will probably rue those thoughts 30 years or so down the line

I read that and thought hang on, ol' sheepy has gone all American and featuring LIRR multiple units now? Then I remembered that the M7 would have nowhere for the 3rd rail pickup to draw from.....

I had similar issues with the light coming back on randomly, I do think it's a DC only problem though, not that I had a chance to put a decoder in mine. Sadly, I will not be receiving a replacement, all the remaining models at Rails had varying degrees of body fitting issues and under testing, a few of them started out silent and then developed noisy running as it progressed, suggesting that the gears are not the best quality used in these models either. The sales guy said that in good conscience he couldn't send any of the models out to me unless I specifically said I wanted one and so we've put the money towards other pre-orders I have placed instead. All in all, a negative for Heljan here, but a big positive for Rails of Sheffield.

Mine is on it's way back to Rails, they've confirmed that they have assigned a new one to me and that it will be checked over for defects before shipping. I cannot fault their service thus far, it's important to remember that the fault lies with the factory Heljan are using rather than the retailers.

Well, I had mine arrive today, Heljan 9770 (Industrial Yellow) and yes, warped running plate, like others have mentioned and unfortunately what sounds like an angry wasp under the bonnet. It's coming up to the 30 minutes running in the 2nd direction and hasn't quietened down, so sadly it looks like the first ever model I have had to return as I simply do not have the experience or expertise to correct the faults, especially as I don't know what is causing the sound, whether it's mis-meshed gears or whatever. I decided to buy based on the fact that I already have a Heljan class 07 and the differences are night and day. Had I paid £70, I may have accepted it, but £170, not a chance.

Not me Gov, I stopped tryin ta learn the day I left skool. I am common tho, so I naturally have the scents of it I suppose. Seems Mark Forrest also has the same musings and I'm sure he has more brain cells than meself, so maybe this idea is indeed using common scents. (I'm now wonder how to evoke the smell of diesels from my layout....)

Following up on this idea, why not simply grab a length of code 100 track, (that I'm sure most of us have hung on to, even after switching to code 75,) and use that as your bus? Already held apart by the plastic sleepers and a bit cheaper than brass rod

I personally go with Caboose Industries throws, a bit oversized, but then I use them as functional switches rather than just cosmetic jobbies. Those Tony Sissons ones look great, just wish I could actually buy some rather than a google picture of them 🤨

I have used it both on Friday Bridge and one of my previous layouts without electrical issues, the only thing I would mention is that "adhesive" was a loose term in my experience, great at looping and sticking to itself as you un reel it, (best to stick one end to the board and move it along as you unwind,) but hopeless at sticking to any other type of material. I may have had a bad reel, but I advise sticking down with ca glue, just to be sure.

I cannot remember the yard now, but this loco still exists in the US, still banana shped.

I'm a huge fan of anything Titfield related, so looking forward to updates on this one