Signaller69

The Van 'B' is done, following a full rebuild of both body and underframe, fitting Kadees etc; it may get another coat of filth added though, as you can still see the BR blue underneath, and these vans tended to appear filth brown in traffic for the most part.....! I purchased some Roxey etched window bars as these were notably absent (along with other less obvious missing parts), but they do add a nice touch when sprayed white and fitted - even if fairly obscured by filthy windows! The 40 still has a few small jobs to be completed, but today I added lower cab footsteps to the chassis, which were missing from the original. I hope to pick up a set of bodyside frost grilles at Stafford show at the weekend. Martyn.

Some work is being done on the layout for the first time in a while. Hiding the 4 track entrance from the fiddle yard had been playing on my mind and an idea I had previously discounted is now being pursued, ie a short covered fuelling area instead of the angled road bridge. I built up a couple of walls today to get a better idea, which can be seen in the photo, placed for visualising what I have in mind. I think this will help disguise the hole in the sky much better than the bridge (once it has a roof anyway!). Locos arriving from the fiddle will still have the cabs visible, poking out of the shed. The grey retaining walls will go, to be replaced by a slightly longer 2 storey admin building at the front, and another low relief one against the backscene, with the main shed wall backdrop slid to the right (it is loose in any case). The bufferstop and short headhunt (lower left) will also be removed to accomodate this and to allow a fuel tank to be sited. I feel more enthused to make progress now, which can only be a good thing! My Railroad Class 40 has also had a bit of a makeover recently for service on the layout. More soon........

Great to see a new version of G&N coming into being Jim, I think if I was building a fixed "home layout" it would take a similar direction with a terminus, through station, yards and lots of operational possibilities. Looking forward to further instalments! Martyn.

The 40 body has now been lowered on the chassis by simply opening out the small square holes the body lugs locate into, with a 1mm strip of plasticard on the upper edge, along with removing 1mm of plastic from the chassis floor where the cab doors sit. This meant removing the pipework I had added above the bogies, which will now have to be refitted. Before: After: not a stunningly obvious difference perhaps, but noticable all the same; the bufferbeams now just touch the lower edge of the nose on level track so a little work with a file will be necessary here. Chester Toyfair provided a small "pre-nationalisation bonanza" with an unpainted Ratio SR bogie van "B" and another Mainline LMS Bogie BY van to boost my parcels stock and a couple of cheap Bachmann LNER Thompson coach bodies which will be used to create another blue/grey buffet car, SC1705 as per this eastbank.org photo link: http://www.eastbank.org.uk/images/Coaches/CS0225.jpg Martyn.

The 40 has been glazed and some pre-weathering applied. I'm thinking of lowering the body on the chassis a tad to improve the relationship with the bogies - the loco currently sits around 1.5mm higher than my class 24s. ny repainted Bachmann Restaurant Buffet sides/roof have been for a swim in the Dettol to remove the paint. Currently look like they have been through the incinerator at Snailwell, but it's done the job. These will provide the basis for the Griddle car. Martyn.

OK, so a name has been arrived at. "St. Rollox Road". Hope that sounds reasonable.

Slow progress with still much deliberation, mainly regarding the possible repositioning of the NCL depot. The entire Quay frontage from the Custom House to the Lighthouse has been removed, a loop siding added (as this made shunting easier and more flexible in the previous incarnation) with another siding yet to be added. The loose yard of track in the left foreground is just one of 2 or 3 options and the Provender store is just plonked temporarily, but with the NCL depot moved up towards the Custom House it opens out this end of the yard area - the thinking being that an access road can skirt it and run right along the dock edge (possibly with disused track embedded - being the front edge of the layout, I don't want rolling stock to be vulnerable to being knocked off the layout), whilst giving more space for trackside unloading, a small coal yard, harbour detritus etc at this end. Much useful discussion was had with the guys at the Club last night regarding the various options and some ideas hatched which may or may not make the final cut.... Needless to say, nothing is final until it is glued down. As there are no exhibition invitations currently I'm not having to rush things; equally this isn't encouraging rapid progress either so a mixed blessing really...... Thanks for looking, Martyn.

Thanks Baz, would you know if there is there a thread on here? Thanks Rich, I've not done as much as I could with not having any exhibitions in the near future. Nothing has so far come of a couple of tentative enquiries from late last year at any rate, but I hope to take Dunnington out again in future. Martyn.

D3373 and 5153 at the fuelling point c.1972. The former was a through and through ScR loco being new to St. Margaret's (Edinburgh), withdrawn from Eastfield and being scrapped at St. Rollox in 1975 with fire damage (still in green livery I believe). Class 25/0 5153 on the other hand came to Scotland in 1972, where it initially took the duties of the withdrawn Class 17/29s for a few years before heading back South.

Hi Colin, Yes, for blue/grey the HMRS sheet 15 has them. Is the Southern Pride kit one of the second (ScR) batch do you know (1104 - 1106 iirc)? Hi Ian, Yes the small 4 top light panes can be a right pain even on Mk1s, thankfully I have not done any Mk2s yet (but still easier I say with confidence, than cutting out individual panes as i had to with my Class 126 vehicles; I STILL have one vehicle to do). It does make a huge difference though doesn't it! Martyn.

Hi James, thanks, yes Railtec EE builders plates on all 4 cabsides which is what photos of the period appear to show. Cheers, Martyn.

Well the 40 has been revived, painted and given the identity of Haymarket's D364, following a book photo showing it still retaining the "D" in 1973. It still needs bodyside vent frost shields adding, glazing and weathering etc. Dunnington's Mk1 Suburban coach has been flush glazed to better match the Bachmann Mk1 BCK it runs with. The open droplights were cut from the SE Flushglaze ones by cutting them in half (thus providing 2 windows from 1). The windows all needed opening out slightly (being a repainted coach) to get a snug fit which was a pain, but well worth the effort. Martyn.

I have got around to flush glazing the Mk1 Suburban coach which was used for the DVR Steam Specials in the mid-late 70s, in order that the coach better matches the flush glazed Bachmann corridor Mk1 brake end (BCK) that it runs with. Being summer, the droplights are all open of course! SE Flushglaze was used, with the droplights cut down as required (ie one window becomes 2 open droplights). Being a Bachmann coach with bogies predating NEM coupling pockets, the Hornby close coupler seen in the photo is screwed loosely in place with the original bogie coupling mounting screw so that the pair are reasonably close coupled. The other end has a Kadee NEM coupler mounted in the same way. I want to tone down the layout backscenes to better represent the flat area around Dunnington in the near future. Meanwhile here are a couple more photos taken earlier this year. Martyn.

Thanks, there isn't a lot of scope for scenery with this layout so thought is still going on as to developing the backscene to give more of an urban feel and "fill in the gaps" so to speak. The 303 would indeed be nice in rtr form, with a few liveries to chose from too; I suspect that a manufacturer might say that geographically it might be too limited in scope, although I usually find that having scratchbuilt or assembled a kit, an rtr model is announced soon after! There is a rtr version already available from Britannia Pacific Models, but it carries a niche price tag as one might expect for a hand assembled model: http://britanniapacific.co.uk/Overhead 303.htm Martyn.

The class 303 paid a visit in honour of actually having done some work on the layout, having been hauled in by a Class 20, which somehow then managed to run round the EMU!

I wasn't happy with the walling alongside the raised track at the rear; being self adhesive Scalescenes brickpaper which had repeatedly peeled away from the backing in places and having a fair bit of overspray from when I weathered the track, I decided to replace it with Wills brickwork. I also added safety railings from Railway Laser Lines, which are particularly fine, and fragile - it will be interesting to see how they stand up to practicalities like track cleaning! But it looks a lot better for it. Small steps!

Not much to report in the way of further layout development, though I have finally found an EFE Glasgow Atlantean bus at an acceptable price for the usual (and deliberate!) "bus on a bridge" cliche...... It will probably have a little detailing carried out before becoming a fixture.

The 40 project is stalled awaiting some more parts. I had made a new boiler exhaust to suit the later batches and this is where I had got to: In the meantime I have finally glazed the Triang based TPO cut n shut I did a while back, which meant cutting out rather small panes and fixing them in place with PVA glue. I have also been gathering more images of the ScR Mk1 "Griddle" cars with the intention of producing one from a Mainline or Bachmann Restaurant, bit this will need some thought as there are a fair few different window sizes which would need tackling.

Yes indeed, that was the photo which inspired it.

Well I suppose it COULD be a version of "My Thunderbolt is bigger than yours", I have the brakevan waiting in the wings...... Now where did I put that Beyer-Garratt? 🙂

Apart from glazing the Portacabin, the Flatrol is now finished, following paint, lettering and weathering. A small nut and bolt secures the cabin in place. The final pair of Hornby Class 24 conversions have had their glazing and windscreen wipers fitted and a some weathering carried out; photos soon hopefully...... As mentioned in the previous post, my Hornby Railroad 40 is currently undergoing work to improve its looks. As can be seen, the edges around the noses have been rounded off (thankyou to Clive Mortimore for the inspiration here) and Extreme Etchings windscreens added, along with Lanarkshire Buffers. The rather fine roof fan grille will be one of the final additions prior to painting, along with new front handrails and other bits.

The Portacabin load has been knocked up from plasticard and strip. A web search to try to find "standard" sizing came up with all sorts of modern variations, diagrams etc so I settled on 20ft x 8'6" x 8'6" outside dimensions which looks about right from the 1976 photo I am using. It needs anchoring plates at the bottom of each "leg" to attach it to the rings of the wagon sides but is otherwise almost ready for paint. I would also like to record my thanks to Brian of Shawplan for his super customer service in sending out a couple of spare class 40 roof grille meshes (the next project) after I inadvertently damaged mine - my own fault for misinterpreting the methodology and soldering the support ring to the super thin mesh (as with previous grilles on other locos). Superglue all the way next time on this one! I really must finish the glazing on a couple of the 24s too.... Martyn.

Thankyou kindly James! Martyn.

The Flatrol has had it's top coat of black applied, along with lettering and a tool locker based off the photo I am using of this particular wagon. Now I need to build a Portacabin to sit on the deck (again following the photo), which is an ideal load for any setting, be it a goods yard, loco depot etc.

Slow progress due to prognosticating, but things are going the right way. More track in the goods yard has been removed in order for realignment and relaying is now underway, which means some alteration of features around the Quay area. Will post some photos up soon which will hopefully give a better idea.