DavidMcKenzie

Hi Jeremy, Strange answer I know....but it will be above the existing layout. I have plenty of height to play with and I've tested some spirals and they seem to work without issue. The track plan will be very simple. It is not an exact location, but motivation has been taken from these two spots at Greenholme and Beck Foot. Hopefully this will allow a few different views of trains tilting in a curve like below. @acg5324 that's a brilliant link thanks, I have only skimmed it so far. I didn't realise D9000 was a regular on Saturdays during summer at the end of the century. Interesting stuff. As for the coupling, I have ordered some hunt couplers to try as well as a batch of Kuppelstange from DM toys, but for now both are still unopened and the MK2s come with shorter and longer 'standard' Ngauge couplers which is all I've had time to play with so far. All the best, Dave

That's coming along nicely 👍

I cannot look at a photo from above anymore without realising how little the wires show from this perspective. Possibly because I hardly ever see this view on the real railway....yet we see it most of the time with the models. Not my photo, linked from Flickr. All the best, Dave

The MK2 rake is finished and got a run out on the layout. It looks really good with the closest coupling option to entirely remove the gap between carriages, unfortunately even with the 'inside' buffer removed it is too close to make it around the loop off scene. So I've compromised and gone for one long and one short coupling. The layout is far from finished, but I am already thinking about an extension now space allows. I have only ever modelled the southern section of the WCML, but I love the Cumbrian country side and the nice canted curves with lovely backdrops. So over the winter I have a twin track Cumbrian extension planned. Track plan will follow, but the first addition was a BSO to allow the XC service I've seen on plenty of you tube videos and Flickr photos in Cumbria during the late 90s to be modelled (Edinburgh to Portsmouth via WCML and Birmingham if I am not mistaken, but I might be wrong). All the best, Dave

Hi Simon, I was happy to see I am not the only one who makes a mess sometimes when modelling. All of the lovely videos and photos of finished models make me feel very messy sometimes.....so great to see your model in the process of construction. Nice job on the bridge. It fits in perfectly and adds to the Swiss feel of the layout. As for wires or no wires.....of course it is up to you. But I've found EZ line useful if you do go for the wires. It's (very) flexible and my clumsy hands have managed to do more damage to the gantries than the wires so far. It is still very fiddly to fit and adjust stock in the scenic section. Track cleaning has also only been possible with a towed cleaner wagon. So not without issue, but less prone to damage than stiff wires. Having said all that, if you will mainly view the layout from above then doing the layout without wires can look brilliant (like you say Simon's Dallam is a great example). Whichever way you choose, I would recommend hanging the wires at the very end if you do go for them, things like lineside detailing and weathering are close to impossible once the wires are up (at least that's been my experience with my fat fingers).....so with that in mind it might be worth finishing the rest of the layout and see how you feel about it once it's completed? On a totally different subject, do you have code 55 or 80 track? I've tried running swiss stock (latest Fleischman re6/6, re460 etc.) On finetrax code 40 and it doesn't work, the flanges are too deep. The Swiss railway plan is developing in my head and I was wondering what I can get away with and didn't want to go to the expense of buying test track in each gauge if I didn't have to. Thanks for your updates, great videos as always. Nice touch starting with the Swiss coffee cup each time. All the best, Dave

Great news. Another brilliant release. The formations and destinations are always an interesting addition (especially for people like me who are interested, but have no actual practical knowledge of the railway).

I am not an expert, but I have had no issue with other web pages which have large numbers of photos and I download very large data files (significantly larger than a page worth of high res photos) for work when I am in home office and they are downloading at the same speed as always. So I don't think anything has changed with the internet speed here. Many thanks for your feedback, at least it is not only me. I wonder if anyone has found a solution to make it work again?

Hello, (Firstly sorry if this is posted in the wrong place) Has anyone else struggled with viewing photos on posts? The first 3/4 on a page load ok, but after this I can only see a grey square. I am getting this when viewing other people's posts (viewing content I have generated myself seems ok). I have double checked my internet connection (and have no issue with other sites with large amounts of photos). Maybe it is just a bug for me, but any tips or help would be much appreciated, the forum loses its appeal when the photos can't be seen and it's an issue I've only had recently so it would be great to find a solution. All the best, Dave

Back to the MK2 rake which is clogging up the workbench. At least one of the rake has been rebranded and weathered before I could of simply purchased a swallow rake 🤪. I like PC's idea of the unbranded intercity MK2 which was a common sight towards the end of the 90s, so when I get around to it the other side will have the swallow branding removed to allow a rake of either livery variation to be run. All the best, Dave

Congratulations on the magazine publications🤩. Shows the layout off nicely. Great to see the 'full' layout in one photo as well. All the best, Dave

All very interesting stuff for someone like me who loves the railway, but has no practical knowledge of the everyday running. Do you know why two electric locos were needed in place of one diesel? It's always intrigued me. This seemed to be especially true of 86s, but 90s were also double headed at times during my spotting days as a child in the late 90s. Often a similar looking (to my untrained eye at least) working required only one 47 (and later 66). Was it simply power? Or reliability? Or could two electric locos run more efficiently in parallel than alone?

An interesting thought Simon, I wasn't aware of workings with a double header 87s/86s line up until reading your message. A quick search on the internet and it looked to be a common sight at the end of the 80s, especially on the mosend to dee marsh steel working. Photo from Flickr (not mine).

After seeing class 08s looking very good on other wcml layouts such as Graham's Stanley Bridge and Simon's Dallam, I am glad I finally gave into temptation . It's a lovely model and it looks more at home than I feared shunting and moving around at the back of the station on the slow line and stabling point. All the best, Dave

Great news 😀

Hi Duncan, Sorry for the delay in replying, the little one is keeping me busy at the moment (in the best possible way). I hope you are well, I have seen a number of YouTube videos of Shirebrook looking absolutely outstanding at the demu showcase. I hope you enjoyed it. You've got a brilliant eye for noticing the details. One of the things which I wasn't so happy about with Maids Morten was the tunnels not being completely dark. Very crude solution, but off scene the first section of track is covered by a removable cardboard 'tunnel' painted black on the inside. It seems to do the job. The single track slow line has no fiddle yard connected yet, so a rag covering the tunnel mouth off scene is the solution there for now. Photo with and without below: All the best, Dave

Brilliant stuff, very hard concentrate on the trains and not to get distracted by the network rail building. It's outstanding (the whole layout, not only the building).

Modeling time has been hard to come by over the last month, but a quick running session yesterday got the RES 90 out on the layout for the first time. All the best, Dave

Hi Jeremy, Interesting find there with the nbrass gantry. I think that would look very good and I will be looking forward to seeing how that turns out. There is also a type of gantry in Colin's nice photo of the double headed DB freight train (roughly in line with the back end of the second loco), which doesn't look so complex (as other options would be) to scratch build. Then possibly a few of the more expensive ntrain options in positions where you are likely to view/video/Photograph? The scratch built buildings look great. I love the singal box. It looks superb. Weathering something like that is always a challenge isn't it. There are many different colours, tones and shades in a weathered building aren't there. The number of different washes which then need pulling together with a last very fine layer of 'dirt' always amazes me. Thanks for the videos, very interesting and motivating. All the best, Dave

Hi PC, I hope all is well, I will pm you, but Stuttgart is looking unlikely. New Millfields being there is great news though. Al the best, Dave.

Some brilliant modelling there Jeremy. I'm really enjoying watching this all take shape. It's going to be a layout with incredible character and interest with all of the scratch built buildings. All the best, Dave

The newest addition was again a lot of fun to weather and a cracking little model. I know prices have gone up since Bachmann have taken over, but the level of quality and detail in RTR models is very impressive. Aiming for roughly 1997......I didn't brave it and go for the blue door option like the second photo though 😆. (photos linked from Flickr). I still haven't managed a running session to get the latest locos out on the layout. With all the good weather and long days, the last thing I've wanted to do is head down to the cellar, but it's nice to have something to look forward to during the next bad weather spell. All the best, Dave

Now that is a brilliant idea 👍. I've just looked back at some old photos online, I didn't realise how common that was. Thanks for the idea. I hope you are keeping well, Dave

The rebranding of the MK2 coaches to swallow has gone on the back burner after the recent farish news. Luckily only one side was done, so I might keep the rake in the old style Intercity type face as an early 90s XC rake (on the side that can be seen at least). Whilst having a think about what to do with the MK2s, the EWS 31 below had some detailing and weathering added, based on photos from around 99. I need to have a running session at some point, I'm looking forward to getting this one and the RES 90 out on the layout before too long (hopefully 🙂). All the best, Dave