luke the train spotter

Sadly I don't have much time to operate finlarig anymore so this is leading me to sell the working rc van that ran on it. Currently on eBay for £100 buy it now (free postage) but open to offers too. Hope it finds a good home. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383678702781

Apologises to all for this coming out so late but we have the results in! Firstly, a massive thank you to everyone that has entered, the quality of the modeling entries we received really blew us away, as did the number of entries. It was very hard to judge, and excuse the cliche but we honestly thought everyone deserved to win. So anyway, here is the results video: Once again thank you all for making this possible and we look forward to maybe running another modeling competition in the future!

I'm still to build a boxfile layout but I'd say you may want to reinforce it with some thin wood or foamboard just to help reduce warping from glues and moisture. Anything thicker than 5mm may be a bit over kill though.

Looking great kevo! You may be giving me ideas of a far north line micro...

Wow that is a lot of money for not a of detail or realism. I'd be curious to see how the seller would be able to have any shunting potential when it looks like just 4 pieces of straight flex track..

Looking great thee Kevo.

I'd say that the station roof could be a bit lower. Looking at this photo of wick the roof doesn't seem to be that much higher than the loco..

Love it! Big fan of the 24 and you've got a great Scottish feel about it.

It's been a while but I've finally got round to painting the fascia on Cronton. I've used the same super Matt black chalkboard paint as used on Distillery. And in other news my model kit range is now live! https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=train_crash_models&isRefine=true&_pgn=1

This is one I've built and use regularly. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/151526-a-micro-work-bench-solution/

Where do you source those turnout throws from? I've been looking for something like that for a long time for my micros.

Awesome! Seeing your success I may have to integrate chain shunting into a future layout. How smooth is the wagon moving? Does it jerk at all whilst the chain goes round the pin?

I really like the idea of chain shunting, can't wait to see that modelled!

Now I could be wrong but that reminds me of hudswell clarke. Though not perfect and would need a giesel ejector fitting this kit from Hardie's hobbies shares a few characteristics. I believe it's meant to run on the electron 0-6-0 outside cylinder chassis. https://hardyshobbies.co.uk/shop/locomotive-body-kits/hudswell-clarke-1800-class-standard/

The TCS ka4s are very good but difficult to get. I think I bought my last couple from coastal DCC but am not too sure. There are also these high capacity stay alive units available and you can choose 3 different sizes though the smaller ones are out of stock at the moment the stocks of this seller are often refreshed fairly regularly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laisdcc-Model-Railway-Stay-Alive-Device-Kit-three-size-options-New-UK-Stock/202854819729?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item2f3b16e791:m:mlEVg0Jr62gdGHei44dtmPw I'm not sure what DCC controller youre using but you need to be able to change cv29 to a value of 2 for the stay alive capacitors to be able to discharge power.

Yes it is the same capacitor that i fitted to my j94 though mine is a DJ models one which I believe has more room in the boiler than the Hornby one which is where I put the decoder and capacitor unit. A general rule of thumb with the laisdcc stay alive decoders is if they haven't got 87 at the start of their product number they won't be compatible with the high capacity stay alive stuff. Laisdcc decoders without that product number but still sell themselves as stay alive decoders are only compatible with low capacity stay alive units which are so ineffective and not worth getting. If you were to wire a high capacity unit up to one you'd blow the decoder (lesson learned the hard way).

Those both definitely look like the lower power ones which basically make no visible difference. I think they're more intended for dummy dmu units to help reduce flickering for the led lights which obviously draw much less current than a motor. I have used this exact one to great effect. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laisdcc-8-pin-NEM652-Trailing-plug-DCC-Decoder-with-stay-alive-kit-new-UK-stock/192671932108?epid=1364785147&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item2cdc245ecc:g:OaYAAOSwmVdbg-A5 I timed it that it gave over 30 seconds of slow speed shunting once lifted off the track which is more than enough. Though it is hard to get in the UK but well worth picking up is the TCS ka4 capacitor unit which is smaller than the other high capacity stay alive units and its compatible with this decoder which can be bought seperately from the same eBay seller.

On eBay if you search Laisdcc stay alive you can get a high capacity stay alive unit and decoder for about £20 posted and that's what I've started using and I'd absolutely recommend them. You may have to compromise some of the looks as cab details some times have to be sacrificed for the space to fit the stay alive but it's well worth it. I find the large stay alive unit fits nicely in the djm j94 boiler and the decoder can be fitted on top of it too.

Don't worry if you can't make the deadline we're still happy to enter late entries.

Well I've been very busy behind the scenes developing a few of my own resin kits along with my good friend @OliverRowley who is lurking about the forums somewhere. I am very proud to say that these will be available for sale via eBay on the 1st June under the name of Train Crash Models. The range will include a few of the kits I've developed and used on Cronton. This includes the water and this chaldron wagon. Including wheels the chaldron wagon will come to £8 and the water tower £3.50 ish. I'll keep you all posted on where to get them once the eBay store goes live.

Really nice to see some more pictures of this layout. Definitely one of my all time micro layout favourites. That 24 really suits the scene nicely too and just adds to the washed out colours of the layout .

Love the colours and grimy look of those buildings.

This is coming along really nicely. It's definitely screaming out Scotland to me.

I hadn't noticed the buckled cab but I do like the wonky hooks on the side of the frames and also the horse shoe on the engine grill. Maybe some fun details to add.

Well it's about time I started my entry too. Being the other host of the competition I can't actually enter my entry but I can still build one! Initially I found it really difficult to think of an idea and a plan that I liked and would be interested in building. Fast forward a week and a bit and I came across this picture on Facebook. I just love the washed out gritty atmosphere but also the vagueness of the type of industry that it is apart of. Having a Hornby ruston also makes this more appealing. So the plan is something industrial somewhere in the north-ish of England. One of the skills that I wanted to learn through this project was how to build point work as this would enable me to build even tighter radius point work for even smaller layouts (yes I may be slightly mad) but I decided to start of with the basics and build some straight track that has ended up being dual gauge for increased photo opportunities. Given the current track shortage climate I'm unable to buy any rail in so I've had to resort to bending some old code 70 n gauge rail so that it's mostly straight except for a few kinks. Rail gauges are plasticard with shallow slots cut to fit the rail made of a piece of track to the correct gauge. Instead of soldering the rail to copper clad pcb board I simply super glued it to the 5.5mm ply baseboard and then infilled the railways with some coffee stirrers.The coffee stirrers being taped to the baseboard as their glue sets off marks the foundation of where the warehouse will be. I hope to use this as a backdrop that would suit basically any of my locos/wagons in oo and 009. More progress soon.