Firecracker

Thank you very much! Glad you like it. I’ll admit to a little secret, the only loco that was intentionally bought for the layout was the standard 4 mogul. Everything else was (apart from the pannier, that was bought when Bachman first released the Blue Riband 57XX) was encountered at a very good price and so a main fleet of class 4 locos appeared. The black five is waiting me finding a suitable model at the right price and it’s not impossible (again, if one enters my life at a good price) an 8F may join the fleet, because a) I do like the Stanier designs and b) its going to be finished as 48756, due to a family connection, it was the last steam loco overhauled at Horwich works and a great uncle of mine (one Roy Yates) is visible in one of the official photos of it being outshopped. 4156 nearly made the cut, I do like the large prairies. Here’s a brief taster of pt 2, The coaches, wagons, DMU’s and cranes of the L,S&I.Rly. Park Royal railbus, no. SC79970 This unique survivor owns its survival to the Railway Technical Centre at Derby. Withdrawn in 1968 from Ayr, it was threatened with scrapping, however when Wickham track recording car DB999507 was heavily damaged in a collision with derailed goods wagons outside Tamworth, RTC attention turned to the recently redundant Park Royal vehicles. Although made redundant from their intended role due to line closures and the arrival of new DMU stock, the otherwise reliable vehicles (SC79970 and sister SC79971) were stripped of their internal fittings and asbestos insulation at Derby works and conveyed to the RTC, where the pair were to be fitted out for the duties of the now scrapped DB99507. However, budget restrictions lead to only one being converted, with SC79971 becoming a spares donor and later the body being grounded as a shunters cabin. Withdrawn from the RTC, SC79970 entered service at Sedbergh following removal of the RTC modifications and the installation of seating salvaged from a Leyland Atlantean bus. Due to the lack of drawgear to run with other stock, it often finds itself used for private parties, driver experience and inspection duties, but is regularly used on the lightly loaded winter services. Owain

Thank you very much. Absolutely. Your last sentence sums up it perfectly for me. I can point to bits that don’t quite gel, say only 4-5 Carr rakes and they must have some extensive workshops, to be able to take on the amount of work they have. But space restraints force my hand on the first and the second, well maybe they took a leaf out of the South Devon’s book? At Sedbergh, sure, it can be a gala, with loco swaps, 4 rakes of coaches running plus a demo goods and DMU’s (but it’s got the constraints of shift the Ruston and it’s wagons out of the yard and park it somewhere, or some of the coaches are the tatty spares that aren’t usually in traffic) or it can be a quiet day of a DMU and one rake of coaches peacefully trundling up and down the valley. The one bit I would add given enough space is a bit more derelict rolling stock lying about, the extension mentioned earlier (which is now on about MK7 and no timber’s been cut yet) will hopefully add further exhibits in the fascinating world of rot and corrosion display. Then there’s another factor, which I’ll dub ‘reality is unrealistic’. Take a loco that must have crossed paths with at least two of the fleet, 44806. Bought direct from BR, to Carnforth, to L&HR, condemned with firebox issues, to Southport on static display, then to MOSI, to Llangollen and repair, then finally to NYMR. A standard 4 on static display at Levens Hall is quite feasible alongside that... Owain

Well, thank you very much! It’s on the first edit, it may yet get tweaked a bit. There’s also part two, with how the Park Royal railbus survived long enough to be adopted by Derby RTC, the unique Smiths of Rodley crane (I can prove at least one was built, I suspect as a prototype) the Pway acquired and recovering LMS compartment coaches from Scottish farms.. At some point I may write the history of the line, how it fits with other preserved lines in the area and maybe some of the noodle incidents hinted at in this. I also refuse to apologies for the hats tipped to favourite fictional characters and Ruston (of this parish) superb ‘Charlie Strong Metals’ both as a piece of modelling and a tribute to a favourite TV series. Can you tell I like alternate history? I remember reading in RM years ago articles on two layouts, one was an extension of the Cambrian coast to Abersoch, the second was some lovely little S&D branch in the Somerset coalfield, the name of which eludes me. Both had extensive false histories in the article, which both added a brilliant depth to the article. Owain

Having written up that nonsense, I realised the 4F hadn’t been out for a while, so that was remedied with a photocharter with the goods rake. This also served to trial the goods rake with the new fiddleyard, again, no problems. Also another of those moving pictures. Enjoy. Owain

Glad you like it, it came about on Christmas Eve when I was bored. 44781, I know someone who drove out of Stratford, who in turn knew someone who was with the March breakdown gang who would have recovered it. It was literally that close, a few phone calls and the ‘old boy’ network would have made the bill disappear and it had been arranged to end up at Carnforth. Just need either Hornby to retool the black five or find a 44xxx series at a price I’m prepared to pay and breath on it a bit. Owain

You can tell I got bored over Christmas, can't you? Here's a bit of worldbuilding nonsense, explaining how some of these locos ended up in this corner of NW England. Loco histories.docx Owain

Having spent Christmas in my care bubble on the opposite side of the Pennines, it’s back to it and a testing and development session with the new fiddleyard. Very happy, no issues with trackwork or rolling stock, so we’ll call that a result. Incidentally, with its maximum load of two rakes of rolling stock and locos, vertical deflection of the extension is about 1mm measured at the end. Owain

As a last Christmas special, here’s another of those moving pictures. A quick overflight of the layout, to give an idea of what’s where. Apologies for the shaky camerawork, I was trying not to trip on the leads across the floor. Enjoy. Owain

A bit more progress with the fiddleyard, in time for Christmas. The idea is the two sidings will have a removable extension to allow them to take a 5 car rake (incidentally, the reason I’m going down this route and simply not adding a second board is space (or rather the lack of) in the garage). So this is mocked up in plywood. This is then fitted with two lengths of ally angle along the edges, to brace it and make it harder (note - not ‘impossible’) to knock stuff off. The temporary g clamp is replaced with two ally strips (which are secured into either a double thickness of the 12mm ply or a batten under the ply) to retain it and a load test performed, to see if it had (or needed) legs. With the test resulting in a deflection of 4mm at the end, it was decided this would be rigid enough, so track and a toggle clip to retain it were added. Finally, copperclad was added to secure the rail ends and the electrical connections were completed, to allow the first test train to run. To allow running with this section removed, a shorter section was also made, to remove the risk of anything taking a nose dive off the end. Owain

Following another painless wallet extraction at my local, a bit more progress. First, the fiddleyard has come on a bit further, with the fixed part of the two long sidings going down. These will have an either folding or removable extension section (when I’ve finished designing it) to extend them to take a 5 carriage rake with loco (so the plywood and G clamp bufferstop is entirely temporary). Secondly, the road bridge area is getting a bit more detail, with a pair of Bachmann PWay workers who’ve joined the highways department with their theodolite, cones and Scale model scenery traffic lights. Some road markings will appear at some point as well. There’s also handrails for the bridge to fit. Owain

Whilst stuck at home due to a flat battery on the old motor (and a smart battery charger that’s gone stupid, a set of jump leads that have disappeared to god-knows-where...) I’ve finally got round to finishing the DCC instal on the little wickham trolley. Bought at the Chasewater Railway back in September, it’s had a Zimo MX616R fitted under the floor, connecting to the original circuit board. To accommodate this, a bit of the chassis was removed using a Dremel and burr. The modification. Decoder trial fitted. Circuit board modified with extraneous bits removed and solder pads drilled out to allow connection of the wires. With the chokes removed, the LH pads (in line with the L1/L2) are to the pickups and the RH (to the left of the E3299 legend) to the motor. On its trial run. Runs very nicely, with the pickups on the trolley and the trailing trailer axle it has few issues. Owain

And just for the hell of it, here’s another of those moving pictures. Enjoy. Owain

So,with the repeat lockdown ended, my local reopened. This little pile of goodies followed me home. I’ve fancied a bubble car since Lima released their effort (at the time, other demands on my money prevented it) and I think at the moment if you can afford it, prise open the old wallet and support your local shops. Plus Martin knows me too well and specialises in swift and painless wallet extraction (from customers, naturally). The LMS compartment brake third was reduced by a tenner and following a bit of research I’ve justified it with a) there’s two of the 9 comp thirds at Keighley (not sure if they’re in traffic), b) two and a bit comp brake third body shells survive in Scotland, so it’s possible and c) did I mention it was a tenner off? First up, the DMU. Opened up, fitted with a Zimo decoder and the Bachman passengers (just needs a driver or two). Introduced to the SPROG and the decoder addressed to my standard of the last 2 digits of the number, it comes out for a gentle trundle and poses with the 101. Then, the coach. Dirtied up with MIG washes, it’s gone into the scratch rake with another two maroon mk1’s. It runs into Sedbergh behind the class 15, passing a DMU lashup in the second platform (the lashupis posed, I need to tweak the decoders to get them to run in multiple). Finally, a friend and her hound have appeared o;the layout, care of Bachman, Noch and a steady hand with a 10/0 brush to tweak the hounds markings and add a harness. Owain

Stumbled across this in WH Smith’s (other newsagents are available) and a copy followed me home. Very impressed indeed, tons of inspiration, superb modelling and I’ve learned how the winch fitted Grampus rail loading units worked. Highly recommended. Owain

Yes it does and no it doesn’t get hot. The case is a converted joiners toolbox, (photo below) with plenty of air movement. Also the fault started from startup (and disappeared just as quickly) so I doubt a heat buildup is to blame on this occasion. It’s the first time the system has played up in the slightest, so that’s not a bad performance record. Completely random and totally unrelated point, but the shallow Really Useful Boxes are my rolling stock storage box of choice. The narrow ones take a 2 car DMU or the Bachmann R&R crane as if designed for it. Owain

Again, not much to report, apart from a farce with the Lenz DCC setup. Following that, it looks like a modernisation to a SPROG and (shock, horror) wireless throttles is on the cards! Where will it end? It’ll be things flying backwards in the skies next... Anyway, some parts of the layout have already met a SPROG, especially this Sentinel. Fitted with a Digitrax decoder, it had rather an athletic turn of speed. However, following a spot of tuning, it’s now calmed down considerably and has becom a reliable member of the fleet. Need to decide if it’s getting the runner wagon I had planned for it and maybe renamed. It’s certainly next on the weathering list. Owain

So, on Friday, the lenz expired. I had another play with it yesterday and nada. Today, I climb up into the attic and find the boxes for its holiday to Brackley. Then into the garage, where the system hides in the bottom of a repurposed joiner’s toolbox that lives under the layout. Before disconnecting it to package it up, I say ‘sod it’ and turn it on for one last time. You all know what’s coming next..... Yes, the little darling, in a Lazarus-esque rise from the dead, works perfectly. Now in conversation with Chris he suspected it was a fault in either the base station or the lead from that to the handset. So I jiggle, stretch, tweak and tease the stuffing out of the lead to fail to get the fault to reappear. Turn it all off, back on, still alive and kicking. Before anyone says ‘you must have changed something’ it was exactly as it had been left on Saturday. I love intermittent electrical faults (having had a belly full of chasing them in my career). So, it doesn’t look like a holiday to Costa Del Brackley is on the cards. Instead plan B. That’s a SPROG3, wireless throttle and an honourable retirement for the Lenz as the spare. Reasoning goes roughly as follows a) a weekend’s playing lead to the testbed SPROG2 running happily through the app grriff mentioned on my phone, b) I really like a wireless throttle (having never used one before, I’m sold), c) it looks like being the cheapest and most compact solution, d) I’m already very taken with the SPROG as a programming interface and finally d) after this fiasco, I’m determined to have a spare system available and once something plays up once, I never trust it 100% again. Thanks all who replied for their help, I’ve been very impressed with A&H models communication and advice, so I’ll file that contact away for future reference. Owain

Right,a quick progress report. Thanks RFS, as per your suggestion and Norman’s I’ve fired A&H (apologies for getting them and H&A models confused) an email, I’ll see what happens. I’m thinking of giving the app and SPROG (mainly because there’s one here on the test bed I can borrow to try and it’s looking as the cheapest route) a go, I’ll let you know how I get on. If it can be repaired for inexcessive cost, I’m planning on getting the lenz repaired as well, as a backup if nothing else. Thanks all for the replies, I’ll try to update this with progress. EDIT - within ten minutes of the email being sent Chris at A&H has replied (a very impressive start!) so it looks like my Lenz is off for a holiday to Brackley. Owain

Right, thanks for the quick replies so far. In no particular order, grriff, yes, the SPROG on the test track uses JMRI on a laptop. It was bought purely as a more user friendly interface for decoder programming (and with the results from resolving the speed record attempts of a Hornby sentinel and the far more sedate results, justified its existence). I wasn’t aware of the app, so thanks for that. Norman, also thanks, I didn’t know H&A were lenz agents, so if my man at my local (where this was purchased, somewhere between 2003 and 2006) can get results, I’ll give them a go. Thanks also for the recommendations, I’ll have a look at those. Owain

So, I suspect my elderly Lenz setup (LHZ100 base station, LH90 throttle) may have expired. Went for a pre-supper testing and development session (OK, playing) and when turned on, the throttle only displayed 4 flashing horizontal bars on the LED. So, a bit of quick googling later, I’ve found the following a) the power supply output is fine when checked with a multimeter, b) the flashing continues when the system is completely disconnected from the layout and c) no combination of key presses can clear it (although weirdly I can apparently get into the system menu although a factory reset changes absolutely nothing). Then, when reconnected to the layout and fired up, the loco present on the layout (Bachman standard mogul, zimo decoder, was running fine last weekend) suddenly sprang into life and launched itself along the layout at something that would scale to about Mach3. Fortionately a) I’ve got very quick reactions and b) there are plywood stops on the ends of the layout, so nothing tragic happened. Said loco has since been tried on the SPROG-driven test track and appears to be completely unharmed by its attempts at giving me a heart attack and the land speed record. Now, the system is at least 12 years old, so if it’s died, it’s not the end of the world, it’s just damned annoying. So, good folk of RMweb, a) is there anything else to try (I should add I’ve checked every connection and there’s no visible loose wires or visible damage) and if it is an ex. DCC system that has joined the choir invisible, what’s a recommendation for a replacement system that’s got a similar throttle on a wander lead setup and plays nicely with lenz, Zimo, Gaugemaster and Bachman decoders? Alternately, what’s involved in getting a SPROG to chat to a throttle, be it WiFi, Bluetooth or old fashioned bit of wire? Owain

Right, not much to report this week, most of the weekend disappeared on a testing and development session which solved several issues (such as ‘why does that coach always derail there?’) and confirmed a lot of other work, including the session training the decoder in the little sentinel with the SPROG has born fruit with its slow speed performance. Anyway, here’s another of those moving pictures. Enjoy. Owain

Right, an update (appologies for the delay, my employer requested I return to work this week and do something that passed for useful work in a bad light). Anyway, the sturgeon. It’s been airbrushed in Vallejo blue, details touched in with humbrol and the deck attacked with the usual mix of games workshop paints and Mig washes. Some stripwood dunnage stained with Mig’s Wash for wood was added to the deck. Then some rail, cut into scale 60’ sections (the pleasing rust effect was achieved by accident with Carr’s metal black for steel and whitemetal) Add some ratchet straps from masking tape Finally, moving pictures! Owain

A bit more, back to the Sturgeon seen earlier (intended as the PWay’s rail carrying wagon). It’s been fitted with buffers and kadees. Due to the deep buffer beams, I’ve used NEM pockets. Shunting trials with the Ruston showed it was happy with all the track, crossovers, curves etc. The idea is that this is going to be finished as one of the internal users at Workington steelworks, that were used to carry rails to the docks. So a light blue livery for something different, as seen in Paul Bartlett’s photos here. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/workingtonsteel Owain

Excellent! I also understand Charlie Strong collects the scrap from the works at Sedbergh of the Lowgill, Sedbergh and Ingleton Railway. Nice bloke provided you’re straight with him (he’s getting on a bit now, it’s his lad, Curly runs the show these days). Owain

Just found this, absolutely brilliant work and a superb tribute to the series! I’m now wondering if a Shelby group loco survived into preservation? Owain