Riseburn Simon

This looks very interesting. I live right next door to Shildon, so I've been watching the APT renovations progress. Would you consider doing an LEV1 model? Or the various Pacer protoypes?

Hi Andy, No I went to school in Greenfield comp in Aycliffe, so it was local railway traffic only. I dread to think what my exam results would have been like if I could have seen the ECML!

Some more progress. I thought I'd start with an "easy" task by converting my Lima 117 DMBS to the DMS using the Silver Fox kit. The seating was easy enough to do, but I messed up the body by cutting too close to the roof, so I've cut the riveted strip away, which leaves a gap between the Silver Fox resin cast and the roof. So it's either scrap the body and start again or fill the gaps in and try to make it good. I'm tempted to do the fill/repair job just for the experience. Then if I do start again, I can bring that experience into the next attempt. It could always work out well. We'll see! There's always the option of the Chris Leigh roof, as I'm going to be converting this unit to a 116 or 118 anyway that 37114 mentioned. Anyway, here's the progress! For now, I've attached the new body parts with a bit of masking tape while I think it over.

Well, the year's flying by and I've made precisely 0 progress since my last post! I think, with the lockdown, there's always tomorrow and then another tomorrow! I'm going to try to get back on this Pacer replacement DMU project over the next week. The problem is knowing what to do next, and I'll try to think back to what my sequence of actions was going to be. More pics to come once I've made some progress!

What a great idea. There's a very high chance of me buying one today!

I think the knife is the safer option. That, and a lot of patience! I've previously melted or distorted a few plastic bits and bobs using power tools when I haven't noticed things getting hot! As for the glazing, I'm going to flushglaze the suburban sets as soon as I can find a few suitable window packs, as I'll be running these next to my Bachmann 101s and 108s, which make the Lima DMUs look very dated. I also eventually want to fit interior, head and tail lights, so the Lima glazing moulding will probably get in the way of all that. I think I have a long way to go before that stage though! But I'm planning ahead for that. So I'll probably just remove the glazing right away and be done with it. Even more so now you've confirmed, as others have, that it's less than easy to work with. The only problem is the South Eastern Finecast flushglaze packs seems to be out of stock everywhere I look, even Peter's Spares. I'll find some eventually!

I never knew that. That opens up even more modelling options then! I know the sprinters pushed the 120s off a few routes from 1986 or so onwards, so it would make sense for the 120s to be re-allocated as pacer replacements elsewhere; the timeframes match almost seamlessly. I don't remember ever seeing one though; but they could have run in hyrbid, as they had the same coupling type as all the others I listed. In fact, after a quick search, I've seen just such a combination at Leeds on railcar.co.uk (in this case a 120+116): As for the North East, the only image I've found so far is this sorry looking 120 vehicle at Thornaby in 1989, listed as "unknown number": So, putting together your memories and the few picture I've found, it sounds like another DMU to add to the 'cut and shut' list! Can you remember if it was a full 120 set or a hybrid?

Thanks. It's a lot more absorbing that I thought it would be, and it's always nice to reminisce about days gone by - it's amazing how many memories keep coming back from the late 80s! I'm sure part of the beauty of the hobby for me is I'm subconsciously turning the clock back every time I work on these retro projects. I'll have a look for those roofs and see if I can either see what Chris did or copy what he did. Thanks also for the advice on the "measure and fit everything before cutting". Very good point. I've now ordered the 119 body overlays for that reason. I've never cut into Lima models before, but I've heard that the plastic isn't the most fun to work with. I'll soon find out! I'll post the next update soon after the 119 sides arrive.

Now for the mock-up of the other car. The Lima 117 headcode box is wrong even for a 117, so it's going! Taping this cab on to initially get the idea, is this doable (after a lot of cutting and filing) as a 116? Anyway, that's the progress so far. All comments, advice and pointers gratefully received, as I'm new to this!

So here are the DC kits cabs, sold as 108/119/122. They arrived quickly and well-packacked; I'm very impressed. However, I'm struggling to see any differences in shape between these and 116 cabs. Other than light layouts, which are easily tweaked, are the any differences in cab shape, headcode/destination box etc. that I need to be aware of? Next question: - how to drill out the destination boxes to glaze and possibly light them? As can be seen from my first post, none of the DMUs had any destination blinds in them (as they were allocated to Heaton at short notice when the Pacers failed), so it will be a simple case of putting in clear plastic (even though I hate glazing, as I almost always manage to get a tiny spot of glue on the "glass"!) There is a nice hole in the back of each piece (see below) that might be handy as a pilot hole (although I think I'll drill with a pin vice from the front just to be safe). So, after all the research and parting with a few quid, the first really fun part: As the pic above shows, now it's starting to look at least a bit like class 119! I'm going to get the body overlays from Silver Fox, but I think even at this stage it's taking shape, and the picture below shows the "hybrid DMU" concept off quite nicely:

I managed to pick up a few Lima 117s in various conditions, and it is mainly they that shall feel the business end of my Swann-Morton! So, a look at the existing stock: I know class 119 vehicle 51102 was seen with class 116 vehicle 53856. For conceptual purposes, I paired up this 117 with an old Mk.1 coach to take a quick look at the possibilities (using a boatload of imagination, of course!) The 117 lists over to one side, as you can see (not a problem, as I'll be replacing the drive unit with a better alternative once I complete the cosmetic changes). The same conceptual pose seen from above (the layout is also work in progress, as you can see - so much to do! The old Dapol waiting room was a cheap buy and needs a proper repaint in due course!) And from the back: The D C Kits cabs arrived yesterday, so the next stage was to play with them as part of the conceptual groundwork (will be shown in the next post...)

Following some of the inspiring DMU conversion and tinkering threads on here has finally given me the courage to have a go at my own. I'm modelling the late 1980s (focusing on between 1986 and 1988), when loco-hauled Mk1/Mk2 stock, peaks, 37s, 47s, 31s, first generation DMUs, pacers, sprinters, class 03s and the ubiquitous class 101s could all be seen around North-Eastern England. I'm lucky enough that I could see the Heritage Line (Darlington to Bishop Auckland) during that period, where my secondary school’s geography classroom was a prime viewing spot (I failed my geography GCSE for some reason!) The line was, at the time, almost 100% served by class 101s and, as time passed, 143s. One day, a 101 with a yellow stripe denoting a first class compartment suddenly appeared on the line (I naively thought they were somehow upgrading the line!) Then all of a sudden, all manner of other weird and wonderful first generation DMUs, mostly in hybrid formation, started running by the school, none of which I’d ever seen before in the North-East. All of these trains turned out, of course, to be the pacer replacements. So, back to the modern day, there’s some very satisfying modelling potential for the 1986-88 time period. A bit of research (mainly on railcar.co.uk) confirms that the aforementioned “weird and wonderful" sets were combinations of classes 116, 118 and 119 (with 101 cars thrown in here and there). These DMUs mostly ran in late 1987, mere months before being shipped off to perish at Vic Berry’s. As such, they were often in very poor condition, yet full of character. First, the evidence that these vehicles did indeed make their way to the North East (all images coutresy of railcar.co.uk): Class 116 no. 53909 at Newcastle, September 1987: Class 118 no. 51323, also at Newcastle, January 1988 Class 119 no. 51102 at Newcastle, September 1987: And finally, a 119/101 combination at Darlington, November 1987: So, with the scene set, onto the models (next post...)

I've been following this with great interest for a couple months now. You've inspired me - today I started my own DMU conversion projects, which I'm going to post in my own thread. You've also shown that DMUs, far from being the poor relation when compared with loco-hauled trains, are fascinating in their own right.

I managed to acquire the drawings (eventually!) The Realtrack 143s aren't available and haven't been since I posted, so I'm almost tempted to press on with the conversion and scratchbuild where necessary. I'm totally new to scratchbuilding anything but buildings, so it could be a fun (albeit long) process!

Looks good to me. I like the passenger car kit. I'm considering adding a 009 section to my layout, so I'm also waiting to see where a good place is to buy the chassis/wheelsets.

I have a similar Inglenook setup that's sitting on top of a spare table that I've never got round to finishing properly. This baseboard looks perfect for the job! And reasonably priced. Order going in nowl

I think you're right. Trying to get the parts is becoming a nightmare. Even getting an engineering drawing of the 143 is going to cost me £65 from Serco. It's just a case now of finding one, preferably somewhere other than Ebay!

If those cabs are still going, I'll gladly take them off your hands!

I bought a pack July/August time and they aren't brilliant; the moulds must be ancient, as there was a moderate amount of flash (it's easily filed off, however). The detail on them is very ill-defined by modern standards but they're still usable with a lot of work. But one of the castings was defective (there's a window surround missing), for which I'm still awaiting a response after I told them (about 3 or 4 times now) about it. So now I'm left in limbo with a model I can't even start. The combination of a substandard product and service means I wouldn't bother. You'll possibly have better luck getting someone to 3D print the cabs. I dare say the bodysides and roof are also 3d printable, given that both are made up of several panels. The panels could probably be printed and then joined together if that's easier for the printer. if there's a way to split the design costs, I'll go halves with you, as I really want to get 1 or 2 class 143s on my late 80s layout. Let me know if you want me to start looking for a 3d print provider.

Well,after various people being stumped by this (including experienced modellers), I'm finally making progress. Thanks the North East Model Centre at Chester Moor (which I've been a regular customer at since April this year - no other connection), we worked out the newer Peco settrack small straights have the slots already in place at the required spacing. But only on one side; if you look at the other side, there's a couple of slots for the power clip, but nothing for the isolator. The latest Peco catalogue lists the PL-20 isolator as suitable for streamline, yet I haven't yet found any slots for it in any of the points, crossings or flexitrack I own (most of which is, admittedly nigh on 20 years old). So the next task is to get some current flexi track to likewise check it out. Nobody can find any mention of this in any instructions, so maybe I should feed this back to Peco? As the isolator switches are a brilliant solution for people like me whose wiring and soldering skills are lacking! For example, they are the perfect (albeit unsightly to some people) solution for quickly installing and running single/double slips on a DC layout. If they pushed that more in their catalogue/website/instructions, I'm willing to bet they'd sell a lot more; especially to novices like me!

Hi Sol, The instructions only say (in relation to this issue) "clip the switch directly to the rail so that the brass clips are one each side of the gap." I've just tried pushing it in harder to see if it'll go in. The only piece of track that took it was one where the rail has come loose. The sleeper spacing looks the same to me. Having said that, it's well past midnight here, so I think a good night's sleep might solve my mental block!

This looks very interesting. I'm doing a North-East themed layout but based in the late 1980s (during the transition period from the ubiquitous class 101s to the pacers), so I'm going to copy a few of these ideas for my 142s. And then on to the 143 I plan to build! Keep the pics and posts coming - it's very inspirational!

Hi, This probably sounds like a really basic question, and I thought my problem would be solved by a quick Google and then a quick search of RMweb. But no, not happening! I bought some Peco PL-20 isolating switches today, brought them home and took one out of its packet. And then my mind went into shutdown mode. How do I get the things into the track? Each isolator switch has 2 metal slots but all the track I have (Peco 00 gauge code 100 - a combination of streamline and settrack/Hornby) only contains under-rail gaps spaced for the Hornby power clip. I know I need to cut one of the rails to break the circuit, and that's an easy job. But actually getting the switches to clip into the track? A mind-boggling exercise! I have a couple of the isolating track sections that has slots in between the rail and the sleeper, and they have a couple of slots that are custom spaced specially for the switches. This is one of those weird things that should be ridiculously easy, but is turning out to be a massive puzzle! Do I need to somehow rout out a couple of holes/slots in the track so I can insert the isolator switches? Or, as I suspect, am I overthinking the problem and the answer is ridiculously straightforward?

As a County Durham lad, I give this a huge +1 I saw the group's stall at Shildon on Sunday, but I was running late and got there just as everyone was packing up, so I didn't get chance to talk or look. I'll watch with great interest though and buy things from them where I can.