jonhinds

Many thanks! They’re etches from the 2mm Scale Association shop.

Had some running issues with both the 47 and 31, so as of last month they’ve been sent off to LP Rails. Recently I’ve been a bit bolder about disassembling locos, so perhaps servicing will be something I can tackle myself from here on. I also treated myself to a second 47, because you can never have too many.

Really like how this layout is developing! As for rail built buffer stops, I think there’s a potential market for printed alternatives to the generic Peco offering.

Fantastic layout; so well-observed!

How so?

Thanks chaps. It’s mainly as I want to do very slow speed running over some code 40 track that is a bit temperamental. Wiring is fine, track is regularly cleaned with Track Magic so I suspect there’s issues with the track laying itself. I might also check the back to backs as I understand that can cause issues on turnouts, rail joins etc. Unfortunately the loco in question is away for servicing so I can’t check it just yet, but on its return I’ll do some troubleshooting before hacking anything up!

I’m thinking of adding a stay alive capacitor to a 2008/10 tool Farish 47. However, space is extremely limited so I wondered what options might be that required as little modification to the chassis as possible. I’m looking at a Zimo 6 pin decoder without sound provision.

Yeah, I actually need to glue it down so there is indeed a rather unsightly (temporary) hump. I’ve been faffing around with airbrushing bits of detail on the road surface so haven’t got round to placing it in situ yet. Probably should take pics when everything’s lined up and properly stick in place, but can’t help giving into temptation!

I’ve finally got round to starting the dreaded ballasting. This is DCC Concepts Legacy Ballast 2mm light grey blend. I messed around with chinchilla dust blends but had a disastrous previous attempt where it set into clay and needed to be removed. Turns out I got the ‘wrong’ kind of dust! One product I really wouldn’t recommend is Ballast Magic, which is a blend of powdered glue which is mixed with the ballast and then ‘set’ with the supplied atomiser spray bottle. Despite various ratios of glue to ballast it would not set properly, so I resorted to dampening the ballast with the atomiser then applying diluted ballasting glue directly using a dropper. Much better. Here’s my best guess at the car park markings, based on photos and the helpful info supplied by @kryten65. The road markings are vinyl stickers from Scale Model Scenery. I also added areas of patched road surface and some drainage gutters. A layer of matt varnish was applied to seal everything. Like much of the layout the road surface still needs to be glued flat to the cork/baseboard, so it’s a bit lumpy.

Many thanks! I’m intrigued by the WYPTE cleaning vans. Found some photos of a Yorkshire Rider liveried Land Rover and Bedford road sweeper at the Interchange but assume these were for bus / road maintenance only. I’ll hedge a guess at the allocated spots being yellow lined on both sides. Presumably then the dashed spots were short stay? Either way enough info to go on. Some might say this is the best way to view Bradford City Centre at night. Small, and far away…

I’m trying to work out the parking arrangement based on very limited images of the car park in the mid/late 80s. Colour photos show that the solid bays on the right were yellow lined, possibly indicating that they were allocated for specific vehicles. There are also two double yellow bays further up in the above pic. I’m not sure what the right-hand dashed bays closer to camera indicate, although I suspect it’s limited stay parking. The bays to the left are possibly white lined so standard parking? There also seem to be markings closer to the Red Star building but it’s impossible to make them out. Maybe loading/unloading of vehicles? The parking bays are different nowadays so current photos don’t help.

I love this cameo, and the finescale figures add so much. Looks like the 57 is in good hands with these chaps.

'Tis the season for the rail head treatment train should I decide to go modern image. Maybe one day?

Thanks! With a few minor cosmetic tweaks it could work modern day as the station hasn’t changed that much since sectorisation. Are your TPE units 3D printed? These days it’s mostly Northern 150, 155, 158, 195 and Grand Central 180s at the Interchange.

Ah, they’re actually push-fit so it just takes a bit of easing on. The British Finescale website has a helpful guide to installation (although looks like Wayne’s on holiday at the moment so it’s currently down). I had to pull the rails apart to slot in the joiners as the track is glued down, however a person with more foresight would do the joining before the gluing!