TEAMYAKIMA

As always, a job I have done to improve one aspect of the layout has ended up curing the original problem , but caused another. And, as always, most 'two minute jobs' take me a minimum of two hours. Let me explain................... When travelling in the van to/from an exhibition, the boards are stored on their backs i.e. vertically, and, on occasion, some heavy road vehicles which were simply superglued to the plaster road surface have become detached from the layout as the top layer of plaster simply breaks off. This happened in particular with the tall and heavy low loader and road roller. So, I decided to put long screws into the baseboard under a couple of axles and then super glue the vehicles to the embedded screws so that the vehicles would always remain attached to the layout no matter what. As part of that process the trailer chassis was temporarily partly dismantled and then finally fixed PERMANENTLY to the baseboard - and then four exhibitions later I noticed something! In securing the model far more permanently on the layout in order to prevent the problem of it falling off the layout in transit, I had created another problem - a missing set of wheels! Now, as I have said, no-one (including me) had noticed that at four exhibitions, but the camera sees everything and with the professional photo shoot on the horizon, that needed fixing - a two minute job! Except, of course, I couldn't find the missing wheels with their distinctive red wheel hubs and I had recently had a clear out and sold all my HO vehicle 'bits & pieces' on ebay - and 'no' the guy who bought them had already used them on a repair of his own. So, the only way forward was to remove the permanently fixed low loader from the baseboard in order to remove a set of wheels from the non-viewing side, then make a new axle and find some replacement wheels to go on the non-viewing side. So, in total, four or five hours later, I completed my latest 'two minute job' ..................... One pro

I have absolutely no comment to make on this subject whatsoever other than, due to the vagaries of the English language, that sentence could be interpreted in two completely opposite ways. 1. There was a lack of general traders and (on the other hand there were) more specialist stands 2. There was a lack of general traders and (also there was a lack of) more specialist stands

THAT'S A FEATURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how many more times do i have to tell you????? 😉

Ok, thanks, you have persuaded me to go take a look - have booked on the Farrails tour in October!

This professional photo shoot is just 3 weeks away now and it has really prompted me to review EVERY scenic feature on the layout. The photos will all be in close-up and sharp focus which will concentrate the viewer's mind on details which would not attract much attention at an exhibition and the camera will highlight any shortcomings. Going through each scenic board in turn, I noticed things like this................ Discarded concrete sleepers - nice, but unweathered and worse still all in one colour, even the metal fixings are concrete coloured - damn you, PECO! So 30 minutes later ............................

Well, yes, but I think that there is a very fine line between a 'feature' and a 'gimmick' and I think a working swing would cross that line. Feature - GOOD! 😃 Gimmick - NOT GOOD! 😒 Just my way of looking at things.

Whilst the layout is now 99.5% where I want it to be, I have a professional photo shoot booked in three weeks and so I am working every day to nail that missing 0.5%. One cameo which I like is the playground scene between the buildings at the R/H end of the layout - here is an early photo - and I particularly liked the set of swings on the left hand side, but unfortunately in the last 12 months that detail was wiped out when someone lent across to re-rail a loco and their sleeve demolished that detail. So, yesterday I went looking for what 'bits' I had managed to salvage at the time. This is how the Preiser item is supposed to look and you can see that I had done nothing but repaint it really. But now, all that was left were the two main supports and the two swings - the cross member was missing. I tried to find some plastic rod to replicate the original, but didn't find anything suitable in my spares box. So, eventually I decided that a wire embedded into a hole drilled into the fixing would do the job and be far stronger anyway. So I found some suitable wire and using the smallest drill bit I've ever used in my electric drill I started the refurbishment. I superglued the swings onto the wire. And pressed ahead...................... But something looked wrong - the seats were now far too high. I measured them - 3ft off the ground. So, I just couldn't live with that and so I cut the feet off, took 3.5mm off each leg and glued the feet back on. Result - 2 ft 3 inches off the ground - a lot better! All I need to do now is glue them back on the layout and that's another thing off my list of jobs to do and then the layout will be 99.6% finished

I have had a WR Hymek in my showcase for many years and I am finally thinking of adding a set of train reporting numbers to the model to 'finish it off' - shows how bored I am! :-) I trainspotted Hymeks at Ealing Broadway in the early/mid 1960's - can someone suggest which of these might suit the loco? Were they only for passenger trains? My father came from Paignton and would anyone of these suit a Paddington to Paignton train? Thanks for any help.

Just out of interest, I assume those van are sold decorated like that, but did you cut the doors open yourself?

I think the problem is that you/we are judging it as a serious drama, whereas it's really a comedy or maybe a comedy drama. Both Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton made their names in comedy and if you look at it as a comedy it's OK.

In one shot from inside the tunnel, it's a pannier tank going in and a 2-6-2T coming out - classic film 'mistake'.

TBH I haven't followed this thread, but I have just watched a videoed interview with Simon taken several years ago before the layout had ever been 'exhibited' where he says that he won't be attending normal shows, but will be hiring empty spaces for weeks at a time during the school holidays and charging an entrance fee. I have just now seen reference to the fact that back in late 2023 there was a plan to exhibit it at the (then) Warley show in 2024. Have Simon's plans regarding public exhibitions changed?

If I was saying this next bit, rather than writing it, I would say it in a very quiet voice, because I have said things like this in the past - only to be proved wrong! 😐 As I write this my hands are trembling, but nevertheless I going to be bold (wreckless) and say that, after six years of trying, I have finally got the level crossing to work properly! This was always supposed to be one of the layout's real "WOW!" moments. There is a working Faller roadway system along the front of the layout and I can divert a car or minibus over the level crossing for the amusement of viewers and, more importantly, if the barriers are down the van stops automatically and then sets off again once the train has passed and the barriers are up again. That was the theory at least - in six years and various exhibitions it has never operated reliably, but now I think I've finally cracked it! The reality was that there were at least FOUR separate 'issues' which were causing the level crossing to misbehave and this morning I have finally sorted the last one. Originally, we used IRDOT's to message the module which controls the level crossing and when I replaced them with reed switches several exhibitions ago I thought that would solve the problem, but it didn't. Having dealt with three of the problems over the last year or so, the last problem seemed to be the power and the length of the magnets I fixed under the rolling stock. There are two reed switches, one either side of the level crossing and some magnets would work over one reed switch, but not the other and on further analysis this week I concluded that sometimes it could be the speed of the train as it ran over the reed switch which might be part of the problem. SOLUTION - replace all the magnets with more powerful and longer ones i.e. the longer the magnet is, the longer the time is that the reed switch is active and so, the longer the electrical pulse is that goes into the electronic module. RESULT - on test in my shed this morning - 100% reliability! But, I have often found that things which work well in my shed when I have just two or three boards up, don't always work when I have all 12 boards up in exhibition conditions. At our next show we will see if my optimism is justified!

I have been quietly working on some relatively minor issues which came to light at the Abingdon show and some longer term issues which we are finally able to deal with. Consequently, I am pondering a (rather anal) issue which I've had at the back of my mind for some time. Should the layout attempt to be be 100% accurate or should the layout have some 'artistic license'? And if so, how much? I'm mainly thinking of the choice of locomotives. The first priority has always been reliability and that has largely now been achieved with the large range of locos in my collection. Let's face it, by 2001 the vast majority of China Rail trains were hauled by green DF4B's and yet I have tried to vary things by including locos which you MIGHT have seen in 2001, rather than locos you were likely to see in 2001. Having thought about it, I think I will tip the balance slightly more to what you would have definitely seen in 2001 rather than what you might have seen if you were very lucky. The change won't be great, let's say from 60/40 to 70/30. I'll simply prioritise the usual and keep the unusual in reserve if things go wrong or just to spice things up.

Yes, I agree, but it's not quite as simple as that. My team member who deals with DCC issues live 2 hours drive from where I live and so the next time he will be available to deal with this issue is at the set-up day of KEYMODELWORLD and whilst he is 99.9% certain he knows the drill, he would prefer to have a DIGITRAX specialist in the background if things go wrong. Thanks (as usual) for everyone's support/advice, but we have now found someone who will be able to step in and help at KEYMODELWORLD if things do go pear-shaped and so we are now sorted.

Thank you (and others) for your comments. I think the situation is that my resident DCC team member (who doesn't use Digitrax on his own layout) has read up on the problem and knows (in theory) what to do when we get to our next show (KEYMODELWORLD) but would just like the reassurance that there might be someone on hand who could be called upon if something goes wrong.

If you look at Dawn Quest's video of Abingdon show we are featured at about 14.00 and at 15.04 you will see a short section where we experiment with one of the smoking QJ's - running tender first light loco heading from the MPD to the freight yard. We are building on that to make it more of a feature at future shows.

Yes, I agree and, to a limited extent, that is in hand. I now have two QJ's with smoke and I am arranging things so that they are prominent in the latest operating protocols. We experimented with them at Abingdon and they will feature heavily at our next show - KEYMODELWORLD LIVE. We deliberately stop them at a signal on the scenic section as the smoke effects are most dramatic starting off.

I emphasise DIGITRAX expert rather than DCC expert as I always find that DIGITRAX can be subtly 'different'. I am exhibiting my large DIGITRAX controlled layout at KeyModelWorld Live and I have a DIGITRAX issue that my team know how to solve 'in theory', but whilst I have two DCC 'experts' in my team they use LENZ and are very reluctant to make significant changes to my command station just hours before a major show. Allow to to explain further, my team all live many miles away from me and so there is no chance to deal with this issue before we all meet on Friday April 26th at the NEC. So, I was hoping that someone who is experienced with Digitrax might be on hand to supervise the changes we need to make to the command station. Perhaps if there is anyone, it would be better to send me a PM. Many thanks. Paul

The BEIJIAO INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY is a fictitious combination of two industrial railways I visited in China. The really inspirational one, the Chengde industrial railway, featured a JS 2-8-2 entering a banking station with just 11 loaded coal cars and then two more 2-8-2's are added as bankers and then the three 2-8-2's and 11 coal cars stormed off to the nearby steelworks up a 1/30 grade. I have replicated that (and other similar 11 car trains - oil tankers and scrap gondolas) on the layout. But the Chengde branch had no passenger service and consequently, no passenger station and so the other inspiration for me was the Nanpiao system which in addition to normal coal mine traffic ran a serious local passenger service to get workers to and from coal mines. This was the real Chengde and I was standing next to Michael Rhoding and taking video when he took this still ............................... This was the real Nanpiao .......................

This is the only photo I can find of the Bridge at Remagen N gauge layout set in late 1944. It features some very high quality modelling (the bridge is scratchbuilt from brass strip) and the layout is packed with cameos referencing various big-screen war films.

There is at least one German WW2 layout on the exhibition circuit and it is superb - Al Turner's "Bridge at Remagen". It has been off the circuit for a few years whilst Al adds even more fantastic detail, but it will be at Tolworth and Manchester this year.

Well................................ In my defence I must say that until recently there wasn't much available to fulfil those suggestions Working colour light signals would have been a nice feature, but this was all that what was (and is) available Then some kits did appear, but they were poor quality and very generic It was only when Nui Models (Al Turner) took on the signals as a bespoke 3D printing project that having signals on the layout became a realistic (in both senses of the word) option. Each of these six signals was custom designed for specific positions on the layout........................ Without Al's amazing research and technical drawing skills, I doubt if we would ever have had signals on the layout - maybe a man with red and green flags might have worked :-)

We feature in Dawn Quest's video of the Abingdon show and it includes a shot of one of the new features we trialled at the show - a smoking QJ which runs light engine tender first. It's heading from the MPD (off to the r/h side of the layout) to couple up to a freight in the yard (off to the left of the layout). We stop it at a signal and it waits a few seconds before setting off again - this is because the smoke effect is most impressive when the loco starts off. See us from 13.40.

I totally agree with you and I do not want to take this off topic, but it's like a soap opera on TV. If Eastenders or similar really showed real life, they would be very mundane, because real life is (basically) mundane. The writers have to spice things up a bit to grab the audience's attention.