The Fatadder

Finally got round to showing the prospective names for the layout to no1 daughter. So the station has now got a name, Rosevean, the real place located a little south of the line between Roche and Luxulyan.

Just ordered one of these from Niu models https://niumodels.co.uk/f/gwr-king-indicator-shelter---oo-gauge?blogcategory=New+Products I’ve wanted to model a loco with the test shelter for a while but never got round to scratch building. Will need to finish the dyno coach to go with it now.

The next step on 37057, which has now been fitted with custom Railtec transfers for the EW&S logos and numbers. It just needs varnishing before it will be ready for reassembly. work on the double slip has now halted as there was an issue with the baseplate (British Finescale have been excellent in their resolution of this, but I need to wait for a replacement part before doing more work on it). I had confirmation today that Grainge and Hodder have dispatched the baseboard kit and I should receive it early in the week. The plan is to temporarily fit it up to the existing board to mark up the alignments, before getting the templot plan glued down. in the mean time I picked up a non running Hornby 153 from the classifieds. The plan is to finish it as 153328 in the condition running as half a 150. To this I needed to be able to properly control the lights, meaning they need converting from Hornby’s common negative to the standard dcc common positive. For this I will junk the Hornby pcb and replace with my own board. The lighting units are modified cutting across the centre as indicated in red, to brake the common negative. Then soldering on a replacement wire (shown in white) and joining together the two positives. This means the existing wiring from the cab at the dummy bogie end can be used to connect to the circuit board at the other end. before refitting the lighting boards a dab of translucent orange paint was applied to tone down the overly bright white lights. I will also be fitting working cdl lights (so it will now need a 6 function decoder to work it all. Longer term I now plan to do the same modifications to my other 153 which will enable me to run 153s as a single, a pair or with the 158. (The Bachmann 150 also has odd wiring and if I recall correctly is not possible to isolate the tail lights)

Seems I have finally fallen foul to the BG3 save bug, game crashed on Tuesday night, open it up the next day and get a 704 error no matter which save I try to open. Apparently caused by a hotfix going wrong and not updating the saves to the save version as the system is running (with no option on console to roll back to the last working version and try the update again.) Raised a ticket with Larian and to their credit they did come back with a response pretty quickly saying they are aware of the issue and working on it, but there was no fix on the hotfix that came out last night so I still cant access my campaign (nearing the end of act 1 on my second play through having tried to compete all available quests). Will be pretty gutted if I have to start again

thanks, I will drop them an email. There must be an error in the drawing for the standard OO version as I can’t see any way it works as designed without the step in the webbing.

Certainly sounds sensible to keep the webbing in place until I am ready to lay the track (particularly as it may still be a couple of months until the baseboard arrives). I will be modifying the bases anyway to remove the webbing at the parts where provision is made for wiring (so there is extra wide webbing close to the sleeper edge, so I think I will remove the webbing thats next to the tie bar at the same time. Very odd that on the single slip the webbing is offset at the tie bar as per the plain turnouts, feels like it should be the same here

Thanks for the offer, but I have a working B7 sat on the work bench for comparison (I am assuming an A5 would be the same). Looking at the tie bar the pin heads are right up against the underside of the tie bar, but are not remotely flush. I think it might be possible to countersink them slightly which would help (though it will mean removing the pins I have already fitted). This is the underside of the B7 vs the Double Slip, noting the webbing has been pushed outward by 1mm giving the pins clearance. As I far as I can see there are two options, either remove the webbing completely giving plenty of clearance for the tie bar to move. or more filing to add another 0.5mm of clearance (less if countersinking the pins works). Although my thinking is that thinning this section would weaken it so much I may as well just chop it out. B7 double slip I wonder if the spec of the pins has changed somewhat, or if all of this is in some way down to the aforementioned issues with the flash around the mouldings interfering with the tolerances too much.

Could anyone advise on the double slip (OO) kit? I am at the stage of fitting the tie bar, I have been having issues with this (on the B7 I built last night it was a touch thick thanks to flash and took a little thinning down to get running smoothly). So before fitting the tie bar I did a quick test fitting a length of rail across the tie bar to make sure it moved smoothly before adding the pins and installing. However having added the 4 pins to the tie bar and placed in the slot on the baseplate it now wont move because the pin head on the underside is up against the inside edge of the baseplate. Any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong? As with the B7 there is a lot more flash on the baseplate than on previous purchases so I have already cleaned up the slot and the tie bar. I am wondering if I am missing something simple (like cutting away the webbing either side of the tie bar once it has been soldered in place, or if I need to open up the slot further to clear the pin head) edit Looking at it further, I have checked the spacing between the holes (it matches the B7), looking at the webbing on the B7 for the sleeper gap where the tie bar sits the webbing steps out by about 1mm which gives the required clearance, whereas on the Slip it continues in line with the chairs / the rest of the webbing. Surely this should also step out here to provide the required clearance for the pin heads on the tie bars?

Today I received a delivery from British Finescale with the point kits for the Wheal Imogen extension, I had planned on saving these until Grange & Hodder deliver the baseboard. But as the buildings require more materials before I can finish them off, working on track is the next best thing... The first issue is the template, you need to print an A3 template of the point to assist with construction. In particular this is critical for measuring things like the closure rails, and for getting other bits in the right position. As I havent had an opportunity to print the template for the double slip, the plan was to build the RH B7 for which I already had a print out to hand. Annoyingly checking the dimensions it appears that when my wife printed the template for me last year she didnt print it at 100% so it has stretched the image by about 5mm in the x axis (but almost correct in the y axis). Back at the 2023 Swindon exhibition I built the point for the initial Wheal Imogen board at which I forgot this print out, instead using an ipad with the pdf scaled to fit. A couple of hours later I have the first point ready to lay. I did have one issue this time which I didnt experience on my first build last year, where the straight stock rail was not straight across the switch. A little investigation showed that the stock rail was fouling on the tie bar (which was not moving freely). I had noticed there was a some flash on the sleeper base which had not been present on my last purchase (all of which was on the bottom and would be hidden by ballast), along with a lot of flash on the tiebar (which had been tidied up before fitting). A quick check with callipers showed the gap for the tie bar was almost 0.2mm too narrow, the solution being a combination of filing out the slot and thinning the tie bar. Checking again afterwards not only was the tiebar now moving freely, but the stock rail was now straight. Looking at the double slip the tie bars look to be in much better condition so hopefully it wont have the same issue. I know I could have just sent the imperfect parts back and asked for a replacement, but as ever if I can fix something myself its a lot easier than sending something back for replacement.... This point now just needs the switch blades soldering to the tie bar and gluing the odd chair to secure the rail. All of which can wait until the slip is built tomorrow...

I started work on 47799 last year, but it has been sat waiting on a solution for the bogies. I have gone about this project through a bit of a chaotic approach. It originally started with the purchase of a very reasonably priced NRM edition body from Bachmann Spares, I hadnt realised that 799 differed from 798 in that it still had the buffer beam cowling which put an end to my original plan of fitting the body to my existing chassis under a surplus RFD loco. At this point the body was modified to correct Bachmann's mistake where they hadnt modelled the RES tail lights. With the realisation I needed a new bufferbeam moulding, it was back to Bachmann Spares to source one. For a couple of pounds more you could get a complete unit of plastic chassis moulding, metal chassis block and fuel tanks (although the latter oddly turned out to be the Class 57 design). Just meaning that bogies were needed, my initial though was a long planned modification fitting a scrap set of Heljan bogies. However before doing anything drastic I had a recollection of seeing Bachmann 47 bogies on EKM's stand at Warley so decided to hold fire until seeing them at Ally Pally. There was nothing on the stand, but looking at the website a couple of weeks later I managed to find them on their website which arrived this morning. I dont really have any need for a second working Royal Train 47, should I ever get round to modelling the Royal Train it will only need one working engine (likewise for the use on test trains that I intend to use them on in the mean time). So I am not too worried that my chassis is missing a motor and the new bogies are without drive shafts. The bogies were taken apart and had the worms removed and put aside in case one day it needs revisiting to add power. And with that 47799 is ready for service, I had better crack on with fitting some handrails to my resprayed ViTrains 47798 so that it can join it. I wish Hurst Models were still trading as I rather fancy doing a short Royal Train formation to run with it...

I can remember being told that on some stock they operate on both sides and on others they only light up on the platform side. From memory I think it was second gen DMUs that did the former and coaches did the latter, but I could be wrong... I have all my CDLs that I have installed so far to light up on both sides, I find it useful to be able to see them lit on the non platform side as a reminder that Ive switched them on (it does of course help that my planned platform only has a single operating side, so the public will never see the lights lit on the wrong side

Had a delivery today with another B7 and a double slip for the Wheal Imogen extension, wont have the basaeboard until at least next month but getting tempted to make a start work on the kits. Question to anyone who's built the slip, what did you do for painting the moulded checkrails? Not something I have had to do before, so looking to ensure that it doesnt stand out next to the rest of the point in real rail.

Interesting on those wartime tank repaints, I have a Bachmann tank in a pre war National livery sat in my wagons WIP box thats been awaiting a more suitable livery for 47, I think that gives me an answer as to how I should finish it.

I had come to the same conclusion on the Oxford Rail tender, frustratingly I just missed on on ebay the other week but will get one eventually.... When I do manage it I guess I will have to find another Bulldog that can reuse the existing Dukedog tender (or maybe an Aberdare...)

Cattle wagon hasn't progressed much further, a series of colds making soldering feel rather unappealing! Instead last night I managed to find some handrail knobs and finally crack on with finishing off the Bulldog, I had the email confirming the artwork for the Light Railway Stores etched plates last week so hopefully it wont be too much longer until it is completely finished. Plan is to pick up a pack of ModelU figures for it at Bristol, along with fitting some printed lamp irons to finish it off. It will also need the usual treatments adding coal to the tender and a set of Dinghams to fully put it into service both as an assisting engine and under its own power. Eventually it will be sorted out with the correct tender…

I was just thinking the same, one of those small things you don’t notice but once you do it really bugs you

Have sent a pm, would be perfect for my 153/ half a 150 pair given the latter is powered

I’m hoping they list the body eventually, for an auto coach conversion

finally got my new display case on the wall (all be it missing its door which needs regluing before it can be reattached) nice to get a lot of the stock that’s either not dcc fitted (steam) or not period correct for Wheal Imogen.

The current state of 37057 after a fair bit of time yesterday evening applying transfers for the OHLE stripe, bottom yellow stripe and the OHLE flashes. Once the new transfers arrive for the numbers / EW&S logos it will be finished off in the week and can be reassembled.

Probably the same reason they lack the ability to actually design anything to a decent standard of accuracy, they just lack the skills for the job....

Yet more rework on 37057 this evening, followed by a coat of satin varnish to successfully blend it all together. I am finding the EWS red is very easy to scratch (I’m assuming either I got the paint mix wrong or it’s too old paint). Either way it’s looking good now. This was followed by fitting the nameplates (Extreme Etchings removed from the old body), picking out the handrails in silver and the windscreen grommets in black. I have now ordered the transfers for the numbers/ logos with the usual Railtec custom offering. Thanks to @railtec-models for spotting the typo in my requested loco and letting me know so I didn’t end up with 37056! I already have the Railtec OHLE and lower reflective stripe. Next up work moved to the ends, the previous model was (too) heavily weathered to hide the mistake with the lower reflective stripe. So the noses needed the majority of the weathering removing. A cotton bud in IPA did the job nicely, leaving a little dirt around the detail. For 1999 the roof and chassis were dirty but the side / ends were pretty clean. the final job this evening was to paint the black bars on the cab side windows in EWS red. I have cheated a little here and used Vallejo burnt red, it’s pretty close to EWS red after a coat of clear and avoids the risk of damaging the glass (as the acrylic paint will just rub off the glazing)

with some buffers fitted and some more black paint on the underframe, there’s not a lot more to do on the car carrier until the transfers are ready. makes a bit of a contrast between a green 47 and intercity mk2s

A little update on 37057, I managed to get out between the showers and spray the EWS red on the model over lunch today, annoyingly the Tamiya masking tape has been a bit of a failure leaving an imperfect edge. So yesterday evening I set to work trying to save it, touching up a couple of the impacted areas by hand to deal with the bigger marks. This was followed by taking a length of Tamiya tape and cutting along the centre line with a fresh scalpel blade, masking the damaged areas of the stripe and again cutting in with a 0000 brush. Looking at the end result I think its done the job, (or at least based on past performance I think it will have once it has been given a coat of varnish to blend everything together.) But before I can do that I need to order some transfers from Railtec

roof/ends sprayed last night, will sort out the underframe painting later and reattach the bogies and buffers at which point it can go back in the stock box until the transfers are ready